Among the many curveballs we’ve received this season on House of the Dragon, it’s revealed in season 3 episode 4 that Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) is pregnant.
For readers of the source material, George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, speculation about Helaena’s fate began, considering Martin’s since-deleted blog post from 2024 which detailed his frustrations with the show’s direction for the character. But for viewers who didn’t read the book, many immediately questioned who the father is.
We’re 99.9% sure Aegon is the father
As they don’t really have a close relationship throughout the show, non-book readers might even forget that Helaena is married to her brother, Aegon Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney). They currently share one child together, little Jaehaera, but they also had a son, Jaehaera’s twin Jaehaerys, who is killed in the season 2 premiere in the event now dubbed “Blood and Cheese.” It’s most likely that Helaena is now pregnant with their third child, Maelor, who has a key part to play in Fire & Blood.
As for why we believe the baby is Aegon’s, well, that’s how it goes in the book, and the show has not given us any reason to believe it wouldn’t be.
Helaena tends to keep to herself, and it does not seem likely she would have taken a lover outside of Aegon. It’s entirely possible Aegon could have impregnated his sister before flying off to Rook’s Rest in season 2 episode 4, for a battle which leaves him with physical impairments. We know they could not have conceived after the fact when Aegon is bedridden, considering he tells Larys (Matthew Needham) that a necessary part of his genitals is “destroyed.”
Clearing up the timeline
Though the first season of House of the Dragon features multiple time jumps and timelines of House Targaryen, that’s not the case for seasons 2 and 3. We haven’t covered a long stretch of time here, meaning yes, Helaena and Aegon could’ve conceived at some point in season 2, and Helaena could be now just starting to show.
To put things into perspective timing wise, when Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) speaks with the High Septon in season 3 episode 4, he tells her that he anointed Aegon “some months ago.” In Fire & Blood, the Battle at Rook’s Rest takes place in late 129 AC, and the Fall of King’s Landing follows soon in 130 AC. It can be tough to exactly pinpoint events in the Dance of the Dragons timeline given how the book is written, but we can do the math and see that it’s been a year or less from Aegon’s coronation until now.
Of course, that’s going more so by the Fire & Blood timeline, but it seems to match up for the show as well. Not a whole lot of time has gone by from the start of season 2 to now, and so Aegon being the father would make complete sense.
Those Aemond rumors
Though Aegon being the father of Helaena’s baby would match up timeline wise—and lore wise—it’s been speculated online that perhaps Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) could be the father. Though it’s undoubtedly fun to theorize plot twists for this show, I don’t see this one happening. It would just be shock factor rather than actually serving the story at this point.
There’s been long-standing rumors that Aemond and Helaena could be something more than just siblings throughout the seasons, due to a few interview quotes and, well, I guess wishful thinking. In a post-episode interview with TV Line in 2024, director Geeta Patel shed some light on Aemond and Helaena’s relationship after a key scene in which Helaena prophesizes on the Battle Above the God’s Eye.
“One thing that Ryan [Condal, showrunner] and Sara [Hess, writer/executive producer] emphasized when we started shooting this episode was that Helaena was the one person that Aemond felt connected to, that could actually tame the beast that was Aemond,” Patel explained.
Despite their closeness as siblings, and the likelihood that Aemond would probably marry his sister if given the opportunity, there’s just not enough time to flesh something like this out so far into season 3. It would feel very random for most viewers, and it would take time away from other important parts of the show that we still need to get to.
We say we’re 99% sure Aegon is the father of Helaena’s child, only because you really never know what could happen with an adaptation that’s already changed big moments from the book. But we don’t see it going any other way.
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