Did Helaena just spoil the whole show?
The House of the Dragon Season 2 finale on HBO gave Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) his wildest weirwood-induced visions yet. For weeks, we’ve watched as Daemon struggled to sleep and saw strange things while staying at Harrenhal. He’s been visited by more than one ghost from his past, but in House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 8 “The Queen Who Never Was,” Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin) invites him to get a glimpse of the future.
**Spoilers for House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 8 “The Queen Who Never Was,” now streaming on Max**
About midway through the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale, Alys Rivers leads Daemon into the godswood to show him “omens” of the future. He has always attempted to control his fate, she notes, but is he ready to see what his role is in the grand scheme of history? He touches the bloody sap of the Heart Tree and gets a wild series of visions from the future.
He sees first, the roots of the weirwood tree, which in turn lead him to an iconic character from the books called “Bloodraven” (Joshua Ben-Tovim). A three-eyed raven flies into frame, meant to confirm this is the younger character of the mystical “Three-Eyed Raven” that Max von Sydow played in Game of Thrones.
The vision goes even further into Game of Thrones lore, showing us the White Walkers descending upon the realm, dead dragons, three dragon eggs, and ultimately a young Daenerys cradling her newborn dragons.
Then we return to the characters of House of the Dragon. Daemon sees Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) sitting on the Iron Throne and then Helaena (Phia Saban) speaks. “It’s all a story and you are but one part in it,” she says. “You know your part.”
After that, Daemon shares his vision of “A Song of Ice and Fire” to Rhaenyra, noting that “Winter is Coming” and that she is his queen.
Interestingly, the show immediately cuts after this to Helaena speaking to Daemon all the way in King’s Landing. Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) walks in on her after she says, “You know what you must do.”
Aemond attempts to once more coax Helaena into flying Dreamfyre into battle with him so they can kill Daemon and destroy his army. Helaena then reveals that she knows Aemond burned Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney). He denies it, but she says she’s seen it. She then goes further, telling Aemond details of the future fans know from George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood.
“Aegon will be king again. He’s yet to see victory.
