House of the Dragon: Is Helaena Targaryen the Three-Eyed Raven?

House of the Dragon Season 2’s final episode might have hinted that Helaena’s powers mean more than you think, and could tease that she’s the Three-Eyed Raven.

The House of the Dragon Season 2 finale was filled with new possibilities for well-known characters. Is Daenerys Targaryen the Prince That Was Promised? Will Alicent and Rhaenyra’s subterfuge go as planned? And, most notably, is Helaena the Three-Eyed Raven?

Most of these questions come from Daemon’s last and most important vision from his Harrenhal stay. Not only does it reaffirm his loyalty to his queen, but it also changed a lot of what House of the Dragon fans thought they knew.

So, there’s potential for Helaena’s powers of prophecy to be more than a simple quirk. Here’s what we know about her abilities, and why people think she’s the Three-Eyed Raven.

Helaena is a Dreamer, not the Three-Eyed Raven

There’s no confirmation in the books as to whether Helaena is a Seer, but it’s more likely she’s just a Dreamer, and not the Three-Eyed Raven.

Some of those with the blood of the dragon (aka those with Valyrian roots) have the ability to see premonition-like dreams. They often involve dragons, but aren’t limited to this. A key element is that their dreams come true, essentially letting these figures see into the future.

In the TV show, it’s clear that Helaena is a Dreamer of sorts, since she reveals eerie predictions and provides enigmatic prophecies that always come true.

HBO

There have been a handful of confirmed Dreamers throughout history, including Daenys the Dreamer, Aegon the Conqueror, Daeron the Drunken, Daemon II Blackfyre, Maester Aemon, and Daenerys Targaryen.

However, this is slightly different from the Three-Eyed Raven, who is otherwise known as a Greenseer. While Dreamers’ dreams can show them future events, Greenseers have the ability to perceive the future and the past. They also have other magical abilities, such as power over nature.

Greenseers were also leaders of the children of the forest, and so their abilities and status mean more than simply being able to see the future. Given Helaena’s prophecies, it’s very likely that she’s just a Dreamer.

Why do people think she’s the Three-Eyed Raven?

The theory comes from House of the Dragon Season 2, when the finale showed Daemon seeing the Three-Eyed Raven in a vision, then seeing Helaena.

In Episode 8, his vision leads him through a series of images. Not only does he see the Three-Eyed Raven, but he then has a conversation with Helaena in his dream state, with her telling him, “It’s all a story and you are but one part of it. You know your part. You know what you must do.”

If she had the ability to enter his vision in real-time, then this would certainly make for a compelling argument.

HBO

However, it’s also perfectly possible that Alys Rivers or Daemon himself is producing this image of Helaena. Don’t forget, Daemon instigated the entire Blood and Cheese operation that ended up killing her son. Perhaps his vision of her comes from some subconscious feeling of guilt.

Helaena’s powers and abilities explained

Helaena is a Dreamer which, put simply, means that she experiences prophetic dreams and visions that often end up coming true.

Her “dreams” are usually vague and hard to decipher, which means she’s usually treated as something of an oddball. But her visions are powerful, and more importantly, accurate. In the past, she’s predicted Aemond losing his eye, Rhaenys entering the Sept on dragonback, and the Dance of the Dragons itself.

In Season 2, she was also able to give an eerie warning about Blood and Cheese, but may not have understood the prophecy herself.

As above, Helaena has what are called “dragon dreams” due to her being of Valyrian descent (as they have dragon blood). Other than her dreams, she’s not shown to possess any other abilities.

It’s unknown just how much Helaena is able to control her visions, though they have appeared to become more frequent and vivid as time goes on.

For more, check out everything we know about House of the Dragon Season 3. You can also look at the 5 shows to watch while you wait for the new season, and find out everything that happened in the finale with our ending explained.