It really isn't. I keep seeing comparisons to the last seasons of Game of Thrones, but while there is a dip in quality this season, it is no where near as bad as what happened to GoT.
I rewatched it in recent weeks and enjoyed all the bits that I enjoyed years ago during the first watch. The stories I found a bit tedious first time (High Sparrow plotline, Arya and faceless men) weren't as miserable; I think I was expecting them to drag on even more. My biggest grievance on the rewatch was just how poorly it's all tied up. I again enjoyed The Long Night through the lens of 'spectacle over military documentary'. The last season just felt like they wrote themselves into a corner and didn't have time and patience to see it through. By that point, actors were ready to move on, etc.
I don't really view this as the show runners fault. GRRM was unable to complete his own work. The show worked best when it drew from the authors own material (GRRM was a screenwriter himself and knew how to write great dialog/scenes).
It's absolutely the producer's fault. They actively choose to release the product they did instead of making more episodes, taking long, bringing other people in to help, etc.
Martin has claimed he flew to HBO to convince them to do 10 seasons of 10 episodes instead of the 8 seasons with just 8 episodes in the final one [1]. It was straight up just D.B. Weiss and David Benioff call how the series ended.
They, like 7kids and 4 adults, I did not bother to count, did attack military base, with actual military trained personnel with military equipment. And they did succeed. This is not bad? They just stroll in upside down and nothing ever attacks them. Where the swarm of bats disappeared? When demogorgons attack to kidnap kids they come from upside down. But in upside down they nowhere to be seen. Military general could disappear from the series and it would have no impact. Maybe they just wanted woman in position of power? Demogorgons attack entire military base personnel and kill dozens of people but then they are killed by hospital patient. When and why she setup that trap exactly? And how she now can speak? How white goo is easy to brake but also solid enough so it does not brake under the pressure of the entire building ? How and why it just appears and solidifies in the exact right moment? And excuse me.... But wormhole? Could not they thing of something else? Oh and Vecna killing a guy. And we did not even see what was in the case. They are under strict quarantine but have personnel smuggler that can just bring them everything they want. It is not bad it is terrible.
