A couple of points: The yellow, grays, whites would have been terrible fighters since their whole reason for existing was anathema to violence. The browns and blues had people who went into the world and might have needed to protect themselves, so individual sisters would have been proficient in self-defense, but again there was no call for projective attack weaves for either ajah. Bottom line, it is not unreasonable that the sitters from these ajahs were not accomplished fighters able to handle the pressure of a surprise firefight. I find the time to get off weave question focusing on the wrong issue. Several times in the books, it was noted that the AS were trained to unnecessarily wave their hands during weaving. While they could have done the spell much quicker, they waste time making physical gestures. So, by book logic, it would take noticeable time to cast the weaves. Someone trained not to use the hand gestures will get the spell off much faster.

This is the classic I refuse to like the series and I will find nits to pick at to show why the series sucks. At this level of analysis, every action sequence in every action movie/series is terrible and consequently the movie/series is bad. Yes, there are plot holes and illogical events, but sometimes you just need to enjoy the ride and tell the logical part of your mind to chill for a little while.

You nailed one of the main reasons that WoT is such a hard adaptation. How they handle the multiple threads that dominate most of the last series is critical. Given that there are often 6-7 threads going simultaneously, they will have to combine or eliminate some of them. They also have to be compelling viewing outside the main plot line to keep the series from bogging down. You have also presented a great refutation of the absolute "closer to the book", "concentrate on Rand's POV" viewpoint. Once they split into threads, the other characters must carry the show. If you question if the other characters have been defined well enough to trust they can carry the show in non-main plot threads, even with 2 years of ensemble-based shows, then a sole focus on Rand, like in the books, would have been disastrous. I am less concerned about Rand since he is the focus of the main plot, allowing plenty of time to fill out his character.