Phia Saban takes us inside Helaena’s transformative journey.

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CREDITS: HBO max

In the Season 2 finale, Helaena Targaryen’s enigmatic nature gives way to unflinching clarity as she delivers a chilling prophecy to her brother Aemond. She unravels Helaena’s pivotal role in Daemon’s Wierwood tree-induced vision at Harrenhal. As we venture into the realm of prophecy and intrigue, Saban’s insights offer a captivating glimpse into Helaena’s multifaceted character and her significance in the world of Westeros.

Phia Saban on Helaena’s Role in Daemon’s Vision

When Phia Saban first read the script for Daemon’s vision sequence and Helaena’s prophecy about Aemond, she was thrilled and eager to bring the scene to life. She had a vivid imagination about how the dream sequence would play out, envisioning a surreal and eerie experience, possibly involving her character emerging from an egg or crawling over something ominous. However, the actual scene unfolded differently, with Helaena appearing in Daemon’s vision and delivering a chilling prophecy about Aemond’s fate. Phia Saban’s reaction in an interview with Variety,

“My initial reaction was, I can’t wait to see that dream sequence that Daemon has when he touches the tree, and I can’t wait to be involved in that. I think I had this sort of fantasy that it was going to be really trippy, and that I was going to be coming out of an egg and crawling over, or something really scary like that.”

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Credit: HBO

Phia Saban on Character Development

Phia Saban is describing her process of character analysis and development. She’s thinking about how Helaena’s character evolves throughout the season to reach a point where she has a clear and direct prophecy. She’s working backwards from that moment to understand what Helaena must have gone through to get there, and how that journey changes her character.

“And then my second reaction was thinking, if this season ends with her so directly talking to Aemond and something’s happened where she has this clarity, then I have to work backwards from there and be like, What zone does she have to be in? What does she have to go through in order to get that moment of clarity? Because that’s not really how her visions have been up until then — they haven’t been that clear.”