Last night's Game of Thrones episode contained one huge plot event, but I'll refrain from spoiling what occurred for those who haven't seen it (you should really watch it now before someone ruins it for you, though!). What I will focus on, though, is Sigur Ros' role in the show, which included both a cameo and a song.
The acclaimed Icelandic post-rock band has been performing for about two decades, and are known fans of the HBO series. They performed a cover of The Rains of Castamere for the credits of last night's episode, which is an eerie, even gloomier version of the Lannister song than the original by The National. The tune carries a lot of significance in the series, particularly after last season's climactic Red Wedding episode.
It's a great cover by Sigur Ros--listen to it for yourself in the video below (spoiler free). The band was pleased to get the chance to make music for--and appear on--the show.
"It was a great experience for us and fun to meet the cast of the show that we have all been following for a long time," said Georg Holm of Sigur Ros. "The meanest person in television history, King Joffrey, is played by the sweetest guy Jack Gleeson. It was a brilliant 'hurry up and wait' time for us and we would do it again in a heartbeat."
"It felt like a natural thing to make our version of Rains of Castamere. We probably managed to create the gloomiest version so far."
I heard Sigur Ros' version during the credits, but I missed their cameo in the show. They appeared somewhat briefly as singers performing The Rains of Castamere, but I wasn't expecting them and assumed they were just actors.
Listening to the recording of their cover now, it's quite clearly different from the original, but the short version they played during the show didn't jump out at me as an obviously different arrangement. I'm sure I would recognize the difference if I went back and re-watched their appearance now, though.
Enjoy their cover, and keep watching this great HBO series. If you haven't watched last night's episode, you're in for a shock--I can't stress enough that you should watch it as soon as possible, because getting it spoiled is inevitable.
