Ormund Hightower

Ormund is the son and successor of Lord Hobert Hightower.[3] After the death of his father he takes Hobert's ward, Alicent Hightower's youngest son Daeron Targaryen, as his own.[4]

House of the Dragon: Season 2

Otto mentions his nephew in a meeting of the Green Council, stating that Lord Ormund is mustering his forces to march out from Oldtown.[3]

At a meeting of the Green Council, Lord Jasper Wylde reveals that Lord Ormund has begun the march from Oldtown with his host. His cousin, Ser Gwayne Hightower, arrives in King's Landing ahead of the main army to reinforce Ser Criston Cole.[5]

House of the Dragon: Season 3

Ormund leads the Hightower army of 15,000 men through the Reach, aiming to reinforce the defence of King's Landing in conjunction with the arrival of the Triarchy fleet from Essos. The Hightower host makes camp at some point in their journey, where a rider from King's Landing arrives with an urgent message. Ormund reads the letter and learns from Queen Alicent that he is to remain in place with his forces until Prince Aemond Targaryen's arrival in three days time. Ormund obliges the order and sends the rider to be bathed and fed, perturbed by his rancid smell after riding non-stop from the capital.[1]

303 Ormund Still Ormund bends the knee, falsely pledging loyalty to Rhaenyra. A few days after Rhaenyra's forces take King's Landing, Ormund and his army are intercepted by Prince Daemon Targaryen, Hugh Hammer, Ulf White and their dragons Caraxes, Vermithor and Silverwing. Aware his army cannot outmatch three dragonriders, Ormund begrudingly bends the knee to Rhaenyra, surrenders his ward, Prince Daeron Targaryen, Daemon's nephew and Rhaenyra's half-brother, to Daemon's custody, and agrees to return to Oldtown. However, Ormund had no intention of honoring his pledge: the 'Daeron' he handed over to Daemon was an imposter, and Ormund and his army seize the Black stronghold of Tumbleton, hoping to bait Rhaenyra into using her dragons against his position and killing hundreds of her own subjects in the process to sour Westeros's perception of her.[6]

Ormund takes Tumbleton's castle as his headquarters over the protests of Lord Glendon and Lady Sharis Footly, mocking them for their allegiance to Rhaenyra, though he vows to keep his men under control while they occupy the town. When Ser Jon Roxton presents him with a raven from Storm's End conveying more excuses from Lord Borros Baratheon, Ormund sarcastically suggests their next message should use pictures instead of words for the illiterate Borros's benefit. Ormund also asks if there has been word from Harrenhal: when Jon responds negatively, and expresses concern their defenses won't hold without Vhagar, Ormund assures him and Daeron that Aemond will soon join them.[7]

304 Ormund Still (2) Ormund furious after being informed Aemond won't join them in battle. Ormund is later summoned to arbitrate when one of his soldiers is accused of trying to rape a common woman and breaking the arm of another who tried to intervene: when Lady Footly reminds him that he pledged to keep his men in line, Ormund agrees the the offending soldier violated guest right and orders he be gelded and have his own arm broken, adding in a threat to execute the soldier if he commits another crime, as well as sending his maester to examine the woman's broken arm. Later that day, Ormund receives a raven dispatched from Harrenhal by his cousin, Gwayne Hightower, informing him of Aemond and Vhagar's disappearance following the retaking of Harrenhal. Seeing Ormund's building anger at the news, Daeron ushers the servants out of the room for their safety before Ormund explodes with rage, smashing the table with his sword and denouncing Aemond as a coward. After a moment, Ormund recomposes himself, informs Daeron Aemond will not be joining them, and thus their plans must change.[7]

304 Ormund & Daeron Still (3) Ormund forces Daeron in executing an innocent man. That evening, Ormund finds Daeron spending time with his dragon Tessarion, who is confined in Tumbleton's sept: he chastises Daeron for showing Tessarion too much affection, dismissively calling her a beast, though he hastily backs away when the dragon, who clearly hates Ormund, tries to lunge at him before Daeron calms her down. Ormund declares his intention to seat Daeron as king on the Iron Throne to restore Andal rule to Westeros, deposing both Rhaenyra (who as a woman Ormund considers unfit to rule) and his older brothers, who Ormund considers tainted from their Targaryen blood, in contrast to Daeron, who has been 'raised in the light of the Seven'. Ormund then emotionally blackmails Daeron into killing a a man of Tumbleton who struck a Hightower soldier, ignoring Daeron's protests that the man only did so to defend his wife and sister on the grounds that as King, an attack on a Hightower soldier is an attack on Daeron.[7]

