Well it depends, do you mean this season or in general? About the “Stay Here for a Thousand Years” or all the tracks in general? So to be clear, on Game of Thrones, all of the “Houses” have a particular theme. The Lannister theme is reminiscent of the Rains of Castamere, it’s kinda their vibe. Cersei as Queen taking on her own had a new vibe added to that, and it was the piano theme that appeared on ep6x10 and came back several times through s7 and s8. House Stark is representated by the cello, so cello heavy themes are House Stark and characters related to House Stark/storylines related to House Stark. House Stark Theme | which is reminiscent to The Last of the Starks which is their final piece. Where is added this idea of “epicness”, future, possibilities brought by these characters’ storylines: Sansa becoming Queen, Arya sailing away, Jon going North. It still has this cello vibe, core of House Stark and their theme, but it doesn’t have the same melancholy/sadness it used to have for a very long time when House Stark was to the ground, over and over again. (note, it’s also mixed with the Game of Thrones main title, mostly because it’s the final theme of the season and that’s where they closed the episode- it also kinda proves that the story was about House Stark - at least on the show - they opened the show, they’re closing it). We also have added to that one, Arya’s House of the Undying Theme, these bits of Arya’s theme when she was with the Faceless Men and she left - I don’t remember the name of that piece, but it’s played here. Jon Snow’s theme, is also heavily featured in the last track: this one. Sansa’s theme at its core is still really the one of her family: sad cello often played over her scenes, for a very long time. And then it morphed into this “joyfully melancholic cello” (I don’t know how to describe iiiiit) that plays also at some point - well during Sansa’s coronation. It first appeared during her “The Lone wolf Dies but the Pack Survives” scene with Arya on s7. Anyway, all that to say that the Starks have had a vibe that’s always been reminiscent in all the House Stark characters, and it’s come back and been mashed up together for their very last scenes. It really is really beautiful and it just shows how the characters have morphed, how their House is still what it was at its roots but how they’ve grown and what the legacy of these characters are. The theme starts with notes that are very reminiscent of Ned Stark, and evolves into something that is Arya, Sansa and Jon’s identity. Anyway, as for the rest we have the Lannisters, it’s really generally circling around the Rains of Castamere vibes, it’s always there. What is cool about the Lannisters is mostly Cersei: Cersei has a theme from s5 and going. But her theme is heavily related to the High Sparrow and the faith. It starts as this theme, mix of a Lannister theme and an organ. And it merges into this gorgeous theme for Cersei’s revenge: the organ comes back, but this time, to symbolize the Faith’s destruction rather than Cersei’s.As for Dany, well she was the only one of her House. So actually most if not all of the House Targaryen themes are hers. They’re all about her, tbh. Ramin Djawadi has composed a lot of pieces for Daenerys- like A LOT, I think she has nine soundtracks for s5 alone, for example. The first whispers of her theme are here, technically, on the first steps (literally) of Daenerys towards her destiny, when she meets Khal Drogo. The ironic thing, is that Dany’s theme also starts with some light cello. Not as “deep” as House Stark, but it’s still cello and it has its importance later on. Before that, she has no theme, it’s Viserys’ theme (kinda) that steps over her. The drums are only whispers at that point, and then it grows bigger and bigger as she gains power. This one, is the final version of her s1 theme- BEFORE her dragons are born. Now in the end of the video, we can hear a new version of her theme; the appearence of voices as she’s become something else, the Mother of Dragons. The one who brought magic back into the world! On s1 her theme grew as something like a Dothraki warrior theme, she’s become the Unburnt + Khal Drogo’s Khaleesi, something that is hers but not totally. So her theme has pieces of instruments that were used for the Dothraki related themes- especially the the Armenian duduk flutewhich is used to symbolize the Dothrakis in Ramin Djawadi’s music. Dany’s music grows bigger and bigger as she gains her roles and goes through victory after victory: as I said, by the end of 1x10 when the dragons are born, the “ah ah ahhhhhs” are appearing, because that’s how her theme merges. The “ah ah ahhhhs” are related to the dragons. To Daenerys, becoming more than the Khaleesi of a man, who is proving her strength on a “human level”. She’s something else, she’s more, she’s “the stuff of legends” that people will sing about. The final version of this theme, is at the end of s2 when the dragons finally breathe fire, at the House of the Undying. Name of the track? Well, Mother of Dragons, of course! Which is a perfect balance of “victorious Dany”/Mother of Dragons and Unburnt Dany. And Mother of Dragons really becomes the