𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬!

Option 1. In a nutshell, Helaena is an enigmatic creature on the best of days. She is out of step with the people around her, but at home with insects. She prefers silence and sanctuary to other mortals, and spends much of her time by herself, her children, and pursuing her hobbies.

In the modern world, an autism diagnosis would almost surely be assigned. She has a particular aversion to touch, and struggles to communicate. This is undoubtedly compounded by the visions that plague her.

Though she has problems with social cues, Helaena has a sharp eye that sees things others do not, owed in no small part to her prophetic nature. She's thought to be simple, but this is an oversight. She's merely quiet, and dreamy to distraction. Her communication troubles often make her nonverbal, or induce her to speak in halting sentences and riddles. Her brother, Aemond, is the one person she feels better able to communicate with and to speak in longer coherence, though she’s growing closer to her mother over the season as well.

As Alicent’s daughter, Helaena is dutiful. Like most women in Westeros, her lot in life is to do as her mother and father ask of her. Primarily, to marry and provide her husband with heirs. Especially when she is groomed to be queen consort by her aspiring Hightower family. Helaena is wed as a young woman to her brother, Aegon, also the only person we see her show active contempt toward. They are a very unlikely and incompatible pair. All the same, she did not rebel as his wife, and thinks it is "not so bad" at the end of the day, because her husband mostly ignores her—except when he's drunk, and Aegon is often drunk, hinting at marital rape. Unfortunately, consent is abstract in Westeros, and Helaena doesn’t have the tools to know that is the case.

Only recently has she questioned this duty and its cost, after the loss of her son at the hands of Blood and Cheese. This epic moment at the beginning of the season sees Helaena forced to choose between her two children, and she witnesses the beheading of her toddler child. When Alicent later informs her that she and her grief will be paraded around King's Landing for the good of the crown, she is visibly distraught and asks "Why?" This is a big moment for Helaena and begins her journey of reflection. The crown has never been her want. She has no taste for politics.

This is to say that, unlike the rest of her family, Helaena does not seek power in the traditional modes. She does not join the small council, she does not sit at court like other consorts, nor is she remotely considered for the role of regent once Aegon is incapacitated (at the hands of their ambitious and vengeful brother, Aemond). She doesn't really seek power at all, except to understand her own power— her gift—which she has only just begun to realize for what it is.