House of the Dragon Season 3, episode 7: What do Helaenas dreams mean?

Dreams and prophecies can never be dismissed in House of the Dragon, and that goes double for Helaena (Phia Saban), who has a proven track record when it comes to seeing into the future.

In Season 3, episode 7, she has a number of dreams. Some of these feel pretty straightforward — her dream about her baby being taken away from her, for instance — while others are a bit more cryptic.

So, what does she dream, and can any of these dreams offer us an insight into the future?

What does Helaena dream in episode 7?

Helaena has four different dreams over the course of episode 7. The first one happens right at the beginning of the episode, while the next three are interconnected dreams that happen over the course of the same night's sleep. You could argue that's just one dream, but as they're four very different scenes we've broken them up:

1. Helaena's in an empty courtyard, standing next to a white horse pulling a trailer. The large doors open and light comes in, before she's woken by Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) calling her name.

2. Helaena screams during childbirth. Her baby is handed to a guard, who immediately takes it away.

3. Helaena sits atop a large dragon while a crowd of people rushes towards her. She cries out, "Dracarys!" and the dragon unleashes fire upon them.

4. Helaena is sitting outside a house in the countryside with two blonde children and a white horse, feeding chickens. Snow begins to fall, and the sun is blocked by an eclipse. She stands up, looking round, as white mist rolls towards them.

Four very different, intriguing scenes. But, how do they fit in with the show and the wider Game of Thrones universe?

What could Helaena's dreams mean?

Okay, let's break them down one by one. The first, in which Helaena stands beside a horse in the courtyard, seems simple enough: This is surely Helaena dreaming of leaving her current imprisonment. The doors open and light pours in, but we don't see what's outside. This likely represents Helaena's uncertainty at where she would go if she did escape King's Landing.

The next dream seems like a manifestation of her very real (and understandable) fear of what might happen when she gives birth. As she's already been made well aware by her mother, Alicent (Olivia Cooke), a baby boy would be seen as a threat to Rhaenyra's claim to the throne — hence the soldier that immediately takes the child away from her.

The third and fourth dreams are where things get a bit more abstract. We do have some clues, though: In the third dream, for instance, the building Helaena sees in the distance is the Red Keep of King's Landing. It seems likely she's in the Dragonpit, where Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) had his coronation. And the dragon she's riding? That's a little more tricky to say. It's certainly not a dragon we've seen yet in the show, at any rate, meaning this is likely a vision of something that happens in the future. Could it be a vision of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) attacking King's landing on the back of Drogon? Possibly, but in Game of Thrones, this doesn't take place in the Dragonpit. And although the dragon Helaena rides is dark like Drogon, it looks slightly more purple in its colouring. Perhaps this is a vision of something else?

The final dream, meanwhile? Our best guess is that this is another future vision, this time of the Long Night and the coming of winter that Game of Thrones revolves around.

House of the Dragon Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes premiering Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.