House of the Dragon: Helaena’s Dream Points to Major Fire & Blood Changes

Major SPOILERS travel for some House of the Dragon and Fire & Blood.

House of the Dragon: Season 3, Episode 7 further explored Helaena Targaryen’s powerfulness arsenic a Dreamer, with 1 peculiar series heavy suggesting that her character’s destiny connected the HBO bid mightiness crook retired rather otherwise than however it played retired successful George R.R. Martin’s book, Fire & Blood.

Unlike successful the book, the show's Helaena (Phia Saban) has agelong foreseen events, including her member Aemond’s death. But this week’s occurrence saw Helaena imagination of her ain aboriginal — and imaginable death.

The occurrence opens with Helaena successful the courtyard of King’s Landing approaching a achromatic equine hitched to a wagon. There’s a breeze blowing and the airy is low, until the gates unfastened and sunshine pours in. Helaena’s glimpse of state is rapidly thwarted erstwhile Rhaenyra’s dependable awakens her.

Helaena confirms to Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) that she had been asked by Aemond to thrust her dragon, Dreamfyre, into conflict with him but she refused. Helaena says that arsenic a miss she dreamt of flying but present erstwhile she’s with Dreamfyre “it’s excessively much.” She doesn’t privation the dragon to “alter” her, suggesting Rhaenyra herself has been changed by each her dragons. Like their begetter Viserys, Helaena is not arsenic enthralled by the powerfulness and allure of dragons arsenic different Targaryens.

Helaena (Phia Saban) and Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy). Photo: Theo Whiteman/HBO

Rhaenyra becomes progressively assertive arsenic she pushes Helaena to archer her whether she volition prevail successful the war, treating her similar the quality equivalent of that luck telling instrumentality that drove William Shatner’s quality to obsession successful The Twilight Zone.

Later successful the episode, Helaena dreams of giving commencement but the newborn is whisked distant earlier she tin adjacent get a accidental to clasp it. Was the kid taken distant to beryllium killed oregon to beryllium made a captive since it poses a menace to Rhaenyra’s rule? It’s uncertain.

Helaena past dreams of being successful her dragon rider garb, saddled atop Dreamfyre. She is wrong the Dragonpit arsenic scores of enraged radical tempest towards them. “Dracarys!” she cries arsenic Dreamfyre past breathes occurrence down connected the charging mob.

The last portion of Helaena’s imagination shows her surviving connected a farm, that achromatic equine from the opening imagination grazing adjacent and 2 of her present somewhat older children – a lad and a miss – helping her provender the chickens. (Remember, she told Alicent that she would similar to person chickens if she were ever to beryllium escaped of King’s Landing.) Helaena’s bucolic bliss is rapidly interrupted erstwhile the prima is eclipsed by the moon, and what seems to beryllium either ash oregon snowfall starts to autumn earlier a debris unreality rapidly engulfs her.

I work this imagination series arsenic Helaena’s premonition of her ain death. All play she has yearned to beryllium free, archetypal of her parent Alicent’s power implicit her and past of being Rhaenyra’s hostage. Helaena has ne'er known bureau of her own, fundamentally being a captive successful the Red Keep her full life, archetypal by her ain contiguous household earlier Rhaenyra took power of King’s Landing.

In this episode, Helaena dreams of a simple, quiescent beingness with her children but the acheronian and demolition of the Dance of the Dragons seems inescapable for her. That mediate information of her last imagination featuring a militant Helaena riding Dreamfyre — a acold outcry from the shy, non-threatening young pistillate we’ve known this full bid — depicts The Storming of the Dragonpit, 1 of the astir momentous passages from Fire & Blood.

Warning: We’re astir to get into publication spoilers!

With the citizens of King’s Landing successful afloat rebellion against Rhaenyra and the metropolis having fallen into chaos, thousands of radical — galore inspired by the preachings of The Shepherd — complaint the Dragonpit with the volition of slaying each the dragons kept there, including Dreamfyre. The dragons are chained truthful they are astatine a disadvantage but they nevertheless inactive roast and termination countless numbers of attackers. Still, the humans are relentless and finally, 1 by one, termination each dragon kept successful the Dragonpit.

Dreamfyre is the past to fall, battling hordes of attackers, yet breaking escaped capable to soar into the domed ceiling of the Dragonpit, fatally bringing the full operation down upon herself and the attackers. That would correspond the debris unreality that consumes Helaena astatine the extremity of her imagination — but that, successful the book, Helaena dies earlier the Storming of the Dragonpit truthful Dreamfyre perishes without her.

In Fire & Blood, Helaena plunges to her decease from Maegor’s Holdfast, impaled connected spikes. The unreliable narrators sourced successful Fire & Blood suggest Helaena, devastated by the caller execution of her lad Maelor — who doesn’t beryllium successful the amusement but mightiness beryllium the kid she’s present large with successful Season 3 — leapt to her death. Others assertion she was, similar her young lad Jaehaerys, murdered connected the orders of Rhaenyra, a rumor that takes clasp among the masses and further enrages them against the ruling queen.

If the babe Helaena carries is so meant to beryllium Maelor, past possibly she mightiness perpetrate termination to forestall either Alicent oregon Rhaenyra from trying to instrumentality it distant from her. If that’s the lawsuit and she dies earlier the Storming of the Dragonpit, past possibly her imaginativeness of riding Dreamfyre mightiness beryllium a lawsuit of Helaena connecting with the carnal astatine the clip of the dragon’s demise oregon sensing her decease from the afterlife erstwhile the Dragonpit is stormed.

Personally, I deliberation House of the Dragon volition forgo the book’s thought of Helaena’s decease being mysterious and alternatively person her spell retired arsenic a warrior queen defending the Dragonpit.

If so, this would mean Helaena would yet judge the inherent unit required to beryllium a Targaryen ruler, which mightiness beryllium a crueler, much tragic destiny for this gentle psyche than not getting to unrecorded retired her days feeding chickens.