We got a very tepid start for the last season of one of the greatest shows of the decade, and it seems this season will suffer from the same deficiencies of Season 7, namely, absolutely terrible pacing, mediocre writing and predictability. I think the magic of the earlier seasons are definitively gone at this point.
All those problems stem from the fact that there is no longer any source material. Instead of condensing an already fantastic series of books, now the writing team is tasked with filling gaps and turning an outline into a coherent narrative. And thus, all the deficiencies (such as tropes, gaping plot holes, and predictability) of standard Hollywood screenwriting became apparent the in last couple of seasons.
Many central characters such as Tyrion, the Hound, Daenerys and Jon Snow have progressively lost key aspects of their personality and become run-of-the-mill tropes. The terrible pacing simply exacerbates this issue as the show-runners attempt to go through a "check list" and juggle so many different arcs in a 45-50 min episode. The result is a complete lack of depth, character development, and very short scenes, and we the audience simply can't get as emotionally invested in the characters as before.
But, we can expect some key revelations tying up the story and fantastic CGI dragons and battles, so this will definitely be entertaining just not on par with earlier seasons.
