House of the Dragon revived a Westerosi custom that has been missing from this spinoff so far: editing errors. The show hasn’t yet matched Game of Thrones Season 8’s infamous Starbucks product placement quite yet, but it did have a surprising visual blooper this week. Social media sleuths tracked it down on Monday.
Fair warning: there are spoilers for House of the Dragon Episode 3 ahead! This week, fans saw the Iron Throne continue to take its toll on King Viserys I (Paddy Considine) in the form of festering wounds on his left hand. He lost his ring and pinky finger before the episode was over, and the wardrobe department dutifully covered the actor’s fingers with lime green sleeves so they could be edited out later. In one conspicuous shot, however, it looks like Viserys merely dipped his hand into a paint can before handing a scroll to a waiting courier. You can see this shot for yourself at the 43:48 mark of the episode on HBO Max.
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The producers could always correct this error and re-upload the episode with the fingers appropriately detached. In the meantime, many die-hard fans of George R.R. Martin’s books are more concerned with the lack of explanation for the severed fingers. In the show, we’ve seen him begrudgingly accept treatment from Grand Maester Mellos (David Horovitch) for the cuts he receives from the Iron Throne. He has been leeched, bandaged and treated with boiled wine and vinegar – Westeros’ best approximations of medical antiseptic. However, in the book Fire & Blood, by the time Viserys loses his fingers his medical treatment should be a point of political contention between his daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) and his young wife Alicent (Emily Carey).
The book version of Viserys is more jolly, ignoring his responsibilities as monarch and indulging in food and drink. The books tell us he becomes overweight as he approaches middle age, and he begins to develop health problems associated with his diet. In addition to his symbolic wounds from the Iron Throne, he needs treatment from the maesters for gout, joint pain and respiratory issues.
The show does a good job of streamlining this aspect of the story for the most part, but some fans argued online that the battle for control of his medical care was important. In the book, Rhaenyra becomes suspicious and concerned when Mellos is unable to heal her father’s hand and save his fingers. She calls for her own maester, Gerardys, to sail over from Dragonstone and treat her father. It is Gerardys who amputates the king’s fingers against Mellos’ recommendation.
This is a significant battle for power between Rhaenyra and Alicent at this point in the books – Rhaenyra tries to appoint Gerardys as the new grand maester, while Alicent wants her family’s maester Alfador instead. Not wanting to anger either of them, Viserys sends to the Citadel instead and accepts their recommendation for a new grand maester.
Die-hard fans are keeping a close eye on the appointment of maesters in this show, since some believe that fan theories about maesters’ shifting political allegiances and motives will play into the story in a major way. There is an overarching theory referred to as the “Grand Maester Conspiracy Theory” that has been making the rounds online for years. It argues that the maesters have unified political goals such as the extinction of dragons and the extermination of magic in general from Westeros. Fans were hoping that Mellos’ failure to save Viserys’ fingers would be saved for a major reveal to this effect.
Of course, there is still plenty of time with more than half this season left and another one already on the way. House of the Dragon is expected to complete this storyline in about four seasons, according to showrunner Ryan Condal, so there’s no telling what the maesters could get up to in the span of 40 episodes. For now, House of the Dragon airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 07: George R. R. Martin attends the FYC special screening for HBO Max's "House Of The Dragon" at DGA Theater Complex on March 07, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
