This post contains major spoilers for House of the Dragon season three, episode four. If you want to avoid them until you watch, you can instead check out our coverage of episode three.
Noble and ancient House Hightower of Oldtown is one of the oldest, most respected, most influential families in the Realm. It has closer ties than any to both the Faith of the Seven and the Citadel of the maesters. One of its own served multiple kings as Hand. Alicent’s sons are now fighting their half-sister to sit on the Iron Throne. None of that is enough for Lord Ormund Hightower. House of the Dragon‘s fourth episode of season three revealed that the show’s newest commander is not just a dangerous man. Ormund’s secret ambition, reprehensible views, and broken moral compass make him Westeros’ next great villain.
Ormund Hightower’s formal introduction in House of the Dragon‘s season three premiere showed him to be a prissy commander with little patience for those he deems beneath him. In episode three, we then saw he’s not nearly as honorable as you might expect from both a lord of a major house and a devoted follower of the Seven. During his meeting with Daemon, Ormund bent the knee to Rhaenyra. He swore fealty to the Queen and promised to return home with his forces. It was all a ruse done under the guise of a false sacred vow.
Ormund had forced a scared, innocent young man to take the place of his squire, his nephew Prince Daeron Targaryen. If the boy did not go and remain quite at the Red Keep, Ormund said he’d hurt the boy’s mother. Lord Hightower’s treachery further revealed itself when he then sacked the market town of Tumbleton while Rhaenyra’s guard was down.
The city had raised Rhaenyra’s banners, but seemingly served little military purpose beyond its proximity to King’s Landing. The Queen could not figure out exactly why Ormund would take Tumbleton of all places, but his true ambition revealed itself throughout the season’s fourth episode. Rhaenyra learned that despite many letters from Otto, Ormund had never responded to his uncle. Grand Maester Orwyle thought that signaled Ormund had been ruling Oldtown as his own kingdom. Now he wants to rule all of King’s Landing via his surrogate son, his ward Daeron. Only, Ormund doesn’t want Daeron to rule as a Targaryen. He wants him to rule as a Hightower.
Ormund called Daeron’s dragon Tessarion a “beast” unworthy of affection. It’s no surprise any member of an ancient noble family would hate the creatures that brought the Realm to heel, but Ormund’s animosity for House Targaryen goes well beyond its dragons and reign. He’s an egomaniacal supremacist and a religious zealot who hates the literal blood of old Valyria. Here’s what he told Daeron, a boy he has raised like his own son, about the other side of the Prince’s family:
There is a taint in your blood. The Targaryens are a savage race, poor in intellect, but rich in cunning. With dark spells they created abominations to subdue what was rightly ours. We are the superior men, but against that we could not stand.
Ormund’s vile views about House Targaryen are bad enough, but his plan is even worse. He also wants Daeron to turn cloak against his own brothers and claim the Iron Throne for himself. That’s why Ormund—who clearly has bouts of rage often enough Daeron knew an outburst was coming despite Ormund’s calm exterior—was so upset when Aemond did not come to Tumbleton like he was supposed to.
Ormund plans to kill Aemond (and likely his dragon Vhagar) so Daeron can fulfill his “divine purpose” and be named King. He will then rule as a follower of the Seven, just as House Hightower and Oldtown would want. Lord Ormund believes that is the only way to return “reason” and “propriety” to Westeros, traits he does not believe House Targaryen possesses.
One trait of House Targaryen that the prim and proper noble does not believe in, though, is mercy. When Daeron wanted to spare the innocent man who defended his wife and sister from an assault by a Hightower soldier, Ormund yelled that Daeron sounded like his father, Viserys. Lord Hightower then manipulated his ward, whom everyone says is a good, kind boy, into murdering the man. Ormund’s quest to place a Hightower who listens to him/he controls knows no limits. He sacrificed his own nephew’s inherent goodness to mold him into being the man Ormund is.
The fact such depraved ambition, duplicitous actions, and dishonorable acts come from a man who also “sees himself as a scholar, studies the histories, collects tapestries, writes ballads, despises the ignorant and uncouth” makes Ormund Hightower a compelling, complex character. It also makes him even more detestable. He was already easy to hate when he just seemed like a stuck up noble, the worst kind of highborn who despise the commonborn for simply being common born. The kind of lord who truly believes his lot in life is god-given proof of his superiority rather than being random luck. But to see what Ormund Hightower uses his station in life to do, the way he views others, even those he proclaims to care about, makes him more monstrous than the dragons he hates.
We now know what Lord Ormund Hightower believes in. We now know what he truly wants and the depths he’ll go for even more power. Combined with James Norton’s fantastic performance, it’s enough to make him Westeros’ next great villain. And like all great villains, he also has a weakness. How exactly might a very strong sensitivity to odors bring him down, though? We don’t know yet. But whatever ultimately defeats him we know, like Ormund Hightower himself, it will stink.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He never liked Daeron so it’s fine he sold his soul for power. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.