While I wonder about the author, I like this. Killeon and Edith can still be content with their little territory in the north if Cliff pulls through. Killeon's already expressed his disinterest, if Cliff actually redeems himself and regains the position then we can still more or less get the novel ending, it's just worked around a little bit. In a way that feels less cartoonish than the novel and a bit more earned. I feel like it shows the difference between a mind controlled cast and one with it's own agency where cause and effect actually matter to them.
Yes, I agree. I also think the changes have done more good than bad in regards to personal agency. The "author" has less power now, so the characters acting with more agency makes more sense. I prefer this over the heavy-handedness of the novel.
The duke and duchess are being redeemed, cliff will be punished and redeemed, the author will be actually punished directly and potentially replaced back with the real Lize? I guess this is also an okay alternate fairytale ending but it’s not as good as Killeon and Edith just being satisfied with each other in the novel. I guess the novel DID make Edith too forgiving, but she’s not really driving her own revenge here either ¯_(ツ)_/¯