Gerold Hightower

"Your friend, the Usurper, would lie beneath the ground if we had been."

- Ser Gerold Hightower to Eddard Stark in reference to the events of the Battle of the Trident.

Ser Gerold Hightower is a minor character in Game of Thrones, appearing in Season 6. He was long dead by the time of the series premiere, but he did appear in flashback form during a vision. Ser Gerold Hightower was a knight of House Hightower and the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under Aerys II Targaryen.

Season 4
Ser Gerold Hightower's entry in The Book of Brothers mentions several events of his life. Among them are his injury defending the honor and property of Princess Elia Martell; granting temporary command of the Kingsguard to his sworn brother Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. The Book also mentions that he was sent to locate Prince Rhaegar Targaryen in the wake of Robert's Rebellion, and his death along with Ser Arthur near the Red Mountains of Dorne fighting a small force led by Eddard Stark after refusing to bend the knee to the new king, Robert Baratheon.

Season 6
In Bran's vision of the events at the Tower of Joy, Ser Gerold Hightower fights alongside his fellow Kingsguard, Ser Arthur Dayne, against Eddard Stark, Howland Reed and four other Northmen. Though Ser Gerold manages to kill one of the Northmen, he is slain shortly thereafter by Ned.



Down in King's Landing, the Hand of the King Kevan Lannister objects to his nephew attending a Small Council meeting. Jaime countered by stating he has a position there, given his title of Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Cersei then asks Pycelle to vouch for his presence there, and the Grand Maester brings up the precedent of Gerold being on the council during Aerys II's reign.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Ser Gerold Hightower was known as "the White Bull" for his immense strength. He was Lord Commander of the Kingsguard during the brief reign of King Jaehaerys II and then under King Aerys II.

Gerold Hightower, similarly to Barristan Selmy and Arthur Dayne, was blindly loyal to the Mad King, no matter how cruel and bloodthirsty Aerys was. He was present when Aerys executed Rickard Stark and his son. He noticed that Jaime Lannister disapproved of the unjust atrocity and told him "You swore a vow to guard the king, not to judge him".

As Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Gerold indeed had a regular seat on the Small Council.

During Robert's Rebellion, Prince Rhaegar left Ser Gerold and his fellow Kingsguard Ser Oswell Whent and Ser Arthur Dayne to guard Lyanna Stark at the Tower of Joy near the Red Mountains of Dorne. After the Battle of the Trident, Eddard Stark and six companions arrived to rescue Lyanna and were confronted by the Kingsguard. Despite it being apparent that the Targaryens had lost the war, Ser Gerold refused to surrender, insisting that "the Kingsguard does not flee." In the fight that followed, all three Kingsguard were slain, along with five of Stark's friends. Only Stark himself and Howland Reed survived. It is unclear exactly who killed Ser Gerold. Lord Stark later had the tower demolished and used the stone to make eight cairns, in honor of the eight who died there.