How A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Secretly Spoils House of the Dragon’s Ending

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Valarr (son of Baelor) and Aerion (son of Maekar) both compete in the tilts, as do members from several other notable houses from Game of Thrones: the likes of the Lannisters, Baratheons, and Tullys are all represented. And among all of those, glimpsed at the very end of Episode 2, “Hard Salt Beef,” is a member of House Hightower. Though not named on screen, he’s visible thanks to the sigil – a stone tower with a green flame at the top – and, based on the book, is Abelar Hightower, who faces off with Valarr. That’s basically his entire role in this story, and that’s a subtle sign for House of the Dragon‘s future.

What Happens To House Hightower At The End Of & After House Of The Dragon

Major Spoilers Ahead For Fire & Blood, The Book HOTD Is Based On

Image via HBO

Things ultimately don’t go well for the Hightowers in the Dance of the Dragons. In Fire & Blood, when Rhaenyra Targaryen takes King’s Landing, both Otto and Gwayne are killed, while Alicent is taken captive (and dies in the Red Keep a few years later). Lord Ormund, meanwhile (who’ll be introduced in House of the Dragon Season 3), is killed at the First Battle of Tumbleton, as is one of his cousins, Ser Bryndon. Another of his cousins, Ser Hobert, is then killed at the Second Battle of Tumbleton, and eventually the Hightower host, now commanded by Lord Unwin Peake, retreats.

All of those should be shown in House of the Dragon Seasons 3 and 4, though with some possible deviations. For instance, Otto has been imprisoned by a mystery captor, and it’s not yet been revealed where he is (which could be King’s Landing, House Beesbury in the Reach, or somewhere else). Likewise, Gwayne is a commander of the City Watch in King’s Landing when Rhaenyra takes the city in the book, whereas in the show he’s already left with Ser Criston Cole. Both will presumably still die, but there might be some changes to how and when.

It’s clear from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms that, by this point, the Hightowers are not closely allied with the royal family. If a Hightower were still queen, for instance, that would likely be much clearer, rather than them just being a random house with one knight who goes up against a Targaryen prince in the joust. But in a way, this is by the Hightowers’ own design. After the Dance, they largely decide to focus on trade, accumulating power and wealth that way rather than participating in wars.

During the Blackfyre Rebellion, which took place 13 years before AKOTSK, they played both sides of the Targaryens and Blackfyres, not fully supporting either. They’ll continue to have influence to some degree, and a few notable characters pop up through the years – such as Ser Gerold Hightower, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard during the reign of Aerys II Targaryen, aka the Mad King, who is killed at the Tower of Joy. But in terms of the ruling political power we’ve seen in House of the Dragon, things will never quite be the same.

New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms release Sundays at 10pm ET on HBO and HBO Max. House of the Dragon Season 3 is expected to release in summer 2026.

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