Agreed, as I read the tea leaves Adv. II is the end, whereas at one point we were led to expect 5 adventures, one in each country, specifically with Iceland being the last.
I am bracing myself because the end of Adv I seemed rushed, like she just wanted to get it over with. We missed out on many aspects most of us were expecting to see, like scenes at the pickup point (we got a hug from Mikkel and great joke from Sigrun, and that was wonderful, but that was all), the news broken to the HQ crew (esp Onni), and the HQ crew travel to Iceland and debrief with the Nordic Council.
Adv. II loose ends to date are fewer, but include:
-- Reynir's brother Bjarni was the only character outside of the crew and HQ to get his own introduction synopsis, which would indicate he was a major character. Why?
-- Will we see the Sentinel Mage, or his grisly cabinet, again? (esp if things turn pear-shaped for any of the crew)
-- Will Lalli get his boat 'deposit' back? (okay, that's a joke)
-- The Swan is expecting to bring back two souls to Tuonela - whose?
I also felt that "rushed" feeling too. Adventure 1 ended and I was: What? Just that? Most important we never got to see the crew talking among each other and sharing their experiences. Damn, Lalli just blew a giant with his magic! Sigrun saw the battlefield after and was convinced no one could survive that. And yet we saw no consequences...
As for those points on Adv. II, I'm convinced that, unless Minna decides to rush to the end, we will see the Sentinel Mage (it's just too interesting a character), probably when the crew comes back from the Silent World. Eventually we may get the boat deposit scene too. And surely the situation with the Swan will get resolved because it's in the core narrative.
Bjarni... I think Minna had a place for him on a future adventure, probably the Icelandic one. But we may never know.
Things that may get glossed over in a grand rush to finish up:
-- We are expecting to see Tuuri's return to Tuonela (aside from fix-it feels), and a full culmination of the bargain made with the Swan (however it pans out)
-- We are expecting to see Ensi's fate as something other than an off-screen *poof* and/or pile of twisted flesh
-- Reynir having a point in this adventure other than a high perch for the cat to observe from
-- Sigrun & Mikkel's apparently burgeoning relationship (for the record - I'm in the camp that doesn't want to see Sigrun rendered into a housewife or other 'womanly' post-adventure role, like Reynir's sister), it would be nice to at least see if anything comes of this.
I sincerely doubt that we will ever get those portions of the overall backstory we've been holding out for. These include: the story behind the fire behind Emil's house, the ongoing effects of Lalli camping in Emil's brain, Mikkel's backstory including the fate of his twin, and *snerk* what blackmail Trond had on Captain Asa.
Those things will, hopefully, not get glossed over. It would be a pitty. As for Sigrun, I see it going the opposite way, with Mikkel assuming a house (and eventually kids) while Sigrun keeps doing what she does best.
I'd love to see the backstories, but agree that now we will probably have to live with fanfics about them...
I also hope that Minna thinks carefully on the ending. We all know that a bad or rushed ending may ruin an excellent story*, and that would be a shame for SSSS.
* think Game of Thrones. It was on the top of the top, and the way they handled the end seriously damaged the story, and the franchise.
Edit: Forgot to add that Minna should write an Epilogue to properly close the story. Something that has such an outstanding Prologue must have an equivalent Epilogue.
If she does that with her usual quality, which is very high, SSSS may be seen in the Future as a reference, even a classic, which would not only be good for us, fans, but also for her career and, why not, business. (after all this is her source of income, and the chances of keeping selling books in the future would be much higher if the story keeps its (outstanding) quality until the very end).
