Jumping the Dragon

People have had various problems with Game of Thrones since the start.  This season has been particularly controversial because of the various decisions made by the writers.  First, folks were upset that the first two episodes were too slow, too much scene setting.  Then, folks were upset because not enough people died in the Battle of Winterfell.  I was not so fussed... but now I am.

I don't really mind the concerns about Dany being a dangerous ruler.  What I mind, as I re-watched the post-battle episode, is how little the writers seem to care right now about key developments.  They are now just rushing to set things up for the end.

First, there is Ghost.  Damn it, Jon should have said goodbye to his dire wolf, who has been sidelined because the showrunners preferred to spend their CGI money elsewhere.  This has been a problem all along, but especially now. 

Second, and, actually more importantly, they just skip key developments.  We should have seen Jon spill the news to Ayra and Sansa and see how they react.  That would have put Sansa's subsequent moves in context AND, of course, this is the payoff for the entire series's focus on Jon's identity.

Third, no goodbye scene for Ayra and Sansa, given how much has transpired over the past two seasons?

Fourth, the Jaime/Brienne breakup was so rushed and so bad for Brienne's character.  Why does Jaime leave? We really don't know. Maybe it will get resolved, maybe not.  But the damage to Brienne's character was significant.

Fifth, while I have been ok with crappy military strategy most of the way along, they made the killing of Rhaegar and the destruction of the fleet way too easy.  The dragons were in the sky to do scouting.  As the Bingemode folks noted, if the folks with the scorpion ballistras can see Dany and her moving dragons, she should be able to see them.  Again, rushing to get the sides more even.

Sixth, why doesn't Cersei wipe out the parlay party?  She has no ethics, she is not bound by tradition (ask the folks at the Sept about that).  So, why not? Any answer is going to be frickin contrived.

While I loved the party scenes and am glad Thormund survived to toast Jon, everything about the pieces moving was mostly dumb. 

We shall see if the next two episodes make all of this worth it.  I was somewhat confident they would stick the landing, but now I am not so sure.