HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, but after the recent season 2 finale, it might be more accurate to say that the show is loosely inspired by the book. A lot of the characters are nowhere near where they are on the page, whether emotionally or, in the case of Otto Hightower, geographically.
Early in the season, King Aegon fires his grandfather Otto Hightower from his position as Hand of the King. In Fire & Blood, Otto still sticks around King's Landing after that, doing what he can to make sure his blood stays on the Iron Throne. But on the show, he peaces out to parts unknown and we don't hear from him after that...until the very end of the season finale, when we get one shot of him in a prison cell somewhere.
Our best guess is that Otto has been taken prisoner by House Beesbury in the Reach, where there's currently fighting between the blacks and the greens, but that's pure spectulation. Obviously we're not supposed to know where he is. Not even Geeta Patel, who directed the finale, has any idea. "I was asked to shoot that scene. I want to know where he is, too," she told Variety. "I don’t know! Those guys talk about a lot of things in the writers’ room, and then they don’t tell us. They don’t tell any of us! They don’t tell the actors, either. I don’t think it’s fair."
House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal also talked to reporters, and he sounded like he at least had an idea of where Otto was. “We were delighted to have Rhys reenter the story, and I will just say that the Otto Hightower tale has not yet come to an end,” he hinted.
My best guess is that Otto is somewhere in the Reach and will be our point person for a plotline involving Alicent Hightower's son Daeron Targaryen, whom we've heard a bit about but haven't seen yet. That puts him pretty far from his storyline in Fire & Blood, but that's par for the course at this point.
House of the Dragon returns for season 3 sometime in 2026. After that, a fourth season will wrap up the story.
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