A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has its own distinct musical language compared to Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, but when Episode 4, 'Seven,' reached its climactic moment, viewers were treated to the return of one of the franchise's most recognizable melodies.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has carved out its own unique style and signature musical flair, from a composer completely new to the franchise. Both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon were scored by Ramin Djawadi, whereas A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is musically brought to life by Dan Romer, who's perhaps best-known for his work on Disney's modern classic Luca.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms doesn't even have an opening theme, unlike Thrones and Dragon. In fact, the title card is as brief as it gets. In addition, the musical style lends itself to Western tropes rather than the grandness of other shows in the franchise. It's not inherently Western by design, but western by feeling. "We wanted to give the feeling of a Western without actually having the sound of a Western," Romer told Mashable in a recent interview. "We wanted the music to still feel like something that could exist in the Game of Thrones world, but still had a bit of a nod to a spaghetti Western, Ennio Morricone kind of vibe."
This style is perhaps most notable from the use of whistling. It's not as notable as what we hear in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, for instance, but it's subtle enough to work within the Game of Thrones universe. "People have been whistling since hunter-gatherer times," Romer explained, "That sound can be anywhere at any time. So even though we haven't heard whistling in the Game of Thrones universe before, it works for me, where it doesn't feel outside of what could have been at that time period."
Romer also utilizes guitars, which are tuned to fit a darker style that to fit A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. "As far as using guitars, there's been guitar-type instruments forever in different parts of the world," Romer added. "I'm generally tuning the guitar in a way that feels a little bit darker than maybe a modern guitar would sound, but I think that sort of a sound works in that world. We can accept that sound as part of Westeros, for sure."
While the prequel goes in its own musical direction, there's a time and a place for the iconic Game of Thrones theme to shine through. This moment first comes in Episode 4, when Baelor Targaryen reveals that he'll fight alongside Dunk, facing off against his nephew in a trial of seven.
For showrunner Ira Parker, the ending was enough to allow the show to inherit the Game of Thrones theme. "Now the call of greatness is fucking here, " he said. "Now it's go time. You'd have to be dead not to feel anything."
And if you listen a little longer, especially into the credits, the Game of Thrones theme and Dunk's theme begin to blend into each other. "Then Dan Romer took that score, and if you watch all through the credits at the end, he melds it with Dunk's score, and I think it's honestly the most beautiful piece of music that I've ever heard. It just goes so well together. In that moment, it feels like, 'Oh, Dunk has become a real part of this world now.'"
The score of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms suits the show down to a tee. It's a different score, in the same way the show is different to Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. However, it's familiar enough to feel true to Westeros.