Warning! Spoilers for House of the Dragon season 3, episode 7, ahead!The penultimate episode of House of the Dragon season 3 delivered us several of Helaena Targaryen’s dragon dreams, effectively setting up the chaos and loss that is to come. Viserys and Alicent’s second child together has been, as House of the Dragon demonstrates, a rather peculiar girl since she was young. Helaena comes across as deeply fragile, but she is also kind, empathetic, and profoundly intelligent. This seems to fit hand in hand with her ability to dream of the future.

Dragon dreamers pop up every so often within the Targaryen family in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. People like Helaena will see flashes of symbolic visuals that often allude to whatever events are to come. Other times, dragon dreamers might see flashes of the past, or even connect with other dragon dreamers across time. Throughout House of the Dragon, it’s been clear that Helaena dreams, but season 3, episode 7, has given us the closest look at what is currently happening in this young queen’s head.

The first of Helaena’s dreams in this House of the Dragon episode is that of a grey mare fastened to a cart within the gates of the Red Keep. Next, we see Helaena give birth to her third child, who a soldier immediately takes away. The next dream places Helaena on the back of her dragon, Dreamfyre, and she uncharacteristically orders the beast to burn an approaching crowd. Finally, the grey mare returns, but this time she is untethered in a lovely cottage yard where Helaena and her children feed chickens.

Helaena’s Dreams In House Of The Dragon Season 3, Episode 7, Reflect Multiple Possible Futures

Helaena’s dreams don’t take a literal look at the future precisely as it will play out. Rather, it appears that, at least in House of the Dragon season 3, episode 7, she is seeing a variety of futures branched off from her current predicament. The first vision placed Helaena in a position to leave King’s Landing. The gate iss open, the sun shines on her face, and the grey mare is there with a cart, ready to go.

What’s strange here is that Helaena doesn’t truly have this opportunity. There is no horse prepared to take her away, and the gates to the Red Keep are securely closed to her. This dream may instead suggest a symbolic sort of escape, while Helaena’s subsequent visions detail what will happen if she does or does not leave.

If Helaena stays in King’s Landing, her pregnancy will progress, and she will inevitably give birth. If it’s a boy, Rhaenyra will have no choice but to either kill or hold the baby captive. Because Helaena saw her child being taken away immediately after birth, it seems to be supernatural confirmation that the queen is carrying a young prince.

The next dream is in the dragonpit with Dreamfyre. This is Helaena as we have never seen her before, dressed as a true dragon rider. Just previously in House of the Dragon season 3, episode 7, Helaena told Rhaenyra that she felt riding her dragon would change her, and this vision reflects just that. Rhaenyra grows more desperate every day, and she will eventually reach a point that she can no longer avoid using her younger sister. Whether as a dreamer or a dragon rider, Helaena will be forced to take part in the fight.

The last of Helaena’s dreams places her in an entirely different environment. In contrast with the person Helaena didn’t want to become, we saw the sort of future she would choose for herself. The grey mare is grazing near the charming cottage, while Helaena and her living and healthy twins, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, tend to some chickens. Things quickly turn dark, however, as a shadow eclipses the sun and a storm of snow (or perhaps ash) rushes in. It’s certainly puzzling, but the idea of day turned to night and light turned to snow is quite familiar.

The Snow Storm & Grey Mare Could Connect To Game Of Thrones

Clearly, the arriving snowstorm and eclipse over what had just been such a pleasant scene is a bad omen. It appears that regardless of what future Helaena chooses, darkness and pain are to follow. This could also be a reference to the Long Night, which we know other dragon dreamers in A Song of Ice and Fire lore have dreamed of plenty (Including Aegon, Rhaegar, and Daenerys). This dark future ahead of Westeros will come regardless of what path Helaena chooses. Any peace she finds will only be temporary.

Just as the storm over the cottage seems to connect to Game of Thrones‘ eternal winter, the grey mare is also reminiscent of something from HBO’s original series. In Game of Thrones season 8, Arya Stark discovered a pale horse that carried her out of the burning destruction of King’s Landing. It was an ethereal sort of escape—lovely deliverance from the ensuing fire and blood. Helaena’s grey mare looks rather similar, so she may represent something along those same lines. In this case, however, deliverance might not mean the same thing.

What Helaena’s Dragon Dreams Mean For The House Of The Dragon Season 3 Ending

Warning! This section contains major spoilers for George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood and potential spoilers for House of the Dragon.

Death has become such a standard experience among the Targaryens, especially during the Dance of the Dragons. It’s therefore difficult to imagine that the dark omens of House of the Dragon season 3, episode 7, could lead anywhere else. Fire & Blood reveals that both Helaena and Rhaenyra are doomed to die, but, at least in Helaena’s case, there may be an alternative option. However, from what these visions suggest, the only way this gentle queen can escape her fate is if she becomes something she is not—if she is “changed.”

Helaena’s conversation with Rhaenyra makes it clear that she does not wish to change. For this reason, she doesn’t ride Dreamfyre and is reluctant to use her visions for Rhaenyra’s cause. So, that escape on the grey mare may be the only choice that Helaena could allow herself to make. The fact that Jaehaerys is alive at that lovely cottage seems to confirm that it is death that will bring Helaena to that destination.

In Fire & Blood, Helaena dies by suicide. However, it is rumored by some in Westeros that Queen Rhaenyra had her thrown from a tower to the spikes below. While the House of the Dragon season 3 finale seems ready to provide a more definitive answer, Helaena’s dreams suggest that she will ultimately take her own life. Unfortunately, the belief that Rhaenyra had this beloved young queen killed turns the last of her people against her. Perhaps that was another meaning of the eclipse and storm. Helaena will die as herself, wholly unchanged, but it will bring doom and darkness upon Rhaenyra.

Release Date

June 21, 2026

Network

HBO

Episodes

8