House of the Dragon star Rhys Ifans has no idea what happened to Otto Hightower, either

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As a die-hard fan who has spent countless hours immersed in the intricate world of Westeros, I find myself on the edge of my seat as the mysteries of “House of the Dragon” continue to unfold. The cliffhanger involving Otto Hightower, one of the most enigmatic characters in the series, has left me utterly bewildered and eagerly anticipating the next season.

The second installment of “House of the Dragon” concluded with several suspenseful plot twists. Daemon Targaryen mobilized troops in the Riverlands, poised for conflict against Criston Cole’s forces. Tyland Lannister negotiated a deal with pirates, who are preparing to set sail for Dragonstone. Alicent Hightower vowed to hand over King’s Landing to Rhaenyra Targaryen and granted her permission to eliminate her children. However, we won’t witness the outcomes of these events until the series comes back for its third season, which is expected in 2026.

One surprising twist from the finale was about Alicent’s father Otto Hightower. Earlier in the season, he had departed King’s Landing for an unspecified destination, hinting that he might return to his native Reach to strengthen the faction there. However, it seems his plans didn’t work out as planned, since we see him in the last moments of “The Queen Who Ever Was” confined in a jail cell.

We have no idea who captured Otto or why. In the show’s source material, the book Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin, Otto never leaves King’s Landing, so that won’t be any help. Our best guess is that Otto traveled to the Reach and is captured by House Beesbury, one of a few noble houses in that area who have declared themselves loyal to Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, rather than to Otto’s grandson King Aegon II Targaryen. But that’s just speculation.

It seems Rhys Ifans, who portrays Otto, doesn’t have any additional information. According to his statement to Inverse, “As actors, we are usually the last to find out about our characters’ secrets.” He further explained that no one has shared with him definitively where Otto is at that point in the story. All we know is that he’s still alive somewhere within that world, and that’s all I know too – just like the fans.

To clarify matters, it’s important to note that even the director of the final episode isn’t privy to Otto’s whereabouts or what may have transpired with him. It seems that showrunner Ryan Condal is guarding this information quite carefully. In an Inside the Episode featurette, he mentioned, “We discover Otto in a cell somewhere, but we’re unsure of his exact location or what might have occurred to him.” Here’s hoping and presuming there’s a strategy in place for Otto’s storyline.

According to Condal, filming for season 3 of the show might commence early in 2025. This means that Ifans may discover Otto’s fate sooner rather than later. As for the rest of us, we’ll probably need to be patient until 2026 when fresh episodes start streaming on HBO and Max. In the interim, you can catch Ifans on the big screen as Martin Moon, a character Wikipedia describes as a “hippie and alien enthusiast” in the movie Vemon: The Last Dance, which is now playing in cinemas!

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2024-10-25 21:41