I hate how they made house Hightower be the "I hate and don't respect women because Oldtown=Vatican" in the show when House Hightower history is full of women being respected/powerful. And if you read between be lines you can see how women of house Hightower are actually put in places/positions that most noblewoman aren't
Patrice Hightower was a maiden and of course considered a witch. She was a possible suspect in the murder of a high Septon. Because this woman got an private audience with the high Septon.
Queen Ceryse Hightower family never casted her aside or blamed her for not having children. They actually forced Maegor to respect and give her "rights, incomes, and privileges due her as lawful queen". Of course for my sadness we have no idea what that means but she seems to have been the only wife of Maegor to have those rights
You have wonderful metas of how Alicent was respected by her family.
In current canon we have Malora that never married and seems very well educated. Also her brother seems to be married for at least 10 years or more to Rhonda Rowan and they have no children. No word of casting his wife aside or anything.
People seem to forget that House Hightower is not just connected to the Faith but the only university in Westeros. I know that the theory that they plot to kill all Targaryens is something a lot believe but it makes little sense to me.
Sure, the Faith probably despises that the ruling family practices incest. The Maesters don't like magic. But house Hightower is probably the most Targaryen loyal house in the Reach, full of family members who were "witches" and explorers. Hell, post Dance they even went against the Faith when it came to marriage.
The show treat the Hightowers as if they’re simply “the medieval Catholic Church but evil,” when the actual history of House Hightower is far more nuanced. Ironically, if you compare the two houses, it’s arguably the Targaryens who more consistently subjected their women to abuse through forced marriages, repeated childbearing and incestuous expectations.
Meanwhile, Hightower women appear to enjoy more influence than many noblewomen in Westeros. They repeatedly make politically significant marriages, are closely connected to one of the wealthiest and most influential houses in the realm, and seem to occupy positions of social and political importance that many other noblewomen never attain. The family repeatedly produces notable women who leave a mark on history. They’re hardly portrayed as a house that locks every daughter away or refuses to value women altogether.
Sure that the Hightowers are conservative and closely tied to the Faith, but "religious" doesn’t mean "women have no power." Medieval societies were far more complicated than that. The irony is that George rarely writes institutions or noble houses as ideological monoliths.
Before the Conquest, Aegon and Visenya were welcomed in Oldtown. Long before the Targaryens ruled Westeros, Aegon and Visenya visited Oldtown and were received without hostility. They were even allowed to spend time at the Citadel, the greatest center of learning in Westeros. If the Hightowers had viewed the Targaryens as some existential enemy from the very beginning, there would have been little reason to extend that level of hospitality or allow them access to one of the realm’s most prestigious institutions.
The Hightowers never marched against Aegon at the Field of Fire. When Aegon began his conquest, House Hightower did not join the Gardener-Lannister alliance that attempted to stop him. Instead of throwing thousands of men into a hopeless war, they ultimately surrendered Oldtown peacefully. This decision preserved both the city and its people. That is hardly the behavior of a house ideologically committed to opposing the Targaryens.
Aegon’s reign officially began in Oldtown. After the conquest, Aegon was anointed and crowned by the High Septon in the Starry Sept in Oldtown. The High Septon, who had close ties to House Hightower, publicly recognized Aegon’s rule, and the people of Oldtown celebrated him as he rode through the city on Balerion. If House Hightower had truly considered the Targaryens their enemies, it would be strange for the very foundation of Targaryen kingship to be tied so closely to their city.
House Hightower supported the Targaryens during the First Dornish War. Rather than distancing themselves from the new dynasty, the Hightowers were among the houses that actively aided Aegon’s campaigns against Dorne. At a time when loyalty to the new royal house still had to be proven, they stood alongside the Targaryens instead of undermining them.
Aegon himself accepted a Hightower marriage alliance. When Ceryse Hightower’s uncle proposed that Prince Maegor marry his niece, Aegon accepted. This was not a forced political arrangement imposed upon the Targaryens - it was a marriage willingly approved by the king himself. Fire & Blood even notes that Maegor proudly boasted of consummating the marriage many times on the wedding night, with witnesses describing him as a “lusty husband.” Whatever Maegor later became, the marriage itself was presented as a genuine alliance between two respected houses. Even after taking multiple wives, Maegor continued to recognize Ceryse as Queen. Despite Maegor’s later polygamous marriages, Ceryse retained her official status as Queen of Westeros. He also restored her lands and titles rather than stripping her of her position. Considering Maegor’s notoriously cruel treatment of many people around him, the fact that Ceryse continued to be formally recognized says something about both her standing and the importance of the Hightower alliance.
Lord Hightower refused one of Maegor’s most unjust commands. After Rhaena Targaryen escaped Maegor, he ordered Lord Hightower to execute the young Rhaella, who was training to become a septa, as punishment for her mother’s actions. Lord Hightower flatly refused. Instead of carrying out the king’s order, he imprisoned the royal messenger. Defying Maegor was dangerous, yet he chose to protect a young Targaryen girl rather than obey an immoral command.
Alicent clearly loved Jaehaerys. As a young girl, Alicent personally cared for the aging King Jaehaerys. She brought him meals, helped him wash and dress, and spent hours reading to him. On her deathbed, when reflecting on the people she wished to see again. She didn’t mention her father or her brothers she remembered the old king who used to tell her she had a lovely voice.
Rhaena Targaryen willingly married Garmund Hightower. Rhaena, one of the highest-ranking surviving Targaryens and the sister of the king, married Garmund Hightower, a third son with little prospect of inheritance. Politically, she could have sought a far more advantageous match. Instead, she built an entire life with him, giving birth to six daughters. That hardly reflects a relationship between two houses defined by mutual hatred.
Ser Gerold Hightower died protecting the Targaryen dynasty. The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard had numerous opportunities to surrender or abandon his post after Rhaegar’s defeat. He refused every one of them. Instead, he remained at the Tower of Joy defending Rhaegar’s son until his death. Unlike Jaime Lannister, who ultimately killed the king he served, Gerold remained loyal to his vows and to House Targaryen until the very end.
The Hightowers remained loyal during Robert’s Rebellion. When much of the realm abandoned the Targaryens, House Hightower did not suddenly switch sides for personal gain. They remained aligned with the ruling house until its collapse.
Even Daenerys expects House Hightower to support her. When Daenerys thinks about the great houses that may rally to her cause, House Hightower is among them. That expectation is rooted in centuries of cooperation between the two. There are also traditions suggesting Oldtown would suffer if it opposed the “Blood of the Dragon,” which may explain why the Hightowers acted cautiously during later Targaryen succession disputes, including the First Blackfyre Rebellion, rather than openly abandoning the dynasty.
The claim that House Hightower has always been the “enemy” of House Targaryen is propaganda coming from the show.
vaporwave
izzy806
stormborns
gummygunk
theartofmadeline
tangentwithtanner
blakekathryn
