The House of the Dragon tells the story of the Targaryen civil war, with King Viserys I’s children doing all they can to gain control of the Iron Throne.
The Game of Thrones prequel that airs on Sky Atlantic and streams on NOW TV has released eight episodes of its first season so far.
The series kicked off with an able-bodied King Viserys Targaryen. However, if you’ve watched any of the episodes, you will have seen his decay as he battles a serious ailment for the two-decades-long period the show has covered thus far.
But, what disease does King Viserys have? Here’s everything you need to know.
Spoiler alert:
What is King Viserys’s illness?
Through the course of the season, we have seen the King drink “milk of the poppy” to keep going as his mysterious illness takes a hold of him.
As time goes by, Viserys becomes weaker and has some of his extremities removed to cope with his disease’s side effects.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor behind Viserys, Paddy Considine, revealed that his mysterious ailment is actually a form of leprosy.
He explained: “His body is deteriorating, his bones are deteriorating. He is not actually old. He’s still a young man in there. He’s just, unfortunately, got this thing that’s taken over his body.
“It becomes a metaphor for being a king, and the stress and strain that it puts on you, and what it does to you physically, what it does to you mentally.”
What is leprosy?
Leprosy is an infectious and chronic disease that affects the skin, eyes, and nerves, affecting patients’ pain reception, eyesight, and muscle strength, among other things.
It has been described by ancient civilisations in their literature, so it has ailed humans for thousands of years.
Today, it is curable through multi-drug therapy but, for much of history, it wasn’t and caused families and communities to ostracise those who had the bacterial infection.
