It’s hard to anticipate what might happen on Game of Thrones, especially now that the HBO show has bypassed its source material. The eighth and final season of Thrones is no exception to this rule of unpredictability, but the most recent episode may have actually spoiled the finale.
A melancholy song Lady Brienne’s squire Podrick, played by Daniel Portman, sings during “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” seems to foreshadow which person vying for the Iron Throne will end up ruling. Warning: Spoilers ahead.
The musical moment happens while Podrick, Brienne, Jaime Lannister, Tormund Giantsbane, Tyrion Lannister, and Ser Davos Seaworth are gathered around a fire, awaiting the arrival of the Night King and the Army of the Dead. They drink and reminisce on past battles on what could be the last night of their lives. When the wine runs out, Tyrion requests someone sing a song. No one but Podrick pipes up, and he begins singing a mournful tune:
“High in the halls of the kings who are gone / Jenny would dance with her ghosts”
He continues, with lyrics about how Jenny couldn’t remember the ghosts’ names, but they took away her sorrow and pain by spinning her on an old stone. The song then repeats that she “never wanted to leave.”
This scene did more than just tug on heartstrings as it played over shots of our heroes in Winterfell readying themselves for battle. It evoked the mood Pippin created when he sang “The Edge of Night” ahead of the Battle of Osgiliath in The Lord of the Rings. In the A Song of Ice and Fire books, this tune is titled “Jenny’s Song,” and is directly connected to the series’ central characters and their ancestors.
“Jenny’s Song” appears in the novels as one of the Ghost of High Heart’s favorite songs, which she refers to as “my Jenny’s song.” Jenny is Jenny of Oldstones, a low-status woman who married Prince Duncan Targaryen. Their union, which Prince Duncan’s father, King Aegon V, disapproved of, spurred Prince Duncan to renounce his claim to the Iron Throne despite being the rightful heir. In the same way Jaime Lannister shoved Bran Stark out of a Winterfell tower to protect his incestuous relationship with his sister Cersei, Prince Duncan made the bold decision to abdicate the throne to marry Jenny.
Not only does Jenny and Duncan’s story mirror that of Jaime and Cersei’s, it it also parallels two other Targaryens: Jon Snow, whose real name is Aegon Targaryen, and Daenerys.
In episode 2, Jon reveals to his lady love that he’s actually her nephew, the son of her brother Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. That makes him the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, given he’s a living male descendent of Aerys “The Mad King” Targaryen. Podrick singing “Jenny’s Song” just before that conversation happens might foreshadow the events of the Game of Thrones finale: Jon could relinquish his power to be with Daenerys, just as Prince Duncan did.
It’s doubtful that Podrick knew everything about Jon’s parentage and the story of Jenny and Duncan when he decided to sing the sad tune, but there’s even more hidden meaning in the song that supports the idea Jon may give up the Iron Throne to be with Daenerys.
“You didn’t tell me you were going to abandon your crown.”
“I never wanted a crown.”
The Ghost of High Heart is thought to be the first person who delivered the prophecy that Aerys and Rhaella Targaryen, Dany’s parents and Jon’s grandparents, would be the ancestors of the “Prince That Was Promised.” Rhaegar, Dany’s brother, grew obsessive over the prophecy, believing he was the Prince That Was Promised. He thought that if he wasn’t the Prince, one of his children would be.
As Vanity Fair notes, Rhaegar may have actually written “Jenny’s Song.” In the books, during the Tourney of Harrenhal, he plays a song for his love Lyanna Stark, Jon Snow’s mother. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the tune was the one Podrick sang. Keep watching to learn how Podrick’s song reveals Jon Snow’s fate!
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