‘House of the Dragon’ Fans Should Listen Closely to Helaena Targaryen
Helaena Targaryen is Alicent and Viserys‘ only daughter in House of the Dragon. Though she hasn’t had much screen time in the prequel series, Helaena is a very important character. Fans should listen closely to Helaena’s few lines.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon Episode 9.]
Alicent and Viserys have a daughter named Helaena in ‘House of the Dragon’
In House of the Dragon, Helaena Targaryen is Alicent and Viserys’ only daughter and second-oldest child. She marries her brother Aegon II, according to Targaryen customs. In George R.R. Martin’s book, Heleana and Aegon have three children — twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera and Maelor. Episode 9 appears to have given a glance of the twins.
Helaena is also a dragonrider, who rode Dreamfyre in the books. Dreamfyre is a pale blue dragon with silver markings. She also appears to have prophetic dreams and visions, a trait that runs in the Targaryen family. Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones possessed these Dragon Dreams, but no one seems to be paying much attention to Helaena.
Helaena Targaryen has prophetic dreams
So far in House of the Dragon, Helaena has predicted several important events. In episode 6, a young Helaena sits playing with a centipede when Aemond storms into the room to complain to his mother about the prank Aegon and Rhaenyra’s sons played on him.
“You will have a dragon someday,” Alicent tells Aemond. “He’ll have to close an eye,” Helaena says. Later, Helaena’s words come true. Aemond claims Vhagar, the largest dragon in the world, but in the same night, loses an eye in a fight with Lucerys Targaryen.
In another scene, Helaena plays with a spider and says, “Hand turns loom. Spool of green, spool of black. Dragons of flesh weaving dragons of thread.” This appears to be a comment on the upcoming Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war that pitted the “Greens” and “Blacks” against each other.
Helaena predicts Rhaenys flight with Meleys in episode 9
Finally, in House of the Dragon Episode 9, Helaena says the line, “Beware the beast beneath the boards.” The meaning behind this prophecy becomes clear when Rhaenys burst from underground while riding Meleys during Aegon’s coronation.
“I love that it’s just sort of casual. These prophecies are so casual,” director Clare Kilner stated during an interview on Entertainment Weekly’s West of Westeros podcast. “It would lose it if she was like standing up and proclaiming what’s about to happen.”
“She’s this quiet character who’s very deep and very powerful in her very quiet way, and no one really pays attention to her,” Kilner continued. “But she’s really carrying the world in her heart and soul because she knows so much of what’s about to happen, and she just watches.”
Eve Best, who plays Rhaenys Targaryen, added, “I think that line, ‘beware the beast beneath the boards’ is also very resonate in literal terms because of the dragon, but also in metaphorical terms, it refers directly back to the patriarchy and a corrupt system that represses so many. The warning to that system is, ‘Beware. Beware if you suppress and you hide under boards, whoever you do, in this case, particularly women.'”
House of the Dragon airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
