The Game of Thrones opening sequence got a facelift for its eighth and final season — and no, it wasn’t just to bookend its Emmy win for its original opening sequence with a win in its final season, although it is nominated for Outstanding Main Title Design, along with a mess of other things.
So why did the opening titles change for season 8? Speaking to Variety, creative director Angus Wall laid it all out: “With the action in the final season happening between two primary locations instead of all over the world, as in previous seasons, we finally had reason to do a reboot.”
Of course, there are more than two locations shown in the credits, but the focus does shift primarily to King’s Landing and Winterfell, with the broken Wall looming large over all and a rather grey tone:
Compare to the original credits, which feature some of the same locales but a somewhat brighter color palette:
At the end of the day, the story of season 8 all came down to the chill of Winterfell and the (fading) warmth of King’s Landing, an old seat of power and a new one. That and new technology. “The team had been chomping at the bit to utilize all of the technical advances that had been made during the almost decade since we produced the first season’s main title,” said Wall. According to art director Kirk Shintani, the only rule when fashioning the new credits was that they had to last the length of the opening theme song, because how would you ever cut down Ramin Djawadi’s work in any way, shape or form?
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We’ll find out if the new version gets an Emmy on September 22.
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