I get the exuberance of 10 star reviews and the excitement of being back in Westeros. But it was already apparent in first few episodes that the cast wasn't going to be able to live up to the charisma of it's predecessor . The slow pacing would not be as big an issue if we had a more interesting cast to watch. And to make things worse, just as I was starting to get used to all the new faces, they do the most weirdest RECAST mid season. Reshuffling the most important characters of the series. It didn't work in the Crown. And it feels every bit like a switch and bait for the worst. I have not felt this disappointed in a show , since the brutal dismemberment of key cast in the Walking Dead. Only here there is none left to look forward to .

A note to HBO, the weird time jump didn't need a recast at all. A 22 year old actress playing the role of a younger 16 year old princess and an older 26 year old version of her self , is not that big of a stretch. Just change her hair style and add some wrinkles. Put the show on pause for two years, anything but this.