Quick Links
House Hightower of Oldtown is a powerful family from the South of Westeros who overshadow their liege lords, the Tyrells of Highgarden. They are one of the richest families in the realm, and the head of the House holds honorary titles such as Beacon of the South and Defender of the Citadel. The Hightowers inHouse of the Dragoncome from an ancient line of independent monarchs who once ruled as kings of the High Tower.
According toGame of Throneslore, the Hightower kings were demoted to lords when the King of the Reach, Garland II Gardener, arranged a marriage of political expediency between his daughter and King Lymond Hightower. Garland also wed Lymond’s daughter, solidifying their political alliance. The Hightowers swore fealty to House Gardener and the latter pledged to defend the holy city of Oldtown. The Hightowersstrengthened their family trade and indulged in religious diplomacy, while their Valyrian steel longsword, Vigilance, was a beacon of their supremacy (if not sovereignty) over the Reach.
House Hightower During The Targaryen Conquest
During Aegon’s Conquest of Westeros, House Hightower was sworn to protect King Mern IX Gardener, who had joined forces with King of the Rock, Loren I Lannister. The Lannisters and the Gardeners raised a massive host and fought the Targaryens, north of the Reach, somewhere near the Goldroad. The minor Noble Houses in the Reach who rallied behind King Mern were the Oakhearts, the Florents, the Rowans, the Peakes, and the Redwynes, while the Hightowers broke faith with their overlords.
The Lord of the Hightower, Manfred, listened to the High Septon of Oldtown and took no part in the battle.Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys brought Fire & Bloodto the battlefield with their dragons: Balerion, Vhagar (Aemond’s mount inHouse of the Dragon), and Meraxes. The decisive battle, known as the Field of Fire, ended in the decimation of the Gardener line. Harlan Tyrell, the High Steward of Highgarden, surrendered the seat to Aegon and was given the Reach. Loren Lannister bent the knee and got to keep Casterly Rock as Aegon’s Warden of the West.
The political landscape drastically changed during the Targaryen Conquest. In its last leg, Aegon flew to secure Oldtown. Manfred Hightower opened the city gates to welcome their king. In three days, the High Septon anointed Aegon in the Starry Sept and proclaimed him:
Aegon of House Targaryen, the First of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm.
Lord Hobert Hightower And House Hightower In House Of The Dragon
Otto Uses His Daughter, Lady Alicent, As A Pawn
The Hightowers are close to the TargaryensinHouse of the Dragon.Otto serves Jaehaerys I in his last days, and serves Viserys upon his ascendancy. Otto and his older brother, Hobert Hightower, use Lady Alicent as a pawn to advance the interests of House Hightower. She keeps Viserys company during his widowerhood, and he ends up marrying her. Alicent’s firstborn is a boy, Aegon, pleasing those in the realm who have wanted a male heir. However, the king’s son decreed heir from his first wife, Princess Rhaenyra, also has a band of loyalists.
During this time of intrigue, Otto is under Hobert’s thumb and keeps him abreast of the latest happenings in King’s Landing. Hobert makes brief appearances on the show. The first time, Viserys summons him to King’s Landing to swear an oath of fealty to Rhaenyra. The next time, he’s a guest on Prince Aegon’s second nameday. It is here that he presses Otto about driving the king to supplant Rhaenyra in favor of the half-Hightower, half-Targaryen, Aegon.
The third and final time he appears, Hobert is a guest at Rhaenyra’s wedding to Laenor Velaryon. He does appear to carry a weapon with a golden hilt at this wedding.House of the Dragondoesn’t identify whether the weapon is the Hightower Valyrian steel longsword, Vigilance. Blackfyre, the weapon belonging to Viserys (and later Aegon II), as well asDaemon’s Dark Sister, are distinguishable by the black of their blades and the ripples in the steel. However, the Hightower’s Vigilance is yet to be formally introduced on the screen.
House Hightower’s Valyrian Steel Longsword, Vigilance
What Is The Battle On The Honeywine?
The Hightowers' Vigilance has a fascinating place inGame of Throneslore. Otto’s nephew, Ormund Hightower, serves as Lord of the Hightower during the kin strife known as the Dance of the Dragons. He fights for the Greens in the Dance, and wields Vigilance in various battles. Ormundcommands the Hightower hostand those Houses of the Reach that side with the Greens. (It is pertinent to mention that the Tyrells sit out the Dance of the Dragons._
Aegon II’s youngest brother, Prince Daeron, is Lord Ormund’s squire. He turns the tide of the battle when the Greens are trapped on the banks of the Honeywine in the Reach. Desperately in need of help, Daeron saves the day atop Tessarion. In the aftermath of the Battle of the Honeywine, Ormund uses Vigilance to knight Prince Daeron Targaryen, and dubs him"Ser Daeron the Daring."
What Happened To Vigilance?
According toGame of Throneslore, Vigilance’s fate remains unknown in the aftermath of the First Battle of Tumbleton. This event of the Dance is infamous for thebetrayal by the Dragonseeds, Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White. The Lord of Barrowton, Roderick Dustin, commanded the Winter Wolves and marched on the Greens, who were ten times their strength. Roderick killed Ormund and his cousin, Ser Bryndon Hightower, and finally fell on the battlefield.
With the Hightower general, Ormund, dead, it is unclear what happened to Vigilance afterward. Not only did the Hightowers take heavy losses, but they also lost their precious Valyrian steel longsword, Vigilance, in the Dance of the Dragons.
House of the DragonSeason 2 arrives on HBO in June 2024.
