Where Is House Hightower In Game Of Thrones? (2024)

sd sds House of the Dragon's second season has finally gotten to the Dance of the Dragons – the Targaryen civil war. One side of that war is House Hightower who, led by Queen Alicent Hightower and her father, the Hand of the King Otto Hightower, usurped the Iron Throne from Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. Rhaenyra was declared heir by her father King Viserys I Targaryen, also Alicent's husband, yet a misinterpretation of Viserys I's final words and the societal concerns of a female ruler propelled the Hightowers into installing Alicent's son, Aegon, as king.

For as prominent as the Hightowers are in House of the Dragon, they are hardly seen in Game of Thrones. Fans who will watch, rewatch, or read the original series will notice the Hightowers are still involved in the Baratheon-Lannister dynasty. Hightower blood was extremely close to returning on top of the Iron Throne.

What Happened To House Hightower After The Dance Of The Dragons?

Notable Hightower Events:

• Garmund Hightower marries Princess Rhaena Targaryen and together have six children.
• The Hightowers play both sides during the Blackfyre Rebellion.
• The Hightowers align themselves with the Iron Throne henceforth, including during Robert's Rebellion.

To the likely disappointment of many supporters of Rhaenyra and Team Black, the Hightowers do manage to survive the events of House of the Dragon and prosper in a post-Alicent world. Details about the Hightowers in between the events of House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones are sparse, however.

During the events of House of the Dragon, the head of House Hightower isn't Otto Hightower, but rather his nephew Lord Ormund Hightower who resides in Oldtown where the thus far only mentioned Prince Daeron Targaryen serves as his squire. After Lord Ormund fell in the First Battle of Tumbleton in the Reach, he was succeeded by his son, the 15-year-old Lyonel Hightower. Lyonel caused a stir when he married Lady Samantha Tarly – his widowed stepmother. The two would have six children together. Lady Samantha would later found the Bank of Oldtown, which helped the Hightower accrue significant wealth in the aftermath of the Dance of the Dragons.

Do the Hightowers and Rhaenyra's Targaryens reconcile? To an extent. Princess Rhaena Targaryen, daughter of Prince Daemon Targaryen, later marries Garmund Hightower, the younger brother of Lord Lyonel, and the two of them also have six children. This was Rhaena's second marriage after her first marriage to Ser Corwyn Corbray. During the Blackfyre Rebellion, where Targaryen bastards rose up in support of Daemon Blackfyre's claim to the Iron Throne, the Hightowers elected to remain neutral, offering some level of support to each side. House Butterwell, Oakhart, and Tarbeck also supported both sides of the conflict.

Gerold Hightower Fought Eddard Stark At The Tower Of Joy

After the Blackfyre Rebellion, the Hightowers remained loyal to the crown even during Robert's Rebellion. A Hightower is present in one of the most significant scenes in Game of Thrones – the Tower of Joy. The Tower of Joy scene, seen through one of Bran Stark's visions, sees a young Eddard Stark accompanied by allies such as Lord Howland Reed in pursuit of Stark's sister, Lyanna Stark. Lyanna Stark's alleged kidnapping was the catalyst for the rebellion as her betrothed, Robert Baratheon, believed she was kidnapped by Prince Rhagar Targaryen. The two got married and Lyanna was in labor with their child – best known as Jon Snow.

Waiting for Stark and Reed were Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Gerold Hightower. Ser Gerold was the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and referred to Robert Baratheon as the "usurper." While Ser Gerold managed to take out one of the opposing bannermen, he would meet his end by taking an Eddard Stark sword to the throat.

Notably, Ser Gerold's actor, Eddie Eyre, plays another role in House of the Dragon becoming one of a few actors to star in both House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. Throughout most of Season 2, Eyre has played a nameless knight. Even though he plays an entirely different character, Eyre still remains close to the Hightowers. Could even make for a fun headcanon fan theory of the knight secretly being a distant relative of Ser Gerold.

Who Is The Lord Of House Hightower In Game Of Thrones?

The children of Lord Leyton Hightower:

As for the present-day Hightowers in Game of Thrones, who lords over them in Oldtown? The answer is Lord Leyton Hightower. Lord Leyton is the nephew of Ser Gerold. He did not appear at all during Game of Thrones and is only ever mentioned in the Histories & Lore bonus feature titled "The Reach" for the Season 3 Blu-ray release of the show.

There is a good reason for this as Lord Leyton has been holed up in the Hightower for over a decade. The Hightower itself is a large lighthouse that sits atop Battle Isle in Oldtown. Samwell Tarly gazed upon it during their arrival in Oldtown in Season 6. Lord Leyton is mentioned more in the books with the reason for Lord Leyton's hermit status is that he is supposedly studying magic texts with his oldest daughter, Malora Hightower. Despite this, he still issues commands and sends his armies out into battle when necessary, commanded by his sons who are combatting Euron Greyjoy's fleet as of revealed chapters of The Winds of Winter. Initially, the Hightowers supported Renly Baratheon's claims to the Iron Throne, much like The Reach as a whole. Upon Renly's death, the Hightowers and Tyrells aligned themselves with the Iron Throne.

Before his seclusion, Lord Tywin Lannier offered his son Tyrion for marriage with one of Lord Leyton's daughters. Lord Leyton took offense to this, as Tyrion was a dwarf, and declined.

Jorah Mormont Was Married To A Hightower

What befell Jorah Mormont's marriage to Lynesse Hightower?

