Game of Thrones composer teases the new House of the Dragon score: 'We kept the original DNA alive'

A lingering question on the mind of Game of Thrones fans remains the music for House of the Dragon. What does the score of the first successor show to the HBO fantasy drama sound like? Specifically, what's the theme music?

On the red carpet for the House of the Dragon world premiere, composer Ramin Djawadi, who scored the original series, as well, still plays coy. "I wouldn't want to spoil that at this point," he told EW Wednesday night. "All I can say is that we definitely, overall speaking, we kept the original DNA alive but there's also a lot of material that I've written."

House of the Dragon goes back hundreds of years before the events of Game of Thrones to chronicle the events leading up to and during the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war that crippled the once thriving Targaryen empire over the matter of succession.

Ollie Upton/HBO Matt Smith's Prince Daemon Targaryen holds a dragon egg in 'House of the Dragon'

That historical setting alone affected Djawadi's approach. "I looked at it as, we have a ton of new characters, it's obviously a completely different time, and that's why we need some new themes... I think what I love so much about this new show is that it's different but at the same time it feels like home," he says. "When I watched it for the first time, I felt immediately at home in Westeros again. It just has that vibe again, and so I wanted to make sure that, with the score, we have that familiarity but also bring some new instruments we haven't used before."

House of the Dragon stars Milly Alcock and Emma D'Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen at two stages of her life; Alcock plays her as a teen when her father, King Viserys I (Paddy Considine), names her his sole heir to the Iron Throne, and D'Arcy plays her later in life when that claim is called into question because of her gender. The matter is fueled by the falling out of Rhaenyra's friendship with Alicent Hightower, the daughter of the Hand of the King. Emily Carey and Olivia Cooke play younger and older Alicent, respectively.

"That's part of the connection that I tried to keep. The Targaryens all have very specific sounds and I wanted to make sure we carry that over. When you see the dragons, you [hear] a certain song."

House of the Dragon premieres on HBO and HBO Max this Aug. 21.

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