It’s no secret that House of the Dragon likes to play around with magic and prophecies more than Game of Thrones ever did. The first season of House of the Dragon kicks off with the prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised, a legendary hero that’s said to beat back the darkness during the Long Night. Throughout the series, this prophecy has become an integral and important part of the show — but it’s not the only magical aspect of the series.
It looks like Season 3 of House of the Dragon will be featuring even more prophecy and magic. According to TVLine, showrunner Ryan Condal revealed that Phia Saban’s Helaena will be key to the magical plotline moving forward. “Whatever this ability is that she has, she’s learning to wield it or to pay more heed to it, or she’s learning how to interpret it better […] We were interested in seeing how a spooked Aemond is going to react from this point forward in the story,” said Condal who added:
“Helaena was always fascinating to us because she was a bit of a tabula rasa, as described in the book. And we cast this fantastic actor, Phia Saban, and we just loved her performance, and we became fascinated with who this person is. Helaena, [Viserys’] daughter, right under his very nose, had this power that everybody kinda ignored because they view her as different or odd or just ‘Oh, that’s just Helaena.’ But now people are starting to take a little bit more care and notice of her. And she, herself, is evolving.”
House of the Dragon
Taking place about 172 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon tells the tale of the rise of the Targaryens, the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria. The popular HBO spinoff show first starred Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower before they were replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who play the older versions of the characters. Also starring in the series is Matt Smith (Prince Daemon Targaryen) and Paddy Considine as Rhaenyra’s father, King Viserys Targaryen.
- Release Date
- May 21, 2022
House of the Dragon’s Take On Helaena Is Very Different
House of the Dragon‘s Helaena is substantially different from Fire & Blood‘s take on the character. George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, the source material for House of the Dragon, hardly makes note of the character. She appears briefly, is said to be a delight to the smallfolk, and is then traumatized so badly by Blood & Cheese that she nearly disappears from the narrative for the majority of the war.
As portrayed by Saban, Helaena is a much more active character in House of the Dragon. Although still traumatized by Blood & Cheese, Helaena’s mental state fares far better, and she’s seen out and about several times throughout the second season. Her ability to see the future is an invention of the show; it’s never even hinted at during the course of Fire & Blood. She’s able to see that Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) must “close an eye” before he gets a dragon, that she must fear the ratcatchers, and more.
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Her most notable prophecy came during the Season 2 finale. There, Aemond declares that Helaena must join the Dance of the Dragons on her mount, Dreamfyre. Helaena is reluctant to do so, and when Aemond becomes domineering and insists she must join him, she reveals that she’s seen him die in the God’s Eye, Westeros’s biggest lake, and that she’s seen Aegon retake the throne in his own name. She also, apparently, has a connection to Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), appearing to him psychically when he connects to a weirwood tree.
Helaena’s status as a dreamer will likely be a key divergence moving forward. Although prophecy never works as straightforwardly as the characters would like, the Game of Thrones universe has several instances of prophecy profoundly affecting its characters. As Condal says, it will be interesting to see what Aemond makes of Helaena’s dire warnings. You can stream House of the Dragon on Max.
