Otto Hightower Did Nothing Wrong | House of the Dragon Explained

In-depth analysis of Otto Hightower from House of the Dragon.

Among the fans, there is a highly negative sentiment towards Otto Hightower, and from the way in which people speak of him, one might assume that Otto is the epitome of evil and the worst person in the world. However, I believe that this perception is based on assumptions and a lack of understanding of the distinction between what we and what Otto knows.

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[danthemancushecan]

In episode 3 (season 2), Rhaenys said "Otto Hightower would never approve this". She was referring to the attempted assassination of Rhaenyra by Ser Arryk, which resulted in his and his twin brothers' deaths. Even Rhaenys knew that Otto was a reasonable and level-headed man.

[gamer.snulch]

Not sure why people compare Otto to Littlefinger. Larys Strong is this show’s closest parallel to Littlefinger. Otto is more like Tywin.

[ticwugl]

There's nothing that makes Otto exceptionally evil for a man of his setting. He's just the archetypical ambitious lord. Most lords would've taken the opportunity to marry their daughter to the unmarried king without a son as well. On the contrary, he's such a pragmatic and talented statesman that even Jaehaerys I recognized him. He pretty much always gives the most objective advice for a medieval context. Haters will say that him picking Rhaenyra over Daemon and then Aegon is a contradiction but it's not. Male preference primogeniture says children of Monarchs's come before siblings and that principle does give Rhaenyra a leg up over Daemon. With Aegon however, the dilemma becomes brother or sister. Also, Aegon marrying Rhaenyra is much less weird than Daemon marrying Rhaenyra. The age gap is much worse for Daemon and Rhaenyra. It was the best advice.

Considering that Aegon and Rhaenys are the male and female candidates to the throne with the strongest claims or that the customs and precedents heavily support the Greens at all, Rhaenyra's claim with bastards to follow her is so weak that she would have to deal with Aegon, Aemond, and Daeron to save her dynasty from them or their descendants. Them or their descendants will inevitably press their claims against the Strong boys at some point since they could always claim to be the true kings. Otto didn't orchestrate this war as much as people think he did. In understanding a medieval setting one can see that most of what Otto says is common sense. This is why he would support a son even if he wasn't his grandson. Succession rules applied consistently means less dynastic conflict because people aren't claiming the throne by wildly different metrics (heir by customs and precedents vs named heir).


As for his hatred of Daemon, it's clearly justified given how so many of his actions already would be grounds for deposition or would otherwise be seen as extremely cruel even by medieval standards. He's the epitomy of "doing whatever the hell you want just because you're a Targaryen." He's summarily executing people all the time. He's a literal murderer and does it in almost every episode.

[TihetrisWeathersby]

Otto fits perfectly into what a Medieval Lord should be and would have done

[wowsadowsa]

From Day 1, Otto did an everything to avoid the Dance of Dragons within the context of his situation.

Literally, he was the one who suggested the Aegon and Rhaneyra betrothal which would have a) satisfied the realm, b) given Rhanyera multiple years and a potential regency before having to become Queen consort, c) satisfied the Hightower factions, and d) appeased the Velaryons because Aegon’s children could have been betrothed to an Daemon/Laena’s kids.

Otto was the only reasonable person but no one listened to him.

[thalmoragent]

People calling Otto the "new littlefinger" and "a snake" don't understand his character at all. By all accounts, he was a solid Hand of the King, did it for many years and many kings, and was Politically savvy in various ways.

[mmmelancholia]

The only problem with Otto is that he underestimated the stupidity of his grandson Aegon and didn't prepare properly prepare him for the throne. Even though Aegon isn't a monster as Maegor was, he's a terrible king, driven by lust, anger and hedonism. Otto recognized this a long time ago - but either he nor Alicent took Aegon under their guidance or tried to change his behaviour.

[sirknight-wx]

. FINALLY COMMON Corlys was willing to give his 8 year old daughter to viserys but everybody forgets that happened.

[BeatrizOliveira-tfif]

Let’s all be honest, the true “villain” behind the Dance was Viserys poorly management of his personal life and inheritance.
He never acknowledged the mess he did by naming a heir in a rushed manner just for then marrying again and finally have a male heir. His silence over the obvious elephant in the room was one of the main reasons the Targaryen dynasty almost went downhill in a matter of a few years after his death

[khfanlife]

I love that Otto has spent his entire life ruining Daemon's aspirations for the throne. I have a thing for underdogs and to see a mere knight and second son unabashedly defy this prideful, malevolent prince who thinks himself so superior is just entertaining as hell.

[MarkStorey-dctm]

You make some very interesting points.
Still Otto's plans often seem pretty flawed. If Aemond hadn't happened to claim Vhagar (something Otto had nothing at all to do with) the Greens position is far weaker. Otto later launched a Coup d'etat in Aegon's name without first securing Aegon's support. There was a non-zero chance that he could have been left without the king he was fighting for. Even once he had Aegon on the throne it was a king who'd never been prepared to rule and who actively disliked Otto.
I think the popular villification of Otto is exaggerated but to say he did nothing wrong is going a bit far.

[willsalomone]

Daemon is a sociopathic narcicist who murderered his young wife. Otto's determination to keep him away from the throne demonstrates his commitment to the realm.

[regulusvalorant]

How people blame Otto for what Viserys did or what didn't I never understand. Viserys always thought he is living in a wonderland while Otto knew the reality of Westeros.

[roguecraft]

I really like the duality of Otto's character. On one hand, he's committed to the good of the realm, whilst on the other, he is a self serving politician who wishes to advance the status of his own house. Many of his actions are understandable within the context of the world, even if they are not justifiable by our standards. Brilliant character.

[abdulwahab]

You can hate Otto as much as you want but you can't deny the fact That OTTO IS ALWAYS RIGHT EVENTUALLY

[flippy]

If only this video can go viral to all the supporters of the blacks, It's like they are applying the standards of the the modern world instead of the times envisioned by GRRM esp the role of women and security for family imo, Thanks for great content, Go Greens

[CCEkeke]

The mistake Otto made was not preparing Aegon on the DL to be king.

[Ifyoucanreadthisgooglebroke]

Season 2 killed this with Otto expressing awareness that nobody (importantly Viserys) wanted Aegon to be king, and that he put Aegon there anyway despite Aegon being entirely unprepared to rule.

I blame the show writers for the oversight of it though. Having Otto believe that he is doing what is best for the realm, that conveniently happened to have some self interest sprinkled in, fit the character better. They just had to destroy it with one poorly thought out scene. At least Otto's actor sold it beautifully to dampen the pain the scene inflicted on the deeper plot elements.

[yassincowboy]

Otto Hightower is my favorite character in HOD. I agree with you 100%. That is why I support Team Green.

[aleksandrakja]

As you said, I think that problem with Otto might lie in the show's composition. In my opinion the show makes blacks' decisions more understandable and explored than the greens'. Everyone is cheering for Daemon and Rhaenyra while Alicent and the rest tends to be portrayed as the bad ones