Martyn Hightower

Martyn Hightower, Lord of Oldtown, faced the threat of King Maegor’s dragons with the city’s defenses poised for resistance, but after the High Septon died he acted to disarm the Warrior’s Sons and open the gates. His swift response turned Oldtown from a city preparing for battle into one that received the dragons without a fight.

Lord of Oldtown

Martyn was the lord of House Hightower during King Maegor’s campaign against those who resisted his rule. As the dragons approached Oldtown, Martyn called his banners. The great beacon atop the Hightower burned green, a public signal of the city’s preparations and a striking landmark in the night of fear before the dragons arrived.

Oldtown had reason to expect an attack. The High Septon denounced the Targaryens from the Starry Sept, the archmaesters gathered at the Citadel, and the City Watch assembled sand and water to fight fires. Crossbows, scorpions, spitfires, and spear-throwers were raised along the walls. Ser Morgan Hightower, Martyn’s younger brother, led two hundred Warrior’s Sons out of their chapterhouse to defend the High Septon, who was surrounded by a ring of steel.

The Night Before the Dragons

The city’s response divided between preparations for escape, revelry, prayer, and armed defense. Thousands fled through the gates or boarded ships for distant ports; others drank in the streets or gathered in septs, temples, and woods to pray. The green beacon and the armed defenses marked the official readiness for a fight, while the city’s population faced the prospect of dragonfire in sharply different ways.

The dragons arrived the following morning: Vhagar at sunrise and Balerion shortly before midday. They found the gates open, the battlements unmanned, and the banners of House Targaryen, House Tyrell, and House Hightower flying together above the city. The threatened attack did not become a battle.

Response to the High Septon’s Death

The High Septon had died during the blackest hour of the night. The cause remained disputed, with accounts variously describing suicide, divine punishment, or murder; suspicion fell on several people, including Ser Morgan, but the truth was not established. What is clear is how quickly Martyn acted once news reached him at the Hightower.

Martyn dispatched his knights to disarm and arrest the Warrior’s Sons, including his own brother. The city gates were opened and Targaryen banners raised along the walls. Before Vhagar’s wings had been seen, Martyn’s men were also rousing the Most Devout from their beds and marching them at spearpoint to the Starry Sept to choose a new High Septon. The choice was made in a single ballot: the assembled Faith turned to Septon Pater, who subsequently blessed and anointed Maegor as king.

Consequences and Narrative Role

Martyn’s actions brought Oldtown into Maegor’s control without the city being burned. The transfer was not merely signaled by the banners: the Warrior’s Sons who had prepared to defend the High Septon were disarmed, and the Faith was compelled to select a successor before the dragons appeared. The sequence joined military threat to an abrupt change in religious leadership.

Ser Morgan was among those arrested, but later received the only full royal pardon granted to the condemned Warrior’s Sons. The evidence establishes his arrest and eventual pardon, but not Martyn’s role in securing that outcome. Martyn’s clearest significance lies in the decisive reversal at Oldtown: after calling his banners for a city preparing to resist, he acted to make its gates open and its defenses yield before the dragons arrived.