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The following accommodates spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 1, Episode 1, “The Heirs of the Dragon,” which debuted Sunday, Aug. 21 on HBO.
On Game of Thrones, whereas there have been many sinister characters, essentially the most conniving was Petyr Baelish (Aidan Gillen), or as he is popularly identified: Littlefinger. He helped kickstart the battle for the Iron Throne, working with the Lannisters early on, attempting to interrupt the Baratheons and Starks to weasel his manner into energy within the North. What made him much more disgusting was how he moved from loving Ned’s spouse, Catelyn, to her teenage daughter, Sansa, considering she’d turn out to be his consort when the mud cleared.
All this scheming, and the bloodshed that got here with it, is why followers rejoiced when Arya slit his throat, lastly bringing years of manipulation and management to an finish. Interestingly, as a brand new battle for energy in Westeros brews within the prequel collection, House of the Dragon, a brand new Littlefinger has emerged. And make no mistake — this individual is much more heartless.
This is Ser Otto Hightower, the Hand of King Viserys, who initially got here off altruistic, warning his chief about letting his youthful brother, Prince Daemon, play choose, jury and executioner. King’s Landing was already a fickle place, in spite of everything, plus tensions had been brewing relating to Viserys’ lack of a male inheritor. It led to Otto voicing issues to the royal council relating to Daemon slaughtering tons of of oldsters unexpectedly to ship a message to the general public — one thing he felt would disturb an uneasy peace on the capital.
He actually did not like Daemon’s ego and love for capital punishment, which even led to him beseeching Viserys to seek out another manner of dealing with succession after the king’s spouse and son died in childbirth. Viserys lashed out at Otto, although, as a result of Otto had him shift Daemon round from the Master of Law to the Master of Coin, and now as head of City Watch, just for the prince and his “gold cloaks” to run riot. But at this level, it did look like Otto was merely looking for the most effective resolution by way of protecting Daemon away from policymaking, and inevitably, the Iron Throne.
Well, within the episode’s finale, it grew to become clear Otto wasn’t actually looking for Viserys; he truly needed energy for himself, faking it like Littlefinger did with, properly, everybody. The fact was revealed when Otto visited his daughter, Alicent, telling her to decorate in her mom’s garb and go see the grieving king. She was shocked by his request, as a result of whereas he was delicate about it, he needed her to supply consolation. And from their unstated phrases, by any means crucial. Clearly, he was promoting his daughter, figuring out if the teenage Alicent was capable of romance and bear the king sons, then Otto would have a declare to the throne by them.
It’s actually creepy, although, for a father to objectify his youngster like that, particularly after they themselves had been mourning the lack of Alicent’s mom resulting from sickness. However, Otto confirmed no hesitance, nor did he view his daughter with compassion in a world run by poisonous males. To him, she was a device for use politically, which trumps what Baelish did in GoT when he used Sansa as a bargaining chip with Ramsay Bolton.
Not that it is condoned, however Baelish manipulated strangers and enterprise associates to get his manner, whereas Otto, pretending to be virtuous to the courtroom, stripped his personal blood of her company. Thankfully, Viserys and Alicent merely mentioned historical past, however seeing because the king’s susceptible, Otto is aware of it is a matter of time earlier than he can entrap his king. Ultimately, although, Daemon shall be protecting shut watch on all this, not simply because he hates how Otto stored getting him sidelined, however as a result of he, too, has a watch on the throne that he’d prefer to preserve occupied by pure Targaryen blood.
House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on HBO and streams on HBO Max.
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