[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the House of the Dragon Season 2 finale, “The Queen Who Ever Was.”] Phia Saban ‘s Helaena has more powers in House of the Dragon than she’s afforded in George R.R.
Martin ‘s Fire & Blood , but her greatest power may be over younger brother Aemond ( Ewan Mitchell ). The director of the Season 2 finale, Geeta Vasant Patel , tells TV Insider that Helaena is the only person capable of “taming” Aemond, who’s possessed by his desire for power. Aemond asked his sister to ride her dragon, Dreamfyre, into battle in the August 4 season finale, but what he got in response was a chilling omen from Helaena, who said she foresaw his death and Aegon’s ( Tom Glynn-Carney ) return to the throne.
Patel says that Aemond’s only acts of compassion of the season are tied to his sister, for whom he may have deeper feelings. “One thing that Ryan [Condal , showrunner] and Sara [Hess, writer/executive producer] emphasized when we started shooting this episode was that Helaena was the one person that Aemond felt connected to, that could actually tame the beast that was Aemond,” Patel explains. “And so the scene where he’s arguing with Alicent and that leaves the room, what was happening — and I don’t know if it reads, it was all kind of between the lines — is that he left because he saw that he hurt Helaena.
” “If you think about Aemond’s behavior, nothing stops him. So the question is why did he stop in that mom.