Olivia Cooke has revealed that her character, Alicent Hightower, had no idea where her father was for two whole seasons in House of the Dragon. The element of surprise made Otto Hightower’s appearance in season three just as much of a shock for Alicent and the viewers.
Rhys Ifans portrays Otto Hightower, who vanished after he was dismissed as Hand of the King. In truth, Larys Strong had Otto imprisoned beneath the Red Keep, not banished from King’s Landing as Alicent suspected all along. Larys Strong arrested and imprisoned Otto before leaving King’s Landing. Later, when Daemon Targaryen finds out about Otto, he is told that Otto was imprisoned in case Daemon returns to the castle one day.
Cooke, speaking to multiple outlets ahead of and following the episode’s release, said Alicent never suspected her own ally had orchestrated the disappearance. Instead, when Rhaenyra Targaryen’s forces took King’s Landing and discovered Otto in the dungeons, Alicent assumed her father had been Rhaenyra’s captive the entire time.
“Alicent doesn’t know if Otto has been Rhaenyra’s prisoner this whole time, and this is the first thing that she’s done as the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms,” Cooke told Cinemablend, describing her character’s reaction as intense, “white hot” anger.
That misunderstanding, Cooke explained, gutted whatever hope Alicent held for reconciliation with Rhaenyra. Alicent had secretly helped clear the way for Rhaenyra’s takeover of King’s Landing in hopes of avoiding further bloodshed, but with Aegon II having already fled the city, Rhaenyra instead ordered Otto’s execution to mark the start of her reign.
Describing the moment Alicent walks in on her father’s beheading, Cooke told The Wrap that her character can’t immediately tell whether the killing was staged as a political statement.
“It’s very confounding when she sees her dad on the floor. She’s not sure if Rhaenyra has kept him prisoner herself just to make this big political public display. She’s sort of incandescent with rage. She feels like she’s been betrayed again.”
In a separate interview with People Magazine, Cooke put Alicent’s interpretation even more bluntly, framing it as a targeted message from Rhaenyra rather than the outcome of Larys’ long-running scheme.
“She just beheaded my dad. In front of everyone. She doesn’t know where Otto has been, so for all she knows, he’s been held prisoner by Rhaenyra. This feels like a very public display of this assertion of power. I think Alicent is just like, ‘Okay, well, f you.'”
One fan on X wrote that as a supporter of Rhaenyra’s side, they cheered Otto’s downfall but still mourned the loss of Ifans’ performance, calling him one of the show’s best actors. Others paid tribute directly to Ifans, who portrayed Otto across all three seasons as a political strategist whose scheming helped install Aegon on the Iron Throne and helped ignite the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.
Cooke has said she never learned Otto’s captivity was Larys Strong’s doing until it played out on screen for Alicent, reinforcing, in her view, how thoroughly the schemer known as “the Clubfoot” had manipulated everyone around him, even after the fall of King’s Landing.
“House of the Dragon” Season 3 continues on HBO and Max, with Episode 3 premiering July 5th.
