Before he was discovered in the Red Keep’s dungeon in House of the Dragon Season 3, Episode 2, Otto Hightower was outside King’s Landing, traveling through the Reach , and had effectively been missing since the Battle of the Kingsland and the fall of the Greens’ regime.

Quick answer

Otto was not in the city or at the Tower of the Hand when Rhaenyra took the throne again. He had fled King’s Landing during the chaos after Aegon II’s defeat and was captured while moving through the Reach , then smuggled back to the capital and hidden in the dungeon until Larys Strong “revealed” him as a gift to Daemon.

Where exactly was he?

The show doesn’t give a precise village or road name, but the context is clear:

  • After the Greens’ plot collapses and Aegon II is gone, Otto slips away from King’s Landing instead of being arrested on the spot.
  • He is shown to have been in the Reach for some time, where he was taken by forces loyal to opponents of the former regime (with one popular fan theory suggesting House Beesbury or similar Reach nobles captured him while he was traveling).
  • He remained in that captivity until Larys Strong arranged for him to be brought back secretly and placed in the Red Keep’s dungeon, where Rhaenyra eventually finds him.

So:
Before the dungeon: Otto was a fugitive in the Reach, away from the capital, under the control of anti-Green forces.
Before that: He was in King’s Landing as Hand of the King to Aegon II, operating from the Tower of the Hand and the Small Council chamber.

Why this matters in the story

This location shift explains several things:

  • It shows Otto survived the initial purge of the Greens and was still at play, which raises the stakes for Rhaenyra’s rule.
  • It sets up Larys’s “gift” to Daemon: Otto isn’t just some random prisoner; he’s the former Hand who orchestrated so much of the war against Rhaenyra, now delivered back into her hands.
  • It allows the show to make Otto’s execution more personal and dramatic than in the books, where his death happens in a different context.

Timeline in plain terms

  1. Before the Battle of the Kingsland / fall of Aegon II
    • Otto is in King’s Landing as Hand of the King, directing the Greens’ strategy from the Tower of the Hand.
  2. During/after Aegon II’s defeat
    • Otto flees the city, avoiding immediate capture.
  3. While missing
    • He travels through the Reach.
    • He is captured by forces opposed to the old regime (the show leaves the exact captors ambiguous, but theories point to Reach nobles like the Beesburys).
  4. Before being found in the dungeon
    • Larys arranges for Otto to be smuggled back to King’s Landing and locked in the Red Keep’s dungeon.
    • He stays there, hidden, until Rhaenyra and Daemon discover him.
  5. In the dungeon scene
    • Rhaenyra confronts Otto, and in a major book change, personally executes him.

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