Margaery Tyrell is an ancestor of the Hightowers on her mother’s side. She is the daughter of Mace Tyrell and Alerie Hightower.
If fact, when Margaery wed King Tommen Baratheon, she briefly served as queen consort. However, Margaery was destroyed along with Margaery’s brother and father in the Sept attack by Tommen’s power-hungry mother, Cersei.
Although Alicent is undoubtedly being coerced by her father to serve Viserys in the first HOTD episode, as the plot progresses, Alicent learns to use her marriage to Viserys and her capacity to bear children as her greatest strengths. It’s similar to how Margaery can become queen by luring Tommen into giving her the position for herself.
It’s quite difficult to understand the relationship between the two women considering the timeline between them. Alicent would be Margaery’s great-great-great-great-great-aunt if she were descended from Alicent’s cousins. Margaery was born exactly 150 years after Alicent passed away. Therefore, they have about five or six generational distance between the two.
Alicent was born to Ser Otto Hightower. Ser Gwayne Hightower was one of an unspecified number of her brothers. Four children and three grandkids were born to Alicent.
When Otto’s older brother Ord Hightower passed away, his son Ormund Hightower took over. The dynasty was maintained by the latter. Lord Leyton Hightower, one of his great-grandchildren, had a daughter named Alerie who married Mace Tyrell to reunite the two families and fortify the two clans under the banner of one House. The Tyrell dynasty featured in Game of Thrones belongs to this line.
Margaery, played by Natalie Dormer in the television series, was Mace Tyrell’s daughter. Before meeting an explosive “death” at the hands of Cersei Lannister, she wed first Renly Baratheon, then Joffrey Baratheon, and eventually King Tommen Baratheon.
Alicient Hightower Character Development
Alicent went to King’s Landing with her father when Otto first assumed the role of the Hand of the King. She became the older Jaehaerys’ constant friend while she was there.
Alicent spent so much time with Viserys’ predecessor, Jaehaerys, that it is reported that he passed away as Alicent was reading to him. Jaehaerys thought Alicent was his daughter because of their extended time together.
Knowing that it suddenly makes a lot more sense for Alicent’s father, Otto, to recommend to her in the House of the Dragon premiere that she spend time with Viserys.
Throughout the 1st season of House of the Dragon, Alicent’s standing within King’s Landing’s royal circle will only intensify and change. The series’ opening episode does an excellent job of laying the groundwork for Alicent’s overall function in the narrative without giving anything away.
Olivia Cooke will take over as Alicent in a mid-season time leap from Emily Carey, who is presently playing the role. Similarly, Milly Alcock will eventually be replaced by Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Alicent & Otto Hightower Father-Daughter Duo
Ser Otto Hightower, Alicent’s father, was one of her biggest supporters. Eventually, he pursued the issue too far and lost his position as Hand.
Otto was regarded for his famed knowledge in George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood novel, having served as Hand of the King under both Jaehaerys I and Viserys I. His plan to marry Alicent and Viserys may have given the impression that he was intellectually arrogant, but he remained meticulous.
Otto’s wife isn’t in the books, even though she is referenced in the first two episodes of House of the Dragon. Otto is the father of multiple children in the books, although the TV series has only mentioned Alicent; Martin claims that she has been deceased for a while.
After the passing of his previous Hand and son, Baelon Targaryen, Otto started acting as Jaehaerys’ Hand. At the same time, Alicent, then 15 years old, entered the royal court.
After losing his wife Alysanne a year earlier, King Jaehaerys was in despair, resulting in the Great Council, which served as the setting for the epic succession scenario that opened Season 1 of House of the Dragon.
Jaehaerys’ condition immediately deteriorated when Viserys was crowned king, and he spent the following two years bedridden, leaving Otto as the de facto ruler of the realm. In the meantime, Alicent was tasked in the novel with keeping an eye on the ill Jaehaerys.