strong basis of ALL the Daenerys’ themes coming forward. At her core, Daenerys is the Mother of Dragons, the victorious, the Unburnt once again at the end of s2. S3 adds to that, as Daenerys becomes the Breaker of Chains. It’s this theme: and yet you notice it always has the same basis- the flute, the “ah ah ahhhhs”, everything that has made Dany and Dany’s theme so far. This is when she starts building her army, when she starts to conquer. Herself doesn’t know clearly WHY yet, at the beginning of ep3, Daenerys does get this army in order to have an army to sail to Westeros. Her journey on s3 is slowly becoming the Breaker of Chains and the “Mhysa” of the people- hence why s3 for Dany ends with the Mhysa theme. And even tho the basis of Daenerys’ theme, which are the instruments that we can hear in the background are the same, here, it’s really a sung music. It’s a whole music, that could be transcribed as in universe, people singing across the world, everything that Daenerys Targaryen has accomplished. She’s officially become the Mother of the People: Mhysa as they call her. And let’s remember that because it comes back to what I said about her s8′s theme. All that morphes into her usual theme, her “Dany theme”, with the Dohtraki vibes, the Mother of Dragons vibes and all. And here, her theme is Big! It’s Dany full force, Dany at her peak, Dany embracing an unexpected destiny that will lead her to greatness. The “ah ah ahhhhhs” are growing and growing, because it’s truly a moment where she reaches the top: she has three growing Dragons, an army, Ser Barristan, Ser Jorah, a close friend (Missandei), and she’s adored. And that’s where Breaker of Chains really appears, after s3, onto s4. Daenerys didn’t just free the Unsullied because she wanted an army, now she has a new quest, a new purpose, a new destiny. A new title to her long list: Khaleesi, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains. We start with the same flute, the same vibes, what has been Daenerys’ theme ever since the beginning of the show, it’s still here. And it’s morphing into a lament - basically Dany lamenting for the children she sees crucified before reaching Mereen - and it merges into more of a “justice”/revenge theme where she follows her path: we know which one, where she conquers the city and abolishes slavery. The “Dany notes” - like really, how to call them I can’t really transcribe them on a post like that - are still here, and they’re growing and growing. The Mhysa theme is also all merged into this one, truly is one of the best Dany themes. S4 is where Dany kinda “stops” for a while. She decides to stay in Mereen. So there is no real progression in her theme for a while. Her next theme is Forgive me, at the end of s4 (it’s featured on s5′s soundtrack but it appears on s4 first but it gets bigger on s5 after 5x08 when Daenerys really does banish Jorah again). It’s a tragic theme, where Dany kinda loses a lot of her “superb” because her Jorah betrayed her: Dany is really falling from grace at the end of s4. It’s also really the first time Jorah and Dany have a theme: a theme that will come back later on the show, on s5 “officially” and on s6 and merges back into something big because that’s where she accepts him again. At the very end of s4 for Dany, the Breaker of Chains theme comes back, but only the lament part: because in becoming a leader of the people, Daenerys had to choose to chain her dragons. The idea of breaking chains is becoming harder and harder for Daenerys. These are Dany’s biggest betrayals: she was the victim of one, with Jorah, and the second one where she betrays her children and tbh, basically, her Oath as their Mother and a Breaker of Chains. Dany’s next pivotal moment is A Dance of Dragons, so we have the Daenerys theme mixed with the Sons of the Harpy’s one. And it basically becomes a war theme. Daenerys’ war theme: Daenerys with what she has, her dragons who are loyal to her and will follow her as proved by Drogon on this very same episode, her army, everyone loyal to her. It’s also where the French horns appear on her themes: and that’s to symbolize the FORCE of her now full grown dragon(s). And they’ll be part of her theme going forward. And this theme will then also come back to Daenerys’ theme going forward. We still have the flute, the magical notes that are always related to Daenerys as a Mother of Dragons, especially since it’s the moment she sees Drogon again after a while. And then it merges into something more, once again: Daenerys embracing another one of her destinies. Daenerys becoming a dragon rider, and we’re back with the “ah ah ahhhhhhs”. Daenerys’ next big theme after that is Khaleesi. We finally have a theme called Khaleesi for her: and here it’s very reminiscent of Daenerys the Unburnt, Daenerys the Khaleesi that she was on s1. Daenerys freeing people from oppression once again, and the praises are coming back: this time tho, they’re chanted in Dothraki and not in Valyrian like in Mhysa. She becomes a Khaleesi in her own rights, she proves HER strength to all the Khalasar and they all bow to her: this theme has become more about her than about the Dothraki. Her next theme is Reign. And it has