Yes, the FS are a failure. But the Shadow isn't. Ituralde lost a heap of men. The only reason he lived was that at the last minute Yoeli broke ranks to save him (awesome scene), and then at the next last minute Rand popped by to save him (more contrived, but still awesome to read). But he lost a lot, and we saw some brilliant moves from the Shadow (Draghar attack FTW).

I also found it sad that Dain Bornhold (a good, albeit misguided man) was forced to kill his friend. Byar was probably not even under compulsion - imagine what he was going through. He finds a perfect Child of the Light (Galad) and sees him rise up to being Lord Captain Commander. Then Galad (his friend, mentor and trusted commander) backstabs the group by allying with a known murderer. I still find it hard not to empathize somewhat with Byar, and I find his death pretty tragic in a way.