1x08: The Lord of the Tides

Vaemond Velaryon arrives with his men to King's Landing, and his entrance his supported with a grand noble statement of the House Velaryon Theme in full, very similar to what played as they entered the dinning hall in episode 5. Then we get to one of the most interesting pieces of score in the episode, in how Djawadi uses a certain theme to underscore a scene apparently unreleated.

I'm referring to the conversation between Rhaenys and Rhaenyra in the Godswood. When they talk about their possibilities againts the Hightower, Djawadi introduces some chords on strings. And as Rhaenys tells Rhaenyra that she will be the one standing after the Hightower get her on her knees, as we see Rhaenyra's expression of fear and despair, we hear the same melody that was played during Daemon's surrender at the beach of the Step Stones, in episode 3. It's a scene completely unreleated to Daemon or what happened in that episode, but they both share a common idea. "Hope is Lost". This is what came up to me, and I think Djawadi intended this time to be a sort of tragic theme for when one of the character faces unfavorable odds, like Daemon trying to defeat the Crab Feeder all by himself, or when Rhaenyra is faced with the possibility that her sons will not be named heirs to Driftmark, and even disowned because of their dubious lineage. We'll see in future episodes in case Djawadi develops this idea, but so far this is what I think it represents, and it's truly intelligent scoring on his side!

The theme gets extended development through the piece (listen for a particularly strong statement of the melody at 1:47), and gets intermingled with another important theme. Viserys' Theme. I realized that both themes share the same opening notes, since Viserys is the King sitting in the Iron Throne, and the theme gets an emotional, noble statement at 0:23 and 1:25 of the track, which serve as a strong reminder of his might, as well as offering farewell to the theme, which only has one more note-worthy statement in the episode, and which I'm sure we'll get to hear less and less in upcoming episodes, after his death at the end of the episode.

The first part of the dinner scene is unscored, and the music enters when Rhaenyra and Alicent toast each other, talking about their similarities instead of their differences, trying to make amends with the other. Djawadi supports this with an emotional variation of the Heir Theme, played beautifully on strings as they say their best whishes to each other. Viserys then orders some music to be played, and a piece of source of music starts to play, a jolly dance that then incorporates the orchestra to support this emotional moment of happiness. The interesting part of this piece is that it incorporates fragments of a couple of different themes.

The descending motif I mentioned above that played when Rhaenyra and Daemon entered Viserys' room plays again (the motif that played before Aemma's death in episode 1). Then we hear some hints of the Heir Theme, but the theme that is truly recognizable in this is Viserys Theme, which plays with emotion and sadness as he witnesses his family, reunited, and apparently happy for a brief period of time. It's such a lovely moment, a small measure of peace in the midst of all the betrayal, conspiration and blood, and Djawadi's music supports it beautifully, offering Viserys a brief moment of joy, before his tragic death (left unscored for greater dramatic purposes).