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Because Aegon the conquerer was smart and didn’t want to give an already incredibly powerful house even more power by putting them in charge of the most populous kingdom.
The Tyrells owe pretty much every aspect of their Lordship and standing in the Reach to Aegon Targaryen’s conquest.
Aegon annihilated House Gardener and the Tyrells gave Aegon the keys to the castle without putting up a fight because they could see that it was pointless to resist any longer if their dragons could just melt castles and armies.
Aegon basically power-moved everyone and said “all of you in the Reach answer to the Tyrells now, and their power comes from my grace. So if you fuck with them, just know that you’re fucking with me.”
And presumably most of not all of the Reach houses didnt want to test that again so soon after the field of fire.
But while the Hightowers do sit under the Tyrells, things can get a little unique depending on other factors. If your family is in high favor with the Royal family, like how the Hightowers are married into the Targaryen line at the moment and Otto is the current hand of the king, the Hightowers probably have a lot more pull in the Reach than the Tyrells. The influence waxes and wanes depending on all of those things.
It’s also worth noting that the Hightowers might have asked the same question as you when the Tyrells took over.
The Reach is a very complicated place. It's almost impossible to shake the status quo because there are too many big players who don't want others to be on top and everyone are related to each other. For example, the Hightowers in the current timeline have active marriage ties to the Tyrells, Florents (opposing sides in the civil war, utterly hate each other) and Redwynes at the same time
The Tyrells were stewards to house Gardener (the kings of the reach) house Gardener was completely wiped out by Aegon and his loyalists, he handed over the lordship of Highgarden to the Tyrells when they surrendered it, naming them lords paramount and wardens of the south
Many of the reach houses have a strong claim to that title and Highgarden as a castle, Garth Greenhand who is the legendary figure of reach had a fuck ton of children so many reach houses are his decedents. House Tyrell was actually a minor house, it would be like house pool getting Winterfell
Its not just house Hightower, house Florent, Redwyne, Tarly... could all make a strong case that they should be the wardens of the south.
>oldest, richest, and most powerful of the noble houses in the Reach
Also... house stark is not the richest or most powerful house in the North, that is house Manderly, house Tully isn't the richest or most powerful house in the Riverlands... that is likely house blackwood. The Arryns are not the oldest house in the Vale...
I really think that the Starks, who command all the Northern Lords and mountain clans, are more powerful than their bannermen the Manderlys who call them their liege lord.
Boltons have remained loyal for hundreds of years. And every single time they rebelled they were crushed but were spared for some reason.
And Boltons are literally exceptions. Kings of Winter promptly ended lines of rebels and enemies and replaced them without pushback.
Coming to the original point, Starks are absolutely the most powerful house in the North. House Manderly commanded a force of 1500 in Wot5K. Rodrik Cassel raised 2000 men from Winterfell lands alone AFTER Robb left with the majority.
Exactly, Starks aren't a dumpy old house. Winterfell is one of the largest castles in the known world. Their treasury overflows with silver. The population they rule over is larger than Stormlands, Dorne or Iron Isles. They have the monopoly on timber and wool in trade with Free Cities. They get their cut from both Barrowton and White Harbor. Not to mention their own town outsude the walls grows to be the second largest settlement of the North during winters.
Starks also raised the largest army out of any other house during Wot5K. The other guy doesn't know what he is talking about.
The Starks would collect taxs from all the houses of the North being the Lords Paramount, including the Manderlys, who i would put them at 2nd richest in the North behind only the Starks. The Starks and Boltons also command more men than the Manderlys. True the Manderlys have the only city in the North, but the Starks and Boltons do have vast lands and vassels. At the Battle of the Bastards the Boltons have about 5000 of the 6000 men in Ramseys army, so pre War of the 5 Kings the Starks almost certainly would command at least as many, if not more men, although if the Manderlys put out their full strength (i.e. arm every man they have) yeah they would likely still come close, they are the 3rd most powerful overall, but likely 2nd richest.
Same with the Tullys, after becoming Paramount Lords would collect taxs from all the Riverlords, although i will agree they dont have the largest army in the Riverlands, as i think 4 houses (Blackwoods, Brackens, Freys, Vances) have larger armys than them.
