I agree with most, if not all of this. My own personal assessment of the Episode is: Story 3/10 (long critique) [spoiler]TL;DR Version: The story had minimal impact in the long run and took far too long to tell. Coming off a DLC release usually you don't expect much and to be honest it was par for the course if we consider that. My main issue with it was that the pacing was horrible and failed to capitalize on how big of a threat the Conductor was. For the first two Acts we get glimpses of the Conductor (everyone already knew who they were if they had been paying any amount of attention since the release of Lightfall) yet we spend the whole time dancing around that particular answer. Instead we have nearly two full acts where the plot is dragged to the slowest crawl and Saint-14 is questioning himself constantly by moping around, only to make a lightning fast whiplash of a recovery to his normal self at the very end of Act 2. The drama surrounding Osiris and Saint-14 did not help ease this drawn out period either, though I personally am not a fan of love stories so it made the story seem all the much longer. I can understand the writer's reason, by comparing their relationship to Chioma and Maya's relationship in parallel but it just ended up overshadowing the main plot. The main plot of course to stop the Conductor from using the Vex to reshape the Sol system, who we confront [b][i]twice[/i][/b] but who still wasn't presented as this meaningful threat to Humanity. We run for whatever reason on the first encounter with our tails between our legs right after killing the most powerful being we have ever faced, but this new demigod is supposed to be a higher threat? Then in the climax we get compelled despite "Guardians make their own fate" being the core theme since Vault of Glass, which [i]should[/i] have been the "one-liner" before all three of the cutscene characters attacked her and forced her to retreat. The Act finale cutscenes were all very stiff, much like Eris Morn's slow windup attack on Savathun at the end of Season of the Witch, and made little sense considering recent events as mentioned. We should never have faced her directly if you wanted us to take her seriously, she should have been presented an entire [i]chorus[/i] of her time echoes we find all throughout the first Act, by doing so completely overshadowing Osiris and commanding them all in unison from further within the network, just out of reach but able to be weakened with some effort. The only good thing with the story was that Failsafe had some great moments, particularly the comedic relief for the unavoidable drama, but being an A.I. it didn't make much sense for her to "grow" as a person at the end. Just completely move her as the H.E.L.M., she doesn't have to be "left behind" any longer and "be OK with that." Make the world feel like it is evolving![/spoiler] Activities 6/10 [spoiler]I will say that I appreciated the multitude of differing activities this Episode. A standard seasonal activity with three versions and including options for Expert with or without matchmaking was pretty nice. Then a "hidden" time trial mission in two versions for focusing Season of Dawn weapons was greatly appreciated as an alternative for the weekly pinnacles to the standard activity. Later on we get Battlegrounds, which I am still absolutely opposed to. However true to their word, Bungie did their best to merge the difference between a Strike and a Battleground, particularly on final mission, with Core being much closer to a Strike with only a single "waiting room." The first Battleground is no different than a typical one as it was comprised entirely of those rooms, while the second one blends the first and last. Encore was good as an Exotic mission, though it was far too long it did have a nice amount of secrets to uncover. I just would have preferred not to be forced to play it multiple times for the story alone especially due to the length and with the previously established ability to play whatever seasonal activity you wanted for the story.[/spoiler] Gear 7/10 [spoiler]The seasonal armor was a bit strange, not sure why a pseudo-ronin samurai theme was chosen when it could have been something to do with the Qugu perhaps, considering they were the original source of this Witness memory, or even Ishtar equipment? The weapons had several very good options with the Solar Rocket Sidearm, Stasis Denial Grenade Launcher, the return of most Season of Dawn weapons, and Choir of One being extremely strong. Red Death Reformed felt a bit lackluster but this may simply be personal preference.[/spoiler] World Impact 2/10 [spoiler]Seasons having lasting story impact is necessary if they are going to make any sense or matter at all. We see this with Splicer when we have Eliksni allies living in the Last City and notably in Seraph when the Traveller moves into the Earth's orbit. Comparing this Season to the rest, the sole single change is that the Vex now have a more visible threat that is more human and relatable. Unfortunately, despite Bungie teasing Nessus changing from the random earthquakes they failed to actually change Nessus as they did with the first Battleground. They also should have made some Vex threats in Neomuna considering who the Conductor is and the relevance with the Vex Network, as a distraction to pull us away from her experiments. It would have also been the perfect time to bring back Mercury specifically for the Infinite Forest but instead we have a copy of a simulation. Even if Nessus becomes temporarily unavailable while Bungie alters the terrain, it would have been the perfect time to do so. They changed an entire zone for Season of the Chosen when they added the Land Tank area, so it isn't out of the ordinary to think specific zones could be changed and make a visible impact to the world.[/spoiler] Overall Score: 4.5/10 This was a "par for the course" Season considering it was the opening one for the DLC. The highs were cancelled out by the lows, and ends up being a fairly forgettable Season altogether. It is sad considering I was hoping for a good Vex focused Season, but hopefully the next two Episodes are far better to make up for this.