Did Viserys Want Aegon to Be King? His Last Words Explained
Episode 9 of House of the Dragon finally set in motion what was speculated for some time now. Aegon ascended to the Iron Throne and became the King of the Seven Kingdoms. This was only possible because Queen Alicent was convinced that King Viserys told her with his dying breath that he wanted Aegon to be the new King. But was that the case? Did Viserys want Aegon to be King? In this article, we’ll get into that and explain what Viserys’s last words meant.
Viserys did not want Aegon to be King. He wanted Rhaenyra to be the new Queen and believed that Rhaenyra was The Prince That Was Promised. And that is what his last word meant. Viserys thought that he was talking to Rhaenyra, not Alicent, and he was answering Rhaenyra’s question about whether he believed that the prophecy about The Song of Ice and Fire was true.
However, Viserys was talking to Alicent, not Rhaenyra. And as he barely spoke in incomplete sentences, Alicent interpreted his word in a way that made the most sense to her. And that is that Aegon should be King. This automatically enforced Aegon’s claim for the Iron Throne, so Alicent presented this to the Small Council as soon as possible. But let’s see why Viserys actually wanted Rhaenyra to be Queen and not Aegon to be King. We’ll also explain in detail what Viserys wanted to say with his last words.
Did Viserys want Aegon to be King?
Episode nine of House of the Dragon starts with Queen Alicent talking to her father, Otto Hightower, and saying that King’s last words were that he wishes for Aegon to be the new King. After that, Alicent and Otto presided over the Small Council and gave them the news about King’s demise. Otto said to the Council that King Viserys, with his last breaths, impressed upon the Queen his final wish: that his son, Aegon, should succeed him as King of the Seven Kingdoms.
But it is worth mentioning that none of that is actually true, as Alicent simply misunderstood Viserys. Viserys did not want Aegon to be King. He named Rhaenyra his successor and didn’t change his mind about that.
Everything started about 20 years earlier. When Viserys decided to name Rhaenyra the heir to the Throne, he told her the story about Aegon’s dream in which he foresaw the end of the world of men. He told her about the Great Winter and the perils it brings. Aegon called his dream A Song of Ice and Fire, and Viseyrs explained to Rhaenyra that the story is passed for generations from King to his heir. He said that a Targaryen must sit on the Iron Throne and unite the realm when the Long Winter comes.
This story is important because it brings us around 20 years into the future. Also, at that point, Viserys stated that he wanted Rhaenyra to be his heir.
King Visery’s last words explained
The years have passed since Rhaneyra and Viserys had talked about Aegon’s dream, the King’s condition has never been worse, and Rhaenyra had also suffered many tragedies of her own.
In episode 8, Rhaenyra is talking to King Viserys in his chambers, and she asks him about Aegon’s dream, the story they talked about many years ago. She asked him whether he believed that The Song of Ice and Fire was true. Viserys was very weak and could barely talk. Still, Rhaenyra seemed worried because even though he told her that Targaryen had to hold the realm united against the common foe, she felt like the King divided the realm the moment he named her heir.
She wasn’t even sure if she wanted the Crown because the burden started to be too heavy. However, Viserys was too weak to speak, so he didn’t reply to Rhaenyra, and her questions and doubts were left unanswered. The next day, after the whole family had dinner together, Viserys was lying in his bed, and Alicent tried to ease his pain. The King then started talking about Aegon’s dream. He said: ‘you wanted to know if I believe it to be true,’ ‘Aegon… his dream’… Alicent had no idea what he was talking about. All she understood was Aegon and immediately thought of their son.
Viserys continued saying that he believes The Song of Ice and Fire is true. He mentioned then The Prince That Was Promised, with little to no strength to continue talking. Alicent then asked him if he was referring to their son, Prince Aegon, but the King didn’t answer that. Instead, he said: ‘to unite the realm, against the cold and the dark, it is you. You are the one, you must do this.‘
Those last words were said to answer Rhaenyra’s doubts because she stated in their last conversation that she is not even sure she wants the Crown anymore. So, those were words of reassurance intended for her ears to hear. However, Alicent misinterpreted everything and was sure that Viserys was telling her that she must do anything she could for their son Aegon to become King.
Anyhow, Aegon was eventually crowned King, even though he didn’t want that. Rhaenyra, at that point, is still unaware of the fact that her rightful claim to the Throne was usurped, but we do know that the Dance of the Dragons is steadily closing in.
