For all of its powerhouse performances, House of the Dragon season 2 still had two notable absences, the first being Paddy Considine as King Viserys I. Though he made a brief appearance during Daemon’s (Matt Smith) haunting time at Harrenhal, and his presence still felt in the aftermath of his final words, it was still hard not to miss Considine bringing this crumbling monarch to life every week.
The second absence was Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, who found himself stripped of his role as Hand of the King by Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) and sent back to Oldtown for the majority of the season. Despite the fact that he is actively working against Viserys’ true interests and final wishes in order to place his grandson on the throne, Otto does seem to show some sort of feelings for a moment while arguing with Aegon. He laments the fact that Aegon is nothing like his father and cares more about vengeance than the good of the realm.
Otto appears to show some regret or remorse in this moment, emotions that we don’t see in the Hightower patriarch often, if at all. Otto actor Rhys Ifans recently spoke with Den of Geek at New York Comic Con about Venom: The Last Dance, also touching upon about his House of the Dragon role in the process. When asked about his character’s ability to feel these emotions, Ifans told Den of Geek that Otto is “absolutely” capable of those feelings. “He’s capable of remorse. I don’t know whether he’s capable of feeling remorse for lengths of time, but yeah, he’s visited by his emotions frequently.”
Ifans prefaces all of this by saying “I think Rhys misses Paddy more than Otto misses Viserys, to be honest.” Which is understandable. The two actors were incredible in their scenes together in season 1, and seem to be good friends offscreen. But Otto is Otto, and keeps everyone he should theoretically care about at a distance. Otto likely only misses Viserys because he misses the power he had under his rule. Viserys was also easier to influence than his son seems to be, making it easier for Otto to supplant his will across the kingdom. Whether Otto is capable of redemption though, is still to be determined. Ifans says that it’s “up to the writers and the audience” to decide.
Given the fact that we last saw Otto in a cell at the end of season 2, it seems that there’s more to learn about what happened to him after he left King’s Landing. Maybe some time imprisoned will make him see the error of his ways? It’s doubtful, but not entirely unlikely.
There’s also the fact that Alicent (Olivia Cooke) has essentially given up King’s Landing to Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) in his absence, in an effort to protect herself and her daughter Helaena (Phia Saban) from the violence to come. A decision Otto would likely have some words about. “He’d have a brief think about it and then have a lot to say,” says Ifans. Just what he might say, though, is still up to the writers to reveal in season 3, should we see more of Otto.
It’ll be interesting to see more of what Otto is like without Viserys. How much of his friend’s memory still lingers and how much of it Otto is willing to push aside for his own political gain. He’s already blatantly ignored Viserys’ wish to see Rhaenyra on the throne and helped his grandson usurp the throne to keep the Hightowers in power. His imprisonment may give him some time to reflect, but more likely it will give him time to scheme and plot his return.
The post “He’s Capable of Remorse” – Rhys Ifans on Otto Hightower and Missing Paddy Considine appeared first on Den of Geek.
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