‘House of the Dragon’ star Phia Saban on Helaena’s massive change from the book

Warning: This article contains spoilers from the House of the Dragon season 2 finale.

People really need to stop underestimating Queen Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban) on House of the Dragon, because she might be the most powerful player in the war for the Iron Throne.

Ever since she was young, the soft-spoken and bug-obsessed daughter of King Viserys (Paddy Considine) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke) has spoken aloud weird phrases that later came true, including predicting her brother Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) losing an eye, the eventual war between the Greens and Blacks, and even her own son’s murder. The season 2 finale finally confirmed that Helaena is a dragon dreamer — a Targaryen with the rare mystical power of prophetic visions — when she appeared in a vision to Daemon (Matt Smith) to deflate his ego and remind him of his place in the war, as well as confronting Aemond with the truth about how he tried to kill Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney).

This is a massive change from George R.R. Martin‘s book Fire & Blood, and now the Game of Thrones prequel series is charting new territory for Helaena. As the finale has already proven with Daemon immediately stepping down and re-pledging his loyalty to Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy), Helaena’s powers can change the entire course of the war.

Entertainment Weekly spoke to Helaena in a vision … er, actually, it was to Saban via Zoom, to break down the season 2 finale twist and what this means for House of the Dragon moving forward.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So much happened in the finale, and Helaena was in the middle of so much of it. What was your reaction when you found out how much influence Helaena was going to have in this episode?

PHIA SABAN: When I read the episode, I was so excited to be involved in that trippy dream sequence. I was hoping that I was going to arise from a lake of goo or something, or fly. But I was also really happy to stand there and talk. That was really exciting because we did that all in a green screen stage, just me and Matt, so it was really cool. I watched the last episode last night, and it was really cool to see all of that come to life. I was very pleased to be involved in that.

My other thought was if she feels this kind of clarity in that scene that she has with Aemond, and that isn’t historically how she’s felt about her power and everything. I needed to work backwards from there and try and work out what journey she has been on, for that moment to be so clear, when usually she’s a bit more like, “Oh, there’s a beast somewhere.”

What conversations did you have with showrunner Ryan Condal about Helaena’s expanded role and how she’s gotten to this point in the finale? Because so much of her journey has been internal.

Actually, Ryan and [writer] Sara [Hess] and the writers, they very much left it to me as to how Helaena feels, how she connects to that side of it, and how it manifests for her, but it’s an interesting one. The line between what I know and what she knows, I try and keep quite close together, so it’s not always so helpful for me to have this really overarching idea of how exactly she plays in and what magic it is. Because I think every time when that happens to her, it feels like the first time. So I know as much as she does, in a way, but they were very keen for me to interpret it however I want. Then I think they’re just going to weave it into the story in their magical way.

Tell me about your process in working backwards from that confrontation with Aemond. How did you get into Helaena’s mindset?

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 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.

Since Helaena being a dragon dreamer isn’t in the book, what do you think of how you’re getting to chart new territory for the character? 

It’s really fun. I know that people feel so passionately and lovingly towards the original story, but I think that me, as a fan of things, I love a certain level of loyalty. Then I love the idea that I can be surprised or something could be subverted. It more flatters the audience’s intelligence when you get to surprise them and subvert things, so I like the idea that people didn’t see that coming for Helaena. Obviously, I can’t watch the show as an impartial person.

I would be very impressed if you could.

[Laughs] I’d be like a psychopath, yeah.

What’s it like being the Bran of this show?

The thing is that I really have absolutely no idea what’s happening next season. 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.

So who knows, but it would be really cool if I got to spend more time in that vision dream world. I would love that. There’s that moment when Daemon’s going over to the tree, and then there’s a guy with a deer head or something. I think Helaena should hang out with him.

They should go off together have their own side adventures. New spinoff idea.

Yeah, exactly. That’s what I want for the next season.

Does this revelation that Helaena is actually a dragon dreamer make you rethink your character at all?

Yeah, I think it’s fun because it’s essentially development, which is what you always hope for when you play someone. I just really hope that there’s momentum from this, that we see her change more and more and keep on being surprising.

What was it like filming that scene with Matt where Helaena knocks Daemon down a peg and really humbles him in the finale?

It was fun. We were there on the green screen going like, “What the hell is this going to look like?” But it’s great to do work with the people from the other team because at this point the relationships are so bad that you’re really only going to get Helaena and Daemon together in a vision. They’re probably not going to be having lunch together anytime soon. [Laughs] I’d love to go and hang out with Harry [Collett] and Bethany [Antonia] and Phoebe [Campbell] next time. I’d like to go and hang out with Alys Rivers [Gayle Rankin], all the people that live in different castles. Maybe I could meet them in dreams. That would be really good. It’d be like … did you ever play Club Penguin?

[Laughs] I have!

It could be Club Penguin. It’s like, “Meet me here at 3 p.m. by the igloo.” That’d be so fun if Helaena could just be like, “Let’s go and hang out in dreams. Go and touch the tree, and I’ll be there.”

No one has ever listened to Helaena until Daemon really takes her words to heart and changes his entire course. Does Helaena fully appreciate or even know the part she’s playing in this war now?

No, I don’t think so. It’s all so intense for her and so immediate that I don’t think she even is always like, “I have this overarching understanding of the story.” I think it comes to her in moments. Maybe it muddies the water more, but I feel like that whole dream stuff is up for interpretation as well from the audience. How much is she a projection of his guilt, or how much did he just need to hear that from someone? It’s this magical realm, so anything could be possible.

Maybe that’s something that she could say in a moment, and then she’s gone from there again, and it’s just like she was just being channeled through. Who knows? Maybe we’ll find out more. I think to her it’s just, “This is my really intense experience of being alive,” and that’s enough self-analysis for anyone in that moment. It’s like, “What am I going through?” And then there’s this clarity. She’s got a lot to process this season. Bless her.

What was it like filming the scene where Helaena stands up to Aemond and reveals she knows the truth about what he did? That’s one of those rare moments of clarity for her.

It’s really fun to work with Ewan — yet again, I’m answering the question in an annoying way because I’m like, “I just like working with those people!” [Laughs] That was really cool. God, this is really the first time… it’s the most eye-contact she’s ever made in both seasons, and she’s really going like, “Don’t f— with me,” basically, “Because I have this knowledge that’s on a higher realm and I cannot and will not go and kill people for male ego and toxicity.”

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.” 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.

Yeah, the longest chat she’s had until now has been with her bugs.

Exactly, and they don’t really answer back. This is very new and very overwhelming.

Helaena doesn’t want to ride her dragon into battle, but do you? How do you feel about missing out on the big dragon battles so far?

Yeah! It’s House of the Dragon, and I’ve got a dragon, and I haven’t got on it. I’m rusty. I really wanted to get on the dragon. 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.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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