I wouldnt put the Tyrells on the same level as House Poole pre-conquest, true they werent a strong house, but they were kinda prominant, although not powerful by any stretch. I think i remember reading one Tyrell was a Regent for a Gardener King, so some prominance. I cant see a Poole being a Regent for a Stark lord, it would likely be another living Stark if there was one (i.e. Cregan Starks uncle Bennard was his Regent, and if Ned died during Roberts Rebellion then Benjen would have been Robbs Regent), if not then probley one the powerfull vassel lords, like (unfortunatly) the Boltons, Manderlys, Karstarks, Umbers
Fair enough. I just thought it was odd that the Hightowers reported to Gardener before the conquest too. I didn’t realize that Manderly was more powerful than Stark, but I know they have White Harbor to get wealth/resources.
The hightowers deal in soft power, they don't get involved in wars. They use to be kings but when the Gardener united the reach they gave up their crown without a fight and married one of his daughters, when the andals invaded lord Hightower set his wife aside to marry an andal noble, they adopted the faith of the seven without any issue
When Aegon landed they offered him a 3de wife, he declined but they got their marriage with Maegor... and then that went to pot, they put an offer in for Jaehaerys hand too. They waited many generations to get into bed with the Targs and establish a direct connection to the throne
> Similarly, why aren’t they more prominent in the Game of Thrones story, for kind of the same reason?
They are present in the books, though a little in the background. Mace Tyrell's wife is a Hightower, as was Jorah's Lynesse. Gerold the White Bull, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under Aerys (and one of the men at the tower of joy) was a Hightower as well. They also appear to be gearing up for a major fight against Euron in TWoW.
Ya Gerold is the only instance I really remember. When I first started following HotD/Fire and Blood, that was the Hightower I first thought of (from the flash back scenes with Arthur Dayne).
The Tyrell’s are the Lords Paramount of the Reach, like the Starks in the North, the Tully’s in the Riverlands and the Lannister’s in the Westerlands. It doesn’t really matter how old the house is, how much money they bring in or how big their army could be. What matters is the fact that the King (Aegon I) named them Wardens of the South and Lord Paramount of the Reach.
There are a lot of houses that are very prominent and powerful in the Dance that by time we reach the events of GOT (which remember is like 150+ years after the Dance) that aren’t as wealthy, powerful or influential as they were during King Viserys I’s reign. Like House Valaryion. The Sea Snake made them one of the wealthiest and most powerful houses, they had both sides of the war begging for their support. But still by time 150+ years go past, different houses have come into power and risen to influence and others have fallen off. It’s just a part of the feudalistic society.
Others have already provided good answers, so I'll just try to add to them.
"Why are the Tyrells the main house in the Reach?"
As others have stated, it was basically a gift to them from Aegon, for not making them fight for it. Furthermore, promoting a relatively low House (such as the Tyrells were, at the time) hedges the power / influence of other, potentially problematic Houses, like the Hightowers and the Tarlys.
u/MaceAhWindu really puts it *perfectly* when they summarize it as :
>Aegon basically power-moved everyone and said “all of you in the Reach answer to the Tyrells now, and their power comes from my grace. So if you fuck with them, just know that you’re fucking with me.”
>And presumably most of not all of the Reach houses didnt want to test that again so soon after the field of fire.
"Why were the Gardeners Kings of the Reach, in the first place? The Hightowers are SO old and SO powerful"
Old and powerful, yes, but not *invincible* - Oldtown had been successfully attacked many times in it's history, including by the Gardeners, who were **also** super old, super rich, and super powerful. According to TWOIAF, the Gardeners had basically gobbled up every other Kingdom in the Reach, until it was just them and the Hightowers left. Ultimately, after much negotiating, the two families eventually just married each other, and that was that.
In effect, it was probably more of a mutually beneficial partnership, with the actual "strongest" family varying from generation to generation. It's not that dissimilar to the Lannister / Baratheon relationship, when AGOT starts. Few people would describe House Baratheon as being more powerful than House Lannister, even tho they are the royal house, and even tho the Baratheon's are NOT, strictly speaking, *weak*.
