Seaworth'sShipmate Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 He seems to have had no redeeming characteristics. At least with Cersei one can say "she loves her children." Viserys never seemed to recognize other people as human beings, and only knew how to bully, exploit, or use other people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bastard Daughter Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 He had the taint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brightstar_ Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 He seems to have had no redeeming characteristics. At least with Cersei one can say "she loves her children." Viserys never seemed to recognize other people as human beings, and only knew how to bully, exploit, or use other people. Cersei only loves her children as an extension of herself IMO. She has no redeemable qualities either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordStoneheart Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Well, he's certainly no prince charming but nor would I say he's evil until later in the first book. But Danzie outlines pretty well why he can deserve a bit of sympathy. "His story is more tragic than it is villainous." Plus, I can't look at this adorable image and not feel sorry for young Viserys and Dany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wolves Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 No he wasn't evil, but he's a very sympathetic character the most sympathetic character in the series IMO. He had the world against him from a very young age and nobody cared about a 8yr old innocent child who had just had his whole family murdered, a baby to take care of and his family name and line to carry on. I don't exampt Viserys for anything he did but the world broke him he had a lot of mental strain and responsibility on him from a very early age and he had to pay for his father's crimes and no one cared. He's not evil but what he suffered I can honestly say I wouldn't be surprised if he was he's one of the very few characters who I can say is a product of his environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brightstar_ Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Well, he's certainly no prince charming but nor would I say he's evil until later in the first book. But Danzie outlines pretty well why he can deserve a bit of sympathy. "His story is more tragic than it is villainous." Plus, I can't look at this adorable image and not feel sorry for young Viserys and Dany. I agree, he's still a douchebag, but you can't deny the shit the man has had to put up with his whole life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I've always felt bad for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonCon's Red Beard Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 People often forget that he was only eight when the rebellion happened and got exiled, and Rhaella kept him away from knowing how crazy his father has gotten. And yet, he protected Dany and kept her alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I always saw him kind of like a rabid dog. Not actually evil, but still needs to be put down before causing any damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat of the Rivers Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I always saw him as a sympathetic villain in the same way Lysa is. Yes, they do horrible things to other people but you can understand why they became the way they are. I wouldn't say they were evil but yes they were villains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Cold Fingers Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 He would have greatly benefited by having someone to be his Ser Duncan the Tall...a good clout in the ear and teach him humility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mladen Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I generally felt bad for him... And I feel like Dany realized how difficult it was all for him, which is one of things I love about her. That certainly doesn't mean that I was OK with his actions. I suppose, argument can be made that life brought him to that point but certainly we can't just give him a free pass because life was being life... He simply became bitter person whom I pitied... Even though, TBH, I would have killed him couple of times before that. He was that annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salafi Stannis Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 No he wasn't evil, but he's a very sympathetic character the most sympathetic character in the series IMO.He had the world against him from a very young age and nobody cared about a 8yr old innocent child who had just had his whole family murdered, a baby to take care of and his family name and line to carry on.I don't exampt Viserys for anything he did but the world broke him he had a lot of mental strain and responsibility on him from a very early age and he had to pay for his father's crimes and no one cared.He's not evil but what he suffered I can honestly say I wouldn't be surprised if he was he's one of the very few characters who I can say is a product of his environment.I agree, all that, along with being born with the taint, and the fact that it manifested at a young age, is enough to make most people go insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonSnow4President Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 The whole letting his whole tribe f*** Dany if it meant he got a throne comment shows he has at least a certain brand of evil. (really, really believe this isn't a case of show creep getting to me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A spoon of knife and fork Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 He was an abuser, for sure. I don't have a ton of sympathy for abused persons who turn that onto those weaker than them. I do feel for his plight , of course, but that doesn't excuse his actions.Also people talk a lot about how he "protected Dany". Maybe I have too much faith in her or whatever but I tend to think she'd have managed on her own - possibly even better without him. First off, he didn't raise her for the first like 6-8 years of life - it was her knight who did that, the one Jorah reminds her of. So we are then talking about the next few years before they arrive at Illyrios.Thing is Viserys is an entitled jerk and always has been. I imagine he turned off a lot of would-be benefactors with his attitude alone - we have the example of the dothraki for instance. I think a big reason their welcome wore was because people got irritated with his demands. Dany is different - she tends to draw people to her, to make them want to help and follow her without seeming to try (natural charisma I guess). Anyway I suspect that without Viserys even a child Dany would have done better than she did with him. She's almost a more tempting ally in some ways because you can marry her and make a claim to Westeros, with Viserys you'd have to agree to follow him and it's obvious immediately that he's no one who can lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bastard Daughter Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I have sympathy for Viserys the child not Viserys the man. Many people had rough, abusive, lonely childhoods but they don't all grow up to be abusive and conniving men. Dany was in the same boat only the younger and had to also endure the abuses of her brother- "waking the dragon". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Blizzardborn Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Viserys showed early signs of being a mini-Aerys. I take this to mean he had the Targ madness and it was starting to show during childhood. He is therefore not evil, but genuinely ill. I actually sometimes feel sorry for the poor jerk. The initial issues he seems to have inherited combined with the traumas and stresses of his early years were a nasty combination. Unfortunately the maesters don't seem to be able to treat these issues yet. Some therapy might have staved off the worst for a while at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTyrion Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 He threatened to cut a baby out of his sisters stomach, so I'm gonna say yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrick Eddon Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 A good thing Drogo killed him who knows what damage would he done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Cold Fingers Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 A good thing Drogo killed him who knows what damage would he done. If Drogo didn't kill him...someone would have...and probably soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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