I completely agree with you. Furthermore, For VFX in this case, a little goes a long way (compose those blasted lands shots so the depth of field of the scene results in the matte painted areas of shayol ghul being blurred/blended into the shot better, less flashy channeling weaves and whatnot, especially if they aren't 3d tracked 100% accurately to match the footage). I don't think you really even need to see the weaves or the overly dramatic buildup to the actual result of the channeling. Maybe occasionally when the story is specifically talking about the weaves themselves and how they're formed, etc. And yes, no need to telegraph so much of the story so early, especially when the whole point of the first book was to gradually and subtly introduce Rand as potentially being the Dragon, but leaving the possibility open that it could also be Mat or Perrin. I wasn't even sure he could channel on my first read until after this event, and based on the way the book was written, the lightning could have been pure chance. "A+" for effort, and I love using salt flats as the Blasted Lands! I just think if you're going to dedicate this much screen time to each chapter, you may as well stick to the way the book tells the story; you're not going to do a better job of it than RJ did in terms of pacing, subtlety, and when to reveal what, especially when the core audience will be the book readers themselves.

Without a doubt, the Cleansing, mainly because no one on the planet in this age or the previous one had ever even contemplated using that much raw power. Couple that with the Forsaken all coming out of the woodwork and the sheer idea that the world may no longer have to shun all male channelers...the whole moment to me felt like a single, simple, powerful retort to the Tower's nasty manipulative politics when dealing with the Dragon, as well as the dawn of a new era where sensible people of both genders could finally work together with the power without terrible consequences.

The scene where Birgitte and co. got hammered on Oosquai trying to dull their senses during the uh...event with Rand and Elayne was absolutely hilarious too. A definite laugh out loud moment and a much needed moment of levity for the main characters.