Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon

[The Merling King]

How do you think they will portray Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon, Tywin Lannisteresque or more Mace Tyrellish? It will be interesting to see how they developed his rivalry with Daemon and how he will compare and contrast with Corlys.
 

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Lord Butterwell was renowned for wit, Myles Smallwood for courage, Ser Otto Hightower for learning, yet they failed as Hands, every one—Pylos to Davos Seaworth

 

He was certainly grasping and ambitious but despite the internal drama going on in the redkeep, he helped rule the realm for almost 20 years of peace and prosperity, if you combine his two tenures. I don’t think Viserys I was as hands off as Robert at least not during Otto’s first tenure as hand but both of there reputation took a hard hit after the dance. The greens also seem to go downhill after they replace Otto with Aemond and Cole. Was he a good hand or was it the dragons that kept the realm in check?

[Canon Claude]

1 hour ago, The Merling King said:

How do you think they will portray Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon, Tywin Lannisteresque or more Mace Tyrellish? It will be interesting to see how they developed his rivalry with Daemon and how he will compare and contrast with Corlys.
 

He was certainly grasping and ambitious but despite the internal drama going on in the redkeep, he helped rule the realm for almost 20 years of peace and prosperity, if you combine his two tenures. I don’t think Viserys I was as hands off as Robert at least not during Otto’s first tenure as hand but both of there reputation took a hard hit after the dance. The greens also seem to go downhill after they replace Otto with Aemond and Cole. Was he a good hand or was it the dragons that kept the realm in check?

It was always the dragons which played a major role in keeping the realm together. 
 

Meanwhile, I always saw Otto as a stuffy posh man who hates the sexually liberal and dashing Daemon, as well as hating his corruption when he’s a fussy rule maker. Kind of like Bowen Marsh, I suppose.

[TheLastWolf]

Isn't there a separate sub forum or something for show stuff, prequel series etc...? 

[BlackLightning]

On 1/23/2021 at 1:20 PM, The Merling King said:

How do you think they will portray Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon, Tywin Lannisteresque or more Mace Tyrellish? It will be interesting to see how they developed his rivalry with Daemon and how he will compare and contrast with Corlys.

I think they will go in the Mace Tyrell direction.

In the TV series, however, Mace Tyrell (like many other characters) was not faithfully adapted. So, I think they will go with the truer version of Mace, the one who legitimately pisses Cersei and Kevan off with how pushy and overtly cunning he is.

[Lord Varys]

Otto Hightower is described as a the most methodical Hand that ever served, so a faithful depiction would have him have a great mind for details and procedure. He would also be a great manager of the power machine at court. A very competent executor of the king's will, you could say.

As for his character - the longer he served as Hand the more imperious he became. Something that would have become really bad after his daughter married the widowed king and became the new queen. And even more so after she gave the king sons. Considering his rather humble roots - he is just a knight, the younger brother of a great lord - this would make him appear very grasping and overreaching.

[SeanF]

2 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Otto Hightower is described as a the most methodical Hand that ever served, so a faithful depiction would have him have a great mind for details and procedure. He would also be a great manager of the power machine at court. A very competent executor of the king's will, you could say.

As for his character - the longer he served as Hand the more imperious he became. Something that would have become really bad after his daughter married the widowed king and became the new queen. And even more so after she gave the king sons. Considering his rather humble roots - he is just a knight, the younger brother of a great lord - this would make him appear very grasping and overreaching.

Roger Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore, subsequently Earl of March.  Highly competent, but greedy, and getting above himself in the eyes of other Barons and Earls.

[Lord Varys]

1 hour ago, SeanF said:

Roger Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore, subsequently Earl of March.  Highly competent, but greedy, and getting above himself in the eyes of other Barons and Earls.

I think that fellow took it even further than Otto Hightower. But thinking about it some more Otto's methodical - and perhaps even pedantic - nature could have been what caused him and Daemon to clash originally. Otto was already Hand for about three years when the new king named Daemon to his council, and then Otto had to work with a guy who, most likely, never could get the numbers right, didn't keep any promises, etc.

That wouldn't have worked out well ... and would have given rise to Otto's thought that this guy would be a horrible, incompetent king.

Late in his life Otto Hightower also gives the impression as he knew everything best, considering how he dressed down Aemond after his return from Storm's End or how he failed to include Aegon II into his plans. The man didn't really seem to understand what his grandfather was trying to do when he fired him. The way how Alicent and Otto didn't include any of the children into their coup plans also shows that they didn't treat them as adults or respected as people whose opinion mattered. You can see that with Aemond accepting whoever his mother and grandfather chose as the new monarch rather than offering his own opinion or being included in the coup.