to begin with. They are power whores and were willing to sell their souls out for power. Most of them simply enjoy bullying and torturing others. with a few exceptions like Ishy and Demandred most of them are self-obsessed little children. The scene was excellent because it brought it to the forefront just why the shadow hasn't been more effective.

The second thing the scene did for us was give us a direct look into Cadsuane who has been one of the more hard to read figures in the entire series. Everyone has been wondering as to her true intentions since she first appeared. What exactly was she playing at all this time with her steely composure and her veins of ice?

We know now. She does have Rand's best intentions at heart as well as those of the Tower of course. Her internal dialogue in Bandar Eban while she watches Rand from a distance shows us that she is worried about him but she also respects him and what he has been able to accomplish without the Tower's guidance.

We also learn more specifically through the spanking incident that the same thing would break her. In other words she is composed by pure discipline and her perception of how others perceive her is of the utmost importance to her. It not because she has been hatching some secret plan behind that icy stare and demand for civility/respect all this time.

We learned more about the real Cadsuane and her motives in this book than the rest of the series put together. And that scene was vital to putting that picture together.