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Bear McCreary has become the go-to composer when Hollywood wants to transport you to a far-away fantasy world, whether it be tragic in the Walking Dead to mythical and regal in Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. In speaking with him about the recent season 2 finale, he revealed that there is a hidden easter egg in some of his themes - something intended to evoke a very specific feeling in you when you hear it.

"It's going to get super nerdy, but somebody noticed [online] that the Eregion theme has the leap of an octave in it. Galadriel's has it. Númenor has it," McCreary tells Popverse. "It’s there because I wanted to create something. It implies nobility and might and strength and I put it there quite deliberately."

McCreary says that he had a back-and-forth with the showrunners about it, and they pushed him to make it even more prominent. 

"I originally wrote it later in the theme and I think it was [co-showrunner] J.D. Payne who was like, 'That's so great, put it earlier.' And we got into an argument about it, cuz I was like, 'no, but it fits,'" says the composer. "But then I realized, like, 'No, he's hearing the Galadriel thing, he's hearing the Númenor thing.' It's like, 'Right, I should move that right up front', to sort of say, ‘This place has the nobility of Galadriel, the might of Númenor."

McCreary says he's being judicious about which themes from Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power has the octave leap, because he wants to keep it special - and appreciates that fans have noticed it.

"It's something special that I save for themes that I really want to make an impact, and I was struck when somebody pointed that out, right? They heard it and pieced that together. So, that was really special."

Read our full interview with McCreary and others from Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power here.

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you from a Lord of the Rings reading guide, a Lord of the Rings watch guide, details on the upcoming animated film Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, a full the Lord of the Rings reunion panel you can watch, how the OG Hobbit actors stay in touch every day on a groupchat, and the true message of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Gimli himself - John Rhys-Davies.