Here's How HOTD's Alicent Hightower Is Related To Margaery Tyrell
Only time will tell if she’ll become as successful... or suffer a similar fate.
House of the Dragon may be set nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, but the new series is still intricately connected to the characters fans know oh-so-well. Obviously, the Targaryen family members shown in the new series are ancestors of Daenerys Targaryen and her nephew/lover Jon Snow, but there’s another strong familial connection that may not be immediately apparent. The prequel also centers on the Targaryen-adjacent Hightower family, specifically King Viserys’ ambitious hand, Otto Hightower, and his strategic daughter, Alicent. Surprise — Alicent Hightower is actually related to everyone’s favorite GoT queen, Margaery Tyrell, although exactly how they’re related is pretty messy.
The Hightower family didn’t have much of a presence in Game of Thrones, but they have always been considered a powerful clan in Westeros. They rule over Oldtown, a port city in the Reach near the Tyrells’ castle Highgarden. In the time of House of the Dragon, the Hightowers were closely allied with the Targaryens and populated the Red Keep. According to the books, Alicent in particular played a major role in both the future of the Hightowers and the Targaryens, which will very likely be highlighted in the new prequel series.
Spoiler alert: Explaining the Hightower family tree will likely give away potential House of the Dragon storylines to come, so don’t read on if you want to remain completely unspoiled. Since the Hightowers are not quite as chill with inbreeding, their family tree branches off much more than that of the Targaryens. In George R. R. Martin’s novels, Alicent marries King Viserys I and has four children with him, with their firstborn son, Aegon II Targaryen, rivaling Alicent’s former bestie (and Viserys I’s daughter) Rhaenyra’s claim to the Iron Throne. This leads to a bitter rivalry between the friends-turned-enemies, which also splits the kingdom in half between supporters of Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne and supporters of Aegon II’s claim.
Although Alicent’s Targaryen children do have some kids of their own, her grandkids never produced children, so her direct line ended in just a couple generations. It was actually her uncle, Otto Hightower’s brother, who kept the Hightower lineage going. Then, a few generations down the line, Lord Leyton Hightower’s daughter, Alerie Hightower, married Mace Tyrell to form the combined House Tyrell that fans saw in Game of Thrones. Most notable is Mace Tyrell’s daughter, Margaery Tyrell, whom every GoT fan will recall positioned herself as queen by marrying Renly Baratheon, then Joffrey Baratheon, and finally King Tommen Baratheon... before Cersei Lannister blew her up in a spectacular explosion.
Alicent’s exact relation to Margaery is not super clear. Margaery is descended from Alicent’s cousins, which would make Alicent her great-great-great-great-great-aunt (give or take a few “greats”). Margaery was born exactly 150 years after Alicent passed, so they are most likely separated by about five or six generations.
TBH, it’s not hard to see Margaery’s signature style of seductive calculations in Alicent. Although in the first episode of HOTD Alicent is definitely being pressured into a relationship with Viserys by her father, as the story continues, in the lore of the books, Alicent comes to wield her marriage to Viserys and her ability to produce progeny as her greatest asset. It’s much like how Margaery is able to establish herself as queen by seducing Tommen to take the power for herself. Let’s be real, y’all — Westeros is not a great place to exist as a woman, so a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do to survive, and the Hightower/Tyrell woman seem to know how to do that, at least while they can.
New episodes of House of the Dragon air Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
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