Jenny’s Song Is A Mind Fuck…

Published April 22, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Gentlemen of Shat,

All hail, Aegon Targaryan… seventh of his name? What a fucking episode, no? I can’t promise this will be my only email this week, but I wanted to send this one to talk about Podrick and the song he sings “Jenny’s Song” or here “Jenny of Oldstones.” I know that some of you are not book readers, but there is a big moment in the song that is a nugget for those of us that read the series thus far, especially A Storm of Swords. The line reads: “High in the halls of the kings who are gone, Jenny would dance with her ghosts.” Now, why is that important? Well, there are a few things. First, in the books, the only line we hear is the one above. Podrick sings a full version, so we get to hear everything for the first time. In the books, “Jenny’s Song” is mentioned more than once, including in the aforementioned book when the Ghost of of High Heart asks for it to be sung. Second, the show has given us most of the songs we hear in the books (or read), think the “Rains of Castamere” as one example… but this one we have yet to be given… until now. On the eve of the most important battle of the series. Now, let’s talk about that Ghost of High Heart. She is a witch of the woods who has dreams that tell of the future. In order to obtain a reading, her patrons had to pay in the form of a song. When this one is sung, or begun to be sung, she begins to cry. It tells of Jenny who had a love affair with Duncan Targaryen. Duncan gave up the throne (and a marriage to a Baratheon) to marry her, and that is how the Mad King actually made his eventual way to the throne. The only other detail that is of import is that when Jenny came to the throne, she brought a witch of her own with her that some believe was one of the Children of the Forrest. So what the hell does that have to do with what’s on screen? Well, it actually has a lot to do with Jon and his being a Targaryen. So bear with me… We move from A Storm of Swords where this line is given to A Dance with Dragons where we find out, thanks to Barristan Selmy, that because of Duncan not taking the throne, we not only got the Mad King eventually, but we got Jon. We know that King Aegon V tried to bring back dragons and lots of people died in a giant fire (Jenny herself most likely, as Duncan was also killed in it) at the Targaryen’s summer home. It was that fire that gave us the birth of Prince Rhaegar… Jon’s Dad and Dany’s older brother. Further, the Ghost of High Heart, who is most likely the clairvoyant witch that Jenny brought with her, predicted that Azor Ahai would come from the line of Aerys Targaryen (the Mad King). He would have never been King without Duncan abdicating the throne and without his love of Jenny. Finally, there is a connection with Rhaegar himself. Lots of people (myself included) believe that the song Rhaegar sang at a feast that made Lyanna Stark cry was “Jenny’s Song,” perhaps written by Rhaegar. That is when they began to fall in love. So the song is maybe the reason they got together, bringing Jon into this world. Thus, “Jenny’s Song” is connected to how the Mad King got the throne (Dany’s father and Jon’s Grandfather), Jon’s parents getting together, and the Azor Ahai prophecy. I think it is a huge gift to us, the viewer, to tell us what is to come and that Jon is not just a Targaryen, but the Prince who was promised. One last thing on this, I mentioned earlier that the lyrics in the show are much more than the one line given in the book, so I want to point out one final thing. The song goes:

The ones she had lost
and the ones she had found
And the ones who had loved her the most
The ones who had loved her the most
The ones who’d been gone for so very long
She couldn’t remember their names

That links directly to what Sam says this week… that to be dead is to forget and to be forgotten. The song plays over a montage with all of the characters we love, characters about to meet that death and the possibility of being forgotten. Like Jenny of Oldstones… they never want to leave. I know I don’t want them to leave either. I’m not ready. But I am glad to have had this chance to say goodbye. A goodbye to characters I’ve grown to love… characters I’ve come to know. And characters that deserve to be remembered. Happy theorizing.

-Ash Schlafly

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