The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 4, “King of the Narrow Sea,” which aired Sept. 11, on HBO.
There have been many great kings and queens in the world of Game of Thrones, and many bad ones as well. For House of the Dragon’s King Viserys, he lies somewhere in the middle for being a pretty lazy ruler that is controlled by his Hand of the King, Otto Hightower. But finally, after four episodes of Viserys being blinded, Viserys has seen Otto for what he truly is.
Even in the premiere episode, fans took notice of Otto’s untrustworthy behavior. He pushed his teenage daughter Alicent to comfort the middle-aged king in his bedchambers, which was far from acceptable and made him look like Littlefinger 2.0. Then there was all the shady advice and disrespect to the future Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. Viserys, however, never batted an eye. He wanted to trust Otto because he needed someone to trust, especially after Aemma’s death when the weight of being King was crushing him. If only he had noticed before Season 1, Episode 4, “King of the Narrow Sea,” what Otto’s true intentions were, his children might have been spared a disastrous future.
It’s not an understatement to say that Viserys’ ignorance has caused a lot of trouble. Maybe if Viserys had a more watchful eye, he would’ve noticed the flirtatious bond between Daemon and Rhaenyra years ago and could’ve prevented their night on the town and disgraceful rumors. He would’ve also noticed Otto’s own lust for the throne when he suggested Rhaenyra and her two-year-old brother Aegon wed. Thank goodness Viserys saw the creepy nature in such an idea, but he never questioned why Otto would’ve suggested it in the first place. Sure, by Westerosi standards, marrying brother and sister would’ve prevented a bigger war to come. But Otto doesn’t care about preventing war. He wants power, and his shared grandson with Viserys is the key to it.
Viserys spent years being ignorant, but he finally caught up. He’s essentially House of the Dragon’s Sansa Stark — he’s a slow learner, but he does eventually learn. After a talk with his daughter who unveils what she believes to be Otto’s plan to dethrone her as heir, Viserys confronts Otto on his treacherous acts. Viewers have to give it to Viserys — he may be an awful dad sometimes, but when it comes down to it, he trusts his daughter’s word over anyone else’s. Well, except for when it comes to his brother and daughter’s engagements in a brothel. That he’s willing to listen to Daemon on.
Of course, Otto denies all of the accusations. Viserys accuses him of pimping out Alicent to make her the future Queen, suggesting Rhaenyra and Aegon be wed so he can become King, spreading false rumors about Rhaenyra to ruin her reputation and so forth. It’s a cheerful moment for viewers because finally Viserys sees through Otto’s lies and fires him as Hand of the King. As exciting as it is, however, Otto’s plans are set in motion. The damage has been done, and there’s no way to stop what’s coming.
Firing Otto doesn’t give him any less power. Otto will just have to jump through more loops to get what he wants. Alicent is still a direct line of contact to Viserys — as seen in the Episode 5 teaser where he tells her to prepare Aegon for ruling — which means that Otto’s advice will still make its way to the King. Alicent isn’t as demanding or independent as Rhaenyra; her father still controls her.
To make matters worse, Viserys is growing weaker and sicker judging by his sores and amputated fingers. The throne is rejecting him as King, and soon Rhaenyra and Aegon will be at war. And if Otto is anything like Tywin Lannister, he’ll use all his power to act as King for a young Aegon, who would be in over his head. All this is to say that Viserys made the right call by firing Otto, but he did it at such a terribly late time. If Viserys had not been so keen on having a friend at the council, he would’ve noticed Otto’s plans to deceive him from the start — and the Targaryen children wouldn’t have to clean up the mess he made.
House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9:00 ET on HBO, with episodes available to stream on HBO Max at the same time.