I’ve been thinking about the pacing of the season and the storytelling in general.
Most of the seeds of the show’s decline started in seasons 5 and 6. Storylines were still very rushed and superficial, but there were many more characters separated by vast geographical distances so the rapid speed of each plot line wasn’t noticeable.
Characters only ever interacted with other main characters or ‘nothings’. The groundwork was never laid to add depth to future storylines.
Jaime is a perfect example. In seasons 5 and 6 he went to Dorne and the entirety of Dorne was populated by Sandsnakes, Doran Martell and extras. The Quentyn and Arianne storylines were cut so we have no Daynes, Yronwoods, Manwoodys etc. Nobody cared because all that was ‘just boring anyway’.
In season 6 he went to Riverrun and back in a span of 10 minutes show time. He interacted with Bronn, Blackfish (who died), Edmure (who disappeared), Brienne and Pod. Brienne and Pod’s appearance at Riverrun was pointless - the only thing that happened was Pod got punched in the face in an amusing way. In the books Jaime sorted out a dispute between the Brackens and Blackwoods, we were introduced to Strongboar Crakehall and Red Ronnet Connington. No one cared. Jaime’s arc in Feast was just boring, right?
The Vale lords were introduced in seasons 4/5, but by season 6 the only named characters were Sweetrobin and Bronze Yohn Royce. No Nestor Royce, no Lyn Corbray, no Redforts. Who cared? These characters were only invested in Sansa’s story arc and she’s boring anyway.
Sam arrived at the Citadel via Hornhill and we had a conflict with Randyll Tarly. It was pretty clear from the moment he arrived in Oldtown that the plot was going nowhere fast. The Citadel was a cross between the Unseen University and something out of Brazil (the film, not the country). No Hightowers, no Faceless Men, no glass candles.
Don’t get me started on the Iron Islands.
Fast forward to season 7 and main characters all start to converge on one or two locations. Suddenly, the rest of the world ceases to exist because the groundwork and worldbuilding had never taken place and viewers didn’t care. Everything that had been cut was just ‘boring’ anyway.
Cersei had no opposition because no opposition had ever been established and the entirety of the Reach had been blown up in the Sept. The only named lord was Randyll Tarly. She could ‘requisition’ the Golden Company and they could arrive unopposed because no one had been established to oppose them.
Likewise, cutting the ‘boring’ fAegon plot meant that Dany was ridiculously powerful and unopposed, which could only be undone by having her ‘forget’ about the Ironborn three times.
So that’s how we end up with a dragonpit containing about 9 characters - including Gendry Baratheon (never Rivers), the most pointless character ever reintroduced. There was nobody else in Westeros that mattered, because they’d been cut in earlier seasons.
Suddenly the fans have turned on the show. It’s pretty ironic as many of these (and the very well-known critics) were the very same people who were congratulating D&D in earlier seasons for cutting out ‘boring’ storylines.
Having 10 episodes would not have helped. What the hell would they have filled them with - more cock jokes and drinking games? That’s all that was left.