Or maybe, they were running out of time to create the episodes, so they had to focus on what was truly important at the time - the storyline. I’ve read about this stuff before (I’ve heard it from Disney themselves), this is what typically happens. A similar dilemma popped up when animated Beauty and the Beast (1991).

I dunno, season 3 looked pretty good in my opinion. the facial expressions and fluidity of scenes were at an all time high, and the fighting secuences were PHENOMENAL.