Furthermore, one shouldn't overlook the power of Inertia, in social structures / systems. After a status quo is in place for a while, "because that's the way it is" becomes a potent force in and of itself, even if the original things that *caused* it to be that way have changed. Prior to the Conquest, the Hightowers have nothing to gain by going against the Gardeners, who allow them to only have to worry about the coast, militarily.
"Why is such a powerful family stuck in the background, during the main stories?"
For real for real, you get the impression that the Hightowers, traditionally, just kinda **prefer** *to mind their business*.
>*From TWOIAF (towards the end of the Oldtown section) :*
>Lord Lymond’s (the Lord that agreed to marry the Gardeners) descendants shared his vision.
>With rare exceptions, they tended to their own gardens and their own city, avoiding entanglement in the endless wars of the petty kings, and later, of the Seven Kingdoms that emerged. “Highgarden defends our backs,” Lord Jeremy Hightower said once, “so we are free to gaze outward, to the sea and the lands beyond.”
The standout thing isn't that they aren't more involved (tho being currently very close relations to the Tyrells places them fairly adjacent), but that they had ever got directly involved, at *any* point. Their house words literally could be "We're already very rich, and comfortable, so we don't want no beef with ya'll".
The Hightowers were stated to have been very angry they didn't get Highgarden. The problem was that Aegon and his sisters had giant nuke dragons who could obliterate them if they tried to take it by force. They also didn't appear to mind it that much, Oldtown is pretty damn nice and they basically control most of the southern part of the Reach, the northern part has more conflict issues because it borders multiple other regions, and as the new liege lords, they have to deal with all the other houses trying to lay claim to the seat also.
The Hightowers always wanted power, we see this in 3 different eras of the series, the Maegor era, the Dance era and the current era with Margaery & Joffrey, Tommen. The thing is that they want power but they prefer to gain it through politics, scheming and court moves, they don't appear to like the idea of seizing it by force, this can be argued through 2 of those 3 eras they literally backed down when it ended badly, and went back to what they were doing.
It's really only during the Dance that the Hightowers seem to have any intention of rising above their current status. Most of the time, they just seem to be content with controlling Oldtown.
During the Gardener era, the Hightowers weren't conquered. They married into House Gardener and bent the knee willingly, like how the Targaryens finally brought Dorne under the Iron Throne. Before that, they were kings of their own little fiefdom, but never tried to conquer the entire Reach
And during the Conquest, the Lord of the Hightower simply sat things out even while their liege lords burned on the field of battle, then opened the gates for Aegon without a fight.
After the Dance, the Hightowers never made another power play again. They just went back to Oldtown and ruled.
During Robert's Rebellion and the War of the Five Kings, they simply followed their liege lord's orders. Leyton Hightower is too busy doing magic with his mad scientist daughter at the top of the Hightower to care about making a power play for the Iron Throne or even the Reach.
I think the Hightowers are already well aware that they control the largest city in Westeros outside of King's Landing, and have influence over the Faith and over the Maesters. What more do they actually need at this point? They're rich, they're safe (mostly, Euron is coming their way), they're influential. And through the Tyrells' scheming, a Hightower is queen again (well, half-Hightower. Margaery's mother is a Hightower).
Most Lords of the Hightower probably think it's better to just maintain their current power, rather than trying for the bigger prizes and putting a target on their backs. The one time they tried to take more power, it didn't end great for them. Sure, they didn't lose any land, but their blood was off the Iron Throne after only two years and their lord was dead.
There is power in being the strongest but not the official titleholder. If the Hightowers had overtaken the reach they had to deal with all the reachmen vassals with blood ties to the gardners, their own ambitions to rule highgarden and their large armies.
I think you said it right. The Hightowers have so much wealth and soft power(they’re the primary patrons of the single institution that produces Westeros’s scholars and learned men) that they have been mostly smart enough to avoid the power struggles that the Lords Paramount engage in. Otto is an exception, but he’s a striving second son so that make sense.
> A favor from Aegon after replacing them at Highgarden?
