‘House of the Dragon’ fans can’t decide if Otto is a diamond or a d*ckhead

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon.

Ser Otto Hightower has perplexed fans of House of the Dragon with his enticing charisma and flagrant ruthlessness.

Rhys Ifans’ turn as The Hand of King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) is both captivating and shocking to fans of the Game of Thrones spinoff. Redditor grimmjowjagerjaques2 shared their bewilderment in the r/HouseOfTheDragon subreddit in a post captioned, “Me rooting for Otto thinking he’s an honorable man. Otto: Go f–k the king my daughter. Me:[…]” accompanied by a a stoic faced meme from Monsters Inc.

In “The Heirs of the Dragon”, the first episode of the new series, Ser Otto quickly proves to be a scheming opportunist. When Viserys loses his wife and newborn son, the conniving rogue encourages his alluring daughter Alicient (Olivia Cooke) to comfort the grieving monarch. 

Then, Ser Otto informs the king about offensive comments made by the heir to the Iron Throne, Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), which inevitably cause the brothers to clash, opening the door to a new successor and a Pandora’s box of family conflict.

ScourgeoftheSaracen enjoyed the revelation of Ser Otto’s duplicity, comparing him to a hybrid of Tywin Lannister and Littlefinger.

Redditor ScipioNumantia was disturbed by Ser Otto’s willingness to exploit his daughter in his quest for power, and was especially dismayed when he told her what dress to wear.

BuffyLoo pointed out that George R.R. Martin has a distinctly nuanced view of human nature, and creates morally ambiguous characters who vacillate between kindness and cruelty. Heroism is often offset by moments of corruption, and vice versa, but their contradictory qualities are part of what makes them so fascinating.

Svdomer09 highlighting the creep factor of The Hand asking Alicent to wear her late mother’s dress for the encounter.

It’s no accident that fans feel conflicted about Ser Otto. Ifans’s portrayal of the sophisticated manipulator is subtle yet masterful. He exudes venerated status with a distinguished appearance and a soft-yet-commanding aristocratic voice. By concealing his character’s Machiavellian nature with false virtue, he is free to cunningly influences the king and the realm to serve his own purpose.

House of the Dragon is streaming on HBO Max.