Warning: This article contains SPOILERS. Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) finally returns in House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 2, “Queen’s Landing,” but the comeback isn’t a happy one. The character is one of the architects of the Dance of the Dragons, having led the conspiracy to install his grandson, Aegon Targaryen, on the Iron Throne instead of Rhaenyra Targaryen. He also showed himself to be one of the savvier players of the game, often the adult in a room being ruled by children, but that only took him so far.
The House of the Dragon Season 2 finale revealed Otto had been locked in a cell somewhere, though the location wasn’t immediately revealed. In Season 3, Episode 2, the truth comes out: he was locked up in the dungeons of the Red Keep by Larys Strong, and was swiftly handed to Rhaenyra and Daemon upon their return to King’s Landing as a “gift” from the Clubfoot. That, inevitably, leads to Otto being beheaded by Rhaenyra at the end of the episode, but also raises the question of why Larys did it.
Larys Strong Imprisoning Otto Makes Sense (But Changes The Book)
Larys may serve King Aegon, but more importantly, he serves himself. He needs to use his intelligence, manipulation skills, and network of spies as a means to power, and Otto is one of the biggest threats to that: he’s one of the few people in King’s Landing who was a genuine political rival and potential obstacle to his goals, and thus he needed to be removed from the board. Although he was no longer Hand of the King by that point anyway, Otto’s position as father of the Queen Dowager, his standing in general, and influence in Oldtown, where his nephew Ormund rules, mean he’d always be a threat to Larys’ schemes.
This is a departure from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, though not a shocking one. On the page, Otto is the one to orchestrate things with the Triarchy that eventually leads to the Battle of the Gullet. However, he more or less disappears from the page after being stripped of his position as Hand of the King, until Rhaenyra takes King’s Landing and has him beheaded (though it isn’t specified she’s the one to swing the sword). There’s no mention of what he did in between, nor any sign of an imprisonment happening, but it does still fit into the story at hand (and probably helped as an excuse to not have him involved, given Ifans’ busy schedule).
Otto was supposed to be leaving King’s Landing for Oldtown in House of the Dragon Season 2, Episode 2, which means he was taken by people working for Larys and locked up at that point, completely taking him off the board. This alone is a victory for Larys, but the ability to spin it as a gift to Rhaenyra and Daemon is also something he takes full advantage of. If they hadn’t returned for the city, Otto is locked up anyway and seems unlikely to escape, but now he can present it as something he did for them, meaning he can curry favor with the queen if things go awry with Aegon.
It makes sense he’d be planning for that possibility. He is certainly well aware that Aegon’s reign is in a weakened state, and knows that Aemond, while smarter and more strategic, is also someone at risk of making rash decisions. Given the strength advantage of Team Black, since they have so many dragons, then it’s not a leap of logic for him to have assumed the city would fall to Rhaenyra sooner rather than later, and to ensure he still had a few chips to play should that happen, rather than going all-in on Aegon.
Larys has long been likened to Game of Thrones‘ Littlefinger, and this is a move in keeping with that. He’s plotting multiple steps ahead, and accounting for different scenarios and outcomes, calling back to Petyr Baelish’s line about “fight every battle in your mind.”
It also shows just how much he’s been able to influence events in King’s Landing: he’s had to flee the city with Aegon, and yet plans – and people – are still being executed in his name. He’s previously shown his ruthlessness with the murder of his father and brother at Harrenhal, so he’ll do absolutely anything to get and stay ahead, and this is just another example of that. It’s just that in this case, getting “ahead” means taking Otto’s.
New episodes of House of the Dragon Season 3 release on Sundays at 9 pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.
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