- Helaena Targaryen has a target on her back at the end of "House of the Dragon" season two.
- Helaena is the queen of Westeros but doesn't like her role.
Warning: Major spoilers ahead for "House of the Dragon" season two and the book "Fire and Blood."
Helaena Targaryen may be one of several major characters to die when "House of the Dragon" returns for season three, if it follows the storyline of "Fire and Blood," the George R. R. Martin book it's based on.
In the hit "Game of Thrones" prequel, Helaena (Phia Saban) is forced to serve as queen of Westeros after her brother-husband Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) is made King by the Hightowers and their allies.
She doesn't like being queen, and in the season finale, she talks to her mother, Alicent, about abdicating.
In the episode, Helaena argues with her other brother, Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), who wants her to fly her dragon into war with him.
Later, Aemond threatens to kill Helaena after she accuses him of almost killing Aegon, and shares a prophecy that he will die in God's Eye lake while Aegon will rule again.
The scene puts her at odds with her unstable brother, setting him up to lash out in season three. But Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and her armies, who are on the way to take over the capital, are also a threat to Helaena, who is a symbol of the opposing side.
Though there are no deaths in the season finale, the episode raises the stakes of the war, prompting fans to wonder which major character will be killed off next in season three.
So far, the series has faithfully adapted most major events in Martin's book "Fire and Blood," which may mean Helaena will die by suicide in the show.
Here's what to know about Helaena's fate in "Fire and Blood."
Helaena goes mad after her son Jaehaerys dies
In the book, Helaena has three children instead of two. Like in the TV show, Jaehaerys is killed early in the war after Daemon sends assassins into King's Landing. The book describes Helaena slowly going mad with grief.
So far, this is similar to Helaena's arc in season two. She is heartbroken after Jaehaerys death in episode one.
In the book, Rhaenyra takes over King's Landing, taking Helaena and her mother as prisoners. Helaena eventually dies after jumping from a window onto spikes below a few days after Aemond dies in a battle over God's Eye Lake.
"Fire and Blood" is written like a history book, and the fictional historians in the passage dispute what pushes Helaena to take her life. One historian suggests that Rhaenyra forced Helaena into prostitution, and another that she was horrified when she saw two men hung on the walls of Red Keep, the main castle in King's Landing.
A third historian suggests that Helaena jumped after hearing that another one of her sons, Maelor, had been killed by a mob in Bitterbridge.
Helaena's death and whispers of it being murder trigger a riot that eventually forces Rhaenyra out of King's Landing and off the throne.
In the "House of the Dragon" season two finale, Rhaenyra and Alicent solidify a deal where Alicent would help Rhaenyra take over King's Landing in exchange for letting her and Helaena escape the war. After an argument, Alicent also agrees to let Rhaenyra execute Aegon and remove a threat to her rule.
This could mean that the events of "Fire and Blood" could still happen in season three. Rhaenyra could also betrayAlicent after conquering King's Landing and not allowing Alicent or Helaena to leave the city.
Helaena isn't a dreamer in the book, so the circumstances of her death could change in the series
One key difference between the TV show and the book is that TV Helaena can see into the future.
In both seasons, Helaena says nonsensical sentences that turn out to be predictions of the future. Helaena appears to be one of the few Targaryens who have Dragon dreams, an ability that helps them see visions of the future.
Her abilities are the strongest in the finale when she seemingly communicates with her uncle, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), during his vision of the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy.
After appearing in his vision, she tells him: "It's all a story. And you are but one part of it. You know your part. You know what you must do."
This could mean that Helaena's death won't be a product of madness but her commitment to a prophecy. Potentially, she sees a future where her death is important to "the story" and willingly sacrifices herself.
Fans must wait until season three comes out to find out more.