305 Ormund & Daeron Still Ormund teaching Daeron about strategy. Ormund secretly finances a resistance movement in King's Landing, commanding Hightower loyalists within the city to murder members of the gold cloaks loyal to Daemon, hoping to portray Rhaenyra as too weak to keep law and order in her own city. Taking a break from his schemes to play a game of cyvasse with Daeron, he compares his strategy to that of Princess Meria Martell, one of the few women he respects, for having successfully resisted Aegon the Conqueror's efforts to subjugate Dorne through guerilla warfare. Although Ormund is briefly angered when Daeron wins the game, he insists his ward should not apologise for achieving victory, and shows Daeron newly minted coins with his image upon them, as part of his campaign to legitimize Daeron's ascent to the throne.[8]

306 Ormund Still (2) Ormund receives with disgust his cousin Gwayne. Ormund's cousin, Gwayne arrives at Tumbleton a few days later with a handful of Hightower soldiers, having abandoned Criston Cole's doomed guerilla campaign in the Riverlands: Ormund is disgusted by his dirty appearance. Gwayne is shocked by Ormund's insistence to continue fighting and holding Tumbleton hostage whilst Rhaenyra has Ulf the White and Hugh Hammer keep watch with their dragons, and the army of Lords Oscar Tully and Roderick Dustin (ordered by Rhaenyra to retake Tumbleton in lieu of dragon riders, and having since crushed Criston's remaining forces) is days away, while mocking Ormund's plan to make Daeron King when none of the Great Houses have offered their support for such a scheme. Ormund argues that Rhaenyra, as a woman, is too weak to consider burning civilians and the Riverlanders are not a threat, deeming Gwayne an unimaginative coward. He also mocks Gwayne's statements of the hardship he has endured through homophobic insults about Gwayne's sexuality. Ormund then orders Daeron take Gwayne to his quarters, adding another homophobic jibe at Gwayne for good measure as he leaves.[2]

306 Gwayne, Ormund & Daeron Still Ormund dines with Gwayne and Daeron. Later that day, Ormund dines with Daeron and Gwayne: Ormund advises Daeron to take care in choosing his Hand of the King, citing Corlys Velaryon as a good example (calling Rhaenyra's choice of him as her Hand one of her wiser decisions) and superior to Otto Hightower, who Ormund obliquely disparages as an overambitious grasper. Roxton interrupts the meal to inform them that a delegation from House Baratheon has arrived. Though perturbed by the smell of the Baratheon envoys, Ormund welcomes them as countering Gwayne's insistence the Great houses won't support him: the delegation's leader identifies himself as Ser Arrion Baratheon, cousin to Lord Borros, who has decided to pledge his fealty to King Daeron. Arrion asks to see Daeron so they might bend the knee in person: when Ormund identifies Daeron, the envoys advance, but Gwayne, sensing something amiss, grabs a knife from the table and attacks Arrion. An apalled Ormund orders Jon to intervene, but Gwayne explains the 'envoys' are assassins sent by Rhaenyra to kill Ormund and Daeron. After Gwayne and Jon cut down the assassins, Gwayne tells Ormund that he figured out the man claiming to be 'Arrion' was an imposter due to his complete lack of resemblence to the real Arrion, whom Gwayne had previously met. A furious Ormund vows to kill Rhaenyra for the attempt on his life, before the stench of the carnage overwhelms him and he vomits copiously over the table. Ormund later has the bloodied surcoat of one of the assassins sent to Rhaenyra at King's Landing as proof of the attempt's failure.[2]

Later, as they watch Daeron spar against three squires, Ormund thanks Gwayne for saving his life and grants him leave to depart for Oldtown if he wishes (Gwayne having previously expressed his intention to return there, believing the war as good as lost and wanting to ensure House Hightower's survival when it ends, assuming Ormund will inevitably be killed in the coming battle), offering Gwayne a few soldiers to ensure his safe passage and assuring his cousin they'll be few enough in number that Rhaenyra's dragons won't bother them. Gwayne asks Ormund what his true intentions for Daeron and Tumbleton are, noting that while he knows Ormund will sacrifice untold lives for his goals, Ormund will never sacrifice his own. Ormund walks away from the conversation without giving Gwayne an answer.[2]

Gwayne and his escorts depart Tumbleton for Oldtown, only to race back bringing warning that Tully and Dustin's army, now numbering 20,000 strong, has crossed the Blackwater Rush and is, at most, two days march from Tumbleton. To Gwayne's astonishment, Ormund is ambivalent about the news, merely mocking Criston Cole's failure to stop the enemy's march and assuring his cousin he has "a new piece on the board" that will thwart Rhaenyra, though he does not elaborate when Gwayne presses Ormund for further details.[9]

