Viserys Targaryen

Viserys Targaryen is a major character in Game of Thrones. He is played by Harry Lloyd and debuts in the first episode.

Viserys is the son and heir of King Aerys II Targaryen, who was killed during the Sack of King's Landing during Robert's Rebellion. Viserys was safe with his pregnant mother in hiding on the island of Dragonstone. After his mother died in childbirth, Viserys and his baby sister Daenerys were smuggled to safety in the Free Cities across the Narrow Sea.

Viserys claims the title King of the Seven Kingdoms and refers to Robert Baratheon only as 'the Usurper'. After some years spent fruitlessly wandering the Free Cities seeking military support to retake his throne, Viserys and Daenerys became guests of the powerful Magister Illyrio Mopatis in Pentos.

Winter is Coming
In the Free City of Pentos, across the Narrow Sea, Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen enjoy the hospitality of Magister Illyrio Mopatis. Viserys has arranged to wed Daenerys (also called 'Dany') to Khal Drogo, the warlord of a Dothraki khalasar of forty thousand warriors. In return, Drogo will give Viserys the manpower he needs to reclaim the Iron Throne. Before meeting the khal, Dany takes a bath in boiling hot water, to her maid's distress who thinks the water will scald her. Dany barely notices it and emerges unharmed from the water. During the presentation Dany apparently meets Khal Drogo's approval. Daenerys marries Khal Drogo and a great celebration is held. Several people die in impromptu duels, which Illyrio says is a good sign: a Dothraki wedding without at least several deaths is considered a dull affair. The bride and groom receive many gifts, but for Dany two are particularly interesting. The first is a box containing three beautiful stones. According to Illyrio these are dragon eggs from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai. They have turned to stone with the passing of time. Dany appears to feel some connection with the eggs but brushes it off for the time being. The second is a selection of books containing stories and songs from the Seven Kingdoms, given by Ser Jorah Mormont, an exiled knight of House Mormont. Ser Jorah swears fealty to Viserys as King and offers him his support and advice, which is accepted. For his gift, Drogo gives to Daenerys a beautiful white stallion. Viserys asks his sister to make Drogo happy.

The Kingsroad
Viserys decides to travel with Drogo's khalasar until such time as the bargain is fulfilled, though Ser Jorah Mormont thinks this might be a bad idea and suggests that Viserys remain at Illyrio's manse. Viserys declines the suggestion.

Lord Snow
Whilst traversing the western edge of the Dothraki sea, near Qohor, Daenerys orders the khalasar to halt. Viserys becomes furious at Daenerys thinking to give him an order and threatens her with a sword until her bodyguard, Rakharo, disarms him. Rakharo offers to kill Viserys for his temerity, but Daenerys spares his life. However, he is left to walk rather than ride, a tremendous sign of weakness amongst the Dothraki. It is later revealed that Daenerys is pregnant with Khal Drogo's child.

Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things
The khalasar reaches the Dothraki city of Vaes Dothrak. Viserys despises it as a city of mean huts and takes pleasure with Daenerys's slave, Doreah. However, he finds that Doreah makes him unhappy when she asks him about the dragons and their extinction. Later, Daenerys sends Doreah to Viserys with an invitation to dinner. Again concluding she has been ordering him around, Viserys drags Doreah by her hair to Daenerys's presence, inflicting pain on her, and then strikes Daenerys. Daenerys hits him in the face with a heavy metal belt and tells him the next time he raises his hands to her, she will order them removed.

The Wolf and the Lion
In King's Landing, Arya Stark overhears a conversation between the eunuch Varys and Magister Illyrio Mopatis. Illyrio confirms that Khal Drogo does eventually mean to honor the bargain to invade the Seven Kingdoms, but will not move until his son is born many months from now.

A Golden Crown
Viserys grows increasingly agitated by Drogo's inaction and begins to fear that Drogo has no intention of fulfilling his promise. Viserys brandishes a sword and threatens to take his sister away from Drogo and kill her unborn child unless he gives him what was promised, the crown of the Seven Kingdoms. This causes the Khal to acknowledge Viserys' wishes and promptly promise him a "golden crown that men will tremble to behold". Viserys, believing himself victorious, lowers his guard and is restrained by Drogo's men. The Khal then kills him by pouring scalding hot melted gold onto his head as the promised "crown" for his impudence. This makes Daenerys the rightful Targaryen heir to the Iron Throne.

In the books
In the books Viserys is an ambitious, arrogant and power-hungry young man with a streak of cruelty and a famous temper, though he is occasionally affectionate towards his sister. The books give more detail in explaining just how much of a paper tiger Viserys is, and is largely consumed by delusions of grandeur. In the first chapter the Targaryens appear in, Viserys toys with a sword he borrowed from Illyrio while promising to kill Robert Baratheon in single combat. Daenerys notes to herself that Viserys has no idea how to use a sword, never owned his own sword, never had any kind of combat training, and is just a boy playing with a borrowed sword.

Nonetheless in the books Daenerys still shows some sympathy for Viserys after his death (something of a testament to how good of a person she is), though she does not regret that Drogo ultimately had to execute him. Dany notes that while Viserys was weak, petty, and cruel, he had spent most of his life as a frightened refugee after his entire family was killed and his home taken away, and thus he was largely a product of his hard childhood on the run. At the least, he had managed to keep Daenerys alive during their life in exile. In different circumstances he might have been a better person, and ultimately he was more pathetic than fearsome (in contrast with Joffrey, for whom there are really no excuses).