House of the Dragon's Helaena Targaryen Prophecies Explained: Why She Really Is a Dreamer Like Daenys

Helaena Targaryen's prophecies in House of the Dragon line up so precisely with what actually happens on screen that I think there's now a pretty fair idea of what she really is. Looking back through the clues she's dropped since season one, I believe Helaena is a dreamer in the same tradition as Daenys the Dreamer, and the signs have been building for a while.

Helaena's Millipede Reading Hinted at a Family Blind to Its Own Division

The first real clue came in episode six, when Alicent brought Helaena a millipede for her to examine. Helaena looked it over and said it has eyes, so she doesn't believe it can see. There's a theory that this relates to the Targaryens being blinded by what's going on in the House, that the family possess eyes but are unwilling to see the division they're causing.

There's also the detail of the rings on the bug's body. Each ring has two legs, which could represent each couple in the family, creating a descending line of couples that gave birth to the next couple down the line in the Targaryen household. The very last ring has no legs at all, which could highlight the eventual end of House Targaryen.

She Predicted Aemond Losing an Eye to Gain a Dragon

In that same conversation with Alicent, Helaena said that Aemond will have a dragon one day but he'll have to close an eye. In the lore, when Aemond claims Vhagar he loses an eye but gains a dragon, and it's called a fair trade, a line that's said directly in the show. Aemond does get his eye cut out after the ride, which means Helaena was predicting exactly that trade at Driftmark before it happened.

She also said hands turn, spool of green, spool of black, dragons of flesh weaving dragons of thread. This seems to predict the civil war between the greens and the blacks, with the dragons of flesh becoming legends woven into tapestries afterward.

The Beast Beneath the Boards Line Pointed to Rhaenys and Meleys

There's also the beast beneath the boards prophecy, a line delivered twice in the show: you father there is a beast beneath the boards, you are the beast beneath the boards. In hindsight this turned out to describe Rhaenys bursting up through the floor on the back of her dragon Meleys during Aegon's coronation, which further cemented the civil war and acted as a warning to everyone in the room.

Alicent had visited Helaena earlier in that same episode trying to coax her around to her side, but the scene made clear that Helaena wasn't going to be swayed.

Season 2 Confirmed She's a Dreamer

I think Season 2 had a number of things happen early on that show she's in fact a dreamer. The dragon she rides is called Dreamfyre, which is already a strong hint on its own. Just before Aegon enters the room looking for Jaehaerys, Helaena can be heard whispering something that sounds like they only won the boy. People have gone back and forth on exactly what she's saying, but whatever it is, it could highlight what's about to happen.

She's also shown sewing something in that scene, which later turns out to be the shroud used at her son's funeral. In an earlier moment, when the topic of a rat comes up, Helaena looks directly at Jaehaerys's bed, showing she's aware of what's coming even if only subconsciously.

The Blood and Cheese Attack Showed Her Visions Turning Real

When Blood and Cheese attack, a look of terror sweeps across Helaena's face. I think this shows what's really going on with her, that she's realizing something she has only ever seen in a dream is now happening in real life. Dreams and dragon dreamers have run through this saga before her, most notably with Daenys the Dreamer, who predicted the fall of Old Valyria.

Daenys was known as Daenys the Dreamer and went down in legend for her prophecy that the kingdom would be consumed in fire. Heeding her warning, the family moved out to Dragonstone, where Rhaenyra now resides. The warning proved correct when the Doom struck Valyria, a volcanic eruption based on Pompeii that destroyed the empire, with dragons falling from the sky as what was once the mightiest empire in the world fell into nothing. That left House Targaryen as the only dragon riders left in the world, and once they joined with the Valyrian families, Aegon's Conquest went on to unite the Seven Kingdoms and start a dynasty that ruled Westeros for generations.

Aegon's Own Dream Became the Song of Ice and Fire

Aegon had a dream of his own, which he transcribed onto the catspaw dagger, and it's now known as the Song of Ice and Fire. It speaks of the prince that was promised, and though it still isn't confirmed exactly who this person is, it's believed to be Jon Snow. The Night King apparently believed it was him too, which is why he wanted Jon killed. Either way, this dream predicted the coming of the Night King, who became the main antagonist later in the story. The dream was seen as so vivid and forthright that it was passed down from king to king and king to queen, but the Targaryen civil war meant the legend was lost, leaving Westeros and King's Landing unprepared for the winter that came.

On Aegon the Second's nameday, Viserys also told Alicent about a dream of his own, that he'd foreseen having a son who would sit on the Iron Throne, clearly foreshadowing what was about to come. It's even possible that this dream pushed him to keep having children with Alicent even though she didn't want any more.

Helaena May Be the Strongest Dreamer in the Family

Having discussed all of this, it's clear to me that Helaena carries this same power, and she might even be the strongest dreamer in the family, which is why she has so many accurate predictions. Having this ability in such force would also come with side effects. When a dream is extremely powerful, the person reportedly doesn't know the difference between the real world and their dreams, so they wander in and out of them without fully realizing what's going on. It reminded me of Minority Report, where the precogs have prophecy powers but don't fully understand whether something is happening right then or only in their heads, and they're kept heavily sedated because of it.

That would explain why Helaena seems a little odd and why that look of terror washes over her face, she's no longer in the dream and is realizing this is actually happening. If you lived your life able to see the future, having constant visions over and over, it would be difficult to always know if you were in a vision or in reality. I think Helaena has seen this nightmare play out hundreds of times before, and that's why she hasn't tried to avert it. She feels completely helpless, so used to seeing it happen that she's not even able to navigate away from the path.

Helaena as an Empath: The Funeral Scene and Shared Grief

On top of being a dreamer, I also believe Helaena is an empath, which is demonstrated at the funeral, where she's clearly flooded with emotions and completely overwhelmed by the grief surrounding her. In real life, we've seen what happens when a monarch or a beloved royal figure dies, with both Diana and Queen Elizabeth causing a mass amount of grief across the country, even affecting people who never knew them personally, with the whole nation going into mourning.

I think it's clearly the same case with Helaena picking up on that shared trauma. Being overloaded with emotion like this will likely send her insane, and unfortunately the character doesn't get a happy ending.

The Book Reveals How Far Helaena's Decline Goes

Without going into the exact details from the book, it describes how even though Blood and Cheese spared her life, Queen Helaena cannot really be said to have survived that fateful dusk. Afterward she wouldn't eat, wouldn't bathe, and wouldn't leave her chambers, and she could no longer stand to look at her surviving son, knowing she was the one who had named him to die when Blood and Cheese demanded a choice. The king had no choice but to take the boy from her and hand him over to the dowager queen Alicent to raise as her own, and Aegon and Helaena slept separately from then on while Helaena sank deeper into madness and Aegon raged and drank.

That definitely feels like she's now too far gone, and it was interesting to see what they did with the character afterward.

A Hidden Drawing May Point to Even Bigger Predictions

Helaena may even predict things beyond this series. Lady Leo Guy on Twitter pointed out that there's a drawing on a door of a man with a wolf's head, which could mean Helaena foresaw the Red Wedding and its outcome, so there could be bigger things beyond that still to uncover. There was even a jokey suggestion that it predicted just how badly received Game of Thrones season 8 would turn out to be. Either way, I believe Helaena is a dreamer, and hopefully this helps make sense of what's really going on with her.

Who do you think the prince that was promised really is?