This week's episode of 'Game of Thrones' was filled with heartwarming moments but also a sense of foreboding for what's to come. (You can read our review here.) Most of the show's main characters were at Winterfell awaiting impending death the arrival of the Night King, with a few gathered around the fire having some wine and reminiscing about times gone by. At one point Tyrion asked for a song, and Podrick obliged with a haunting rendition of 'Jenny's Song', which fans of the book will recognise.
The Jenny in question is Jenny of Oldstones, who was the woman Duncan Targaryen married back in the day and abdicated the throne for. The fallout from this decision then switched the Targaryen line on the throne, meaning his brother Jaehaerys II Targaryen became king, and not long after his son, Aerys II Targaryen aka the Mad King aka Daenerys Targaryen's dad and Jon Snow's grandad.
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Who should sit on the Iron Throne?
So there are a couple of aspects of 'Jenny's Song' that could predict what's to come. Firstly, Duncan gave up the throne for love, could Daenerys or Jon do the same for one another?
Another important point about the history of this song is that in the books, Jenny is friends with a woods witch who is the original one who prophesies Azor Ahai. This is the Prince that was Promised that has been mentioned a good few times over the course of the show mainly by the Red Woman, who first believed it to be Stannis Baratheon before turning her attention to Jon Snow and then Daenerys Targaryen.
If you need a refresher on Azor Ahai, he is the prophecised prince that the Red Priestess believes is coming to save them all. He was originally around back in the day during what's called The Long Night when the White Walkers made their first attempt at killing all of mankind. Azor Ahai saved the day back then but the woods witch said he would be reborn and destined to defeat the darkness once again.
This woods witch said that Azor Ahai would be a descendant of Prince Aerys Targaryen and Princess Rhaella Targaryen, as both Jon and Daenerys are.
So are one or even both of them supposed to be the prophecised prince/princess that will save the world? (Melisandre has said before the prophecy is actually not meant to be gender specific)
Now we are leaning very heavily towards the books with this theorising, and perhaps showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss meant the song only as a nod to George RR Martin's work... or perhaps not.
In the books, only one lyric from 'Jenny's Song' is known: "High in the halls of the kings who are gone, Jenny would dance with her ghosts." However, in the show, 'Game of Thrones' composer Ramin Djawadi wrote some additional verses for it.
"High in the halls of the kings who are gone
Jenny would dance with her ghosts.
The ones she had lost and the ones she had found
And the ones who had loved her the most.
The ones who’d been gone for so very long
She couldn’t remember their names.
They spun her around on the damp cold stone
Spun away all her sorrow and pain
And she never wanted to leave Never wanted to leave. (x5)"
If you're taking the lyrics at face value, they could even be hinting towards the theory doing the rounds that the Night King will resurrect some of the Starks in the crypts for his army of the dead. 'Cos something is going to go down in those crypts. Not just because every character seems to have a line in this week's episode talking about how safe they are but also, in the trailer, we see a petrified Arya running from something down there. Doesn't take much to shake our Arya, so she must be running from something seriously scary.
Time will tell just how much significance 'Jenny's Song' has, but until then, enjoy this beautiful version of it which was performed by Florence and the Machine in the closing credits.
Don't miss 'The Thrones Show', our new weekly 'Game of Thrones' review show where we give our reaction and analysis after each episode of the final season.