everything: it’s Khaleesi Dany, Queen Dany, Mother of Dragons Dany, Unbent Dany, Daenerys Targaryen. That is higher than her peak. She’s accomplished everything she has to accomplish in Mereen and Essos: she has eliminated her enemies, the threats to her “new order” and she’s come out of it, victorious. And Daenerys’ final Essos-y theme is Winds of Winter: again, a theme that is sung in Valyrian and is a CRAZY theme. It’s basically chanting Daenerys coming, the “hero” coming. It’s full of hope, and yet it’s still Daenerys’ theme, it’s what it has morphed into after everything she’s been through: drums, voices, horns, everything is here! Tbh to me that’s why 80% of Dany’s storyline in Westeros is disappointing, because this theme seemed so promising. To me it’s really GoT’s most epic theme ever. After s7, Daenerys became very stagnant. Daenerys’ theme on s7 starts with Dragonstone: it sounds like the accomplishment of Daenerys. She’s back home, she’s where she thinks she belongs, everything that is Daenerys is here, with a part of “accomplishment” and excitment that is added to the whole lot. Daenerys is home, and we have the flute coming back for that: Daenerys at her basis, the flute playing while she walks around the beaches at Dragonstone for the very first time, reminiscent of the baby she was when she was born here. And then we have the voices swelling again, reminding us of the woman she has become: when she sees the Red Doors, which are a big goal to book!Dany even tho it was never expressed from show!Dany. And then we have this amazing piece where she’s walking to her Destiny, and it stops when she reaches the Throne. The Unburnt, Queen, Khaleesi theme comes back. She’s, symbolically, steps away from her Throne, her final goal. Her lifelong dream. The spoils of War basically has Daenerys’ horns symbolic of her Dragons. It is kinda the stuff of nightmare in this soundtrack, but mostly when it’s seen from a Lannisters perspective. If I were to say “there was a foreshadowing of Mad!Queen Dany” I’d say it’s this piece of music, that did a better job to kinda “announce it” or make us fear for it, than the writing of the show ever did. It still has notes of victorious Dany, but this time, it’s over the ashes of things we know: the Lannisters theme and even tho we can freely hate Cersei, by this point of the story, she has detached herself from her usual “Lannisters theme” and became more of an “independant” person. So yeah, the Lannisters theme here is mostly about Jaime and hearing these two sounds clashing has something of a tragedy. She has a theme she shares with Jon: it’s called Truth and everyone knows which one it is, lol. It plays when they sleep together. The cello is back, proeminent in this theme: it’s a thing both Jon as a Stark and Dany from her original theme have in common. It has the three “magical notes” as I call these coming from Daenerys theme, and the “swelling” of Jon’s theme coming from his House Stark heritage. It’s basically the clashing, body and soul of Jon Snow and Daenerys- not really as representative of their Houses, but as people. Like Rhaegar and Lyanna. That’s why there isn’t “more notes” of House Stark and House Targaryen themes. It’s about Jon and Daenerys as people, not truly about their House or their name. This soundtrack has a variation in See You for What you Are which plays during their 7x06 scene and during their 7x04 scene in the cave. Now as for s8 since I can’t say I really comprehend Dany’s journey, it’s really hard to say. What I could see as a soundtrack really related to Dany on s8 is “The Bells” - and yes, it’s THAT far. It’s basically the music playing during Dany’s downfall. The pure lack of foreshadowing during all this time could be transcribed through that as well: we have no soundtrack, up until this point, kind of implying Daenerys going mad. Nothing telling us that Daenerys is “turning” from what we’ve seen of her so far, for 7 seasons. And again, it’s not totally about Daenerys for a very long time; it’s mostly a countdown with a music swelling and swelling for dramatic purpose. And then around the middle of the track you have this tragic, almost war cry, last “scream” of hope, that dies slowly as Daenerys “turns mad” and these three “magical notes” that were so symbolic of Daenerys so far, are dying and are becoming more and more distorted by the music swelling and swelling. That’s really symbolic of some kind of madness, of rage, of “power” taking over Daenerys and who she’s been so far: again, an amazing piece, far better than the writing of the season itself. And it merges into “the Last War” which is basically, the horror. And it’s basically everything Daenerys has been the symbolic of for so long, being turned “dark”, all her victories being reduced to something very very dark where there is no victory, no hope, the voices don’t swell. It’s really about how Daenerys’ force as a character becomes more destructive than liberative. And then when the voices rise and the music explodes, it’s all about horror more than anything heroic. The thread of Daenerys’ character is still here and everything turns to ashes: her goals, everything she’s stood for. We hear