haxxiy on 24 May 2019
I found this datapiece interesting and perninent to the discussion of why the show decreased in quality after the books. As the budget increased, so did the earlier character-focused drama shift into standard shock-and-awe action. Call it "Hollywoodization" if you will. Notice the late blooms in parts of Season 6 and the second episode of Season 8 coinciding with better critical/fan reception. Also of note is the last episode, which included D&D's idea of a peace conference, having the second worst average of the entire series.
