Warning: Game of Thrones Spoilers
HBOGame of Thrones fans can’t wait to find out what’s in store for the characters in the final season, but many believe a song has given away the ending before the action has even taken place.
The second episode of season eight aired in the small hours of Monday morning in the UK, and among the battle preparations, reunions and revelations, Tyrion, Jaime, Brienne, Podrick, Davos, and Tormund gathered around the fire and took stock of their situation.
In an attempt to distract his friends from impending doom, Tyrion asked if anyone knew a song, and Podrick launched into a solemn rendition of a tune titled Jenny’s Song.
Listen to Florence and the Machine’s version here:
Many fans were quick to recognise the tune from the third instalment of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books, titled A Storm of Swords.
The song tells the tale of Jenny of Oldstones, whose storyline takes place before the events seen on television in Game of Thrones. She was a commoner who married Prince Duncan Targaryen – an ancestor of Jon and Daenerys’.
According to The Ringer, Duncan had to give up his rightful claim to the throne for his love, and eventually both he and Jenny die in Summerhall, the Targaryen castle.
HBOJust after Podrick finished the song in the latest episode, Jon and Daenerys had a moment together in front of Lyanna’s tomb.
Although the song focuses on the story of Jenny, many eagle-eyed – or eagle-eared – fans believe the use of the song in this context could be a sign that Jon or Daenerys might end up choosing love over the coveted throne, much like the decision Duncan made half a century before.
However, there is more meaning behind Jenny’s Song than the potential mirroring between Jenny, Duncan, Daenerys and Jon.
In the books, one of Jenny’s closest companions was a woods witch who claimed to have visions of the future. She said the Prince That Was Promised would be a Targaryen born from the line of Aerys and Rhaella, two of Jaehaerys’s children.
Jaehaerys II had the two married, and they became Daenerys’s parents, and Jon’s grandparents. If the woods witch was correct, Daenerys or Jon – or both of them – could be the Prince That Was Promised.
Many fans have taken to social media to share their thoughts about the link between Jenny’s Song and the show’s ending:
My sort of premature prediction about @GameOfThrones after last nights episode & the hints provided by Jenny’s Song…
… Jon & Dany choose each other over the Iron Throne & hand the throne to Brienne of Tarth #GOT
— Goatville's Finest 🌹 (@paulangelo7371) April 22, 2019
podrick is singing Jenny’s song which basically confirms jon and/or dany as the prince that was promised #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/4v3ypJWlTH
— osha (@oshawildling) April 22, 2019
jenny’s song for me it’s the biggest jonerys end game foreshadowing for me, the story of the two lovers is literal jon and dany but this time it won’t end badly like with them and lyanna and rhaegar
— ju (@wildtargaryen) April 22, 2019
With the Battle of Winterfell looming ever closer, fans will soon know the fate of many of the characters, including Daenerys and Jon.
We’ll have to see if the theories are correct!
Watch season eight of Game of Thrones on HBO or Sky Atlantic now.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.