Yes, this epoch has shown really small growth. At the same time, 2114 people was failed last validation (1480 were killed). As a result, we see not a fall, but even a small growth.
I wouldn't care too much about the 1480 killed identities, since I think those are old members who killed their identities for the stake and rejoined the network.
What makes me sad.. the 2114 identities who failed the validation.
From 2114 identities 1480 was killed, and 634 was failed. The growth is really very small. My friend was disappointed with Idena, and killed his identity. I did not even try to convince him.