Helaena Targaryen: The Hidden Gem of House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon season 2 has finished and some characters turned out to be controversial. Among them is Helaena, whom some people love and others dislike. I am one of those “Helaena lovers” as I think she is a hidden gem. She is a bit different from the book and even George R.R. Martin loves this new version of her. In his blog, he mentions:

“Saban’s performance is especially noteworthy; very little of what she brings to the part was in my source material… In the book, she is a plump, pleasant, and happy young woman, cheerful and kindly, adored by the smallfolk.   A dragonrider since the age of twelve, Helaena’s greatest joy in life is to take to the skies on the back of her dragon Dreamfyre.  None of the strangeness she displays in the show was in evidence in the book, nor is her gift for prophecy. Those were born in the writers’ room… but once I met the show’s version of Helaena, I could hardly take issue.   Phia Saban’s Helaena is a richer and more fascinating character than the one I created in FIRE & BLOOD, and in ‘Rhaenyra the Cruel’ you can scarcely take your eyes off her” (Martin in georgerrmartin.com, 2024). 

It’s fascinating that even George R. R. Martin thinks Phia Saban’s performance and the writer’s changes made a unique and fantastic character. One of the things that makes the character intriguing is the mystery and intelligence she conveys. It’s almost as if Helaena was hiding all her Dragon Dream qualities in a cabinet of curiosities. Though she’s not keeping them from others, instead her family is disregarding her and taking her for granted. This also shows another patriarchal dynamic in which women are only valued if they provide a healthy heir. This show has also focused a lot on sexism within the realm. For example, when Rhaenyra’s throne was usurped because she’s a woman, how she was undermined by her council, and how Alicent was quickly set aside by all the men in Aegon’s council. At first, I was very observant of those misogynistic behaviors the show judges through Rhaenyra and Alicent, but little did I notice they did it with Helaena too. 

Episode 8 is when we first see a desperate Aemond. Throughout the two seasons, Aemond always felt confident things were going to go his way until he saw Rhaenyra outsmart him by getting the people of Kingslanding on her side and claiming three more dragons. Insecure, Aemond goes to Helaena and asks her to ride Dreamfyre into battle, to which she responds – “And if I refuse? Will you burn me as you did Aegon?… Aegon will be king again… and you, you’ll be dead. You were swallowed up in the God’s Eye and you were never seen again”. In the end, Aemond gets angry and threatens her, but deep down he believes her. In a way, Helaena stood up for herself for the first time, almost an “I won’t ride my dragon because I don’t want to and because it is also pointless”.  

Helaena spends most of the time in her own world, no one understands her better than herself. She values her skills, and we can see how content she is living in the moment by observing all those bugs. She’s not hungry for power and that’s also what makes her such a great character. Even in the darkest most dysfunctional families or societies, there will always be a kind person whose ego or ambitions won’t rule over them. 

Her visions get clearer towards the end and one of the reasons, brilliantly put by Phia Saban is – “The present is a little bit too painful to live in for now, so she’s managed to step more forthrightly into this otherness — and that’s why this moment felt so clear to her. She’s not fighting it as much anymore” (Saban in Variety, 2024). Even I would seek refuge inside my head if I had to grieve my father, my son, my husband, and my entire family trying to murder each other. I only wished HOTD had shown us that coping mechanism and how Helaena dealt with all that pain instead of just using her for foreshadowing.  

Helaena also appeared in Daemon’s vision of the prophecy saying – “And you are but one part in it. You know your part. You know what you must do” -. In the interview with Variety, Phia said – “Maybe she’s a projection of something he wants to tell himself, especially since he hurt her so much with her son and everything. From a psychoanalytical perspective, maybe it’s all about him, and maybe it’s not that literal” (Saban in Variety, 2024). It’s mainly open to interpretation, some people say she was there because she has the Dragon Dream powers, but I think she hasn’t mastered that skill yet. She can see some things and that’s why she’s able to tell Aemond how he is going to die, but I don’t think she can intervene in someone else’s visions or dreams, especially if they are far from her. Even Alys Rivers seems to have more control over her powers. 

Perhaps Daemon is seeing her in his vision because, as Phia said, he’s projecting himself and finally accepting he made a mistake by killing her son and causing her much pain. Alys might also be using her to show Daemon he needs to take responsibility for his actions and his well-hidden desire for the crown. Either way, Helaena’s appearance has everything to do with Daemon’s unconscious. For example, when Daemon saw Rheanyra sowing Jaecerys’ head it was a way of accepting Rhaenyra is cleaning his mess, just like Viserys did. Then he saw himself cutting Rhaenyra’s head as a symbol of taking power away from her for himself. And he had one last Freudian dream with his mother proving he always felt better than Viserys and more deserving of the throne. I think the vision of Helaena was a sign of his confrontation with everything he has done to get to the Iron Throne and how meaningless it is. He could still win the war next to Rhaenyra, otherwise, he and Rhaenyra would both lose the throne leaving it to his despicable and incompetent nephews. 

In my opinion, Helaena is the smartest person in Team Green. Even though she told Blood and Cheese which baby was the heir to the throne, she understands everyone’s fate and respects it. She sees everyone’s humanity: their defects, their desires, their mistakes, and their strengths. She doesn’t seem to have a side; it was rather chosen for her. Despite her ability to spot everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, she doesn’t plot or intervene. She goes forward accepting what happened and what’s to come. In a way, she is adapting to her circumstances and trying to live. We can expect her to survive next season or, at least, get a merciful death. Especially because the writers are slightly changing the story from the book.