Its just subpar across the board and I blame the writers more than anything.
By end of episode two of GOT, you had characters that you "remembered". Tyrion, Arya, John, Robert/Ned. Others come later but those five are fleshed out and interesting after 2 hours. Jaime/Cersei fucking is "left field shit" but the characters havent had enough time to develop yet.
HOD i see the idea they have, fight for succession between downy chick and her uncle. The king gets tons of air time and is pivotal to the main plot. Him choosing to not marry the 12 uear old means his daughter has to worry about a possible new heir in 9 months and not 4 years. Aside from what I wrote, name a character who is interesting, you remember and want to know more about.