Possibly redeeming the disaster that was season 8 of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon already seems to be establishing some interesting theories and plot points. It is set around 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
The series follows a succession struggle within the royal house of Targaryen, while also featuring more dragons compared to the original show. It stars Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen and Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen.
*Spoilers Ahead*
Are Otto Hightower and the maesters colluding?
As speculations are running wild, one that has all the fans donning their thinking hats is the secret intent of the Hand of the King, Otto Hightower. His house was integral in the building of the citadel and still funds the institution, it is the central home to the order of the maesters.
The maesters have also been speculated to hate the Targaryens as they dislike magic and dragons. Their hatred for dragons and magic was described in the book A Feast for Crows, wherein an archmaester of the Citadel, Marwyn the Mage stated the same, the paragraph goes:
“‘Who do you think killed all the dragons the last time around? Gallant dragonslayers armed with swords?’ He spat. ‘The world the Citadel is building has no place in it for sorcery or prophecy or glass candles, much less for dragons.'”
Since his family is so heavily interlinked with the Citadel and he does already have hatred for one of the Targaryens, the theory is not so farfetched.
Otto Hightower’s plot against King Viserys
We have already seen the Hand of the King make King Viserys banish his brother from his court in episode 1 of House of the Dragon. Furthermore, the king was also shown to have injured himself while sitting on the Iron Throne, an injury that the maesters cannot heal or fix.
Furthermore, the medieval caesarian performed on the queen was also the Grand Maester’s suggestion, an event that didn’t end well. Otto also seems to be tightening the grip on the king by making his daughter court the king, after his wife’s death.
All of these events further indicate how Otto Hightower and the archmaester have weakened Viserys. He lost his wife and brother within a couple of days and has an incurable disease and now they are getting closer to fully control him.
House of the Dragon is now streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Decider
