Disney didn’t have a lot of choice, the staggered start was due to the expiration of various licensing deals, deals expired later in Europe so the Disney+ launch was delayed until they finished. As above gradual release of their flagship series to prevent binge watching in the free trial.
If you’re going to criticise Disney you can’t do it for being commercially acute.
Thought episode 1 was pretty good, episode 2 whilst great to view felt a bit more filler, I suppose it introduced a lot with Mandos new friend.