Why isn’t House Hightower more important?

[Aline de Gavrillac]

GM just hasn't taken the story in that direction.  Yet. 

[Seams]

I sometimes get hung up on a "theory of the week" and one of my pet theories this week is that we are supposed to compare Ser Eustace Osgrey from The Sworn Sword with Lord Leyton Hightower of the current generation. Both men spend most of their time locked up in towers and other surrounding details suggest the comparison.

If we buy into the comparison, other elements of The Sworn Sword might explain some of the things we don't yet know (or haven't recognized about the Hightowers in the ASOIAF series. For instance:

Leyton unexpectedly marries off his daughter, Lynesse, to Ser Jorah Mormont. Technically, Eustace can't marry his daughter to Ser Duncan the Tall because his daughter has died. But he does everything but complete the betrothal, telling Dunk he would be the ideal son-in-law and placing a cloak over his shoulders. This is a symbolic wedding in Westeros and shows Dunk becoming part of the family, in a sense. Dunk then "dies" (drowns and suffers severe wounds) in single combat entered into on behalf of House Osgrey. How does Dunk's experience compare to Ser Jorah's experience suffering as a result of his marriage to Lynesse?

We have seen Hightowers in other strategic marriages, including the marriage to Mace Tyrell already discussed in this thread. Maybe this is one of the Hightower's claims to fame in ASOIAF. Walder Frey also uses marriage in a strategic way but the Hightowers are more discriminating and less prolific in their marriage behaviors.

Another of my theories du jour is that certain characters are able to cross barriers and are also - sometimes - able to lead others across barriers. Members of the King's Guard seem to have this power and we see it in Dunk (future King's Guard commander) and in Ser Jorah (first to cross the wall at Pyke during the Greyjoy Rebellion). My guess is that Lord Leyton uses marriages to establish links to these barrier-crossing men.

Remember how Ser Bennis of the Brown Shield decides to go with Dunk when Dunk is determined to discover why the stream has stopped flowing? I think Bennis is unable to cross the stream bed unless he is in the company of Dunk. Similarly, Ser Eustace leaves Standfast to ride with Dunk toward Coldmoat. At Wat's Wood, however, Ser Eustace turns back when they come across a dead tree cat. Even with Dunk as a traveling companion, I believe there is a curse or spell that prevents Ser Eustace from making a closer approach to Coldmoat. It is only after Dunk slays Ser Lucas Longinch that the curse is removed and Lady Rohanne and Ser Eustace are finally able to cross the stream.

To me, this suggests that Lord Leyton Hightower may also be limited by some kind of curse. Or maybe his devotion to his studies in the high tower is intended to address a curse that affects larger events in Westeros?

This goes to my next, half-baked layer of thinking about The Sworn Sword. I think Bloodraven has sent Dunk and Egg out into Westeros to solve problems, remove curses, bring about balance where the has been imbalance. The two characters embody a balance when they are in each other's company, and have a unique ability to make things right. If this is true, then the Hightowers may have been reserved until this point in the series because they represent a balance that is needed to resolve a central conflict in the plot. Their role in TWoW or ADoS will be to provide a missing piece of something - if the speculation is correct about Lord Leyton's absence coinciding with the ten-year summer, the Hightowers may embody a special season-balancing quality that has been missing in Westeros.

 

[Lady Rhodes]

19 hours ago, Alexis-something-Rose said:

He has a lock of hair, a portrait of a woman who looks like him. He doesn't have a gorget, but a gauntlet made of lobstered steel that belonged to a prince, but Walgrave doesn't remember which prince it was. 

Thank you! I am sorry about the inaccuracy of gauntlet vs gorget, thank you for correcting. I have speculated that this may be something from Summerhall or Dragonstone. 

 

4 hours ago, Alexis-something-Rose said:

Is it possible that the attack is a distraction because he is looking for something in Oldtown?

Yes, I think so, too. 
 

