Some of my expectations that weren't met

There were a lot of elements that people have critiqued about this show. But for me personally there are 3 main dissapointments. Now first I will state that I enjoyed the show through to the end. It was enjoyable and funny most of the time and the visuals and designs were good to great for me atleast. However from a series like this I expected more than just a fun premise and the basics executed well, which was perhaps my own mistake.

1. Action and magic

Maybe this does not resonate with anyone. But me personally I wanted cool and create action. Well I got some of that, mostly from Amaya using that intricate shield design to its maximum potential, but the vast majority of magical action was mediocre at absolute best. Like am I crazy or did we never even once see a dragon actually fight. They just fly around untill they get shot down by a ranged weapon then just lose instantly. Genuinely Aang vs Zuko in episode 2 of ATLA is a more exciting use of magic in 1v1 combat than literally anything in TDP. Now compare EOS fights, Ozai vs Aang and Zuko vs Azula to Aaravos getting jumped by archdragons and you will understand why the action of this show dissapointed me.

2. Moral grayness

Actually the real problem is more the lack of a moral framework to begin with. Rayla starts out the series by promising to revenge murder an innocent child called Ezran. That "justice" is rejected of course. Not because innocent children ought not be murdered for revenge, but because the crime "warranting" said revenge was a false alarm. Where in the show do the elves grow morally to reject the premise outright. When do they come to understand that regardless of if Harrow had strangled to death Zym or any number of babies, targeting Ezran for assasination is still INHERENTLY evil and unjust. They simply don't make that realization and that is a major problem.

Because it showcases that even though all the good characters eventually come to agree about almost everything important, they don't arrive there by proper moral reasoning. Despite repenting for their crimes, they don't reject the obviously evil parts of their culture that demanded them in the first place.

In Avatar the last airbender Zuko confronts his father. Half the condemnation falls on him as a person, but the other half falls on the fire nation whose beliefs are wrong and evil. Those ideas shaped both good and evil people towards blatant villainy of which only the degree meaningfully differred from person to person. He rejected his father and he rejected his culture. That kind of deep moral exploration as the driver of personal growth is sorely missing from TDP. The main villain is literally just a lone wolf with a nuke.

3. Worldbuilding depth

There is like a gazillion different elements of worldbuilding but they hardly connect together well. You have all these dragons that suddenly show up in an organized fashion at important moments. We never see their society interact with the elves or with each other. They are a plot device more than anything. Like genuinely Zubeia could have sent a delegation of dragons to Katolis and demand their leaders be put on trial or the city burned down. But nooooo they send random elves because the main characters need to meet each other.

There is also no diplomacy of any kind happening unless the plot needs it to progress. Humanity is divided into 5 generic kingdoms that are not allied nor enemies. The elves also don't have wars with each other. There is no continuous communication at all between humans and elves or dragons, even just crossing the border is a death sentence. No trade routes either. Think about it, an elf hird by humans to perform magic could earn a fortune. Or alternatively why isn't there any form of elf slavery? Where is the secret tribe of dark mages that still live in Xadia? Where are the giant scars in the landscape from giant dragons fighting? These questions, were they either answered well or brought up but kept a mystery, would add much needed depth.

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Conclusion:

This show could have been so much more than what it turned out to be. At least for me.