Warning: Spoilers ahead for episode six of season three of “House of the Dragon” and the book “Fire & Blood.” Gwayne Hightower has emerged as an important figure in the third season of “House of the Dragon,” although he follows a very different arc than readers of the book expected. Played by Freddie Fox, Gwayne
Warning: Spoilers ahead for episode six of season three of “House of the Dragon” and the book “Fire & Blood.”
Gwayne Hightower has emerged as an important figure in the third season of “House of the Dragon,” although he follows a very different arc than readers of the book expected.
Played by Freddie Fox, Gwayne joins the action in the second season of the HBO show when he arrives in King’s Landing. He is known as a skilled warrior, brother of the Dowager Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke), eldest son of Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), and next in line to lead House Hightower after his cousin, Ormund Hightower (James Norton).
Unlike some of his fellow Greens (Ormund, cough, cough), Gwayne quickly proves to be altruistic, insightful, and level-headed; When Alicent comments that it must have been difficult growing up in Oldtown with a dead mother and an absent father, he replies, “You just keep going, don’t you? When there’s no other option.”
Gwayne decides to join Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel) in his campaign to claim Harrenhal, the largest castle in the Riverlands, on behalf of King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney). He serves as a close confidant and voice of reason for Criston, despite his dwindling army and worsening chances of survival.
However, even Gwayne’s patience has limits. After trying and failing to convince Criston to abandon his campaign, or at least chart a more discreet course, Gwayne fails in season three, episode five, “Unbowed and Unbent.” Instead of following Criston to his doom, he joins Ormund and the rest of Hightower’s army at Tumbleton, where he also reunites with his beloved nephew, Prince Daeron Targaryen (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth). In the next episode, Gwayne saves Daeron’s life from assassins.
As Gwayne’s story unfolds, he could prove essential to the success or failure of Ormund’s master plan: crowning Daeron King of Westeros. It may even play a role in the fate of House Hightower, but unfortunately the source material won’t give us many clues.
In George RR Martin’s original book, “Fire & Blood,” Gwayne’s survival instinct is not as sharp. In fact, Gwayne never gets the chance to reunite with Ormund and Daeron because he never leaves King’s Landing with Criston. Everything after that point has been invented for show.
Read on to find out what happens to Gwayne in the book.
In the book, Gwayne is killed by a gold cloak when Rhaenyra returns to King’s Landing.
Olivia Cooke and Freddie Fox as Alicent and Gwayne Hightower in “House of the Dragon.” Ollie Upton/HBO
In the book, as in the show, Rhaenyra returns to King’s Landing when Prince Aemond flies to Harrenhal on his dragon, Vhagar, leaving the city unprotected.
Rhaenyra meets little resistance, as she arrives with her own dragon, Syrax, Prince Daemon and his dragon, Caraxes, plus her newly recruited dragon riders for additional firepower.
Additionally, the knights of the City Watch (also known as “golden cloaks”) have secretly remained loyal to Daemon, unbeknownst to the Greens.
In the book, unlike the show, Gwayne is a knight of the City Watch. When Aegon II ascended the throne and Gwayne’s father, Otto Hightower, was still Hand of the King, Gwayne was appointed second-in-command to Ser Luthor Largent. Otto ordered his son to “keep a watchful eye on Ser Luthor for any signs of disloyalty.”
It turns out that Otto was right to distrust Luthor. When Rhaenyra returns to take the Iron Throne, Gwayne runs to the stables, intending to sound the alarm and gather strength against the intruders. Instead, he is “seized, disarmed, and dragged before his commander.”
“When Hightower denounced him as a traitor, Ser Luthor laughed,” the book says. “‘Daemon gave us these cloaks,’ he said, ‘and they are gold no matter how you spin them.’ Then he plunged his sword into Ser Gwayne’s belly and ordered the city gates to be opened.”
King’s Landing falls in less than a day, Rhaenyra assumes her place as queen and Otto quickly follows her son to the grave, beheaded as a traitor.
Meanwhile, in “The House of the Dragon”, Gwayne lives to fight another day while Gwayne’s canon assassin, Ser Luthor, is dead, murdered by a group of mercenaries hired by Ormund to undermine Rhaenyra’s rule.