House of the Dragon star talks Helaena's abilities getting stronger, what's in store for season 3

After spending most of the season on the sidelines, Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) had a bit more to do in the season 2 finale of House of the Dragon. Her brother Aemond wanted her to rider her dragon Dreamfyre into battle, but she refused, not wanting to harm anyone. When he continued to press her, she revealed that she knew of his attempt to kill their brother Aegon, having seen it using her strange precognitive abilities. We've gotten hints of them before, like when she predicted Aemond would lose an eye back in season 1, but she seemed to tap into them with more clarity this time.

It sounds like Phia Saban has had to figure out a lot of the specifics of how Helaena's visions work herself. "How I describe it is she has this amazingly strong intuition, and things come to her as gut feelings in flashes, but they're not always clear," she told Entertainment Weekly. "She can't always turn them into advice. It's more of like a feeling that takes her over. That's where some of those really abstract things that she mutters earlier on comes from, but she also thinks of herself and knows of herself that she's quite a strange girl. There's a way in which her family lets her go and be her strangeness in her room and do all of her Helaena things. But also she partially thinks, 'Maybe if I didn't have these weird feelings or this strange intuition or this really intense experience that I have, then I could be a bit closer to people around me ,or I could communicate better or it would be less strange.'"

"Part of her represses that stuff. Then I think with the trauma that happened to her in episode 1, essentially the worst possible thing happened, and there's a certain amount of dissociation and almost like a letting go of that, like trying her best to be the same as everyone else. She has disassociated from the family reality, and maybe she has stepped in a little bit more to the other place, and she has more access because she's gone, "I can't abandon myself as well, so what is this?" She's given it the attention and the intensity it needed."

The "trauma from episode 1" is when Helanea had to watch a pair of assassins sent by Daemon Targaryen decapitate her young son, an event that wasn't much followed up on during the rest of the season, so maybe she's onto something about Helaena dissociating. Again, she actually seemed more together than she usually is during her conflict with Aemond. That might be because of her growing comfort with her abilities or it might be because they're siblings and she knows she doesn't have to take shit from him.

"That's the other funny thing with this family: Yes, he's the Prince Regent or whatever, and her husband/brother is the King, but actually to each other it's like, 'You're my brother and you can push me and you can push me, but I know you,'" Saban said. "That is more about a sibling dynamic. Actually, I think that Aemond ironically is one of the people that Helaena feels she can communicate with a little bit better. They have this sort of affinity. It's just fun to play with those dynamics because she doesn't have a lot of long chats with anyone, so it's fun for me."

How will Aemond react now that he knows [SPOILER]?

During her talk with Aemond, Helaena does something unusual: she spoils Fire & Blood, the book on which House of the Dragon is based, telling Aemond that he will be "swallowed up in the Gods Eye." I won't reveal the specifics, but this is basically Helaena telling Aemond about his own death scene.

“Helaena was always fascinating to us because she was a bit of a tabula rasa, as described in the book,” showrunnerRyan Condaltold reporters Monday. “And we cast this fantastic actor, Phia Saban, and we just loved her performance and we became fascinated with who this person is.”

Showrunner Ryan Condal talked to reporters about what this means, saying it will inspire Aemond to "look inward" come season 3. “[W]e were interested in seeing how a spooked Aemond is going to react from this point forward in the story.” Helaena may get a better hold of her abilities as well. "Whatever this ability is that she has, she’s learning to wield it or to pay more heed to it or she’s learning how to interpret it better,” he said.

That said, Condal isn't giving away any details, and Saban couldn't even if she wanted to. "I really have absolutely no idea what's happening next season," she said. "I think that moment in episode 8 is an example of how clear and how powerful she can be, but I don't think that's the beginning of now she can just communicate like that. I wouldn't be surprised if she walks away from Aemond, [mimes shaking her head and shoulders and blows out a breath], and she goes inside and goes to her room and that doesn't happen again for a long time."

Saban also isn't sure if Helaena actually showed up in Daemon Targaryen's dream vision of the future or is she was just "a projection of his guilt" or something. Nor does she know if we'll ever see Helaena riding her dragon Dreamfyre, although she's certainly down for the challenge. "I really wanted to get on the dragon," Saban said. "I went and watched a few people on the buck this season, and I was so jealous. I'd really love to get on the dragon, or at least have a scene with Dreamfyre. Dreamfyre, like Vhagar, she's super ancient and big and cool. I'd like to see Helaena and Dreamfyre having a sort of spiritual connection, but I'm not complaining. I'm just happy to be here."

House of the Dragon season 3 likely won't air until sometime in 2026. After that, a fourth season will wrap up the show.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.