I also have a theory that Urrathon Nightwalker, who is referenced in Clash as someone who has a glass candle in his house in Qarth that is burning, is actually Euron Greyjoy. We know (or have strong reason to suspect) that he has Pyat Pree and that Pyat was captured a fortnight after Dany left Qarth. We can infer that Euron was near Qarth when Dany was there and he had to have made some place a “home base” when he was exiled from Pyke. I think he is looking for another glass candle in Oldtown. Pate mentions that there is a black candle but also a green one. I am assuming this green one is special for some reason. I know popular opinion is that Euron and/or the Faceless Men are after the book of dragons, but if Euron already has a dragon binding horn, I don’t know if he would NEED it.

[John Suburbs]

On 12/13/2019 at 3:52 PM, Tyrion1991 said:

 

Yeah but that closeness and how much George has been pushing Euron as this big arch villain. I can’t see him losing against the Hightowers and the narrative requires him to have that win. Plus, he seems to be killing all the male Lords he finds and sacrificing the women. So if Oldtown falls I don’t see it going too well for Hightower. Is it going to be a siege where we have to wait for Dany or even Aegon to show up? Maybe. It’s not impossible but it feels like Euron is on the cusp of having his big win to establish him as an end game threat.

George could be playing with the idea that while Lord Leyton has been distracted by the high level magic and prophecy he’s ignored the very material threat on his doorstep. Think Ogra from the Dark Crystal and her Orrery. I am not sure this is George subtly introducing this major faction that knows what’s going on and is going to be a swing state. It the theory that Lord Leyton is Doran Martel but actually good and has magic. 

I'm not so sure Euron is interested in Oldtown. The real prize is King's Landing and the Iron Throne. But depending on what happens with Victarion and this dragon horn of his, Euron could very well have two dragons at his disposal in relatively short order, and then both cities are well within his grasp.

[The Ghost Beyond the Wall]

I think they are biding their time for the right moment, I think they will definitely play an important role in the future story, just like House Dayne. I think they may reveal their plans during Euron's story arc near OldTown

[CJ McLannister]

9 hours ago, The Ghost Beyond the Wall said:

I think they are biding their time for the right moment, I think they will definitely play an important role in the future story, just like House Dayne. I think they may reveal their plans during Euron's story arc near OldTown

Hightower and Dayne? Too bad the Whents are all gone or it could have been an fun reunion.

[Aegon VII]

On 12/13/2019 at 11:18 AM, Tyrion1991 said:

So in the very south of the Reach you have Oldtown, huge commercial city inspired by Alexandria. You’ve got the Arbor with it’s massive Redwyne Fleet. The insinuation is that this area is the trading hub of Westeros comparable to the Rhine and the Low Countries. 

Why then is this region so politically irrelevant and a non entity in the story? Compared to Dorne for example or the North which are depicted as vital actors who’s decisions will carry the most weight. 

Why isn’t House Hightower in charge of the  Reach or why isn’t the Reach split into two separate chunks with the south gravitating towards Oldtown? They have the wealth and population so that should equate to very real power. Sam says that his father told him the hightowers could Marshall 3 times as many soldiers as any other banner-men of House Tyrell. That’s before you count adjacent regions like the Arbor. Plus they’re described as being as rich as the Lannister’s. Also the Hightower’s have ruled there for centuries so there seems to be a great deal of stability and continuity; so the politics shouldn’t prevent the South of the Reach becoming important.

As an aside, I think George is setting them up as a challenge for Euron and he’s going to ruin their day. So, it probably won’t be all that relevant in the end; however I am not sure I get why they’re not more important both within the Reach and Westeros. I d go as far as to say that this region is more important than the Crownlands for anyone trying to conquer Westeros. I mean the Hightower’s should be one of the premier political families of Westeros. You do get a sense of this in some of the expanded lore. But the current story places a lot more emphasis on the Greyjoy’s, Riverlords, North and Lannister’s. I think Sansa meets a few in Storm of Swords and you don’t get a sense that these are movers and shakers; just some rich people from a distant land of no consequence. 

 

Hightower’s were/are big targ supporters. We purposefully haven’t been seeing them as they’ve been busy plotting for the targs. Leyton and malora are haldon and Lemore