The second episode of this season of Game of Thrones closed things out a little differently, opting to provide a newly released Florence + the Machine song instead of the usual classical score. "Jenny of Oldstones" was originally featured in George R.R. Martin's source material, and was performed in the show itself by Daniel Portman's character Podrick, but Florence's cover accompanied the closing credits for the most recent episode.
Florence Welch was personally approached by showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who said that they reached out to her to perform the song after they previously featured "Seven Devils" in a trailer for Season 2. "The opportunity to hear her otherworldly voice on our show was always at the forefront of our minds," the creators explained in a statement accompanying the lyric video release of the song. "We’re still pleasantly shocked that she agreed to sing ‘Jenny of Oldstones,’ and we’re in love with the result."
Welch, meanwhile, secribed the song as sounding "like a Celtic lullaby." She added, "Celtic music has always been in my blood, so I felt like I could do something with it. The magic and ritual in Game of Thrones, not to mention the costumes, have always appealed to me. I am honored to be a part of the final season."
The song itself is based on an old story the characters within Westeros continue to circulate, focusing on Prince Duncan Targaryen, who was said to have fallen in love with a commoner known as Jenny of Oldstones. Targaryen had to choose between inherting the Iron Throne or Jenny, ultilmately choosing the latter. "The Prince of Dragonflies [Duncan] loved Jenny of Oldstones so much he cast aide a crown, and Westeros paid the bride price in corpses."
There's some parralels to be made between the song and the current relationship between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, especially now we know he's the heir to the Iron Throne. With a battle on the horizon, bloodshed in the light of Jon and Dany's relationship seems inevitable.
