Yes, that has been a significant problem. From the standpoint of plot, this season has failed miserably. It has yet to exit the exposition phase for Robb's, Bran's, and Theon's story lines, as well as others. The whole thing is backwards, and I expect the inciting event to happen at the end of the season, when it's supposed to happen at the beginning. Granted, this will probably set up s4 well.

This continual exposition has put the plot in the doldrums, and each episode is just repeating what we already know. For this reason, it doesn't even feel like a war anymore, and the conflicts all seem manufactured and easy to solve. Fortunately, however, the Dany, Arya, Jaime, and Snow story lines haven't succumbed to this.