Why indie rock is showing up in ‘Game of Thrones’

If you were taken aback by the indie rock outro during the closing credits of Sunday night’s episode of Game of Thrones, you weren’t the only one. To uncover the thinking behind the jarring cut-to-credits, Wired spoke with the guitarist of The Hold Steady, the band tasked with arranging “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” (below) — a popular tavern song in the world of Westeros — for a more modern audience. “They wanted it to contrast a little bit,” said guitarist Tad Kubler. “Obviously, we’re not going to do a medieval-type jam.”