I can see what the writers were trying to do with the time-shifts considering it would be pretty hard to convey things that happened when the characters were children vs younger than they are when the story kicks off, but it's been a bit of a drag and I don't even think that's my gripe. Take the simple matter of Ser Criston and how he does a total U-turn against Rhaenyra, you'd imagine they'd show some of those snippets to give watchers and understanding of how much hatred was built over time that turned him into the cold person he's become now. I suppose it's also because they don't want to come off as formulaic in their approach to this new show, but we shall see with the final shift.