Warning: This article contains spoilers for the finale of House of the Dragon season 2.
Summary
- Helaena doesn’t align with Team Green or Black, with
House of the Dragon
actor Phia Saban emphasizing she sees beyond the throne. - Helaena’s reluctance to join the war showcases her wisdom and strategic abilities.
- Saban also suggests Helaena’s appearance in Daemon’s vision might have been more about him than her.
House of the Dragon star Phia Saban opens up about whether her character is Team Green or Black. Saban plays Helaena Targaryen, the sister-wife of Aegon II and daughter of the dowager Queen Alicent. Ever since the beginning of House of the Dragon, her character has been viewed as odd, often reciting prophecies in the form of cryptic riddles. In the finale of House of the Dragon season 2, Helaena appears in Daemon’s final vision at Harrenhal, leading to theories over whether she is truly Team Black.
In an interview with Variety, Saban joins in on the debate and discusses which faction Helaena truly belongs to. The actor says that the character doesn’t belong to either team before elaborating and saying that choosing one or the other suggests that Helaena believes anything can happen. However, she has a clear view of the end, and that transcends who ends up sitting on the Iron Throne. Read her full comment below:
I don’t feel that she is a team. And my feeling isn’t that she was giving Daemon advice because she wants him to succeed. I think choosing between one team and the other suggests that you think anything can happen, and I think to a certain extent, she feels a little bit transcended above that. She has a clear view of this end that’s in sight. And I wouldn’t say that she knows it innately, but I think she knows enough to be like, it’s not about who’s on the throne next — we’re all going in the same direction.
I would also say about the scene with Daemon, it’s slightly left up to what the audience thinks about how much she is there — present in his dream. 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.
Helaena Is Caught In The Crossfire Between Two Factions
Helaena Might Be The Wisest Of Her Family
In the finale of House of the Dragon season 2, Aemond forcibly beckons Helaena to mount her dragon Dreamfyre and fight a war that she wants no part of, especially after her son’s brutal assassination at the beginning of the season. The tragedy should have fueled the fire in her and prompted her to join the fight with rage, but, instead, she withdraws from the war and goes even further into herself. At the same time, this seems to only heighten her abilities, which she uses to full effect in the finale.
In addition to appearing in Daemon’s vision, Helaena warns her brother Aemond of his future death.
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Who Is Dreamfyre? Helaena Targaryen’s Dragon’s History, Power & HOTD Future Explained
House of the Dragon season 2’s finale mentions Dreamfyre. Here’s what we know about Helaena Targaryen’s dragon, before and during the Dance.
Helaena is ultimately a character who is caught in the crossfire between Team Black and Green, a character who is perhaps wiser than and exhausted by her quarreling family. It’s interesting that the House of the Dragon showrunners gave her the supernatural ability to predict the series’ events, given her disassociation from the Dance of the Dragons. This ability is not present in the book version of the character. The decision to give it to her adds depth to a character who’s already intriguing, but could have easily become a passive figure as war brews around her.
Her appearance in Daemon’s final vision adds to Helaena’s complexity, diving deeper into their relationship, which is complicated because Daemon is the one responsible for her son Jaehaerys’ death. While the crime should have led to her avoiding Daemon at all costs, she appears in his vision and gives him key insights that ultimately change Team Black’s king consort for the better. This speaks to House of the Dragon’s complex and benevolent iteration of Helaena Targaryen, who seems to be developing far more than author George R. R. Martin initially planned.
Source: Variety