LogFAQs > #939864369

I think it's just a confluence of factors that made 3 sharply decline from the peak of S2 (Blackwater):

• Too much attention to mystical/magic things (particularly the White Walkers and Bran's warging)
• Tyrion no longer in a position to manipulate his foes in interesting ways
• Four separate groups of characters walking through the wilderness at the same time (Brienne/Jaime, Arya/Hound, Jon/Wildlings, Bran & co.)
• Daenerys/Essos being too disconnected from the other stories for too long
• Stannis peaking way too early and is no longer the looming existential threat to King's Landing that he once was
• Everything involving Theon

I don't know how the books were paced, but it seems like everything falls flat after Blackwater and, although it eventually rebounds, it just takes a lot of the momentum out of the overarching story.

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"A more mature answer than I expected."~ Jakyl25
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