*Warning: Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon season three episode four and Fire & Blood* The latest episode of House of the Dragon has landed, and with it a huge reveal about Helaena (Phia Saban). Though it addresses one of George R.R. Martin’s biggest complaints about the HBO adaptation, it may be too little, too late. For the uninitiated, the relationship between the author and House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal broke down after season one of the series. Martin blamed Condal for the changes made to his source material, leading to further issues in communication. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year, Martin said, “It’s worse than rocky. It’s abysmal.” He went on to say that they originally had a good working relationship, but as it got to the second season, Condal allegedly “stopped listening” to Martin. “I would give notes, and nothing would happen,” the author added. “Sometimes he would explain why he wasn’t doing it. Other times, he would tell me, ‘Oh, OK, yeah, I’ll think about that.’ It got worse and worse, and I began to get more and more annoyed.” Eventually, Martin published a now-deleted blog post in 2024 titled ‘Beware the Butterflies’. It was supposed to be part one of a six part series in which he detailed his grievances with the situation, but it was removed hours later. One of his main issues was the fact that in his book, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Helaena have three children: the twins, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, and younger brother Maelor. But in the series, Maelor is nowhere to be seen. House of the Dragon hints Helaena is pregnant with Maelor Targaryen Credit: HBO However, this may be about to change, as House of the Dragon season three episode four appears to suggest Helaena is now pregnant. As Helaena gets ready for bed, Alicent’s (Olivia Cooke) conversation with Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) comes to an end. The queen leaves the room and Helaena walks over, at which point Alicent notices a change in her body. Helaena retreats as Alicent says her name with concern, and they both look at each other knowingly. It’s not outright said but it’s heavily implied. The timeline here is a little confusing – for her to have conceived Maelor, it could have meant Helaena and Aegon slept together after Blood and Cheese but before the Battle at Rook’s Rest. It’s not entirely out of the question, and it would finally address the Maelor-shaped elephant in the room. But as said at the start, it may be too little, too late (at least in Martin’s eyes). His main complaint wasn’t just ‘where the hell is Maelor?’ – as was implied by the title of his blog post, the omission of the character early on had a butterfly effect. You see, in the grisly Blood and Cheese scene in House of the Dragon, Daemon (Matt Smith) hires the titular duo to assassinate Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) to help Rhaenyra deal with her own grief (not that she ever wanted that). But when they break into the Red Keep, they can’t find Aemond and so settle for the young prince Jaehaerys, murdering him while Helaena is still in the room. This plays out very differently to the books. In the source material, Blood and Cheese force Helaena into a Sophie’s Choice decision – for them to murder Jaehaerys or Maelor. She offers herself, but they say if she doesn’t choose, they’ll kill all of her children. She eventually names Maelor but they kill Jaehaerys anyway, before telling Maelor that his own mother wanted him dead. George R.R. Martin explained the butterfly effect of Maelor’s removal Credit: HBO Now, Martin said that he believes the mechanics of the scene weakened it overall, but it’s something he could live with. But what troubled him the most is the impact this had on the rest of the series. “Maelor is a two year old toddler in Fire & Blood, but like our butterfly he has an impact on the story all out of proportion to his size,” Martin said. The author explained that after Rhaenyra takes King’s Landing, Alicent attempts to save Helaena’s remaining children by sending them away with members of the Kingsguard. Jaehaera safely reaches Storm’s End, but Maelor’s escort, Ser Rickard Thorne, is recognised at Bitterbridge. The knight fights to protect the young prince, but is cut down before crossing the bridge. Maelor is then “ripped to pieces by the mob” as people fight over the reward Rhaenyra has offered for his capture. Martin praised the sequence for its “tension, suspense, action, bloodshed, a bit of heroism and a lot of tragedy”, lamenting that “simpler is not better.” He argued that removing Maelor doesn’t just eliminate one character, but also the chain of events that follow. In Fire & Blood, news of Maelor’s horrific death is what ultimately drives Helaena to take her own life. Alicent finding out Helaena is pregnant with Maelor Targaryen The young prince that will he torn apart by the mob 💔💔#HouseOfTheDragon #hotd pic.twitter.com/Mw2foThdMF — Adeyimika (@Adeyimika05) July 13, 2026 “The grief and guilt are too much for her to bear,” Martin wrote, explaining that she can barely live with having named Maelor during Blood and Cheese before he dies for real. He claimed that Condal’s outline still has Helaena dying “for no particular reason”. Martin also noted how her death sparks riots across King’s Landing, as the smallfolk wrongly believe Rhaenyra had the beloved queen murdered, setting in motion the Storming of the Dragonpit and, ultimately, Rhaenyra’s downfall. “Maelor himself is not essential,” Martin concluded. “But if losing him means we also lose Bitterbridge, Helaena’s suicide, and the riots, well… that’s a considerable loss.” As said, this was all written in 2024, but it’s made clear in his more recent comments that Martin isn’t happy with the direction of House of the Dragon. Whether he still thinks this after learning that Helaena is (almost definitely) now pregnant is yet to be seen. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: Creative Commons/Gage Skidmore/HBO Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