Later that day, Ormund dines with Daeron and the captive Corlys Velaryon: Corlys questions if this is meant to be a last meal before his execution, but Ormund insists he hopes to enjoy Ormund's company for a while. Corlys scoffs at Ormund keeping him as a hostage: Ormund concedes Rhaenyra won't forfeit her crown to ensure her Hand's safety, but with their lord held captive, the men of House Velaryon might be more reluctant to obey her commands to maintain law and order in King's Landing if it jeopardizes Corlys's safety, guaranteeing the capitol's slide into lawlessness following his targeting of the City Watch continues. A perplexed Daeron questions how disorder in King's Landing helps them in Tumbleton when the Winter Wolves are literally on their doorstep, but Ormund gives the boy a pointed glare and doesn't answer. Ormund then (presumably in hopes of swaying Corlys to his cause to crown Daeron) probes Corlys's loyalty to the Targaryens, questioning why, as a man of the world, he is so loyal to such brutes. When Ormund makes the mistake of insulting the memory of Corlys's late wife, Princess Rhaenys on account of her Targaryen blood, however, a furious Corlys refuses to co-operate, and Ormund has the guards escort him back to his cell. Ormund later has Corlys's ring finger cut off and sent to Alyn of Hull as a warning.[9]

That evening, Ormund secretly meets with Ulf White who, having grown disillusioned with the Blacks due to Rhaenyra and Daemon's mistreatment of him, agrees to turn his cloak to the Greens for the castle and lordship Ormund promised him in return. Ulf reminds Ormund that the latter promised him Honeyholt: Ormund scoffs that Ulf would want such a trifling castle and offers him Driftmark instead, to Ulf's evident glee.[9]

According to his cousin Alicent Hightower, Ormund sees himself as a scholar. He studies the histories, collects tapestries, writes ballads, despises the ignorant and uncouth, Gwayne used to think of him as cruel, nevertheless, he is fatherly with Prince Daeron Targaryen since he took him to ward when being only a babe.[7] He also has a strong sensivity to odors, proof of this is when he reacts with disgust upon receiving a messenger in his camp, ordering that he be given a bath immediately, as well as taking one himself upon arriving to Tumbleton, and later when he pukes in front of the corpses of assassins that were sent to kill him and Daeron.[1][7][2] Ormund is fiercely loyal to his family and sees Rhaenyra as a false queen not suited to rule. Ormund also takes seriously guest right and upholding the law under his watch, punishing one of his men after he tried to defile a woman by gelding him and having his own arm broken although allowing him to remain under his service.

Similar to his uncle, Ormund is a very cunning man, pretending to swear loyalty to Rhaenyra bending the knee and sending a merchant boy disguised as Daeron, while he secretly plots to restore the rightful line to the Iron Throne, essentially taking the citizens of Tumbleton as his hostages forcing Rhaenyra in making a decision to act which would destroy her image as a liberator and would turn her, at the eyes of the people, into a tyrant. At the same time, he plans to sabotage her from the inside, sending several spies to ruin her reputation and make her lose control.[6][8][2] Unlike the rest of his house, he does not consider Aegon as the rightful king to sit upon the throne, instead, he wants Daeron to become the new king because Ormund knows he can become a better ruler than the rest his siblings since he was raised by him, outside of the Targaryen traditions. However, it is evident that the true reason as to why Ormund wants to install Daeron to the throne is due to knowing full well that he could manipulate and intimidate him into doing what he wants. As evidence with how Ormund was able to force Daeron into killing the brother of the woman the Hightower soldier attacked and harmed by using his bond with the young prince to instigate him to act.[7]

Ormund believes the Hightowers are superior to the rest of men and it is the will of the gods to install their blood on the Iron Throne. He also despises the Targaryens, considering them as a savage race who took what was supposedly to belong to the Hightowers and lack of intellect and repudiates their traditions and customs, despite this, Ormund is aware that the power they possess in dragons is something they cannot face, so they must strike not directly but rather discreetly and calculated.[7] Despite his views of Hightower supremacy, Ormund is quite disparaging towards his uncle's branch of the family tree. He obliquely insults Otto Hightower as an overreaching grasper and inferior as Hand of the King to the likes of Corlys Velaryon, who he praises as an example of good breeding unsullied by rampant ambition like Otto, and frequently mocks his cousin Gwayne, with both accusations of cowardice and homophobic jibes, though he does thank Gwayne and apologizes for his mockery after he thwarts an attempt on Ormund's life by Rhaenyra.[2]

As noted by both Daeron and Gwayne, Ormund is not as intelligent or as cunning as he makes himself out to be and his arrogance and biases may be preventing him from accurately realizing just how dire their position in Tumbleton actually is, with they only having Tessarion as their only dragon against Rhaenyra's six, Aemond and Vhagar missing, and the Winter Wolves and Riverland armies steadily advancing towards them, boxing them in and outnumbering their own forces severely. Ormund has demonstrated to be unbothered by these odds and continues to brush off both Daeron and Gwayne's concerns, refusing to disclose his plan to either of them, making both of them gradually lose faith in him.[9]