I've got to respect the Epilogues for telling an actual story, rather than giving us the Happily Ever After. When you start a sequel series after the original series is done and dusted, you have a few options.

a) Shunt the OG characters offstage and start with a whole new set. Next Gen time! Pros: you can do whatever you want now. Cons: everyone going "but I want the old characters back!"

b) Keep the OG characters, and tiptoe around their Happy Ending. Nothing bad can happen to them now, so you can't go much beyond low-stakes comic shenanigans. Which is fine in its place (I personally view Homeslice as the Cake Timeline) but maybe not for the mainline sequel.

c) Keep the OG characters, but let plot happen to them. They can now do bad stuff. Bad stuff can now happen to them. Their "completed arcs" are no longer complete; their personalities can continue to develop. If you want high stakes AND your beloved OG characters, this is the devil's bargain you must strike.

...so I was entirely fine with seeing my beloved characters return in a proper story, as characters in a story rather as than treasured little action figures kept safe in their dustproof packaging. Might help that I grew up reading epic fantasy, and sweet slimey Dagon, fantasy writers can be ruthless with their characters. Think of Robin Hobb, bringing back poor Fitz for yet another ride in the blender every time he thinks the story is done with him. That character is basically a rubber stress toy that a Rottweiler ran off with, and we love him for it. Lest we forget, Damn You Hussie was similarly ruthless in the original comic, making fan-favourite trolls torment and brutally murder each other for our enjoyment.

I also like the theme of "doing adult life very badly", and relate to it strongly.