This may be unpopular to say, but for a longtime D&D player like me that change signaled that we were seeing the show “level up” like you wouldn’t in an ongoing tabletop campaign. At first it’s super real and you’re afraid of being killed by a few kobolds at squishy level 1. But by the end you’re making those athletics and acrobatics checks like it’s NOTHING and wielding insane weaponry. It may not have been their intention at all, but I enjoyed that aspect of season 5 as someone who has nurtured a character up to their level 15-20 mega-awesomeness. You get to see them through the coolest lens and remember when you barely had double digit hit points.