Like the show itself, the soundtrack to the final season of Game of Thrones contains a number of callbacks to events and music that came earlier. Composer
Ramin Djawadi
weaves his main theme throughout his new compositions, using it tenderly and sadly on "For Cersei" and as a glimpse of hope on the closing "A Song of Ice and Fire;" elsewhere
Serj Tankian
of
System of a Down
makes a cameo performance on "The Rains of Castamere." While familiar motifs reign on
Game of Thrones: Season 8
, these echoes of times past also help give this score a sense of bittersweet finality, while also letting the moments that run against the grain shine in sharp relief. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine