That's what I'm wondering - the books were great but the show felt low budget and rushed, and the VFX were nowhere near as convincing as GOT. I know others loved the show but I'm shocked to hear it was so expensive
I don't know why each episode is supposed to be so expensive. I assume they overspend on the wrong types of VFX.
As for Westworld: though the cast is large and costly, the actual shots themselves can be done relatively cheaply since they don't need VFX for most of them.