Why did GOT season 7 have such a bad storyline?

The tv writers have been given the tough task of connecting all the dots in this massive complex story - on their own. There are no more books. There’s no George R R Martin holding their hand. As a result, this new season has felt written for tv, by tv writers, with tv clichés. It just lacks a lot of what has made the books and first seasons great.

The teleportation problem and all the issues that stem from it have already been covered in other answers. There’s no build up anymore, there’s no character building anymore, there’s no attention to detail anymore. Dialogue is superficial and some events are so forced it really feels like the writers are either lost or just don’t care.

However, I have an even bigger issue with season 7:

SPOILERS

Cersei told Ned Stark in season 1: “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die”. Season after season you can see that’s really true: no one is safe. How refreshing! If you do something stupid you’ll die (or at least you’ll suffer tragic consequences). It doesn’t matter if you are good or bad: Ned, Robb, Oberyn, Joffrey, Robert, Viserys, etc… they all made mistakes and lost the game of thrones. However, have you noticed how many “magical saves” have been happening now? How some characters *cough* Jon *cough* have made stupid mistakes and keep on living because of sheer luck? Luck was not a thing before, but now it is.

On the other side of the coin, characters who have been the best players, like Littlefinger, have gone down because of silly mistakes you feel they would have never made. You just know they are better than that, but they have been dumbed down so it’s easier to remove them from the game. It just feels like lazy storytelling.

In conclusion: people who play the game poorly are being spared or rewarded and people with a history of playing really well are losing. That’s the opposite of what has made this series so compelling in its prime. What used to be one of the most intelligent and refreshing series of our time is now starting to feel more like a run of the mill fantasy, written straight for tv.

I still love it though. I’m too invested at this point. But I can be a fan and also critical.