If Martin’s fault was to spend too long developing the story, Weiss and Benioff charge through it as if they have a train to catch. They have not learned that it is better to cut a subplot in its entirety than leave it in half-cooked. One minute Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth are having an affair. The next they are not. They cannot build. The final series turns on the fight against Cersei, but she is barely seen until the massacre at King’s Landing. They cannot get their story to make sense. In one episode, three dragons cannot defeat Cersei’s forces. In the next, one can.
When and if Martin finishes the novels, Game of Thrones may stand alongside Tolkien and Rowling. But the TV series demonstrates there is no substitute for an individual writer’s creative vision. And for that we should applaud it.