‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 finale: What happened to Otto Hightower?
A lot happened in the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale, from visions and prophecies to that final standoff between Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke).
But in the off-to-battle montage that take place before the end credits, we’re finally given a glimpse of a character we haven’t seen in a while: Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), who was fired from his position of Hand of the King by his grandson, King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), back in episode 2.
How does Otto Hightower feature in the finale?
Very briefly. We get one shot of Otto, and for many it might come as a bit of a surprise. He isn’t down in Oldtown with the other Hightowers or in Highgarden with the Tyrells, but in what looks like a fairly cramped jail cell. Otto is sitting down, looking dishevelled. We see the light shift and pour in through the bars and Otto raises his head and squints, appearing confused.
The clip is very brief and it’s impossible to tell where exactly he is, or if he’s in a typical jail cell in a building or in a cage that’s moving on the back of a wagon.
Why is Otto Hightower in a jail cell?
This is the main question, isn’t it? Who’s taken Otto prisoner, and how long has he been held captive?
First, a quick recap: After he’s fired by Aegon II back in episode 2, Otto decides to leave King’s Landing altogether and head south to the Hightowers’ main base.
“I’ll return to Oldtown,” he tells Alicent (Olivia Cooke). “The Hightowers still have strength, and you have a son there who’ll take more kindly to instruction. Daeron may yet help us in the weeks to come.”
“Go rather to Highgarden,” responds Alicent. “The Tyrells must be taken in hand — their bannermen are wavering.”
This is the last time we see Otto until the shot of him in the cell in the finale, and the last time we hear from him, too. Later in the season Alicent reveals that her letters to him have gone unanswered; later, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) asks Larys (Matthew Needham) to track Otto down so he can resume his position of Hand. So the question is, what happened to him?
Well given that he hasn’t been communicating with Alicent, who he left on good terms with, the implication is that he never made it to Highgarden. We find out later in the season that House Beesbury is waging war against the Hightowers, so it seems most likely that Otto was captured by them – or someone allied to them – en route. That would explain why he’s been AWOL, and impossible to reach, throughout Season 2.
The only other option? Maybe Larys is involved in his kidnap somehow. He’s closely allied to Aegon II, so it’s not impossible to think that he could have arranged for Otto to be captured rather than carrying out Aemond’s order to have him brought to King’s Landing. Maybe the cell Otto is in at the end is even a cage, travelling with the same convoy that Larys and Aegon II are riding on to Essos?