Phia Saban as Queen Helaena Targaryen
She was married to King Aegon II Targaryen and was his sister. This was King Viserys I Targaryen’s only daughter by his second wife, Queen Alicent Hightower. She was also his second daughter in general. Three kids were born to Helaena and Aegon: Maelor, the twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, and one other child. She was a Dragonrider like her brothers and rode the dragon Dreamfyre.
In the TV version of House of the Dragon, Helaena is played by Phia Saban and Evie Allen (young).
How Queen Helaena Targaryen Looks Like and her Character
Hislaena was thirteen years old and not as pretty or plump as most Targaryen girls her age. Still, she was a nice and happy girl; everyone agreed she would make a great mother. The smallfolk adored Helaena as their queen. Helaena, on the other hand, became sad and went crazy following the murder of her oldest son.
Queen Helaena’s Birth and Early Life
Helaena was born to King Viserys I Targaryen and Queen Alicent Hightower, his second wife. The year was 109 AD. Her half-sister Princess Rhaenyra, was older than her, and her brother Prince Aegon was older than her. She would also have two younger brothers, Prince Aemond and Prince Daeron.
Helaena learned how to ride a dragon when she was twelve years old. She rode the dragon Dreamfyre. Helaena married her bigger brother Prince Aegon, when she was thirteen years old, as has always been done in the House Targaryen. She had twins, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, not even a year after marriage.
It was the first day of the year 127 CE, and Helaena‘s father, King Viserys I, had a feast to celebrate getting better. According to the court fool Mushroom, Helaena’s nephew, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, asked her to dance after the king left the feast. This made her husband and brother, Aegon, angry. In late that same year, Helaena had her third child, Maelor.
Helaena brought her three children to her father’s room on the third day of the third month in the year 129 AC. The night before he died, the king entertained them with a story about their great-great-grandfather, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen.
Queen Helaena in The Dance of the Dragons
When King Viserys I Targaryen died, there was a war for who would take over as king. Someone told Helaena about her father’s death a day after it was found. It was decided to crown her husband, Prince Aegon, instead of Viserys’s chosen child, Princess Rhaenyra. This made Helaena a queen. Alicent Hightower, Helaena’s mother, put the crown on her head and called her “my queen” on the crowning day.
On Dragonstone, Helaena’s half-sister Rhaenyra was also appointed Queen of the Seven Kingdoms because she did not want to accept Aegon as her king. Dowager Queen Alicent and Helaena’s grandfather, Ser Otto Hightower, were called traitors by Rhaenyra.
Still, she said she would forgive Helaena and her brothers as long as they came to Dragonstone and swore allegiance to her. As Grand Maester Orwyle suggested going to Dragonstone to get Rhaenyra to give up her claim, Helaena and her mother spoke in support of the plan. King Aegon reluctantly agreed to send the Grand Maester with a peace flag.
To get back at Prince Aemond for killing Rhaenyra’s son, Prince Lucerys Velaryon, Rhaenyra’s husband Daemon Targaryen hired two men to kill one of Aegon and Helaena’s boys. Someone was trying to kill Helaena because she was known to take her kids to her mother’s room in the Tower of the Hand every night before bed.
So, these two guys, who were called Blood and Cheese, crept into Alicent’s room, tied and gagged her, and killed her bedmaid. They waited there for Helaena to come. They killed Helaena’s guards and blocked the door. Then they took her and her children hostage and made her pick which of her kids would die. Helaena offered to help, but she was turned down. Helaena had to choose because the two men said they would rape Jaehaera with blood and kill all three of her children if she didn’t.
Helaena finally gave her smallest child the name Prince Maelor, even though she didn’t want to. She thought the child was too young to understand what was going on. Instead of running away, the two men killed Prince Jaehaerys by cutting off his head with a single swing of the sword. Helaena screamed as she did this.
As soon as Jaehaerys died, Helaena became very sad and slowly went crazy. She wouldn’t eat, bathe, or leave her room. Even though she knew she had picked Maelor to die, she wouldn’t look at him. From that point on, Aegon and Helaena slept apart.
When Aegon was badly hurt in the Battle at Rook’s Rest, Helaena didn’t even try to go see him. She stopped being dependable as a dragon rider and couldn’t fly in battle. Helaena was captured when Rhaenyra took over King’s Landing in early 130 AD.
When Maelor Targaryen, Helaena’s son, died at Bitterbridge, his head was sent to Queen Rhaenyra in King’s Landing. Mushroom says Rhaenyra cried when she saw Maelor’s head, but Septon Eustace says she smiled and told them to burn it, which is how Targaryens do funerals. King’s Landing, on the other hand, heard false reports that Rhaenyra had Maelor’s head brought to Queen Helaena in a chamberpot.
It was sunset on the day that Ser Thoron True and Ser Denys Woodwright were hung from the Red Keep walls. Helaena jumped out of her room window in Maegor’s Holdfast. She died on the spikes below, with a spear through her throat. She was only twenty-one years old.
At the exact moment that Helaena died, her dragon Dreamfyre jumped up, broke two of her chains, and let out a roar that shook the Dragonpit. Dowager Queen Alicent cursed Rhaenyra and tore her clothes when she heard that her daughter had died.
People still don’t know why Helaena killed herself after being held captive for six months. Archmaester Gyldayn doesn’t believe the story of the “Brothel Queens” that court fool Mushroom told. Helaena was said to have gotten pregnant after being sold into prostitution by Rhaenyra and Mysaria.
Grand Maester Munkun says she did it because she thought it would be horrible to see Ser Thoron and Ser Denys killed, but Gyldayn disagrees because there is no proof she saw them being hung and she only knew them as guards at best. On the other hand, Septon Eustace thinks that Lady Mysaria chose that night to tell her about her son Maelor’s death and how it happened.
King’s Landing was filled with reports that Helaena had been killed by the time it got dark the night she died. Rhaenyra was thought to have asked Ser Luthor Largent of the gold cloaks to do it, since Prince Daeron and his dragons would soon be at the city walls.
Munkun says these lies started with the Shepherd, who spoke out against both crime and the queen. Conversely, Mushroom says that Lord Larys Strong, the Clubfoot, who had never left the city, made up this lie. People from all walks of life rioted in King’s Landing that same night, calling for justice for Helaena and her dead boys.