GOT started off with an explosion of myriad characters, each bringing their own uniqueness to the table, each equally important in furthering the course of the plot with equal importance, from rob stark, sansa, John snow, jeoffrey, cersei, tyrion... to daenerys, jorah, jaime. Even samwell and hodor played more than mere second fiddle.

This fails in its expectation to live upto its hype with only one central character and others revolving around it with lesser importance. The excessive debauchery and revelry that might have appealed to many people too, have been moderated as has the violence and gore. To keep it short, this show poses no potential threat to rival or dethrone Game of Thrones.

Edit 09/25/2022: Episode 6 and done! Gave it 6 eps, 6 dreary episodes to prove its mettle, but it seems to offer nothing more than endless blabbering and palace politics. Theres nothing intriguing going on here and the show just jumped 10 years and continues to trudge in a vacuum. Basically its too predictable now.