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Spoilers follow for The Lord of the Tides, the eighth episode ofHouse of the Dragon.
This is a cursed item.
This will possess you.
This is something that you dont need in your life.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Over and over, Viserys is just begging his family to get along.
I think that care is part of his undoing, really.
He cares too much.
He feels too much.
Ultimately, that kind of destroys him, destroys his soul and eventually kills him.
On the one hand, you have the greens and blacks saying to each other, War is coming.
But on the other hand, it seems like the common people love the king.
Hes doing everything and theyre just undoing it.
This is a cursed item.
This will possess you.
This is something that you dont need in your life.
I love that about him, that hes not corrupted by power.
That was not his mission.
He inherited this throne through another peaceful king, Jaehaerys.
We dont need to be at war all the time.
They give us our power, and without them, we would be nothing.
We have to use these nukes responsibly.
We are talking about fantasy, I suppose.
But that world is condemned for somebody that wants peace and is perceived as weak.
Im curious how you worked with the time jumps in the material.
We had enough on our plates to think about dealing with what was actually real, day-to-day.
You could be doing sometimes two episodes in one day.
The hardest thing was mapping all that out.
We had to really think about how we mapped his decline from the beginning to the end.
The time jumps, as far as drama, I never found them to be particularly problematic.
I think what was going on in those intervening years would have been probably quite boring.
I thought they were necessary, and I thought they told the story really well.
Some people struggled with them; I didnt.
Struggling with everyones name, and [points], Are you my kid?
That was about it, really.
That was the main thing mapping the journey.
And of course, I have that physical decline going on through it.
I did get a little emotional when Daemon picks up the crown and hands it to you.
I had to do the walk up and down that throne room, which was really long.
I cant remember how many times I had to do it, but I damaged my hip doing it.
I must have broke about three or four walking sticks.
It was a really physical few days work, that was.
This is absolutely it.
The moment with the crown was an accident.
It just fell off my head and crashed on the floor.
Thats where we were at by that point, as actors together, as brothers.
Thats the investment that we had in it at that point.
That has to be a part of the scene.
Its too good a moment, and it says everything without words.
And it came out of an accident.
We re-created it every time and made sure that that moment stayed in.
Thats why you hired us, isnt it?
Those little accidents are where the gold is.
When he reaches out and says, My love, thats what he sees the moment he dies.
I tried to discuss it with Geeta, and Im like,Hang on.
This is Paddy stuff, not character stuff, and Im just going to keep this thing secret.
And if they use it, they use it, and if they dont, they dont.
Luckily, they used it, which is amazing.
Ultimately, the character is a very, very tragic character.
I think some people are confused.
I think they thought he chose to save his son over his wife, and he didnt.
They were both going to die.
I think he started dying from that moment.
He just accepts this thing for what it is.
He feels on a certain level he deserves it.Yeah, he deserves it.
I imagine hes in such pain at that point.
That was another thing too: him walking into the throne room.
Hes just had an entrance.
He cant walk anymore.
Thats the last time this man will walk, and this is the last time this man will stand.
They got this seat and they carried him in on this seat and placed him at the table.
Having the mask that idea actually came later, I didnt know that was going to happen.
One day, it was literally glued to my face and I couldnt get it off.
It was a pain in the ass, but I loved it.
To me, it was Lon Chaney.
It was my chance to be the Phantom of the Opera.
That scene was also good-bye:Good-bye, and look at me, I look horrific.
But look at me like Im a father, like Im a brother, like Im a husband.
Nobody ever looked at me like Viserys, I was always the king.And that takes its toll, too.
Im losing something here.
Can I just meet somebody?
We can have a conversation about something else.
But I loved the mask, I loved that reveal.
The knife was the one for me.
I loved the knife, and I loved the significance of it.
What a great thing to have.
Such a significant item within that world.
Its in my garage and people see it and say, Whats that?
Thats the only thing I have.
But the knife, I wanted.
I asked several people, I said, Could I have a knife?
If you make me one, Ill buy it.
And they were like, No, no, thats a really important knife.
And I go, Yeah, I know.
Thats why I wanted it.
I think hes the best character Ive ever played, and I just wanted something of him.
[Brings a miniature dragon into the video frame.]
Thats all I stole.
Between that and the wig, youve really got the character covered.Bring on Halloween!
The dagger is central to the song of ice and fire prophecy, which has plagued Viserys.
Theres a lot of talk on this show of legacy.
I think he dies a failure in his own eyes.
They dont make songs about kings like me.
They make songs about tyrants and great battles and horrific events.
They dont talk about people like me.
Im lost in the histories.
Were in a culture now where things move so quickly.
Season two will come around, and hell be forgotten like everybody else, because thats what happens.
In the end, he knew his fate.
