Delurking to say that definitely felt like the end of an era. More than the Dora/Marten break up, or even The Talk, this feels like a seismic shift in where the comic is going. I don't think Faye has any intention of setting foot in CoD again, and if the story follows her and Marten as they move on, we'll probably see less and less of the coffee shop.
Good thing The Man Himself said that QC wasn't going to end "anytime soon," or I'd be worried that this was the end, or the first of several endings, Peter Jackson/LOTR-style. Of course, that was almost two months ago, and Jeph's definition of "anytime soon" might be different than ours, so prepare your pitchforks and get ready to march, just in case.
I don't think the pitchforks will be necessary. While Jeph seems to like giving all his characters screen time, the comic has always been about Marten and Faye. Marten's ties to Coffee of Doom have been pretty tenuous since he and Dora split. And Faye just cut all ties.
*deep breath before plunging in*
It's been noted that Marten is a pretty chill dude, and since he and Dora separated and he came to terms with it his chill has reached a Zen level. He and Dora are still friends, and will probably still have contact through Tai, but his main reason for dropping by CoD, before and after his relationship with Dora was that his best friend worked there.
Which brings up Faye. The Pugnacious Peach is about as far from a Zen state as you can get right now. I think she's honest when she tells Dora there's no hard feelings. But Coffee of Doom and Dora are part and parcel of a chain of events where she almost killed herself. Like the car wreck after her dad died, she probably isn't sure herself whether it was intentional or not. Mainly because she simply can't remember. So she has to distance herself and concentrate on getting better, and that means leaving Dora and CoD behind her. It isn't really fair to Dora because she's losing a close friend out of the deal, but then life just sucks sometimes. And while Dora and faye may reconnect down the road at some point, it'll never be the same as it was.
And on that cherry note, I hope we get to see Marten and Faye break out of the holding patterns their lives have been locked in. Marten has a relationship that looks like it has legs, and even if it doesn't, at least he's broken out of orbit and powered up the warp drive. And Faye has been kicked into motion by circumstances that have forced her to change everything about her life. On the up side, she still has Marten, who is pretty damned good at taking care of people he cares about.
I think its going to be interesting.