I feel that it was a very purposeful and thought out choice to make mark much stronger in this fight. I think in adapting this story to tv, the writers realize that viewers actually want to feel like characters are going places and becoming developed. The target audience for a tv show is much less patient than a comic audience so they need them to realize that characters are building up and not as seemingly weak as they were in the last season.

feel like you do yourself a disservice doing this tbh. i just remember seeing so many gorgeous panels that i would just stare at for a several minutes to take in the gravity of the events