[Bobblehead]

I'm not sure he is expanding the universe as much as he is setting his final chess pieces in place.

I mean we now have Arya ready to assume her role as a super assassin.
Bran has found and is well on the way to learning to control his own set of powers.
Dany has a dragon that can carry her that she is learning how to handle.
The Golden Company is on Westeros.

Yeah, there seems to be a lot of expansion but if you look at it there appear to be many pieces now just about in position to push for a final gambit.

Martin has said his views about war is that there is a lot of horror and the heroes don't escape unscathed if they escape at all. And that it is rarely as straightforward as heroes are always good and enemies always black.

So while there does seem to be a lot of superfluous narrative, I get the feeling that it is intentional and reflects Martin's belief about what war is really like (98% boredom, 2% horror) and about (the petty squabbling of elite paid with the blood of real people).