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I think the blame lies mainly with the second season of the anime, though it definitely had some good parts (like the confrontation with Sabrac). It had too much anime-original padding. Instead of the whole Konoe Fumina arc, more time could have been given to the Crimson Denizen-Flame Haze conflict that lay outside of Misaki City (and its history prior to the main story of Shakugan no Shana), which Marcus H. alluded to. It provides a lot of explanation about the motivations of the various characters and factions, and the factors that led to the Second Great War. As Marcus H. said, a lot of events in the third season seem to come out of nowhere, despite it faithfully following the light novels. In particular, previous light novels went into more detail about the Ancient War, the Snake of the Festival, Bal Masqué's purpose, etc, which are enormously important when it providing context for the events of the third season. It's like trying to understand World War II without a basic awareness of World War I. It particularly egregious that the Snake and the First Great War are not mentioned or even alluded to until the third season. Other things missing as well. The Great War between the Flame Haze and Töten Glocke are only briefly discussed in the first season, despite it having a huge impact on the lives of the Flame Haze and their Lords. Révolution receives a passing mention in the second season, despite their ideology having an impact on Snake of the Festival Yuji's goals. The Flame Haze Civil War makes no appearance whatsoever, despite it being important for understanding the Four Gods of the Earth.
In short, I think the third season was fantastic, and it was the second season that was flawed.
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