As to Hookfoot, they could explain his absence in any number of ways (e.g., he has turned into a merman and is now living with Seraphina in the depths of the sea) without resorting to his death.
However, I wouldn't care for the series to end with "Tangled Ever After" either. I wouldn't mind it so much if they would reanimate a few scenes of "TEA" to include the omitted characters, but that ain't gonna happen. That being the case, it would hardly be a finale at all, leaving far too many loose ends (so to speak).