I once read (so this is secondhand for sure) that Hobb spoke about having main characters have bad things happen to them so that folks who've endured such atrocities in real life can have a hero that reminds them of themselves. And I'm paraphrasing the paraphrasing, and this is going back in my memory as it's been a while since I read it.

The series definitely isn't one where books end and you feel cherry, generally. Half the series focuses on Fitz, and you basically watch his entire life, and he's far from perfect.

There's sixteen books, and Hobb squeezes the story out of all of them.

The SA of the character(s) in Liveship do end up being important to the story, but it's definitely not easy to read about. The characters in Liveship are all somewhat insufferable, too, but a lot of them grow through the series.

The whole realm of the farseer collection don't get.... Better. I loved them all, but they were kinda depressing all the way through. If you didn't like the first trilogy I don't think you will find any redemption in the rest of the books.