The House of The Dragon: Who Will Take King Viserys' Throne After His Death?

After King Viserys's death, the Iron Throne is currently open. Now, who will rule the Seven Kingdoms, and why is there a war?

Upon the death of King Viserys (Paddy Considine) in the House of the Dragon, Episode 8. The House of the Dragons will now proceed, and this is who will take his place as ruler of the Iron Throne. Unfortunately, Viserys passed away from his horrible sickness. However, on his deathbed, he unintentionally made matters worse. The dying King accidentally revealed Aegon the Conqueror's prediction of the Prince who was promised to Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke), thinking he was speaking to Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy). Alicent, who thought she knew what was going on, said that Viserys's last act was to choose their son Prince Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) as king instead of Rhaenyra.

In House of the Dragon episode 9, Alicent and Viserys’ trueborn son will be hailed as the new King. When Rhaenyra finds out that the Hightowers have taken the Iron Throne, she will then proclaim herself Queen and start to call her banners to assert her claim, which would eventually lead to the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. Between Rhaenyra’s side and the forces that physically control King’s Landing and the Iron Throne, the Green of Alicent, Ser Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King (Rhys Ifans), and Aegon—Westeros will be divided. This unexpected sequence of events is made even more terrible by the irony that Rhaenyra and Alicent had truly made peace at King Viserys's last supper. Though Alicent agreed that Rhaenyra was the unchangeable heir to the Iron Throne and that she would make 'a great queen', she now believes that Viserys changed his mind as part of a dying request, giving her the reason to pursue Aegon in the position.

According to the source material, Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin, Rhaenyra does assume control of the Iron Throne amid the oncoming slaughter in the House of the Dragon. Even though there will be a tremendous amount of death and destruction, the important events include Aegon being hurt and losing the ability to rule, which allows his brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) to take over as Protector of the Realm and lead the Green in conflict. A battle over Harrenhal will lead Aemond and Ser Criston Cole (Fabian Frankel) to depart from King’s Landing and retake the mightiest stronghold in the Riverlands from Rhaenyra’s armies. This results in King's Landing being defenceless.

Then, Rhaenyra seizes power in King’s Landing and reigns on the Iron Throne for about six months. Queen Alicent will be imprisoned. However, Aegon will abandon the city without Rhaenyra’s knowledge. Sadly, Rhaenyra is unable to maintain her hold on the Iron Throne. A Targaryen Queen is rejected by the realm, just like Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) nearly 200 years ago. House of the Dragon made a lot of changes and improvements to Fire and Blood, so what happens in the adaptation might be different from what is written in George R.R. Martin's book.

In the eighth episode of House of the Dragon, the potential House Targaryen saviours were skillfully and carefully introduced. The day before King Viserys's death, he got to see his younger grandchildren, Rhaenyra and Daemon’s sons. Viserys also got to see his youngest grandchildren, Viserys and Aegon. While the dying King said that Viserys is 'a king’s name,' the king who will reign when the Dance of the Dragons is over will really be the infant Aegon. Together with his brother Viserys, who will take on the role of the Hand of the King. However, it will still be many years before the tragic, almost total destruction of the House of the Dragon.