What doors will open in the next season of 'House of the Dragon'?

Oct. 31—[Contains spoilers for "Game of Thrones" through the first season of HBO's "House of the Dragon."]

When Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and her dragon Meleys busted through the floor of the Dragonpit, casually murdering hundreds of civilians during an escape from captivity at the hands of Team Green, I was not a big fan.

I thought the writers, looking for a big surprise (a.k.a. non-book) set piece in the penultimate season-one episode, put Rhaenys' character in a situation where her decision made very little sense.

It certainly didn't dissuade 9.3 million people from checking out the finale, according to HBO's figures.

But now that the first season of HBO's "House of the Dragon" has ended — and with a little more time to consider things — I may have changed my mind.

Rhaenys gave a good reason for not roasting the usurper King Aegon II and his family — it was not her war to start. But as we look forward to what may come in the second season of the show (bear in mind, no book spoilers), I'm starting to see the Dragonpit scene in a new light.

So let's hit on a few things, not necessarily explored in the books, that could play an out-sized role in the rest of the story.

The smallfolk

To reiterate, Rhaenys Targaryen — probably the most level-headed person on the show, and certainly one of the characters with the most experience in Westerosi politics — smashes through the floor of a room that she knows is filled with innocent bystanders. We know there's another way out of the Dragonpit. So this dramatic entrance should have served a greater purpose.

Again, if she was going to pre-empt the war and roast the dais, makes perfect sense. But if all she wants to do is escape, why kill a bunch of smallfolk?

I think the second season may give us the answer.

One of the many outstanding quotes from "Game of Thrones" comes from Tyrion Lannister: "Why is it always the innocents who suffer when you high lords play your game of thrones?"

We occasionally get glimpses of the lives of smallfolk, but not many. With so many main characters and probably twice as many secondary characters, the shows have no choice but to streamline a good deal of George R.R. Martin's copious source material.

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More 'House of the Dragon' stories:

—Episode 10 review: It all comes down to obedience training on the 'House of the Dragon' finale

—Episode 9 review: A 'wow' moment is also a weird narrative choice on 'House of the Dragon'

—Episode 8 review: The king gets confused as 'House of the Dragon' dances on the edge of war

—Episode 7 review: If looks could kill, they wouldn't need daggers on 'House of the Dragon'

—Episode 6 review: Tough to find someone to root for on 'House of the Dragon'

—Episode 5 review: The kettle boils over and all the tea gets spilled on 'House of the Dragon'

—Episode 4 review: Targaryens gonna Targaryen on this week's 'House of the Dragon'

—Episode 3 review: Everyone's on the hunt in this week's 'House of the Dragon'

—Episode 2 review: A good man makes a real bad decision on 'House of the Dragon'

—Episode 1 review: 'House of the Dragon' gets back to the backstabbing we loved in 'Thrones'

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But the start of season two is going to be Team Black and Team Green lining up their patrons for war, and I'm hoping we get some new characters from smaller houses — a ground-level look at what happens to the smallfolk when the "game of thrones" involves not just armies, but dragons.

That's another area I'm interested in — what do regular people in Westeros think about dragons? How often has the average person actually seen one? With all of these dragons flying around, it would be nice to (again) get a ground-level view when someone's plowing their fields and Vhagar just swoops overhead like an oversized, low-flying C-130 cargo jet.

There is also Mhysaria's warning to Ser Otto Hightower, that the crown has no power except what the people allow. I can't help but think (hope?) that comes back around in some way, especially if people start getting tired of one dragon-related war crime after another that involves the smallfolk.

Aegon's dream

This Valyrian steel dagger is really something else.

Let's take a look at its journey — at least the parts we know about. Aegon I, the OG conqueror of Westeros, had it made after he seemingly had a dream that sounded pretty much exactly like the invasion of the White Walkers in the final seasons of "Game of Thrones."

We know that something about this dagger made its way into the books at the Citadel in Oldtown, because Samwell Tarly passes by its image on the page of a library book he isn't supposed to be reading.

It is passed down from one Targaryen heir to the next, with the warning that the House of the Dragon must always sit the Iron Throne, to keep the realm united against this nebulous threat from the north.

Then it somehow ends up with everyone's favorite jerk, Petyr Baelish, who uses it to kick off the War of the Five Kings in "Thrones."

But let's hop back to that part about the threat from the north — because that's exactly where Jacaerys Velaryon is flying right now on his dragon, oblivious to his little brother's murder and looking to treat with the Starks.

Here's where I think the showrunners may take an opportunity to bring in some lore that doesn't really make it way into "Fire & Blood." There's a whole lot of insinuation in the OG book series about connections between the Stark family and the White Walkers, including a Winterfell nanny who says that an ancient Stark who led the Night's Watch married a woman that sounds a whole lot like a White Walkerette. He and his "corpse bride" spent 13 years committing atrocities at The Wall before another Stark and some wildlings took him out.

I'm hoping that Jace's visit to Winterfell leads to Rhaenyra also making a trip north. It's hard to imagine that she wouldn't want to talk with northerners and see if they know anything about this "threat from the north." She could ask about it without arousing suspicion, just wanting to learn more about their family, and the Starks seem only too happy to meet someone who isn't going to make fun of them for believing in White Walkers.

I think it would make for a great secondary plot line. And for people who watched "Game of Thrones" but are new to all of this Targaryen family history, it would make some cool connections to the original show without compromising the main story.

More dragons

This show knew what we wanted, and they put it right in the name: big dragon, big fire. And it gave us just enough to whet the appetite for when this war really gets going.

If you're wondering why the show likely won't be back until early 2024 (at least according to Martin), dragons is probably why.

The time for diplomacy is past, and the flying and dying is about to jump off.

I really appreciate the way that the effects department has worked to differentiate one dragon from the next. Dany's dragons in "Game of Thrones" were pretty awesome, but only because no one could've conceived of monsters like Caraxes and Vhagar when the original show debuted.

From their appearance to their roar to the neighborhood-park-style climbing net that Aemond uses to mount Vhagar, every one of them is completely unique, and that's only going to continue next season. Daemon mentioned that there are wild dragons living in the volcanic hills on the other side of Dragonstone, and he's going to be looking for people brave enough to try and ride them.

I've promised not to bring in any book spoilers, but I'll just say this — one of those wild dragons is called The Cannibal. Not to mention we haven't gotten a good look at King Aegon II's dragon Sunfyre, which is supposedly such a beautiful, bright golden hue that it inspired him to change the Targaryen banners to Pittsburgh Steelers colors!

And just one more, slightly hilarious note, for those who get mad at book spoilers: If you watched the original "Game of Thrones," you already saw a main character spoil exactly how the Dance of the Dragons is going to end.

Time for a re-watch!

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .