The Green Viper: The Curious Origins of the Hightowers, the Daynes and Their Ancient History with House Targaryen
In Episode 6 of House of the Dragon, we see an older Alicent Hightower wearing a stunning, 16th century-inspired gown of deep emerald green. The diamond-patterned texture on the dress, it’s colouring and the way it shimmers in the light when the queen moves, all give off the effect of an elegant serpent gliding through tall grass. A few eagle eyed viewers like @asecret3rdthing on Twitter have noticed this curious design choice on Alicent’s wardrobe, and I don’t think this costuming choice is accidental.
There are many theories out there regarding the curious and mysterious origins of the Hightowers of Oldtown. The High Tower that they were named after is built upon a giant, thick slab of obsidian rock which looks almost identical to the fused dragon stones of Old Valyria. The fact that the Valyrians were never known to go so deep into Westeros, with no records of dragons flying over Oldtown and the Citadel being older than the Valyrian empire, all points to the curious possibility that there was a pre-Valyrian, dragonlord civilisation present in Oldtown - and possibily even ancient Westeros. After all, many maesters have studied the giant black rock at the base of the High Tower and they’ve all come to the same conclusion - that it’s identical in properties to Valyrian dragon stone but it’s a type of technology that can only be made by harnessing dragon fire.
The Hightowers themselves aren’t main pov characters in the current timeline of the A Song of Ice and Fire series but we do get a few descriptions of some Hightowers in the books. For example, Alerie Hightower, the daughter of the current Lord of Oldtown Lord Leyton Hightower and the mother of Queen Margaery Tyrell, is described as having pale gold hair which looks almost silvery in the light. She’s only in her early 30s and being a Hightower by birth and a Tyrell by marriage, it’s safe to assume that her silver hair isn’t the result of stress and age, as she’s most likely lived a very luxurious and comfortable life since the day she was born, so we can only assume that the silver in her hair is natural. Jorah Mormont’s second wife, Lady Lynesse Hightower, had golden hair and bore a striking resemblence to the Valyrian Daenerys Targaryen, to the point where it is likely that Jorah’s infatuation with Dany is due to her looking almost identical to Lynesse. From these examples, we can deduce that the Hightowers have some dragonlord colouring - namely pale gold/silver hair, pale skin and possibly even purple eyes, in shades of violet or blue. Although Alicent Hightower in the HBO series is portayed with auburn hair, her appearence in Fire and Blood is never described, and it’s interesting to note that her marriage to Viserys prodcued four children who all had the dragonlord colouring with no variation. When the Targaryens weren’t marrying each other to preseve their dragon blood, or the Velaryons to preseve their Valyrian looks, they seemed to gravitate towards the Hightowers of Oldtown (one of Maegor’s wives was Ceryse Hightower). Juding by the fact that the Targaryens were obsessed with blood purity, perhaps it wasn’t just the Hightower money and politcal influence they lusted after, but their dragonlord looks? It wouldn’t be the first time the Targaryens wed into a minor house - Dyanna Dayne was the wife of King Maekar I, and the Daynes are well known to have silver hair and purple eyes (see Darkstar and Ashara Dayne), despite not being Valyrian in origin. Both the Hightowers and Daynes have similar names as well (Alerie Hightower and Alleras Dayne, Arthur Dayne and Uthor Hightower, Clarisse Dayne and Ceryse Hightower, Vorian Dayne and Dorian Hightower, to name just a few). These similar naming choices in the families point to a common ancestral origin.
So, if the Hightowers aren’t Valyrians but have their looks, then it’s safe to assume that they descend from either the relatives or the ancestors of the Valyrians, which make them possible descendents of another, pre-Valyrian dragonlord civilisation - the Great Empire of the Dawn. It’s highly plausible that they’re related to the Daynes as well and both families’ histories do stretch back to the Dawn Age and the Age of Heroes, when the Long Night lore was being made. If so, then it would make Alicent’s costuming choices in House of the Dragon all the more fascinating and poignant. Snakes are lizards, just like Dragons - Caraxes the Blood Wyrm famously moves around like a winged serpent. The serpentine scale patterns on Alicent’s dress could be a literary clue. Snakes, being earth-bound and silent, are much less destructive and all-conquering than dragons. We know that the Great Empire of the Dawn didn’t create nearly as much misery and destruction as the Valyrian Freehold did, even if they did possess dragons (which is likely). Snakes are also associated with water in many real world traditions and both the Hightowers and Daynes have their family seats, the High Tower and Starfall, at the mouths of rivers (the Honeywine and the Torrentine, respectively), whilst dragons and the Targaryens are associated with fire and have their power based on volcanic islands. So, does GRRM give us a story clue in the Dance of the Dragons? Many maesters believe that the Valyrians were taught to tame dragons by “someone else” - what if this exchange of knowledge wasn’t as peaceful as historians would think? What if the Dance is yet another chapter in the violent history of the enmity between two dragonlord (or lizardlord) civilisations - the Valyrians and the Great Empire of the Dawn/Asshai? In simpler terms - was the Dance of the Dragons lizard on lizard crime?
Look at that (serpentine) shimmer on her dress!
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