House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal is setting expectations high for season 3's biggest new face. Speaking about Ormund Hightower, Condal shared that the character is the Tywin Lannister of the House of the Dragon world, putting him in the same league as one of Game of Thrones' most feared and influential figures.
Ormund Hightower is played by James Norton, known for his lead role in the British crime drama Happy Valley, along with Grantchester, the Little Women film, and Netflix's House of Guinness. Norton has previously admitted he had never watched Game of Thrones before taking the part and didn't even know who Littlefinger was when asked if Ormund might be House of the Dragon's version of him.Â
House of the Dragon's season 2 finale closed on a montage of armies getting ready for the war that's coming in season 3. That included House Hightower's forces marching out of Oldtown, with Daeron Targaryen's dragon Tessarion flying overhead. Daemon was shown gathering his Riverlands army at Harrenhal, Tyland Lannister had just secured a fleet alliance with the Triarchy and Otto Hightower was left locked away in a prison cell. In other words, every major house was lining up for the fight that's about to begin and the Hightowers were very much part of that picture.
Ormund's name came up during season 2, but he was never actually shown on screen. He's the Lord of Oldtown and head of House Hightower, the nephew of Otto Hightower, and a first cousin to Alicent and Gwayne Hightower. In season 3, he steps into the spotlight leading the Hightower host on a march toward King's Landing to support his family's side of the war against Rhaenyra.
"He's the Lord of the Hightower, basically the Tywin Lannister [Charles Dance] of this world," Condal said in an issue of SFX, per GamesRadar. "He's the richest guy who's not sitting on a throne somewhere. Ormund has the largest standing army left in Westeros and a dragon, so he is going to introduce a big old wrinkle into this."
In a behind-the-scenes featurette released last month for season 3, James Norton said that Ormund Hightower is "convinced that he will win against Rhaenyra."
Ormund barely exists on the page in George R.R. Martin's source material, which gave the writers room to build him into something much bigger for the show. He is described as one of the wealthiest men in Westeros and commander of the largest standing army left in the realm, who also has a dragon at his disposal thanks to his ward, Daeron. That combination is exactly why the Tywin Lannister comparison is perfect. Tywin never wore a crown either but his wealth and his army made him one of the most dangerous men in the Seven Kingdoms. Ormund sounds like he's being built along the same lines.
"Ormund is really a sketch in the book and we don't have a sense of who he is, so it was really fun diving in and creating a really deep, complex and three-dimensional character out of him that introduces a new kind of complication into the world," Condal said in the same SFX interview.
It seems like it's going to be worth keeping an eye on the moment when Ormund Hightower shows up on screen. The arrival of the Lord of Oldtown could become one of the more interesting developments to watch for this season.
House of the Dragon season 3 premieres June 21 on HBO and HBO Max.
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