Viewers of the Game of Thrones prequel series have delved into the meaning behind Helaena Targaryen’s strange words.

House of the Dragons fans think they’ve figured out the sinister meaning behind Helaena Targaryen’s prophecy.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from House of the Dragon Season 3 and Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin

Helaena Targaryen (played by Phia Saban) told her mother: “This is strange. It’s not the season.”

She was looking at a caterpillar on a leaf and reading a book about butterflies when she made the statement in last week’s episode.

The page in question featured an illustration of a deadly butterfly from Missandei’s (Nathalie Emmanuel) home of Naath and the words read: “They are said to cause death to people around them while living but so far I remain alive.”

Her mother Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) paid little heed to her words, however, they came shortly after a shot of the Blacks, including Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) were flying towards King’s Landing.

Many took to Reddit to speculate about the moment and one fan suggested several theories as they explained: “Rhaenyra has claimed the throne too early and that may factor into her downfall. Had she claimed it later the people might be more receptive to her rule.”

They also suggested it could refer to Sheepstealer being taken too soon by Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell); the deaths of Rhaenyra’s young sons as it wasn’t their season; that shew could be pregnant with Maelor; as well as a meta reference to the order of the episodes.

However, they concluded: “Given how much the series focuses on Rhaenyra, I lean towards the first one.”

A second said: “Someone on the reddit mentioned how it’s not Rhaenyra’s time and she came too early to claim the iron throne [sic].”

While someone else agreed: “hummm makes sense! [sic].”

But a third proposed something dark about the approach of winter after seeing something on TikTok: “[T]hat somehow the dragons and their presence is suppressing the walkers.

“As more of the dragons die it’s giving more power to the rise of the darkness beyond the wall that will bring the long night.

“It’s prophetic so it really is probably up to interpretation but I thought it was an interesting theory to share since Helaena is a dreamer and knows far more than she lets on [sic].”

The words on the page of the book even seem to suggest that Rhaenyra could be a deadly butterfly at the centre of events and everyone else around her is dying.

Readers of George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, which serves as the source text for House of the Dragon, are aware Rhaenyra’s hold on the Iron Throne will be temporary.

This would suggest that Helaena knows that the Blacks have come to King’s Landing too soon and that their reign won’t be for long.

Others have suggested that the butterfly scene could be a reference to author Martin’s now-deleted blog post.

Martin said that not including Helaena’s youngest son Prince Maelor in the show would have a negative “butterfly effect” on the TV adaptation.

Audiences will have to wait and see if Helaena ends up falling pregnant with Maelor and if he’s introduced in Season 3 - he’s already a toddler in Fire & Blood and has a tragic trajectory in the book.

In the book, Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) spirits not only Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) but also his son Maelor out of King’s Landing.

The two-year-old Maelor is then given to Ser Rickard Thorne of the Kingsguard to safely take to Oldtown.

Rhaenyra sends forces out to find the three escapees, leading to tragedy when Ser Rickard and Maelor are killed at Bitterbridge in a heartbreaking and gruesome manner.

After news of Maelor’s death, Helaena tragically takes her own life after already facing so much grief at losing yet another child.

Given House of the Dragon has already massively diverged from this, audiences will have to wait and see if and how this storyline plays out on screens.

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House of the Dragon Season 3 airs on Sky Atlantic, NOW and HBO Max UK & Ireland on Mondays