The mention of House Tyrell in House of the Dragon season 2, episode 2, may have audiences wondering which side the noble family of Highgarden is fighting for. The Dance of the Dragons has divided the realm into the Black and Green factions, with prominent families like Stark, Lannister, and Baratheon joining the forces of either side. There are still houses that haven’t been explored in the TV series, however, including the Tyrells, who played a prominent role in Game of Thrones with notable characters like Margaery, Olenna, and Ser Loras.
On the House of the Dragon timeline, season 2 takes place roughly 170 years before the events of Game of Thrones, so the Tyrell characters who are around evidently won’t be the same ones audiences are familiar with. It’s important to note that they share the same region as House Hightower, making the Hightowers’ rising prominence and connections to the Iron Throne potentially threaten the Tyrells’ rule over the Reach. The Hightowers are technically bannermen of House Tyrell, but their military strength and wealth during this time make them a clear rival, causing tension.
House Tyrell Remains Neutral In The Dance Of The Dragons In Fire & Blood
House Tyrell Doesn’t Side With The Greens Or The Blacks, Believing They Have Nothing To Gain
It would make sense for House Tyrell to align themselves with their allies from the Reach, creating a unified front with House Hightower, but they instead decided to remain neutral during the war. The Tyrells don’t feel like they have anything to gain from either side, but the implication is that they don’t want to support the Hightowers as they’d like to see their rival family fail. House Hightower’s history dates back thousands of years, and Oldtown is one of the grandest cities in Westeros, while the Tyrells have only had control of Highgarden since Aegon I conquered Westeros.
The Tyrells are a subject of controversy in the Reach, as House Gardener previously ruled the region as a kingdom until Aegon the Conqueror united the continent. Aegon selected House Tyrell to replace them as the ruling house despite House Florent having a better claim. It’s also revealed in House of the Dragon season 2 that Alerie Florent is Alicent Hightower’s mother, meaning the Hightowers and Florents could have been aligning against the Tyrells in subtle ways for decades before the show. House Tyrell remaining neutral might be their response to their rivals’ actions.
Who House Tyrell’s Bannermen Are Allied With In The Targaryen Civil War
Houses Of The Reach Are Divided In The Dance Of The Dragons
In House of the Dragon season 2, Alicent Hightower declares that “the Tyrells must be taken in hand; their bannermen are wavering.” While the Tyrells themselves aren’t participating in the war, many of their vassal houses have declared for different sides. Some have joined forces with the Greens in supporting House Hightower, while others declared for Rhaenyra Targaryen after swearing fealty to Viserys years before. There are soldiers for the Reach fighting for both sides, with the houses divided as such:
Conflicts between vassal houses have been seen before in Game of Thrones. In the North, House Bolton betrays House Stark to claim power during the War of the Five Kings. In the Riverlands, House Frey does the same to House Tully. These inter-region rivalries are quite common, and one of the benefits of reading George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire book series is that the novels go more in-depth into how each minor noble house contributes (or doesn’t contribute) to the military causes of their ruling lord. HOTD vitally notes the crucial value of minor houses.
House Tyrell Will Be Important Later In House Of The Dragon’s War
Ulf White Requests Highgarden As A Reward From The Greens
Regardless of who wins the Dance of the Dragons, no one is entirely happy with House Tyrell for not supporting them during the war. Abstaining sends a powerful message to both the Greens and the Blacks, putting the Tyrells in the scope of whoever wins the war. In the case of Aegon’s Conquest, the Tyrells benefited from remaining neutral and were likely granted Highgarden over the Florents because they didn’t take up arms against the Targaryen offensive. The situation is different in the Dance, as the Tyrells technically betray both sides by not joining them.
Either way, House Tyrell is choosing to ignore the summons of the monarch of Westeros. During the Dance, the Dragonseed Ulf White takes particular grievance against this, declaring the Tyrells as traitors and requesting lordship over Highgarden for his assistance to the Greens as a dragonrider during the war after betraying Rhaenyra at the First Battle of Tumbleton. House of the Dragon still has a long way to go, and season 2, episode 2, won’t be the last audiences hear about the Tyrells and Highgarden.