I agree that season 2 in general improved on the strengths of the first series, though I’ll conceed some of the new faces or references to the lore could became a bit overwhelming for those who hadn’t kept up with all of the Star Wars content (particularly Filoni’s previous animated works). One of the things I liked the most about season 1 was that even someone who grasps only the basic stuff about SW could enjoy the series. Season 2 isn’t as newcomer-friendly in that regard. However, now that the parallel spin-offs (Boba, Ahsoka, etc.) have been properly set-up, the upcoming third season can go back to a more self-contained narrative, even if it’s bigger in scale.
I don’t think it’s confusing for newcomers, just less exciting. I haven’t seen seasons 5-7 of the Clone Wars, so Bo-Katan was just a new character for me, and it worked. And I don’t really know what Ahsoka’s been up to since season 4, aside from the occasional spoiler I’ve had the misfortune to read recently.
Dude, you literally stopped watching The Clone Wars just as it’s getting really good. You need to catch up on that.