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- "The queen is an enduring mystery, is she not?"
- ―Aegon II Targaryen
Queen Helaena Targaryen[c] is the daughter of King Viserys I Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, and the sister-wife of King Aegon II Targaryen. She is the rider of the dragon Dreamfyre.[6]
Biography[]
Background[]
Helaena is the only daughter of King Viserys I and his second wife, Queen Alicent. She has three full brothers, Aegon, Aemond, and Daeron, and one half-sister, Rhaenyra.[7]
House of the Dragon: Season 1[]
Helaena's mother has trouble soothing her as an infant. Whenever Alicent is seen holding her Helaena constantly cries.[7][1]
Ten years later, Helaena examines a millipede as her mother sits beside her, listing facts about the creature. Her brother Aemond is then brought in after being retrieved from the Dragonpit. As Alicent interrogates him, Helaena quietly says to herself that the last ring on the millipede has no legs at all. When she hears her mother tell Aemond that he will have a dragon one day, Helaena states that he will have to close an eye.[3]
Later, during a Small Council meeting, Rhaenyra proposes a marriage between her eldest son Jacaerys Velaryon and Helaena as a way of bridging the gap between two branches of House Targaryen. While Viserys seems interested in the idea, Alicent furiously refuses it when he brings it up after the meeting.[3]
During Laena Velaryon's funeral, Aegon and Aemond discuss the former's betrothal to Helaena as she studies a spider and mutters cryptically about flesh dragons weaving thread dragons of black and green, and then proceeds to crush the spider with a seashell. Aegon laments their betrothal, considering her an idiot, while Aemond states that he would do his duty if he were betrothed to her.[8]
Later, Helaena flies back to King's Landing on her dragon Dreamfyre.[8]
Six years later, Helaena and Aegon are married and have two children together: Jaehaerys and Jaehaera.[5]
Helaena walks in on a conversation between Alicent and Aegon, asking where their household servant Dyana is as she is supposed to dress the children, unaware that Dyana has just been raped by Aegon. Alicent hugs Helaena afterwards.[5]
A disinterested Helaena hears the petitions of Vaemond Velaryon and Rhaenyra on behalf of her son Lucerys Velaryon over the succession to Driftmark. When her father enters the throne room to defend Rhaenyra, Helaena smiles. Moments later, she covers her ears in shock as her uncle Daemon beheads Vaemond after he calls out the bastardy of Rhaenyra's children.[5]
Helaena has dinner with her family that night. Following Rhaenyra's, Alicent's, and Jacaerys's toasts, Helaena cryptically mutters to beware the "beast beneath the boards" under her breath before making her own toast to her cousins Baela and Rhaena, who have been betrothed to Jacaerys and Lucerys. She tells them that marriage "isn't so bad," and makes a jape at Aegon, saying that the husband mostly ignores the wife except for when he's drunk, which elicits laughter from Daemon and praise from Otto.[5]
After the musicians start playing, Jace asks Helaena for a dance, which she happily accepts. The happy dance is interrupted by Aemond smashing his fist on the table to make his own toast, calling his nephews "Strong." Helaena almost claps, not understanding that the comment refers to Jace's rumored father, the deceased Harwin Strong, but stops herself when Jace takes offense.[5]
After Viserys's death, Alicent goes to Helaena to learn of Aegon's whereabouts, though Helaena is not of much help to her, again telling her that "there is a beast beneath the boards," this time with increased urgency. She later attends Aegon's coronation at the Dragonpit. When Rhaenys Targaryen bursts through the floor on her dragon Meleys, Alicent orders Ser Criston Cole to escort Helaena to safety.[2]
Personality[]
Helaena is considered eccentric and peculiar, having an interest in bugs and at times speaking in cryptic language.[4]
Quotes[]
Spoken by Helaena[]
- "He'll have to close an eye."
- ―Helaena about Aemond claiming a dragon
- "Beware the beast beneath the boards."
- ―Helaena Targaryen
- "It is our fate, I think, to crave always what is given to another. If one possesses a thing, the other will take it away."
- ―Helaena Targaryen
- Helaena: "I'm afraid."
- Aegon: "Don't be. They'd be fools to come with Vhagar protecting the city."
- Helaena: "Not the dragons, the rats."
- — Helaena and Aegon Targaryen[src]
- Alicent: "When the people share our grief, they draw closer to us."
- Helaena: "I don't want them closer. I don't know them."
- — Alicent and Helaena[src]
Family[]
Paternal[]
Rhaena Targaryen Deceased |
Aegon Targaryen Deceased |
Viserys Targaryen Deceased |
Jaehaerys I Targaryen1 Deceased |
Alysanne Targaryen Deceased |
Vaella Targaryen Deceased | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aemon Targaryen Deceased |
Jocelyn Baratheon Deceased |
Rodrik Arryn[d] Deceased |
Daella Targaryen Deceased |
Baelon Targaryen Deceased |
Alyssa Targaryen Deceased | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corlys Velaryon |
Rhaenys Targaryen |
Aemma Arryn Deceased |
Viserys I Targaryen2 Deceased |
Alicent Hightower |
Daemon Targaryen |
Rhea Royce Deceased | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Daemon Targaryen |
Laena Velaryon Deceased |
Laenor Velaryon3 |
Rhaenyra Targaryen2 |
Daemon Targaryen |
Aegon II Targaryen |
Helaena Targaryen |
Aemond Targaryen |
Daeron Targaryen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Baela Targaryen |
Rhaena Targaryen |
Jacaerys Velaryon |
Lucerys Velaryon Deceased |
Joffrey Velaryon |
Aegon Targaryen |
Viserys Targaryen |
Jaehaerys Targaryen Deceased |
Jaehaera Targaryen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Jaehaerys had thirteen children in all. For simplicity, only the direct ancestors of future generations are on this family tree and they are not in the exact order of birth. The thirteen children in correct order are: Aegon, Daenerys, Aemon, Baelon, Alyssa, Maegelle, Vaegon, Daella, Saera, Viserra, Gaemon, Valerion, and Gael.