the French horns but they’re symbolic of destruction and despair here. We hear her Dothraki theme but it’s not strong in the sense of victory. It’s strong as in “stepping on everyone else”. The “ah ah ahhhhhs” are no longer going up, they’re going down. That’s basically Dany’s downfall. And apparently Ramin has chosen to turn Daenerys from Mhysa, Mother of Dragons, as “Master of War” because this theme is for her as well. Thank you, Ramin, for not calling it “the Mad Queen” or whatever bullshit. And this one is a very sad theme: we do hear all of Daenerys’ “core values” but all of it is twisted by the same “dark effect” we hear in the Last War. Following Dany’s downfall through the soundtrack is actually very sad. The same instruments are used, but not with the same “impact”, Daenerys’ essence is twisted. And what do we have at the end of it? A lament. A lament because Daenerys as we knew her and loved her, is dead here. She was dead before Jon stabbed her. And the lament sings the notes that were before, so representative of Dany the hero, Dany liberating people in the right way. Really, it’s heartbreaking. She touches the Throne, she’s THERE, she’s won, but she’s lost herself in doing so. And the music is not victorious, it’s not hateful, it’s not “evil”, it’s tragic. Ramin doesn’t want you to hate Daenerys with these themes, he wants you to mourn for her.In her final moments of love and trust - after everything - with Jon, it’s “Be with me” that plays, and we have some of Daenerys’ “light” coming back, swelling, before DYING. Really dying, because Jon kills her at that moment. The flute came back, symbolic of Daenerys’ long lost innocence, who she was when she started this journey on 1x01. Again, no hatred, no destruction, no “evil Queen”: Daenerys is a tragic hero, whose flame is killed, like that. The swelling comes back on The Iron Throne for Drogon’s grief, Drogon coming for his Mother, but the Mother of Dragons’ theme is tragic here too. Drogon has lost his Mother. Really, whatever shit D&D did to her, this soundtrack is an ode of love to Daenerys and it’s really beautiful- I think I said it 500 times already. The way Daenerys’ final piece explodes with sadness and tragedy. She’s not a monster, she was not “the enemy”, the world destroyed her (I would even say the world of MEN destroyed her) and that’s what Ramin Djawadi wants us to remember of her. In the additional pieces, we have “Stay for a Thousand Years” that is about Daenerys. Now yes, it has the “Truth” vibes, that could have us believe that it’s about Jon and Daenerys. BUT, the lyrics are the Mhysa’s song lyrics. It’s Valyrian, and everything Valyrian is 100% without a doubt, related to Daenerys. It’s about Daenerys. Daenerys is also the one voicing her desire to “Stay here for a Thousand Years” on the show, when they reach the cascades with Jon. This theme is about how Daenerys died for love, how tragic it ultimately is. It’s about how what could have been of Daenerys had they stayed there for a Thousand Years like Daenerys wanted at some point, when she was sky high, happy and in love with a man who wasn’t a threat to her. No, this song is not about Jon, it’s about an “ideal” of Daenerys that died when war came and duty came, and ultimately tore Daenerys down: she lost love, she lost faith, she lost her core duty as a savior and a hero. It’s really a mourning piece for Daenerys’ character as a whole, the woman she was before she fell from grace and became… whatever D&D wrote her to be in the end. And that’s totally my interpretation, but the fact that these lyrics, about Daenerys the savior, Daenerys the hero, being sung over a melody that is called TRUTH is a way for Ramin to say who Daenerys truly was. She was not “the evil Queen all along” like HBO and D&D and the actors are trying to have us believe right now. She was a hero for a very long time, and that’s how she should be remembered. All that to say that as you can hear through all of this, the Dany related themes all have the same… “back bone”, the same vibes, the same identity. And that’s how you can tell a certain theme is about a certain character.TLDR; probably a wayyyy too long answer to a question that probably didn’t require that much. But I love Ramin Djawadi’s music too much not to dive into it, especially when it’s about Daenerys so *shrugs* it’s a whole journey. Djawadi’s entire music dedicated to Daenerys is a journey. Each character had an identity in the music itself, and that’s what makes it so powerful. It’s not about the moments, it’s about the characters, and them morphing and changing and evolving. The music, as the story, follows them. Because ultimately, as I say that a lot of times, the story should be about the characters and not the other way around. What drives the story and everything around it, are the characters. It shouldn’t be shock value or plot twists, or the story over the characters. That’s what tanked GoT in the last two seasons (at least, if not more for some characters like Stannis or the Sand Snakes, for example) in my mind. How the characters became simpler and simpler (or extras, like Jon on s8) while the story tried to become what it wasn’t meant to be.