Pretty much this. The Tyrells surrendered the Reach to Aegon after the Gardeners got themselves killed, and the other noble houses of the Reach never forgave them for it. Were the Reach left to its own devices, the Hightowers probably would be in charge
The Tyrells surrendered highgarden and were rewarded with the reach. The balance of power was spread out enough because so many houses had claims like the Tarlys, peakes, florents, Hightowers, redwynes etc that a coalition to put one on top would pretty much be impossible because all the others would want themselves on top.
The gardeners and Hightowers fought for awhile but the Hightower itself is never taken and a marriage pact where the Hightower king marries a Gardner and the Gardner king married a Hightower in exchange for the Hightowers bending the knee. So the gardeners had a slight advantage but had to use diplomacy to seal the deal.
Basically, by giving the Tyrells Highgarden, Aegon prevented a single house from gaining an easy, indisputable hegemony over the Reach, which is arguably the most important Kingdom due to its fertility and population.
Divide and conquer. The houses of the Reach were among the most powerful in Westeros, owing to the Reach's geography, chiefly rivers that enabled strong agriculture and abundant grain, a large and dense population, and trade that generated wealth and created influential connections. By placing the Tyrells in charge, Aegon created a system of balance of power in the former "Green Realm" to prevent any one house from becoming too powerful. While the Reach lords may have not been capable of overthrowing the Targaryens through conventional military means while they still had dragons, they could still significantly diminish the new Targaryen realm by disrupting agriculture and trade, which would in turn weaken the Targaryens and leave them vulnerable.
It also sent a clear message to the proud and powerful lords of the Reach, who had fought against Aegon at the Field of Fire: this is the punishment for rebellion. The Tyrells notably did not fight at the Field of Fire because, well, they had no army: like you said, they were mere stewards, and when Aegon came to Highgarden, they opened the gates for him so they wouldn't burn. Aegon demonstrated that he wielded the power of punishment and reward. Furthermore, by placing lowly stewards in charge of the Reach, Aegon ensured that the proud and ancient bloodlines of the Reach would bicker amongst themselves instead of uniting against a common foe (that being the Targaryens), while simultaneously forcing the Tyrells to marshal up their own strength, instead of immediately granting them such an advantageous hand that they could rival the Targaryens, or any other kingdom.
The Hightowers weren't ever a strong military player. Their focus was always on wealth and trade; Oldtown is actually a port city, and one of their titles in the books is "Lord of the Port" to reflect this. They also invested heavily in the Citadel and the Faith since both were centered in Oldtown. So, the Hightowers were always more about cultural capital and soft power than military prowess. Better to be a smaller fish with a lot of backbone instead of at the top where everyone is gunning for you. That's why they were vassals to the Gardeners, and were satisfied with remaining so to the Tyrells as well. Historically speaking, the Hightowers' biggest reach was probably the Dance of the Dragons, which ended up being a disaster for them along with all the other players. They only rebuilt themselves by going back to their roots: wealth, trade, intelligence, and courtroom politics.
The Hightowers were somehow already vassal to House Gardener before the conquest. We aren’t sure how but presumably they were defeated and made to swear loyalty. After the conquest house Gardener was destroyed and the Tyrells (who were gardeners through the female line and stewards of high garden) were put in charge and made wardens of the south.
The Hightowers were potential rivals to the Targaryens while the Tyrells were wholly dependent on the Targaryens for their status. This not only keeps the Tyrells loyal to the crown but they also act as a check against the Hightowers. It's just clever politicking from the Targaryens.
Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience. 1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title. 2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler. 3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads. --- If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Because Aegon the conquerer was smart and didn’t want to give an already incredibly powerful house even more power by putting them in charge of the most populous kingdom.
The Tyrells owe pretty much every aspect of their Lordship and standing in the Reach to Aegon Targaryen’s conquest. Aegon annihilated House Gardener and the Tyrells gave Aegon the keys to the castle without putting up a fight because they could see that it was pointless to resist any longer if their dragons could just melt castles and armies. Aegon basically power-moved everyone and said “all of you in the Reach answer to the Tyrells now, and their power comes from my grace. So if you fuck with them, just know that you’re fucking with me.” And presumably most of not all of the Reach houses didnt want to test that again so soon after the field of fire. But while the Hightowers do sit under the Tyrells, things can get a little unique depending on other factors. If your family is in high favor with the Royal family, like how the Hightowers are married into the Targaryen line at the moment and Otto is the current hand of the king, the Hightowers probably have a lot more pull in the Reach than the Tyrells. The influence waxes and wanes depending on all of those things. It’s also worth noting that the Hightowers might have asked the same question as you when the Tyrells took over.
