14. King Viserys I succumbs to an infection (HOD Season 1, Ep 8)
You’d think we’d have seen more deaths from a simple infection in the Game of Thrones universe, but Viserys was a rarity. Apparently maesters can milk a puppy, but can’t clean a wound with soap. Go figure. In short order, an infected cut on his finger spreads like leprosy, rotting his mind and flesh. By the end of his life, he is hideous—half his face decayed, shielded by a gold mask; the other half cadaver-like, pockmarked with open sores and mangled teeth. His diseased body wasn’t just hard on the eyes, though there’s nothing quite like the humiliation of a king whose mere visage disgusts his subjects; but you could practically smell him through the screen as he lost control of his faculties, a cringey reminder that sometimes even a “natural death” is no relief at all.
