Game of Thrones season 8 episode 2: Does Podrick’s song predict dark times for Daenerys, Jon Snow?

See our full Game of Thrones coverage here Game of Thrones’ second episode, in its final season, brought in more revelations than what initially met the eye. Aired on Easter Sunday, the episode may just have given a bleak indication of the future of the Seven Kingdoms. In one of its main scenes, Jaime Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, Brienne of Tarth (who was knighted in this episode), Podrick (Brienne’s squire), Davos Seaworth, and Tormund Giantsbane are seen having a conversation and drinking together when Tyrion requests any one of them to sing a song. While most decline, Podrick begins humming a haunting tune. With fan theories flooding the internet, many have tried to explain the song. As per Vanity Fair, ‘Jenny’s Song’ (as it is termed in George RR Martin’s books) is essentially to invoke a sense of foreboding for the future. “High in the halls of the kings who are gone,” Podrick sings, “Jenny would dance with her ghosts. The ones she had lost and the ones she had found. The ones who had loved her the most.” [caption id=“attachment_6493571” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Still from Game of Thrones season 8, episode 2. YouTube screengrab[/caption] The song also accompanies the episode’s closing credits, where it is performed by Florence + The Machine. In A Song of Ice and Fire books, ‘Jenny’s Song’ is sung by a woods witch for her friend — Jenny of Oldstones, who marries Prince Duncan Targaryen (Aerys II Targaryen’s brother as per the TV series, and his uncle as per the books). Duncan — Aegon V’s oldest son — gives up his crown for her. The same woods witch also prophesises that the “prince who was promised” will be born of Aerys II and his sister Rhaella (who have seven children in all, of whom only three survive to adulthood: Rhaegar, Viserys and Daenerys. Of them, only Rhaegar currently has a living offspring — Jon Snow). The lyrics of ‘Jenny’s Song’  are supposedly both a direct as well as a metaphorical reference to the events depicted in the HBO show. The “halls of the kings who were gone” may refer to Summerhall, a Targaryen castle. It was also the site of a great fire that killed Aegon V, Jenny, Prince Duncan, and several others. Duncan and Jenny could also be seen to parallel Jon Snow and Daenerys’ deepening bond. However, the melancholy lyrics are a direct allusion to the dark times ahead for the living as they wage a war against the Army of the Dead. It may also have been a reference to Rhaegar and Lyanna’s love and the Azor Ahai prophecy, which talks about those fated to die, and those who will live to remember them. Watch the full song here.