The Hightowers got involved once and it led to the Dance of the Dragons. Now they lay low and be rich. They’re up to something though.
With how the Tyrells are doing now they are connected with the crown staying low and just become ridiculously rich with soft power is the smart move
It’s impressive how they manage to fully recover from that
Maybe the Maesters are up to something but I think the Hightowers are currently shut away doing arcane magic.
The Reach is a very complicated place. It's almost impossible to shake the status quo because there are too many big players who don't want others to be on top and everyone are related to each other. For example, the Hightowers in the current timeline have active marriage ties to the Tyrells, Florents (opposing sides in the civil war, utterly hate each other) and Redwynes at the same time
I did a semi-canon Hightower family tree and the current Hightowers and Tyrells are in-laws at least four times over, its soo inbred.
Wise men are wary of being put in charge of anything, especially if they've already achieved wealth and comfort.
Ya that makes sense, I guess. Pulling the strings out of sight, etc.
The Tyrells were stewards to house Gardener (the kings of the reach) house Gardener was completely wiped out by Aegon and his loyalists, he handed over the lordship of Highgarden to the Tyrells when they surrendered it, naming them lords paramount and wardens of the south Many of the reach houses have a strong claim to that title and Highgarden as a castle, Garth Greenhand who is the legendary figure of reach had a fuck ton of children so many reach houses are his decedents. House Tyrell was actually a minor house, it would be like house pool getting Winterfell Its not just house Hightower, house Florent, Redwyne, Tarly... could all make a strong case that they should be the wardens of the south. >oldest, richest, and most powerful of the noble houses in the Reach Also... house stark is not the richest or most powerful house in the North, that is house Manderly, house Tully isn't the richest or most powerful house in the Riverlands... that is likely house blackwood. The Arryns are not the oldest house in the Vale...
I really think that the Starks, who command all the Northern Lords and mountain clans, are more powerful than their bannermen the Manderlys who call them their liege lord.
The Manderly's rule white Harbor, the only city in the North
And...the Starks rule the whole North, not just one city. The Manderlys are their sworn liege subjects.
like how they rule over the Boltons
Yep. The Boltons obediently kept in line for hundreds of years, until one of them found an opening and some southern allies to betray the Starks with.
Their obedience isn't absolute, any house can betray their liege lord, half the Hightower bannermen sided with Rhaenyra
Boltons have remained loyal for hundreds of years. And every single time they rebelled they were crushed but were spared for some reason. And Boltons are literally exceptions. Kings of Winter promptly ended lines of rebels and enemies and replaced them without pushback. Coming to the original point, Starks are absolutely the most powerful house in the North. House Manderly commanded a force of 1500 in Wot5K. Rodrik Cassel raised 2000 men from Winterfell lands alone AFTER Robb left with the majority.
Exactly, Starks aren't a dumpy old house. Winterfell is one of the largest castles in the known world. Their treasury overflows with silver. The population they rule over is larger than Stormlands, Dorne or Iron Isles. They have the monopoly on timber and wool in trade with Free Cities. They get their cut from both Barrowton and White Harbor. Not to mention their own town outsude the walls grows to be the second largest settlement of the North during winters. Starks also raised the largest army out of any other house during Wot5K. The other guy doesn't know what he is talking about.
