Robert Baratheon or King Viserys: Who Was a Better Father? It’s Complicated!

In the long and twisted history of Westeros, there have seldom been model citizens. Everyone has some or the other flaw that leads to them being terrible parents, spouses, and even friends. When comparing the father figures of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, namely Robert Baratheon and Viserys Targaryen, we find similar instances on both ends of the timeline.

Both had entire continents to look after along with their families and kids. And unsurprisingly, both of them dropped the ball on various occasions.

Battle of Fathers: Robert Baratheon vs Viserys Targaryen

Starting with Game of Thrones, we saw at the beginning of the show itself how uninterested and unbothered Robert Baratheon was. Apart from hunting and drinking, the man did not care what happened in the castle, let alone his entire kingdom. We seldom see him treating his wife Cersei with respect even though he is indebted to her father for making him king of the Seven Kingdoms.

Moreover, there are very few scenes where we see Robert be a father to his children. His constant neglect and lack of affection for his children made everything think that he knew he was not their real father. Nevertheless, he was expected to keep up appearances and interact with his heirs since they always saw Robert as their father. Somewhere down the line, he let the court politics come between his relationship with his children which hampered his role as a father.

On the other hand, Viserys Targaryen, played by Paddy Considine, was a kind and just man. He was expected to be a model father figure for his kids like he was for Rhaenyra. However, as he got older, he too let his responsibility go and put the entire burden of upbringing their children on Alicent. Even when he saw his children turning into malicious teens as they often bullied Rhaenyra’s kids, Viserys stood by doing nothing as Alicent justified their crimes and empowered them further.

Having such generational differences in his children from two marriages, Viserys should have done a better job of bringing his two families together and making sure everyone at least acted cordially. We all have seen how Aegon II and Aemond have become in the latest episodes in House of the Dragon. Had Viserys been more involved and loving as a father, things would have surely turned out differently and perhaps the entire civil war could have been avoided.

Who was the better father?

Yes, it is complicated to name one character the better father out of the two even when they both made multiple mistakes along the way. While Robert’s inability to father his children well led to Joffrey being an arrogant and sadistic man, Viserys’s indifference gave birth to bad blood between siblings as they only care about ruling the continent rather than being good human beings.

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A father’s love can certainly make or break a person’s life. Hence, both Robert and Viserys contributed to creating monsters who put the fate of Westeros in jeopardy for their personal gains.

However, if we had to choose one, we would say Viserys did a better job since he was able to contribute positively to his daughters’ upbringing since both Rhaenyra and Halaena turned out to be sorted individuals. Viserya was very involved in Rhaenyra’s upbringing ever since she was a child, which highlights the fact that Viserys was capable of being a great father, only if he tried hard enough.

House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones is streaming on Max.