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.