As the grand title above suggests, Viserys is the fifth king to come from the Targaryen family and is the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms when we meet him in House of the Dragon. HBO describes him as: “A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy, but as we’ve learned from Game of Thrones, good men do not necessarily make for great kings.”

He was chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King (and his grandfather), Jaehaerys Targaryen – Viserys’s father died before he could ever claim the Iron Throne. Jaehaerys was the grandson of Aegon the Conqueror, the man who forged the Iron Throne when he united Westeros, so Viserys is certainly from noble blood.

While Viserys tries to continue his grandfather’s hugely successful – and quite peaceful – reign of 50 years, all is not well in his family, as he wasn’t really supposed to be the rightful heir to the Throne.

Though Jaehaerys’s children were all deceased, his first-born son, Aemon Targaryen, had a daughter, Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best), who would technically have had more of a right to the Throne should the proper lineage have played out. She was passed over by the lords for being a woman (though it was disguised as a popularity vote to stop her son Laenor Velaryon, who isn’t solely Targaryen blood, becoming king), and became known as ‘The Queen Who Never Was’. And it’s safe to say House Velaryon isn’t happy to be overlooked.

To make matters worse, Viserys and his wife, Aemma Arryn, failed to produce a male heir, only conceiving daughter Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy). Considering the questionable means leading to Viserys’s succession, he is insistent the Throne should be passed to a male, which would mean the King’s next male relative.

Enter Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), a hot-headed and possibly mad Targaryen who even Viserys can’t stomach on the Throne – but he is certain he deserves it.

On top of that, Viserys faces challenges from House Hightower, a powerful family tied to his Hand of the King, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), who all have strong ties to the Faith of the Seven.

So, with various members of the Targaryen family and a fair few outsiders, too, all vying for the Iron Throne, where will it fall once Viserys is succeeded?

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