Game Of Thrones Season 2 Soundtrack Review

Track Listing

Main Title
What Is Dead May Never Die
Warrior of Light
Valar Morghulis
Winterfell
Qarth
Wildfire
I Am Hers, She Is Mine
Pyat Pree
Don’t Die with a Clean Sword
We Are the Watchers on the Wall
Pay the Iron Price
One More Drink Before the War
House of the Undying
Stand and Fight
The Old Gods and the New
Mother of Dragons
I Will Keep You Safe
The Rains of Castamere
Three Blasts

After the success of the first season’s soundtrack, Ramin Djawadi returns to composing duties for the second season. Although it doesn’t quite reach the same musical heights the first achieved, there’s enough here to make for an enjoyable, emotionally charged soundtrack nonetheless.

Much like the first season, the soundtrack opens with the iconic theme tune of the show. From here, the soundtrack itself really branches into two distinct musical narratives mirroring that of the show; the Battle Of Blackwater and Daenery’s ordeal with Qarth. Nestled around these two dominant stories are a few brief interludes featuring the other characters of the season. All of this builds toward the haunting vocals of the iconic Rains Of Castamere before closing out with the final track of the second season; the white walkers advancing on the Wall.

Unlike the first season, there’s not much in the way of a musical journey. While a few tracks do introduce some important and iconic themes going forward into the later seasons, there isn’t a lot else that stands out here. Melisandre’s mysterious theme is a highlight early on with Daenery’s progressive character journey mirrored through her motif at play here which reinvents itself a few times during the soundtrack.

If there’s one big gripe with this soundtrack, it comes from the track placement. Although the tracks do run in chronological order for their appearance in the series, the various battle sequence tracks at Blackwater are interspersed with Daenery’s songs as she visits the House Of The Undying. Still, having said that the soundtrack does build up nicely, much the same as the first, toward the more climactic tracks at the end of the album.

Despite its flaws, the second season’s soundtrack is still an excellent piece of orchestral music. There are consistent themes and motifs used throughout the score and this continues a trend brought forward from the first season. As a collective piece, the second season’s soundtrack is arguably one of the weakest of the set but despite this, it’s still a decent album and worth a listen.