The eighth episode of House Of The Dragon was said to be the most emotional one yet, and it surely delivered. You might be surprised to discover, though, that the moment when Daemon collects Viserys' fallen crown was actually an accident.
Spoilers for the events of The Lord of the Tides follow - you've been warned.
At this point in the timeline, Viserys' body is failing him. His sores have ravaged his skin, his hair has almost all fallen out, and even one of his eyes is now missing. He has hardly any energy, trapping him in his bed, and his models are covered with cobwebs. In spite of this, he shows up when Rhaenyra needs him to secure the succession of Driftmark for her son Lucerys Velaryon.
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The entrance was impactful enough. Viserys garbed in his house colours, using an opulent cane to aid his hobble to the Iron Throne, and a gorgeous gold mask to hide his injury on the right side of his face. Before he reaches the stairs, he actually walks towards his daughter rather than towards the throne, and then remembers and corrects himself.
If your heart wasn't already starting to shatter, the moment when Daemon picks up Viserys' crown when it falls off his head probably sent you over the edge. There's no two ways about it - Daemon has been a right pain in the neck so far this season. As the younger brother of Viserys, he's constantly sought out how to undermine the king, secure power for himself irrespective of how it impacts others and generally be an annoyance to everyone in Westeros. Viserys and Daemon clashed frequently, often founding their arguments on Viserys' reluctance to name Daemon as his heir.
So to see Daemon pick up the crown, help his dying brother up the stairs and place the crown on Viserys' head was too much for some viewers.
"When we were shooting that - I think the rehearsal again, the first day - the crown fell off of Paddy [Considine]'s head and Matt [Smith] picked it up and we just kept going. We didn't stop [filming]," explained Geeta Patel, who directed The Lord of the Tides, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. There was a discovery there of this moment. So then the three of us got together and they were like, 'We felt this. This felt like the turning point in our relationship.' It's just a silent moment."
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"I was so thankful that accident happened, that the crown fell off because it proved to be, at least for me, quite a heavy moment and quite a turning point for a storyline that had started in the pilot: Hey, I want your crown and by the end here I'm gonna put the crown back on your head and I'm gonna help you to your throne," continued Patel. King Viserys' final words, misinterpreted by Queen Alicent, will now set the stage for the Dance of Dragons. I've a feeling there will be many more emotional moments to come.
Featured Image Credit: HBOTopics: TV And Film, House of the Dragon