Since the Game of Thrones series finale, many fans have wondered — maybe even dreamed — of what might have been had Jaime only stayed at Winterfell with Brienne. Might they have remained in love, if they ever were? Could they even have gotten married?
It appears Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi may have been thinking along the same lines. Some fans noticed that the song that plays over Robb Stark and Talisa’s wedding in season 2 — “I am Hers, She is Mine” — is worked into the scene from the finale where Brienne is writing Jaime’s deeds into the White Book of the Kingsguard.
Djawadi calls this the “Honor” theme and was hoping someone would pick up on it. “I just threw that in there because I thought it would be a subtle nod to their relationship,” Djawadi told Insider. “When she sits there and she thinks about him and writes down all the things he had done, the second half is the ‘Honor’ theme, but yeah a big chunk of that [song] is the wedding theme.”
It’s just a hint of what their relationship — if they had stayed together, if he was still alive — what it could have been. What they could have become. That’s why I put that in there. I was amazed some people picked up on it. I was hoping people would go, ‘Wait a minute, that’s from season two.’ And that was exactly my intent. I thought it would be very appropriate.
And that wasn’t the only romantic theme Djawadi worked with in season 8. Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss wanted an ominous twist on Jon and Daenerys’ love theme from season 7. “They said, ‘OK, this needs to be a really romantic theme, but make sure that it’s a love theme that can imply complications,’” Djawadi recalled. “That’s how they started me out. They said things turn differently and things go wrong.”
Yep, that’s definitely a darker version of “Truth” which played during the boat sex scene in the season 7 finale. It sounds like Benioff and Weiss were trying to prepare Djawadi for Dany’s death at the hands of her lover/nephew/rival for the Iron Throne.
Speaking of Jon Snow, he got to ride off into the great white north beyond the Wall, leading a band of Wildlings back to their home. Djawadi was able to send him off with the “A Song of Ice and Fire” theme.
The composer wanted to end the episode with a twist on the Game of Thrones intro music; this version is a little more upbeat and includes a choir of men, women, and children singing along. Also, the fact that wildling children go with Jon and Tormund north of the Wall is important. “The idea is really that he stops and he looks back, and then the main title starts, and it’s the idea of a new beginning,” said Djawadi. “It’s supposed to be positive…the fact that there are children around and [other] people — he’s not just by himself.”
Originally [he was] with the Night’s Watch, and you’re not allowed to have a wife and children and all that, but this is him going out there with the wildlings, and you can interpret it like he’s starting a new life. He’s a changed man, and he’s leaving the past behind, and so it’s definitely supposed to be something positive. There are many possibilities now — that’s how we can look at it.
That’s a nice thought. And really, Sansa, Arya and Jon all get happy endings. House Stark suffered more than any other house during the eight seasons of the show, and it was nice to see cut some slack in the end.
So what was the most difficult song for Djawadi to write for the final season? “Obviously ‘The Night King’ theme was our big new theme this season, and writing that piece was challenging in many ways,” he said. “One is because we decided to for the second time in Game of Thrones history to really focus on the piano again. We felt this was an opportunity to have a big piano piece, and we wanted to call back to ‘Light of the Seven‘.”
But even though he wanted to reference “Light of the Seven,” Djawadi didn’t want it to feel too familiar. “If I had done an arrangement of ‘Light of the Seven’ again it wouldn’t have made any sense. Cersei was nowhere to be seen, and that piece belongs to Cersei. But it was a very long scene, just like ‘Light of the Seven.’ There were a lot of similarities, so I definitely made a connection [between them]. For example, I end up in the same key and tempo as the ‘Light of the Seven’ by the end of ‘The Night King’.”
But I also [wrote it knowing] when the piano drops people would sit up and go, “Oh, piano’s coming. This means something’s happening now. What’s going on here?” And the idea was that it would have the reverse effect. That you’d see the Night King on his final march towards Bran, and you’d think back to the Cersei theme and that this is all going his way and he’s going to win and it’s over.
Mission accomplished.
Djawadi is now preparing to kick off the North American leg of the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience, and says he’s looking forward to playing “The Night King” and “The Iron Throne” for live audiences for the first time. “[‘The Iron Throne’ will] be in there in one way or another. That’s the theme from when Dany dies, and it was such an emotional scene for me to write. I’m just really attached to it. I think it’s such a powerful scene, with Drogon, and so that piece is just special to me. I’m very excited to play that live with an orchestra.”
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 08: A full orchestra performs during the announcement of the Game of Thrones® Live Concert Experience featuring composer Ramin Djawadi at the Hollywood Palladium on August 8, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Live nation Entertainment )
Here’s the live concert schedule:
- 9/5 – Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
- 9/6 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
- 9/8 – Chicago, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
- 9/10 – Boston, MA – Xfinity Center
- 9/11 – Hartford, CT – XFINITY Theatre
- 9/12 – Philadelphia, PA – The Mann
- 9/14 – New York, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
- 9/15 – Washington, DC – Jiffy Lube Live
- 9/17 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
- 9/18 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park
- 9/20 – Jacksonville, FL – Daily’s Place
- 9/21 – West Palm Beach, FL – Coral Sky Amphitheatre
- 9/22 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
- 9/25 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
- 9/26 – Dallas, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
- 9/27 – Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
- 10/1 – Phoenix, AZ – Comerica Theatre
- 10/3 – San Francisco, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
- 10/4 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre
- 10/5 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
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