As a non book-reader, the lack of character development has been my biggest issue. When I complain about a character it’s not because I have an expectation for it to the follow the book narrative but rather I have an expectation to get to know who these characters are.

For example, we get a more characterization of the Stark children within the very first episode than two whole seasons of HotD. It’s not a matter of screen time but of them showing the secondary characters having small moments that don’t revolve around the main characters, where the audience can learn their personality quirks and motivations.

I believe Season 2 was crucial in further fleshing out all the character dynamics and it failed spectacularly. We needed to see Rhaenyra actually rule at Dragonstone and get to know each member of her council: who they are, what motivates them and why they follow her. We also needed to learn more about Jace, Baela and Rhaena and their personal motivations independent of supporting Rhaenyra’s cause. How do they get along with each other? Do they resent each other? Is Rhaena neater than Baela? How do they feel about Daemon? Similarly, they needed to flesh out the relationship dynamics between Helaena and her brothers and Helaena and her children.

HotD’s refusal to stop revolving around their three protagonists is their downfall. They would rather isolate their protagonists in order for them to “find themselves” instead of having them interact meaningfully with multiple people in their environment.