‘House of the Dragon’ Composer Explains Why the Series Uses Original ‘Game of Thrones’ Theme
Every Game of Thrones fan looked forward to hearing the iconic theme song when a new episode premiered. House of the Dragon brings Game of Thrones fans back into the world of Westeros but also brings back some classics. Episode 2 of House of the Dragon began with the original theme, and many were thrilled to have it back, even if it’s a different series. The composer, Ramin Djawadi, explains why they decided to bring the legendary theme back for the prequel series.
‘Game of Thrones’ has plenty of iconic music
Throughout its six seasons, Game of Thrones had a marvelous score composed by Djawadi. Djawadi is a favorite over at HBO as he also does music for Westworld. While the opening credits are often skipped, Game of Thrones fans never skipped the opening for each episode as it has one of the catchiest and most epic opening songs for any TV show. You most likely have heard the theme song even if you haven’t watched the series.
In addition to the opening theme, Game of Thrones had great songs like “Rains of Castamere” and Daenerys Targaryen’s theme. In episode 1 of House of the Dragon, the theme did not play as it simply showed the sigil for House Targaryen. However, a version of it did play during the end credits. In episode 2 of House of the Dragon, the iconic song from Game of Thrones played alongside a new sequence.
Ramin Djawadi explains why they brought back the ‘Game of Thrones’ opening theme
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Djawadi spoke about the music he composed for House of the Dragon. The Eternals composer wanted to emphasize that much of the music would be different than Game of Thrones, but he wanted to make sure it had a similar “DNA” to the original series. There are similar themes in House of the Dragon, but there are also several new ones.
“We very much wanted to keep the DNA alive for House of the Dragon from the original show,” Djawadi said. “We will hear themes that we remember from the original show, but because it’s all new characters, this is 200 years before, there is a ton of new material I’ve written, a lot of new themes that we will hear.”
‘House of the Dragon’ focuses on House Targaryen
House of the Dragon takes place almost 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The series focuses on the Targaryen civil war that divided the house over who would control the Iron Throne. Much of the score has brought back several Targaryen themes from the original series, but Djawadi wanted to create many new themes for these new characters.
“This is all about the Targaryens, so the big thing was to keep their sound and their themes,” Djawadi explained. “Like I said earlier, the DNA, it needs to be connected. That was a foundation. But because we’re dealing with House specific, I wanted to make sure that there’s a lot of new themes for different characters and all the complex storylines that we know happens in Game of Thrones. I wanted to connect the two like that.”
House of the Dragon is now streaming on HBO Max.
