If you thought that the Littlefinger was a conniving trickster, wait until you go through the arc of Ser Otto Hightower. Daemon has described him perfectly because of all the chaos that’s coming to King’s Landing because he schemes; what he did ultimately caused the Dance of the Dragons and led to a lot of death and destruction. So, here’s why Otto Hightower is the biggest villain of House of the Dragon.
Played by Rhys Ifans (The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man and No Way Home), Otto Hightower served as Hand of the King to three kings. First, he became the hand of King Jaehaerys after his son Baelon Targaryen died. And in the final two years of King Jaehaerys’s reign, when he was bedridden with sickness, Otto basically ruled the seven Kingdoms. Then he became the hand of King Viserys, whose reign began as soon as Jaehaerys died.
Along with Viserys came his rash brother Prince Daemon, named the master of coin. After serving in the post for a year, he became the Master of Laws for six months. During this time, his ego clashed with Otto’s intellectual prowess, and they became the greatest of enemies. So Otto made Viserys remove Daemon from the small council. They made him the Commander of the City Watch of King’s Landing. But this move backfired on Otto as Daemon inspired all the soldiers of the City Watch, and they became loyal to him. Then yet again, Otto struck back at Daemon by having Viserys remove him from King’s landing. But after this, Otto tried to play his hand even further.
After the birth of Alicent’s children, Otto pushed King Viserys to make her sons his heirs to the throne ahead of Rhaenyra. So, this is when Viserys finally understood that Otto was not an honorable man but a selfish c*nt. The King relieved him from his duties as the Hand and sent him back to Old Town. Meanwhile, Lord Lyonel Strong was appointed as the new Hand. But the good thing for Queen Alicent is that she had found a lot of supporters by this time. So even though Otto did not have a lot of power in court, his agenda had been fulfilled.
But years later, Otto was brought back as the Hand when Lord Lyonel Strong died. And then, he played a crucial role in making his grandson Aegon the second the next king after Viserys died in his sleep in 129 AC. Otto, Alicent, and the Greens denied the wishes of King Viserys and did not tell Rhaenyra of her father’s demise. All supporters of Rhaenyra in King’s landing were either killed or imprisoned. But when the news of Aegon’s coronation eventually reached her, she was fueled with rage and went into early labor. This led to her having a stillborn child. She blamed this tragedy upon Otto, Alicent, Aegon, and the Greens and decided to arrange her coronation.
The crown that her father, Viserys, and her grandfather Jaehaerys wore was stolen and brought to her. Then, Daemon himself crowned her as the true queen in Dragonstone. Rhaenyra was offered a solution where her children would get to be the heirs of the throne if she renounced her claim. But she turned it down! So, with war inevitable, Otto tried to gain support from Qoren Martell, the Prince of Dorne. But failing to gain an alliance, Otto was once again relieved as the Hand. And when Rhaenyra stormed into King’s landing, he was one of the first traitors who was caught.
In many ways, Ser Otto Hightower was like Tywin Lannister. He managed to get his daughter married to the king and then took over command by having his grandson on the throne. But with his scheming and knowledge, he was also like the Littlefinger. So naturally, he died like Peter Baelish as Rhaenyra beheaded him. Once again, it was proven that Knowledge isn’t power.
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