More than 112 years after the death of Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), a child was born to Lord Tytos Lannister and Lady Jeyne Marbrand at Casterly Rock. His name was Tywin (Charles Dance), and he saw House Lannister return to prominence after the perceivably weak rule of his father. Game of Thrones fans know Tywin's exploits well, and it doesn't take too close of an eye test to see his actions reflected in those of Otto Hightower in the first season of House of the Dragon. Both men are considerably cold, calculating, and will go to nearly any length to ensure the prosperity of their dynasty and the furthering of their station.
Even though they were separated by over a century of history, the two lords are eerily similar, both in George R.R. Martin's source material and their on-screen portrayals courtesy of HBO. Both served as Hands of the King during the peak of their power, and both had a taste for ruthlessness to secure their status. Both participated in wars that threatened to tear Westeros apart, and both eventually learned the price of ambition in their deaths. Considering the significant chasm of time between the two men, it may not be inconceivable to think that Lord Tywin took more than a few pages from Ser Otto, though he likely aimed to do a few things quite differently.
Tywin and Otto's Passion For Their Families' Prestige
There's no denying that both lords have a fervent love for their families, as long as they continue to improve their respective houses' position. Otto Hightower's house is one of the oldest and proudest of the Great Houses in all the Seven Kingdoms. The Citadel is housed in Oldtown, as is the Starry Sept of the Faith of the Seven. The status of the city as a hub of trade made the Hightowers incredibly wealthy, not unlike the massive mines of Casterly Rock and the trading port of Lannisport. With wealth, power follows, and Houses Lannister and Hightower are both stridently protected by their patriarchs. Otto pairs his daughter Alicent (Olivia Cooke/Emily Carey) with King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine), and sees his grandson Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney/Ty Tennant) seated on the Iron Throne despite the wishes of Viserys to see his daughter Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy/Milly Alcock) ascend as queen.
Over a century later, Lord Tywin follows along quite closely. He marries his daughter Cersei (Lena Heady) to King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), and is infuriated when his son Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) forgoes his inheritance of Casterly Rock to become a knight of the Kingsguard. When his grandson Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) becomes king after Robert's death, Tywin is willing to fight the War of Five Kings to protect his kin's status as the crown monarch of Westeros. The first season of House of the Dragon may not have showed us the breadth of the war known as the Dance of the Dragons quite yet, but Otto Hightower certainly has set the stage in the interest of defending his own grandson's claim.
It's quite interesting to see the parallels of Kings Aegon II and Joffrey through the eyes of their grandfathers, and how closely the situations mirror themselves. In House of the Dragon, Aegon is a drunk and a sexual deviant, and has no wish to become king as it would draw him away from pursuing his more carnal desires. Despite Aegon not being anything close to kingly material, Otto ensures his ascension and defends his claim against all challengers. King Joffrey was no better, known throughout King's Landing and the realm at large for his unspeakable cruelty and his own sick fascination with the prospect of murder, war, torture, and death. Be that as it may, Tywin did all he could to stay his grandson's worst impulses, but Westeros' own little Caligula continued to abuse and torture his subjects for fun. As long as a progeny of House Lannister (even one born of incest) sat the Iron Throne, Lord Tywin would be there to keep him seated and stop anybody who interfered. Otto and Tywin may have serious issues with their respective grandsons as rulers, but in their eyes it's better than having someone else sit the throne and resist their influence.
The main point of difference between them when it comes to family is that Otto Hightower appears to have love for most, if not all of his family (though some children such as Aegon surely test his patience). Conversely, Tywin has a bitter revulsion of his son Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), who he blames for killing his wife Joanna during his birth and who he considers a blight on the prestige of his house. However, as a prideful and ambitious man, there's no indication that Ser Otto wouldn't act the exact same way towards a family member in the same circumstance. Furthermore, Tywin begins to lash out at his children as they further go against his wishes for House Lannister, disinheriting Jaime at one point and actively undermining both Cersei and Tyrion on multiple occasions for attempting to cross him. Tywin even presides over the trial for the death of King Joffrey, forcing Tyrion to defend himself in a kangaroo court before the lords of the realm. No doubt in Tywin's view, if Tyrion is executed or sent to the wall, he's one less problem for House Lannister. Both Otto and Tywin play the game to further their houses' name and reputation, and even their kin aren't spared their wrath if they are defiant.
Both Lords Have a Penchant for Callousness and Violence
Sure, Tywin and Otto consider themselves shining paragons of prestige, but they're absolutely not afraid to get their hands dirty. Well before the death of King Viserys, Otto begins scheming and manipulating his daughter to seat Prince Aegon on the throne over Princess Rhaenyra. Well before Viserys' death, he monitors Rhaenyra's movements, including a night of debauchery where she and Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) sneak into a flea bottom whorehouse get quite intimate. Ser Otto pounces on the moment and immediately brings news to King Viserys, stating that Daemon deflowered his daughter, likely in hope that this scandal would cause Viserys to name Aegon his heir instead. Even after being dismissed as Hand of the King, it's clear upon Otto's return to the position that the line of succession is the biggest thing on his mind. He may say seating Aegon is good for the realm, but he knows who his grandson is. Despite this, Aegon can still serve as a malleable ruler due to his lack of desire to be king, making Otto the most powerful man in Westeros in deed if not in name. When Prince Aegon goes missing before his own coronation ceremony, a rift is opened between Otto and Alicent. They both dispatch their respective agents into King's Landing to find the lecherous prince, but they have very different plans on what to do once he's retrieved. Alicent, hoping to somehow strike an amicable accord with Princess Rhaenyra and avoid bloodshed, hopes to send a message pleading for peace before war is joined over the line of succession. Otto has no such desires, and instead aims to recover Aegon and then have Rhaenyra, her husband Daemon and their children killed to secure his grandson's claim. He may not have ultimately been successful, and war broke out regardless, but moments such as these show Otto's willingness to shed blood in an underhand manner to keep his family safe.
With Tywin, do you really have to think about it? If there was an unspeakable or ignoble act towards those that opposed him, Tywin likely had a hand in it. No Game of Thrones fan has forgotten the Red Wedding or the harrowing quote "the Lannisters send their regards." The death of King Robb Stark (Richard Madden), his pregnant wife Talisa (Oona Chaplin) and his mother Catelyn (Michelle Fairley) was only one of the most wicked acts in TV history. Let's not forget that well before the War of Five Kings, during Robert Baratheon's rebellion against House Targaryen, Tywin Lannister also set loose the bloodthirsty Ser Gregor Clegane (Hafþór Björnsson/Conan Stevens) into the Red Keep. This ultimately led to the brutal murder of Elia Martell and her children by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen (Wilf Scolding). He uses blackmail to separate Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) from Queen Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), and plenty of smaller machinations all in the ultimate interest of furthering him and his house's ambitions. Unfortunately for Tywin, so many wicked deeds eventually caught up to him, and in an act of poetic justice, Tyrion kills him with a crossbow, reminding him one final time that he is Tywin's son, no matter what his cold-hearted father might think.
House of the Dragon is still in its infancy, and Otto Hightower's schemes have only just begun. He may not quite have the murderous guile of Tywin Lannister, but he'll still use all the tricks in the book to bring victory for King Aegon's faction. For watchers of HBO's prequel adaptation, Otto's story is far from finished, and we might yet see many more wicked deeds on his part. Both Otto Hightower and Tywin Lannister left lasting legacies in the annals of the history of the Seven Kingdoms, and there's little doubt that these two lords are surely birds of a feather, for better or worse.