I feel like I can understand why the author has gone this direction, but… I don’t know.
For me personally, what attracted me to this story was that it was a fun, fantasy, semi-lighthearted story with cool characters and developing cultures where most of the cast acted intelligently and not like dense idiots 24/7. The honesty of the politics, the seriousness of the situations and relationships, and the story’s willingness to dip into much darker tones were all good things. BUT for ME, that was all nice for reinforcing the core that I loved: a fun story about people making a life in a new world and the fun situations that ensued.
Now that dichotomy seems flipped: the fun story is fluff that supports the drama instead. And, I can’t sit and say that’s “wrong to do” since the author can decide whatever story they want to express. And the “quality or skill” of the author is still clearly there. But the story has drifted away from what drew me in and had me so hooked for month after month, year after year.
I’m not saying I’m dropping this, I’ll read it to the end, but I’m now… not looking forward to new chapters. I now just expect awful things to happen to this cast that I fell in love with, and watch as this world burns in war. I don’t think I’d have been very interested in this series if this was the tone from the start.