Theories
Did House of the Dragon foreshadow Helaena Targaryen’s tragic fate?
Helaena Targaryen is one of the only characters from House of the Dragon whose existence has kept the audience from being split into teams. Even among book readers, Helaena is the one character everyone loves, like a little sister. She is emotional and sympathetic (and perhaps a Dragon Dreamer or a Greenseer?) But when has that ever saved a character from an unhappy ending? And the show may have already hinted at how she meets her tragic fate. Read on to know if you caught the hint. Major spoilers for the book Fire&Blood ahead.
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Foreshadowing Helaena’s death
In episode 4 of House of the Dragon, we meet baby Helaena Targaryen. The little one is fussing in her mother’s arms by the window in her chambers, trying to stop Helaena from crying. Most of the audience tended to focus on the state of Alicent, who looks tired of caring for two young children with a barely present husband. But, the hint lies in the window.
Those who have read Fire&Blood know that Helaena’s end comes too soon. She had never been an ordinary girl but slowly descended into madness after her son, Jaehaerys’ death. She refused to eat, sleep or drink. After King’s Landing fell to the Blacks in 130 AC, Helaena was taken captive and imprisoned in her chambers. She eventually jumped to her death from the window after being impaled by the spikes below.
Suicide or pushed to the edge?
At just 21 years of age, her suicide was shocking, to say the least. So much so that people suspect foul play from the Blacks, but there is no way to know. Either she took her own life by jumping through the window, or she was pushed. There is another theory surrounding her death linked to her brother Aemond Targaryen. There is a huge audience that does think that these two might be something more than siblings. This is further supported by the fact that Aemond and Helaena died on the same day.
If Helaena is someone who has visions (which the show has brought up many times), it is possible that she “saw” or felt Aemond’s death, and her emotional pain reached a breaking point, hence pushing her to the edge. It is to be noted that Helaena had stopped visiting her brother-husband Aegon II long before she was imprisoned, so is it just a coincidence that she died on the same day as Aemond?
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