Phia Saban Reflects on Helaena's Heart-Wrenching Demise in 'House of the Dragon' Finale

The tragic conclusion of 'House of the Dragon' Season 3 left fans reeling, particularly with the heartbreaking suicide of Helaena Targaryen (Phia Saban). In a poignant turn of events, Helaena takes her own life after being confined in the Red Keep, leaving behind a chilling tapestry as a haunting testament to her troubled reign. "It's a tragedy," Saban tells Variety, reflecting on Helaena's emotional arc throughout the season. "She's just trying her best." The chilling tapestry, which Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) discovers before the episode's end, offers a chilling glimpse into the future - a vision of Rhaenyra plummeting to her death on spikes, followed by an image of the queen on the Iron Throne, bathed in blood and surrounded by dragon flames. During a recent press conference, D'Arcy described Helaena as the moral heart of the show, hinting at the profound impact her death will have on Rhaenyra moving into the fourth and final season. "Helaena's death condemns Rhaenyra to the path she’s chosen," D’Arcy said. "There’s no way back after that." While creator Ryan Condal has made several departures from George R.R. Martin's 'Fire & Blood,' Helaena's storyline has undergone significant changes, including the absence of her youngest child, Maelor. In the original tale, Helaena dies by suicide following Maelor's brutal murder while she is imprisoned in the tower, and she is not pregnant at the time of her death. Saban maintains that these differences in plot points didn’t affect her portrayal of the complex character on 'House of the Dragon.' "I think you can only play the story that you're telling," Saban says. "But I know there are differences in the stories, and I think some of those differences are really cool." Read below for more insights from our interview with Saban about Helaena's emotional farewell and the show's shocking finale. "I guess that's really what you can hope for," Saban says. "That one way or another, people sort of care - whether you live or die." Interestingly, Saban believes there are significant differences between Rhaenyra and Helaena's motivations despite their similar fates. "The feeling from Rhaenyra is that she feels extremely violated," Saban explains. "She feels her freedom’s been violated by her and her relationship to freedom and to nature and to all of the things that feed her as a person have been taken away." While Mysaria's (Sonoya Mizuno) revelation about Helaena's fate may have precipitated the queen's descent, Saban believes it ultimately confirms Helaena's long-held conviction that she will never regain her sense of life. "She’s like, ‘There’s more to life than not just not being dead,'" Saban says. "In a sense, maybe some might say that she takes power from what she does - that she can, rather than being killed by a vision, she can choose that for herself." Saban expresses her gratitude for the opportunity to ride a dragon during the series and shares her love for the other characters she's portrayed on the show. "I loved all of them," Saban says. "I can't say that I didn’t love being on the dragon. That's like a bucket list thing." For more from Variety's 'House of the Dragon' finale coverage, read this recap and story about the press conference with co-creator Ryan Condal and star Emma D'Arcy, as well as this interview with James Norton, who plays Ormund Hightower. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.