House of the Dragon fans believe they've deciphered the sinister meaning behind Helaena Targaryen's prophecy. Be warned: This article contains spoilers from House of the Dragon Season 3 and Fire and 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 examining a caterpillar on a leaf and studying a book about butterflies when she made the remark in last week's episode. The page displayed featured an illustration of a lethal butterfly from Missandei's (Nathalie Emmanuel) homeland of Naath, with the words stating: "They are said to cause death to people around them while living but so far I remain alive," reports the Mirror.

Her mother Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) paid scant attention to her words; nevertheless, they arrived shortly after footage of the Blacks, including Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith), flying towards King's Landing.

Numerous viewers flocked to Reddit to speculate about the scene, with one fan proposing multiple theories as they elaborated: "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 additionally suggested it might relate to Sheepstealer being captured prematurely by Rhaena Targaryen (Phoebe Campbell); the deaths of Rhaenyra's young sons as it wasn't their season; that she might be expecting Maelor; alongside a meta reference to the sequence of the episodes. However, they concluded: "Given how much the series focuses on Rhaenyra, I lean towards the first one."

A second remarked: "Someone on the reddit mentioned how it's not Rhaenyra's time and she came too early to claim the iron throne [sic]."

While another concurred: "hummm makes sense! [sic]."

Yet a third offered a darker theory about the approaching winter after spotting 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 appearing on the book's page even appear to hint that Rhaenyra could represent a lethal butterfly at the heart of unfolding events, with those surrounding her perishing one by one.

Those familiar with George R. R. Martin's Fire and Blood, the source material underpinning House of the Dragon, will already know that Rhaenyra's grip on the Iron Throne will prove short-lived.

This strongly implies that Helaena is aware the Blacks have arrived in King's Landing prematurely and that their rule will be fleeting.

Others have proposed that the butterfly sequence could be a nod to author Martin's since-deleted blog post. Martin suggested that omitting Helaena's youngest son Prince Maelor from the programme would trigger a detrimental "butterfly effect" on the television adaptation.

Viewers will need to wait and discover whether Helaena becomes pregnant with Maelor and if he's brought into Season 3 - he's already a toddler in Fire and Blood and faces a tragic fate in the novel.

In the novel, Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) smuggles not only Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) but also his son Maelor away from King's Landing.

The two-year-old Maelor is subsequently entrusted to Ser Rickard Thorne of the Kingsguard to transport safely to Oldtown.

Rhaenyra dispatches forces to locate the three fugitives, resulting in tragedy when Ser Rickard and Maelor are slain at Bitterbridge in a devastating and brutal fashion.

Following news of Maelor's death, Helaena tragically ends her own life having already endured such profound sorrow at losing another child.

Considering House of the Dragon has already significantly departed from this narrative, viewers will need to wait and observe if and how this storyline unfolds on screen.

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