House of the Dragon Season 2 Finale: Aemond Targaryen's Doomed Fate
Alright, get ready for some spoilers because we're diving into the big ending of House Of The Dragon Season 2! Let's talk about Helaena and Aemond's moment in the finale, where she tells him, "It's not gonna end well for you," with the seriousness of a Dragon rider about to unleash fiery doom on some unsuspecting villages. Basically, Helaena is the Targaryen version of the old saying, "Forewarned is forearmed," and this has some big implications for Aemond and, honestly, the entire Dance of the Dragons!
So, Aemond's trying to convince his sister, Helaena, to ride Dreamfyre, her Dragon, into battle, and he's making it really clear that he thinks her power and her dragon's fire could be a key to the Green's (Alicent's team, for all you new dragon lore-ers) victory. But Helaena knows something about Aemond's fate, and this isn't just a guess. She sees it, she feels it, her Visions tell her the future (it's kind of a big deal to have that power). Phia Saban, who plays Helaena, gave some serious insights into what motivated her character in a Variety interview: Helaena believes Aemond's ambition, and desire to conquer for "his own ego", would be more detrimental than helpful. You can say she's tired of playing the game, and maybe a little bit weary of seeing the constant struggle for power among the family members, because she sees that it brings no one real peace! But even more, it's about her deep connection with her brother. Like, yeah, she knows she doesn't always see eye to eye with Aemond, but family ties and love run deep, and she doesn't want him to end up with "the bad end". It's kinda like when your sister gives you advice you don't really want to hear, but you know it's probably wise, so you don't say anything because she knows best. (Not everyone gets a dragon to make a statement, though)
Aemond and Vhagar are Now Under Helaena's Control (Sort Of)
Remember Aemond? Yeah, the one with Vhagar (seriously, what an amazing name for a dragon)? Yeah, he's practically unmovable, refuses to listen to anyone. Now, everyone is always saying that, "There's always something that holds more power than what you know," and it turns out for Aemond that power is actually prophetic visions from his sister, Helaena! Even his family members are starting to wonder why, but that's what the next season of House Of The Dragon is going to be about! She has no desire to take power, but she knows her Visions will shape his fate and that's an opportunity for change, for Aemond to learn. Remember when you tried to be rebellious and got grounded? Imagine getting told about your future death by someone who's clearly got it right, and, well, what you want to do differently in life to avoid that kind of ending. This also tells you something big - Aemond is powerful, he can do so much, and yet he can be swayed by the smallest things that really shouldn't mean much... Maybe, it's all just in his head,
Honestly, she probably could use her Prophetic powers to try to change her situation. She could, but, from what she has done thus far, she hasn't chosen to really wield it like a power tool for power's sake. It would be interesting to see if this changes in season 3 because now she could possibly influence Aemond into steering away from his fatal path if she felt inclined, though from the last episode, you would probably get more head shakes, sigh's and even some dramatic dragon rides for her before anything.
Can Helaena Actually Change Aemond’s Destiny in House of the Dragon?
So the big question here is can she actually save Aemond? Even if she sees he's doomed to a horrible ending, is it all a guarantee? Do you really think a person who has a premonition about their fate could actually escape it by just doing a 180 degree turn? The answer here is probably no! I don't think you can really just escape your fate even if you have an all-knowing Prophetic vision of what it looks like. What she can change is the way things unfold and that could have a significant impact on things. She could at the very least try to make things less destructive! Imagine you found out a family member is going to go through a really awful thing: do you ignore that? or do you try to lessen the pain or prevent it? Even the knowledge that she shared with Aemond makes him look for a path forward where he may be less of a reckless destructive force because the warning made him consider other outcomes, that's already a major victory! Now he may try to make things different and maybe even try to steer away from the chaos he’s caused before he meets the dragon-riding equivalent of bad times.
The question remains, if Helaena does not steer him away from his path and her vision is still valid, it raises a whole new set of questions for the Fate of Aemond! I mean if he does not change anything, who could cause him to meet that end and how will that shape everything for House of the Dragon in seasons to come? Well, let’s hope he heeds those visions because this is just going to get more interesting (and possibly, way, way more chaotic) from here.
More House of the Dragon Secrets: The Dragon Lords’ Secrets Will Soon Be Unveiled!
In all seriousness, it looks like Aemond’s time might be running short with these visions hanging around, but there’s plenty more to explore in Season 3 about the Dance of the Dragons and the impact on their world. There’s definitely going to be some drama, maybe some more twists, and some incredible dragon riding action. But most of all, we’re likely to learn even more about Helaena and her power which could reveal the hidden stories and power struggle. Maybe this means she’s going to rise to the forefront of all of it and have more to do with this epic war that everyone talks about but we’re still watching unfold? I don’t want to jump to conclusions and assume all the answers but that's my wild theory. It’ll be interesting to see what happens and how it all unfolds but if you are not a fan of dragons or drama, well… maybe it's a good idea to stick with your sci-fi books!
We know that in all of this mayhem the power struggles will not stop. And maybe that’s why this drama, "House of the Dragon" is called that… But who knows, it may end with a different House leading in the end… That’s all for the dragons and this review, but we have even more secrets and answers to discover!
