Is Princess Helaena a Dreamer?

One of the young Targaryens that we met in episode 6 of House of the Dragon was Princess Helaena Targaryen, who is the second child of King Viserys Targaryen to Alicent Hightower. However, the one thing that we noticed about her is the fact that she seems to be a weird girl who talks in riddles and doesn’t always seem to say things that normal people say. In fact, Aegon even said that she was weird and dumb, but it was clear that the things that she was saying had deeper meanings behind them. So, does that mean that Princess Helaena is a dreamer?

It is possible that Princess Helaena is a dreamer because her statement in relation to Aemond losing an eye to get a dragon had already come true. In episode 7, she may have also predicted the event that is yet to come, which is the Dance of the Dragons or the Targaryen civil war.

While Helaena was never a dreamer in the book as she was a happy and popular Targaryen among the smallfolk, House of the Dragon obviously changed the character into a more cryptic and somewhat introverted version of herself as she clearly isn’t normal when compared to the other people. Now, with that said, let’s look at whether or not Helaena is a dreamer.

Who Is Princess Helaena Targaryen?

Due to the time skip that we saw between episodes 5 and 6, we were able to see a teenage version of Helaena Targaryen during the second half of season 1 of House of the Dragon. Of course, a lot of the other kids also grew up, as we saw a teenage version of Aegon and pre-teen versions of Aemond, Jacaerys, and Lucerys. Helaena, of course, was the only girl among the children of Rhaenyra and Alicent. So, who is Helaena?

As mentioned, Helaena is one of the children that we saw in the first half of House of the Dragon as she is the second child of King Viserys Targaryen to Queen Alicent Hightower. She was born right around two years after Aegon was born. Meanwhile, Aemond followed her as the third child of the union between Viserys and Alicent.

In the series, we were first introduced to a teenage version of Helaena, who was seen playing with her centipede-like insect while explaining it to her mother, Alicent, who seemed uninterested in what her daughter was doing. However, things escalated when the Kingsguard brought Aemond to the queen, as the prince was found nearly burned when he entered the dragonpit without supervision.

During that scene, Alicent told Aemond, who didn’t have a dragon, that he would eventually have one. As Helaena was playing with her centipede, she said, “he will have to lose an eye,” while referring to her insect pet, but we don’t know for sure whether or not she was indeed referring to the creature or if she was talking about her brother.

Later in the episode, Rhaenyra proposed a marriage between Jacaerys and Helaena to unite their families. However, it was clear that Alicent wasn’t willing to wed her daughter to Rhaenyra’s bastard son because of the fact she hated Rhaenyra for everything she did during her time as heir to the Iron Throne.

Meanwhile, in episode 7, Helaena and the rest of her family went to Driftmark to attend the funeral of Laena Velaryon. She was once again playing with an insect while uttering weird words, as Aegon told Aemond that she was weird. That was also the time when it was revealed by Aemond that she had already been betrothed to Aegon, who didn’t want to marry her because of how weird and stupid she seemed to be. It was clear at that moment that Helaena was obviously not your normal girl.

Is Helaena a dreamer?

Back in the earlier episodes, one of the things that we learned was the fact that Aegon the Conqueror had a dream, just like Daenys the Dreamer, who was said to be the one that saved the Targaryen household from certain doom. King Viserys explained to Princess Rhaenyra that the reason why Aegon conquered the Seven Kingdoms was the fact that he dreamed about a threat that was going to come from the north and that the only way for them to defeat that threat was to unite the Seven Kingdoms under House Targaryen, which had the power of the dragons and wielded Valyrian Steel swords. And we all know that this threat he was talking about was the Night King and the Army of the Dead.

Daenys, of course, lived during the time of Old Valyria, as she dreamed of the Doom of Valyria. House Targaryen recognized the power of dreams, as the entire family sold its properties in Valyria and fled to Dragonstone to start anew. Twelve years later, the Doom of Valyria came true as the Valyrian Empire crumbled, with only House Targaryen standing firm with its power and its dragons.

Viserys himself once claimed that he had a dream regarding his own son, as he dreamt that he had a baby that wore Aegon the Conqueror’s crown. That was why he was so obsessed with producing a male heir, as he believed that he would give birth to the reincarnation of Aegon the Conqueror. This led to Aemma’s death, as he was so obsessed with having a son. It was also this dream that made him name his son Aegon after the Conqueror, but it was clear that he wasn’t the same kind of dreamer that both Daenys and Aegon the Conqueror were.

Still, Viserys claimed that the power of prophecy was much greater than the power of the dragons, as the different prophecies throughout the history of House Targaryen had more impact on the family than their dragons ever did. And this leads us to Helaena Targaryen.

As mentioned, it is clear that Helaena isn’t your normal girl because she spoke in riddles and was able to actually predict Aemond losing his eye. Regardless of whether or not she was talking to the centipede in that scene that involved Aemond and Alicent, her words still came true as her brother gained a dragon and ended up losing an eye for it.

Meanwhile, in episode 7, she was talking in riddles once more while playing with a spider. Her exact words were :

“Hands turns loom; spool of green, spool of black; dragons of flesh weaving dragons of thread.”

Those words were probably pertaining to the upcoming Dance of the Dragons or the Targaryen civil war that is going to be between the Greens and the Blacks. Of course, these sides have their own dragons in the war, as Helaena was probably talking about the Green and the Black dragon banners that both sides will be carrying to war.

There is also one more interesting thing about one of the things that she said in episode 6. Back in the very same scene wherein she “predicted” Aemond losing his eye, she also said about the centipede that “the last ring has no legs at all,” as she was probably talking about the different kings of the Seven Kingdoms.

Of course, we know for a fact that, in Game of Thrones, the last king we saw was Brandon Stark, who no longer had the use of his legs after an accident way back in season 1. Helaena must have been talking about him as the last ring with no legs.

In that regard, Helaena’s weirdness comes from the possibility that she might be a dreamer, as different visions probably enter her mind and cause her to talk in riddles. This only makes things more interesting because Helaena wasn’t a dreamer in the book. That means that she would probably have more visions and prophecies in the future of the series.