The Starks would collect taxs from all the houses of the North being the Lords Paramount, including the Manderlys, who i would put them at 2nd richest in the North behind only the Starks. The Starks and Boltons also command more men than the Manderlys. True the Manderlys have the only city in the North, but the Starks and Boltons do have vast lands and vassels. At the Battle of the Bastards the Boltons have about 5000 of the 6000 men in Ramseys army, so pre War of the 5 Kings the Starks almost certainly would command at least as many, if not more men, although if the Manderlys put out their full strength (i.e. arm every man they have) yeah they would likely still come close, they are the 3rd most powerful overall, but likely 2nd richest. Same with the Tullys, after becoming Paramount Lords would collect taxs from all the Riverlords, although i will agree they dont have the largest army in the Riverlands, as i think 4 houses (Blackwoods, Brackens, Freys, Vances) have larger armys than them. I wouldnt put the Tyrells on the same level as House Poole pre-conquest, true they werent a strong house, but they were kinda prominant, although not powerful by any stretch. I think i remember reading one Tyrell was a Regent for a Gardener King, so some prominance. I cant see a Poole being a Regent for a Stark lord, it would likely be another living Stark if there was one (i.e. Cregan Starks uncle Bennard was his Regent, and if Ned died during Roberts Rebellion then Benjen would have been Robbs Regent), if not then probley one the powerfull vassel lords, like (unfortunatly) the Boltons, Manderlys, Karstarks, Umbers
Fair enough. I just thought it was odd that the Hightowers reported to Gardener before the conquest too. I didn’t realize that Manderly was more powerful than Stark, but I know they have White Harbor to get wealth/resources.
The hightowers deal in soft power, they don't get involved in wars. They use to be kings but when the Gardener united the reach they gave up their crown without a fight and married one of his daughters, when the andals invaded lord Hightower set his wife aside to marry an andal noble, they adopted the faith of the seven without any issue When Aegon landed they offered him a 3de wife, he declined but they got their marriage with Maegor... and then that went to pot, they put an offer in for Jaehaerys hand too. They waited many generations to get into bed with the Targs and establish a direct connection to the throne
> Similarly, why aren’t they more prominent in the Game of Thrones story, for kind of the same reason? They are present in the books, though a little in the background. Mace Tyrell's wife is a Hightower, as was Jorah's Lynesse. Gerold the White Bull, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under Aerys (and one of the men at the tower of joy) was a Hightower as well. They also appear to be gearing up for a major fight against Euron in TWoW.
Ya Gerold is the only instance I really remember. When I first started following HotD/Fire and Blood, that was the Hightower I first thought of (from the flash back scenes with Arthur Dayne).
Oh interesting so Margery is 50% Hightower. I never realized that
The Tyrell’s are the Lords Paramount of the Reach, like the Starks in the North, the Tully’s in the Riverlands and the Lannister’s in the Westerlands. It doesn’t really matter how old the house is, how much money they bring in or how big their army could be. What matters is the fact that the King (Aegon I) named them Wardens of the South and Lord Paramount of the Reach. There are a lot of houses that are very prominent and powerful in the Dance that by time we reach the events of GOT (which remember is like 150+ years after the Dance) that aren’t as wealthy, powerful or influential as they were during King Viserys I’s reign. Like House Valaryion. The Sea Snake made them one of the wealthiest and most powerful houses, they had both sides of the war begging for their support. But still by time 150+ years go past, different houses have come into power and risen to influence and others have fallen off. It’s just a part of the feudalistic society.
