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House Of The Dragon Just Ignored A LOT Of Deaths In King's Landing
The climax of House of the Dragon season 1 episode 9, "The Green Council", is an intense and epic slice of high drama, but there is also a major piece of plotting the show all-but ignores – Rhaenys' slaughter of hundreds of smallfolk. The scene is brilliantly set up, after Rhaenys had been sidelined much of the episode as the greens launched their coup. But when the "Queen who never was" erupts out of the Dragonpit caverns with Meleys during Aegon's coronation and stares down the monarchy and aristocracy, before Rhaenys then flies to Dragonstone to meet Rhaenyra, she leaves countless bodies in her wake despite the mercy she shows the greens.
It's a moment with tremendous shock value, illustrating Rhaenys' power and ruthlessness after many characters in the show dismiss her as helpless or a political pawn. But while powerful, the dramatic heft of the moment is also left a little hollow by the show's decision not to address it in season 1. The impact of her destruction of the Dragonpit great hall and subsequent massacre is left ambiguous, with attention in the show finale fixed almost exclusively on Dragonstone. As such, House of the Dragon essentially ignored a lot of potentially significant deaths.
Why Rhaenys Didn't Care About Killing Smallfolk (But Wouldn't Kill Alicent)
The simple, blunt but ultimately correct answer is that the nobility and monarchy do not care about the lives of smallfolk, and that is particularly true of Targaryen line. The nobility view them as second-class citizens at best, sub-human at worst. Ryan Condal and the rest of the film-makers have reiterated that House of the Dragon has tried to stick by the realities of Medieval Europe, and given the show's real-life parallels to the feudal system and its appalling treatment of peasants, it is clear feudalism is embedded firmly in their understanding of the world. The Targaryens' inherent arrogance and sense of superiority only reinforce this belief.
However, there is also the possible factor of Rhaenys' connection with Alicent. Earlier in the episode, when Rhaenys was locked in her room during the coup, Alicent visits her and tries to convince her to swear House Velaryon's loyalty to Aegon, after telling her she should have been Queen instead of Viserys. Although furious at her circumstances and Alicent's subservience to the patriarchy, Rhaenys recognizes Alicent's desperation and sincerity in this moment, and it is possible that a small pang of compassion influenced her actions. Rhaenys actor Eve Best also colored in the context with an interview with Vulture, saying "It’s a very eye-opening moment, to see that Alicent has that clarity and directness. She’s clearly somebody of intelligence and grit." Additionally, as she tells Daemon in the season finale, it wasn't Rhaenys and Meleys' war to start. At this stage, she held allegiance to neither side.
How Rhaenys' Dragonpit Scene Could Influence Later HOTD Events
Although the fallout from Rhaenys' destruction of the Dragonpit was not addressed in season 1, it did foreshadow events to come in potentially season 2 and beyond. Such cruel devastation and nobility indifference towards their plight sows the seeds of violent revolt among the smallfolk fed up with being treated as sub-human. In Fire & Blood, during the upcoming civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, commoners are convinced to storm the Dragonpit by a mysterious prophet known as the Shepherd. This results in the death of five dragons and even Prince Joffrey Targaryen. House of the Dragon is only just getting started with Dragonpit destruction, and Rhaenys' actions could yet influence future events.
