Honestly, this season was fantastic in terms of character progression and buildup, but I can see where people could take issue with it.
-The finale doesn't feel like a finale. If this were any other episode, it would be amazing. Daemon's vision and the scene of him bowing before Rhae and rallying the Rivermen alone would be enough to make people enjoy it if it were a "normal" episode. Obviously, a big battle was cut when the number of episodes went from 10 to 8.
-Corlys's storyline in particular fell victim to "tell, don't show." We got seven hundred scenes of him at a dock or talking to his kids. We got his kids talking about him. But we never see anything happen with them. Maybe show Alyn's resentment at being made first mate boiling over and pushing the men away, leading to them complaining about him to Corlys? Maybe hint at this before he explodes at Corlys (great acting from Alyn's actor in this scene, by the way). Maybe show Alyn rescuing Corlys much earlier on instead of just randomly introduce him. Addam is the only one who got to do something and that's because he claimed a dragon... or vice versa, if you know what I mean.
-Rhaena, the babysitter who never was. Why did we need three or more scenes of her running in the Eyrie? Why not show her claiming Sheepstealer?
-Daeron and what's going on in Oldtown needed screentime. How are we supposed to digest that Alicent has a third son if we've never even heard of him until this season? I know we saw his dragon at the end, but at least let us know he exists, come on.
I'm not one of those people who needs action in a show to enjoy it. But there were clearly some constraints placed on the creative team during this season, and it shows. I'm sure it will be viewed much more favorably in hindsight, but as a week to week affair, I can see how people see it as weak. Pun intended.
Don't get me wrong, though, I still enjoyed it immensely. Aegon in particular was a standout character for me this season because of how well Tom plays him. Otto had one of the best GoT speeches ever when he roasted the hell out of his grandson. Cole losing his bravado and going into a deep existential crisis after seeing how dragons fight was great - Gwayne was ready to throw hands with the guy and saw how depressed he was and changed his mind, lol. Aemond's further descent into succumbing to his anger and trauma was great. Ulf is a love-to-hate-'em character that I guarantee is going to screw everybody over. So much to love about this season.
It definitely had its flaws, though.