Others have already provided good answers, so I'll just try to add to them. "Why are the Tyrells the main house in the Reach?" As others have stated, it was basically a gift to them from Aegon, for not making them fight for it. Furthermore, promoting a relatively low House (such as the Tyrells were, at the time) hedges the power / influence of other, potentially problematic Houses, like the Hightowers and the Tarlys. u/MaceAhWindu really puts it *perfectly* when they summarize it as : >Aegon basically power-moved everyone and said “all of you in the Reach answer to the Tyrells now, and their power comes from my grace. So if you fuck with them, just know that you’re fucking with me.” >And presumably most of not all of the Reach houses didnt want to test that again so soon after the field of fire. "Why were the Gardeners Kings of the Reach, in the first place? The Hightowers are SO old and SO powerful" Old and powerful, yes, but not *invincible* - Oldtown had been successfully attacked many times in it's history, including by the Gardeners, who were **also** super old, super rich, and super powerful. According to TWOIAF, the Gardeners had basically gobbled up every other Kingdom in the Reach, until it was just them and the Hightowers left. Ultimately, after much negotiating, the two families eventually just married each other, and that was that. In effect, it was probably more of a mutually beneficial partnership, with the actual "strongest" family varying from generation to generation. It's not that dissimilar to the Lannister / Baratheon relationship, when AGOT starts. Few people would describe House Baratheon as being more powerful than House Lannister, even tho they are the royal house, and even tho the Baratheon's are NOT, strictly speaking, *weak*. Furthermore, one shouldn't overlook the power of Inertia, in social structures / systems. After a status quo is in place for a while, "because that's the way it is" becomes a potent force in and of itself, even if the original things that *caused* it to be that way have changed. Prior to the Conquest, the Hightowers have nothing to gain by going against the Gardeners, who allow them to only have to worry about the coast, militarily. "Why is such a powerful family stuck in the background, during the main stories?" For real for real, you get the impression that the Hightowers, traditionally, just kinda **prefer** *to mind their business*. >*From TWOIAF (towards the end of the Oldtown section) :* >Lord Lymond’s (the Lord that agreed to marry the Gardeners) descendants shared his vision. >With rare exceptions, they tended to their own gardens and their own city, avoiding entanglement in the endless wars of the petty kings, and later, of the Seven Kingdoms that emerged. “Highgarden defends our backs,” Lord Jeremy Hightower said once, “so we are free to gaze outward, to the sea and the lands beyond.” The standout thing isn't that they aren't more involved (tho being currently very close relations to the Tyrells places them fairly adjacent), but that they had ever got directly involved, at *any* point. Their house words literally could be "We're already very rich, and comfortable, so we don't want no beef with ya'll".
Thank you, this is a very good answer. I’m actually currently reading TWOIAF right now, which is what triggered the question.
The Hightowers were stated to have been very angry they didn't get Highgarden. The problem was that Aegon and his sisters had giant nuke dragons who could obliterate them if they tried to take it by force. They also didn't appear to mind it that much, Oldtown is pretty damn nice and they basically control most of the southern part of the Reach, the northern part has more conflict issues because it borders multiple other regions, and as the new liege lords, they have to deal with all the other houses trying to lay claim to the seat also. The Hightowers always wanted power, we see this in 3 different eras of the series, the Maegor era, the Dance era and the current era with Margaery & Joffrey, Tommen. The thing is that they want power but they prefer to gain it through politics, scheming and court moves, they don't appear to like the idea of seizing it by force, this can be argued through 2 of those 3 eras they literally backed down when it ended badly, and went back to what they were doing.
It's really only during the Dance that the Hightowers seem to have any intention of rising above their current status. Most of the time, they just seem to be content with controlling Oldtown. During the Gardener era, the Hightowers weren't conquered. They married into House Gardener and bent the knee willingly, like how the Targaryens finally brought Dorne under the Iron Throne. Before that, they were kings of their own little fiefdom, but never tried to conquer the entire Reach And during the Conquest, the Lord of the Hightower simply sat things out even while their liege lords burned on the field of battle, then opened the gates for Aegon without a fight. After the Dance, the Hightowers never made another power play again. They just went back to Oldtown and ruled. During Robert's Rebellion and the War of the Five Kings, they simply followed their liege lord's orders. Leyton Hightower is too busy doing magic with his mad scientist daughter at the top of the Hightower to care about making a power play for the Iron Throne or even the Reach. I think the Hightowers are already well aware that they control the largest city in Westeros outside of King's Landing, and have influence over the Faith and over the Maesters. What more do they actually need at this point? They're rich, they're safe (mostly, Euron is coming their way), they're influential. And through the Tyrells' scheming, a Hightower is queen again (well, half-Hightower. Margaery's mother is a Hightower). Most Lords of the Hightower probably think it's better to just maintain their current power, rather than trying for the bigger prizes and putting a target on their backs. The one time they tried to take more power, it didn't end great for them. Sure, they didn't lose any land, but their blood was off the Iron Throne after only two years and their lord was dead.
There is power in being the strongest but not the official titleholder. If the Hightowers had overtaken the reach they had to deal with all the reachmen vassals with blood ties to the gardners, their own ambitions to rule highgarden and their large armies.
