I honestly fell in love with the group because of Chaewon so I wanna prefaced that.
Anyways I felt that IZ*ONE is incredibly talented and very versatile as a group and has some iconic songs. Panorama is definitely one of K-pop's greatest hits to me by this point and the legendary La Vie En Rose is still played on my playlist daily. I always thought it was a possiblity that such a stable and strong group (albeit a little underrated but what can they do they exist in the age of Twice, BP & RV) would defy all produce 101 odds and get to stay together.
However through another lens I gotta say that even if I am sad that IZ*ONE will not be together it might be better for all of them as a whole.
The p101 formula is VERY strong with the group, Wonyoung is center and she is placed squarely in the spotlight for nearly everything, she's a Nayeon sort of center where she has the upper echelon of lines and focus, screentime and start and end songs. But the difference is that Nayeon is also one of Twice's best dancer and vocalist whilst it is unfortunate for Wonyoung that her group contains so many other talented girls. Had this been a different sort of group like RV even if the center is highlighted there will always be members who holds more lines or screentime and therefore more spotlight each come back and there will be switching back and forth. In term of Twice-like since Nayeon is essentially the spirit of Twice and have the chops to back it up people grumble about it less. Thus I feel bad for both Wonyoung for people being disgruntled of her and for the other girls for not getting their chance to shine. IZ*ONE is sorta stuck in the middle between having an undeniable star or having to assign another center which obviously they can't do due to the formula of the show. Sakura is center in some Japanese activities only and rarely get the same center-like treatment in Korean comebacks.
Thus I became more accepting of the end due to the fact that mega talents like Yena, Eunbi, Chaewon, Chaeyeon, Nako, Yujin etcs might have a chance of being the center of the group they will eventually join as well, or go solo. Even members that do not get the same credits they deserve for their talent might strike it as an actress and get some solo attention and honestly more money for their work and effort.
In the future I feel that to really solidify the identify of a produce 101 like group it would be wise to switch up that formula of the center being so ubiquitous with everything the group does and more as the unifying aesthetic or performance. Because the position is literally a popularity contest it will just cause discontent down the road and neither the person who won the position or the person who didn't will feel satisfied. SNSD I feel did this pretty good, Yoona is undeniably iconic and important to the group. She is a powerful force in the Kpop industry and commands a lot of SNSD center times and screentime but she doesn't get more lines than the others and doesn't always start or end songs
This is not me copy 
