Game of Thrones: What is the meaning of the song of Jenny of Oldstones from Podrick?

By Jesse Schedeen

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 2!

The second episode of the last season of Game of Thrones is over on a dark note. While the people of Winterfell were settling for what might very well be their last night together, Podrick Payne gave his friends serenade with an interpretation of "Jenny of Oldstones", a popular tune among the inhabitants of Westeros. The episode also included a cover of the song on the end credits, this time performed by Florence + The Machine.

As is almost always the case whenever we hear a new piece of music in the series, this melody has profound thematic implications. It's more than a sweet and sad song about a bygone age. This is at the heart of the conflict between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen as the final of the series looms.

Read on to find out more about the origin of this sad song and its importance for future battles.

Drawing books

While the TV series has long since passed the stage of George R.R.'s novels, "Jenny of Oldstones" is an example of authors who have found ways to work on unused items from sources. The song appears in A Storm of Swords, the third book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Arya hears the song traveling with the Fraternity without banners. Tom of Sevenstreams sings the song to an elderly woman known as Ghost of High Heart as a repayment for revealing her prophetic dreams to the group.

This episode is actually the first time the song is sung in its entirety. In the book, Arya struggles to focus on Tom's words because the music is so sad and she captures only occasional lines. Here is the complete transcript of the song:

High in the corridors of the departed kings

Jenny would dance with her ghosts

The ones she had lost and the ones she had found

And those who loved him the most

Those who have been away for so long

She could not remember their names

They spun on the old wet stones

Filmed all his sorrow and his pain

And she never wanted to leave

I never wanted to leave

I never wanted to leave

I never wanted to leave

They danced all day and night

Through the snow that swept the room

Winter in summer then in winter

Until the walls collapse and fall

And she never wanted to leave

I never wanted to leave

I never wanted to leave

I never wanted to leave

And she never wanted to leave

I never wanted to leave

I never wanted to leave

I never wanted to leave

High in the corridors of the departed kings

Jenny would dance with her ghosts

The ones she had lost and the ones she had found

And those who loved him the most

Showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss spoke about the inclusion of this song during the post-show segment "Inside the Episode". Benioff said, "We knew we wanted a song in this episode, we had a song for several seasons, we had not been original for a while, so we felt it instead, and Daniel [Portman] felt like the singer ".

Benioff revealed that the authors used the excerpts featured in A Storm of Swords as a starting point, then added the remaining lyrics and commissioned the composer Ramin Djawadi to create the music.

The origin of the song

"Jenny of Oldstones" is more than a nostalgic ode to past times and lost loved ones. In fact, his original story is very convincing. Not surprisingly, the song is about a woman named Jenny of Oldstones, who fell in love with Prince Duncan Targaryen (Daenerys' great-uncle). Duncan loved Jenny so deeply that he married her against the express order of his father, Aegon V. Aegon had wanted to marry the daughter of Lord Lionel Baratheon, thus cementing an alliance between two of the families most powerful of Westeros.

In the end, Duncan chose to give up his claim to the iron throne in favor of Jenny's marriage. And it turns out that Jenny's closest friend and girlfriend was the woman who eventually became known as the Phantom of the Big Heart. That's why the song is so important to her, even as an old woman.

The importance of Jenny's story

"Jenny of Oldstones" is a perfect accompaniment when this episode ends and we see the last defenders of Westeros preparing for their biggest fight, but that has deeper implications for two characters in particular. It is surely no coincidence that a song related to a Targaryen forced to choose between love and duty debuts even as Jon and Dany face the ultimate test of their relationship.

This conflict between love and duty sums up Jon's fight this season. Now that he knows the truth about his sonship and his own claim to the Iron Throne, he has a hard choice to make. Does he remain silent and remain faithful to Dany or does he reveal his targaryen blood and join the armies of Westeros behind the Stark banner? As we have seen in the past two episodes, many in the North are reluctant to embrace Daenerys and his army. They would be much more willing to accept a Targaryen king from the north.

"Jenny of Oldstones" highlights the importance of this dilemma even as White Walkers approach it. If Duncan had fulfilled his royal duty, the fall of the Targaryen family and the events of Robert's rebellion may never have occurred. Jon had already already preferred the duty to love when he had taken the night watch on Ygritte and the Wildlings – could he do it a second time?

At the same time, it should also be remembered that the Ghost of the Great Heart is also the woman who prophesied about Azor Ahai, "the prince who was promised". If Duncan had not fallen in love with Jenny and brought her with his mate to court, Duncan's brother, Jaehaerys II, might never have heard the witch's prophecy and arranged the witch's prophecy. marriage of his children and their attempt to produce Azor Ahai. So maybe the real lesson from this song is that only a leader who follows his heart can truly become the savior of Westeros. If Dany is to defeat the White Walkers and usher in a new spring, the best thing Jon can do is to love and convince others to do the same.

Jesse is a writer with gentle manners for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket in follow @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.