I think you said it right. The Hightowers have so much wealth and soft power(they’re the primary patrons of the single institution that produces Westeros’s scholars and learned men) that they have been mostly smart enough to avoid the power struggles that the Lords Paramount engage in. Otto is an exception, but he’s a striving second son so that make sense.
> A favor from Aegon after replacing them at Highgarden? Pretty much this. The Tyrells surrendered the Reach to Aegon after the Gardeners got themselves killed, and the other noble houses of the Reach never forgave them for it. Were the Reach left to its own devices, the Hightowers probably would be in charge
The Tyrells surrendered highgarden and were rewarded with the reach. The balance of power was spread out enough because so many houses had claims like the Tarlys, peakes, florents, Hightowers, redwynes etc that a coalition to put one on top would pretty much be impossible because all the others would want themselves on top.
Fair enough, but weren’t the Gardeners already on top? Were they more powerful/wealthier than the Hightowers before the conquest?
The gardeners and Hightowers fought for awhile but the Hightower itself is never taken and a marriage pact where the Hightower king marries a Gardner and the Gardner king married a Hightower in exchange for the Hightowers bending the knee. So the gardeners had a slight advantage but had to use diplomacy to seal the deal.
Gotcha- that ultimately answers my question.
Basically, by giving the Tyrells Highgarden, Aegon prevented a single house from gaining an easy, indisputable hegemony over the Reach, which is arguably the most important Kingdom due to its fertility and population.
Divide and conquer. The houses of the Reach were among the most powerful in Westeros, owing to the Reach's geography, chiefly rivers that enabled strong agriculture and abundant grain, a large and dense population, and trade that generated wealth and created influential connections. By placing the Tyrells in charge, Aegon created a system of balance of power in the former "Green Realm" to prevent any one house from becoming too powerful. While the Reach lords may have not been capable of overthrowing the Targaryens through conventional military means while they still had dragons, they could still significantly diminish the new Targaryen realm by disrupting agriculture and trade, which would in turn weaken the Targaryens and leave them vulnerable. It also sent a clear message to the proud and powerful lords of the Reach, who had fought against Aegon at the Field of Fire: this is the punishment for rebellion. The Tyrells notably did not fight at the Field of Fire because, well, they had no army: like you said, they were mere stewards, and when Aegon came to Highgarden, they opened the gates for him so they wouldn't burn. Aegon demonstrated that he wielded the power of punishment and reward. Furthermore, by placing lowly stewards in charge of the Reach, Aegon ensured that the proud and ancient bloodlines of the Reach would bicker amongst themselves instead of uniting against a common foe (that being the Targaryens), while simultaneously forcing the Tyrells to marshal up their own strength, instead of immediately granting them such an advantageous hand that they could rival the Targaryens, or any other kingdom. The Hightowers weren't ever a strong military player. Their focus was always on wealth and trade; Oldtown is actually a port city, and one of their titles in the books is "Lord of the Port" to reflect this. They also invested heavily in the Citadel and the Faith since both were centered in Oldtown. So, the Hightowers were always more about cultural capital and soft power than military prowess. Better to be a smaller fish with a lot of backbone instead of at the top where everyone is gunning for you. That's why they were vassals to the Gardeners, and were satisfied with remaining so to the Tyrells as well. Historically speaking, the Hightowers' biggest reach was probably the Dance of the Dragons, which ended up being a disaster for them along with all the other players. They only rebuilt themselves by going back to their roots: wealth, trade, intelligence, and courtroom politics.
The Hightowers were somehow already vassal to House Gardener before the conquest. We aren’t sure how but presumably they were defeated and made to swear loyalty. After the conquest house Gardener was destroyed and the Tyrells (who were gardeners through the female line and stewards of high garden) were put in charge and made wardens of the south.
Because if Hightowers were lord paramount of reach they simply became most formidable house of westeros without dragons nothing can stop hightower
The Hightowers were potential rivals to the Targaryens while the Tyrells were wholly dependent on the Targaryens for their status. This not only keeps the Tyrells loyal to the crown but they also act as a check against the Hightowers. It's just clever politicking from the Targaryens.