Man, watching episode 1 season 1 and you forget just how good this show was. Great writing, pacing, and characters that I seriously miss.
I think that's very interesting. I began rewatching the whole show a few days ago, and I'm just past the beginning of season 2. What I noticed after the first season is how some narrative shortcuts were also very much present back then. So much so than I found some of the shortcuts very similar to what I remember being used in season 7 and 8.
Of course, back then the focus of the series was much more about political intrigues than the last third of it, but some of the key events really felt "unwarranted", to employ the same parlance of the last few weeks. As quick examples, let's mention Daenerys falling so quickly and madly in love with Drogo after so many abuses, or her inexplicable walk into the flames of Drogo's funeral pyre.
I think what "saved" the series back then was the existence of the books, as they were there to fill the narrative voids that the show was leaving all over the place. So I believe that without the existence of the books, the same show from the very beginning would have either:
1. Only been considered an above-average to good show throughout its existence,
2. Or been considered an absolutely great show throughout its existence, even with seasons 7 and 8.
