So, What Exactly Is Wrong With King Viserys? (No, It's Not Greyscale)

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for House of the Dragon season 1!Whatever disease King Viserys I Targaryen has in House of the Dragon, it's not Greyscale. However, just like the dreaded skin affliction first introduced in Game of Thrones, Viserys' mysterious disease could lead to an early death. In George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, the Westerosi history of House Targaryen is cataloged in the book "Fire & Blood," including the entire reign of Viserys I. In the book, however, Viserys I never suffered from any such illness or disease.

That said, the way Viserys I cuts himself during the first episode of House of the Dragon echoes how he does the same in "Fire & Blood," which in the book happens during his last years alive. Moreover, just as Viserys I threatened to have Daemon's tongue removed before cutting himself in House of the Dragon, "Fire and Blood" sees Viserys I giving the order to cut out tongues before slicing his hand to the bone on the Iron Throne. Though Viserys I didn't suffer from a disease in the book, he wounds himself much more severely and is also much older when it happens - unlike in the House of the Dragon timeline when he is fairly younger when the Iron Throne only lightly nicks his finger. In "Fire & Blood" the incident served as the beginning of the end of the king's reign.

While House of the Dragon's mysterious flesh-rotting disease isn't explained in "Fire & Blood," it is an adaptation of elements from the book which hints at King Viserys I Targaryen's impending doom. Though "Fire & Blood" offers no canonical explanation for what the disease actually is, the fact it appears to be a result of infections received from the swords of the throne itself hints towards something like sepsis or tetanus - and possibly a result of the most controversial tradition upheld by House of the Dragon's Targaryens: incest. Indeed, the way Viserys I's wounds refuse to heal is comparable to the symptoms of severe hemophilia, a rare and mostly genetically inherited disorder in which the blood is unable to clot and heal wounds. Though not a direct product of incest, hemophilia is also known as the "royal disease" due to how it afflicted the most prominent incestuous European royal families from the 19th century. While there are no known records of Westeros' incestuous noble houses suffering from such a disease, this explanation would both explain what is wrong with King Viserys, and also provide an explanation that uses real historical context - which the series often draws from when establishing Westeros and those within it.

How & When Does King Viserys Die In The Book?

Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for the book "Fire & Blood."Shortly after King Viserys I Targaryen lost his two fingers from the cut, the king died in his sleep at the end of the chapter "Heirs of the Dragon," about halfway through the book. This is followed by the six chapters under "The Dying of the Dragons" - the history of the infamous Dance of the Dragons, which inspired the plot of House of the Dragon season 1. After Viserys I died, Queen Alicent Hightower prevented everyone - even silent sisters and septons - from treating the king's body, causing it to swell and rot. A week later, the body of King Viserys Targaryen, the First of His Name, was finally laid to rest and burned in accordance with House Targaryen tradition. In hindsight, Viserys I's flesh-rotting condition in House of the Dragon could also be a reference to the grotesque fate that awaits his corpse.

House of the Dragon gave Viserys I an unexplained disease based on how he cut himself in "Fire and Blood," both of which are metaphors for how the peaceful king is actually unfit to rule Westeros. Indeed, the wound on Viserys' back and the smaller one on his finger were directly caused by contact with the Iron Throne, and the resulting disease implies that the throne itself is rejecting Viserys I as king. As the disease shows no signs of getting cured, an even darker fate could be awaiting Viserys I in House of the Dragon.

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