Euron Greyjoy vs. Leyton Hightower

Background

This post is with regards to Euron and him and the city of Oldtown. My goal is to look at GRRM's approach to Leyton Hightower's character while simultaneous building up Euron Greyjoy and this attack.

I recommend reading The Forsaken (TWOW, Aeron I) before reading this post if you haven't already.

Different Plotlines in the City

There is so much going on in the city itself, I did a quick rundown here if you are interested: Oldtown: Anything/Everything, but before we even get to Leyton/Euron/magic we have (just to name a few):

• A few members of the Brave Companions
• Alleras (likely Sarella of the Sand Snakes)
• The Faceless Men (infiltrated the Citadel, "Pate")
• Sam/Gilly recently arrived on the Cinnamon Wind
• Black/White Ravens that hate each other (The Isle of Ravens in TWOW & White Wings, Dark Words)

If interested: The Citadel is not what it was, they will take anything these days"

The Attackers

GRRM has been building up Euron Greyjoy as a villain since at least A Clash of Kings and while I don't think that necessarily means that Euron is legit and riding the wave of the apocalypse, I think it does mean that he at least survives the initial Battle of Blood ritual sacrifice.

What he is preparing to do has all the elements of Summerhall, Dany's sacrifice (and potentially Stannis' as well) as he has been collecting priests, has people with kingsblood, potentially had an egg at one point, etc. This sacrifice could be as small (probable) as drawing kraken(s) to the surface (as has been hinted):

"And krakens off the Broken Arm, pulling under crippled galleys," said Valena. "The blood draws them to the surface, our maester claims. -TWOW, Arianne I

or as apocalyptic that Euron doesn't even care what happens to his own men (as we have seen before):

The dreams were even worse the second time. He saw the longships of the Ironborn adrift and burning on a boiling blood-red sea. -TWOW, The Forsaken

or somewhere in between.

Everything about this man, from his eyes, to his ship (the Silence), even his gifts are creepy as can be.

If interested: A Thought on Euron during the Battle of Blood

The Defenders

With the Ironborn on the advance and Cersei impeding the return of the Redwyne fleet, the Hightowers have gotten to the defense of the city. It may seem like they are completely undermanned, but I would argue that Leyton Hightower has been preparing for this attack for quite some time.

"The Hightower must be doing something."

"To be sure. Lord Leyton's locked atop his tower with the Mad Maid, consulting books of spells. Might be he'll raise an army from the deeps. Or not. Baelor's building galleys, Gunthor has charge of the harbor, Garth is training new recruits, and Humfrey's gone to Lys to hire sellsails. If he can winkle a proper fleet out of his whore of a sister, we can start paying back the ironmen with some of their own coin. Till then, the best we can do is guard the sound and wait for the bitch queen in King's Landing to let Lord Paxter off his leash."

The bitterness of the captain's final words shocked Sam as much as the things he said. If King's Landing loses Oldtown and the Arbor, the whole realm will fall to pieces, he thought as he watched the Huntress and her sisters moving off. -AFFC, Samwell V

Leyton Hightower

Leyton has spent the last ten years up atop the Hightower. I firmly believe he somehow managed to get a glass candle working and has been using it (If interested: The Man in the High Castle). As the quote indicates above, his son are also working hard to prepare Oldtown for an attack.

If interested: The Black Tide & Towers by the Sea: The Hightower Defenses

Glass Candles

If interested: The Four Glass Candles in Oldtown

I mentioned in the last section that I firmly believe Leyton has a working glass candle (we know Marwyn has one, as well as Quaithe (who could be a few different people). Its also strongly possible that Euron has a working glass candle as well. If you subscribe to the Euron Greyjoy = Urrathon Nightwalker theory that means that:

It is said that the glass candles are burning in the house of Urrathon Night-Walker, that have not burned in a hundred years**.** -ACOK, Daenerys V

and since we know that:

The sorcerers of the Freehold could see across mountains, seas, and deserts with one of these glass candles. They could enter a man's dreams and give him visions, and speak to one another half a world apart, seated before their candles. -AFFC, Samwell V

So that means that if both Leyton/Euron have glass candles than not only are they probably aware of each other, they may even have communicated.

TLDR: After the Battle of Blood with the Redwyne Fleet, Euron's logical next step is probably the city of Oldtown. There are a lot of small plotlines going on in the city, but one thing that is forgotten is that the Hightowers are probably much more prepared for this attack than people think. Sure Leyton's sons have been setting to getting the city's physical defenses ready, but Leyton has probably been preparing for this attack for quite some time and Leyton/Euron may even be aware of each other/have communicated already.