2 Due to the nature of their respective births and deaths, Baelon Targaryen, son of Viserys and Aemma, and Visenya Targaryen, daughter of Rhaenyra and Daemon, are not included on this family tree.
3 While Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey are officially Laenor's, he and Rhaenyra never had any biological issue. Their three sons were in fact fathered by Harwin Strong.
Maternal[]
Hobert Hightower Deceased |
Lynesse Hightower |
Otto Hightower |
Alyrie Florent Deceased | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ormund Hightower |
Gwayne Hightower |
Viserys I Targaryen Deceased |
Alicent Hightower |
Son(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aegon II Targaryen |
Helaena Targaryen |
Aemond Targaryen |
Daeron Targaryen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jaehaerys Targaryen Deceased |
Jaehaera Targaryen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Behind the scenes[]
On March 30, 2022, HBO announced that Phia Saban had been cast in the role of Helaena Targaryen for House of the Dragon. Her character description for Season 1 reads as follows:
- "Second-born daughter of Viserys, sister to Aegon and Aemond, half-sister to Rhaenyra."[9]
Her character description for Season 2 reads as follows:
- "The sister and wife to King Aegon II and mother to the young Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Jaehaera. Considered strange by her family, she often perceives things that others do not. Helaena claimed Dreamfyre, but chooses not to ride her dragon."[10]
Actress Lulu Barker started to play Helaena's daughter, Jaehaera, in Season 2. Her sister, Ziggy, previously portrayed the infant Helaena in Season 1.
In the books[]
In Fire & Blood, Helaena Targaryen was the second daughter of King Viserys I Targaryen, born in 109 AC. As a child, she was plumper and less striking than most members of House Targaryen, but was pleasant and happy nonetheless and beloved by the smallfolk as she grew older.
There is no mention in the books that Helaena had prophetical abilities or any supernatural powers in general. The ability to have prophetic dreams is passed down through the Targaryen bloodline, with some inheriting it more strongly than others or not at all. In the TV series, Viserys himself explains it is rare even in their bloodline and he believes he had a prophetic dream exactly once - that he'd have a son who would sit the Iron Throne - but this one dream strongly influenced his actions ever since. Both Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow have prophetic dreams in the novels but they are not yet aware that they are truly prophetic in nature.
Another Targaryen who did strongly inherit this ability, however, was "Daeron the Drunken" - eldest brother of Aegon "Egg" Targaryen, one of the two protagonists in the Dunk & Egg novellas. Daeron is so haunted by his prophetic dreams that he self-medicates with alcohol, desperately trying to have dreamless sleep. Unlike TV-Helaena, he is fully aware that his dreams are prophetic and directly shares them with other people such as Dunk to try to warn them, but the dreams are often so symbolic that Daeron himself isn't sure how to interpret them.
Appearances[]
- The Dance of Dragons (illustrated)
– "King of the Narrow Sea"
– "We Light the Way"
– "The Princess and the Queen"
– "Driftmark"
– "The Lord of the Tides"
– "The Green Council"
– "A Son for a Son"
– "Rhaenyra the Cruel"
– "The Burning Mill"
Forthcoming[]
– Season 2, Episode 7[11] (unreleased)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 House of the Dragon: Season 1, Episode 5: "We Light the Way" (2022).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 House of the Dragon: Season 1, Episode 9: "The Green Council" (2022).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 House of the Dragon: Season 1, Episode 6: "The Princess and the Queen" (2022).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Helaena Targaryen. HBO. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 House of the Dragon: Season 1, Episode 8: "The Lord of the Tides" (2022).
- ↑ Dreamfyre. HBO. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 House of the Dragon: Season 1, Episode 4: "King of the Narrow Sea" (2022).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 House of the Dragon: Season 1, Episode 7: "Driftmark" (2022).
- ↑ Unknown author (Unknown date). House of the Dragon S1 | Character Descriptions. Warner Bros. Discovery. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ↑ Unknown author (Unknown date). House of the Dragon S2 | Character Descriptions. Warner Bros. Discovery. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
- ↑ Wake the Dragon (May 15, 2024). Massive King's Landing riot in episode 7.. X. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
Notes[]
- ↑ Alicent Hightower is heavily pregnant with Helaena Targaryen in "Second of His Name," which takes place in 115 AC. Aegon II Targaryen, who was 2 years old in that episode, is stated to be 3 years old in "King of the Narrow Sea," in which Helaena is visibly around the age of 1; therefore, she was born in 115 AC.
- ↑ In "A Son for a Son," Daemon Targaryen and Otto Hightower mention that days have passed since Viserys Targaryen and Lucerys Velaryon's deaths. Unlike the first season, no major time jumps are expected; therefore, House of the Dragon: Season 2 takes place in 132 AC.
- ↑ High Valyrian: Helaena Targārien
- ↑ Conjecture based on information from The World of Ice & Fire; may be subject to change.
External links[]
Helaena Targaryen on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (potential spoilers for House of the Dragon)
Helaena Targaryen on The Official Guide