• Lynesse struggled to adjust to a poorer lifestyle.
• Jorah did everything in his power to accommodate her expensive tastes including the slave trade.
• Lynesse left Jorah for Tregar Ormollen and serves as one of his concubines.
• Tregar threatens to enslave Jorah if he doesn't let her go.

Jorah Mormont has long been a fan-favorite Game of Thrones character. It may come as a surprise that he was once married to a Hightower. Lyneese Hightower was the second wife of Jorah Mormont, not to be confused with Lynesse Hightower, the aunt of Alicent seen in Season 1 of House of the Dragon.

Jorah's former wife Lynesse was mentioned briefly in the first season of Game of Thrones where Jorah mentioned her expensive tastes leading to his financial ruin, compelling him to slave trade to keep up. Lynesse was raised in Hightower wealth, so the much poorer Mormonts made it difficult for her to adjust to her luxurious lifestyle.

Lynesse eventually left Jorah for Tregar Ormollen, where she was one of his concubines. In the book, Jorah tells Tyrion that Tregar threatened to enslave him if he didn't give up Lynesse. Lynesse currently resides in Lys where Lord Leyton's son, Ser Humfrey, travels in hopes that his sister could give the Hightowers a significant enough fleet to help withstand the Greyjoy's assault.

A Daughter Of A Hightower Had Her Sights On The Iron Throne

Despite the Hightowers seemingly keeping their distance from the greater conflict, a Hightower spends much of Game of Thrones scarily close to the Iron Throne. Queen Margaery Tyrell is actually the daughter of Alerie Hightower, the daughter of Lord Leyton. Alerie is married to Lord Mace Tyrell, head of House Tyrell. This also means Margaery's brother, Loras, also has Hightower blood.

Alerie Tyrell isn't seen at all in Game of Thrones and is only referenced once, during a conversation between Margaery and Sansa Stark during Season 3. In the books, Alerie makes a few appearances as a part of the Hightower congregation such as Margaery's weddings and Lord Tywin's funeral. She was described by Cersei Lannister as "vapid" or dull in A Feast for Crows.

Margaery has long had ambitions for the Iron Throne first marrying Renly during his pursuit of the throne. After Renly's death and the Tyrells bending the knee to King Joffrey I Baratheon, Margaery and Joffrey would wed. Their marriage was cut short with Joffrey I's death orchestrated by Margaery's grandmother Lasy Olenna Tyrell. Margaery and the Tyrells quickly pivoted and set up a marriage with Joffrey I's successor King Tommen I Baratheon. For the Tyrells, the younger Tommen was much easier to manipulate than the unpredictable Joffrey I. This means Alicent isn't the only Hightower to marry a king, although Margaery is a Tyrell beyond all else.

During the rise of the Faith Militants and the Sparrows, aided in part by Margaery's rival Cersei Lannister, Margaery is arrested for giving false testimony about her arrested brother. During her imprisonment and torture, Margaery atones to the High Sparrow and is granted freedom so long as she performs a walk of atonement – walking the city streets naked. Before she does, Margaery convinces Tommen I that it's in his best interest to unite the crown and the faith, leading to Tommen I to be converted. This, in turn, becomes her atonement.

In all likelihood, Margaery's conversion was just an unplanned step in her grand scheme to seize the Iron Throne. A means of survival until the High Sparrow and his Faith Militants could be removed from the picture, which could have potentially taken Tommen I out at the same time given his honest conversion. The truth of the matter may never be known as, during the trial of Loras, Cersei had the Sept of Baelor blown up, killing Margaery and any Tyrell and potentially Hightower present, including her father Lord Mace. This severely damaged the Tyrells and put them on life support with Lady Olenna now heading them. Tommen I, who was forced to stay in his chambers during the trial, killed himself in the aftermath leading to Cersei herself the sole Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

Assuming Margaery's conversion was a scheme, she became extremely close to being the sole Queen herself, which would've made her the first Hightower progeny on the throne since the era of House of the Dragon. Even though the Hightowers' role in Game of Thrones is nowhere near as big as it is in House of the Dragon, their influence still casts a shadow on the events of that era.

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  House of the Dragon

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  Two centuries before the events ofA Game of Thrones,House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone.

  Release Date

  August 21, 2022

  Cast

  Jefferson Hall , Eve Best , David Horovitch , Paddy Considine , Ryan Corr , Bill Paterson , Fabien Frankel , Graham McTavish , Olivia Cooke , Gavin Spokes , Sonoya Mizuno , Steve Toussaint , Matt Smith , Matthew Needham , Rhys Ifans , Emma D'Arcy , Milly Alco*ck

  Main Genre

  Drama

  Creator

  George R. R. Martin, Ryan J. Condal

  Production Company

  Bastard Sword, Cross Plains Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO

  Number of Episodes

  10

  Network

  HBO Max

  Streaming Service(s)

  Max

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  Game Of Thrones

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  Fantasy

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  Adventure

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  Nine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for a millennia.

  Release Date

  April 17, 2011

  Cast

  Peter Dinklage , Emilia Clarke , Nikolaj Coster-Waldau , Sophie Turner , Maisie Williams , Kit Harington , Lena Headey , Sean Bean

  Main Genre

  Drama

  Creator

  David Benioff, D.B. Weiss

  Production Company

  Home Box Office (HBO), Television 360Grok! Studio

  Number of Episodes

  73

  Network

  HBO Max

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  HBO Max