Personally, I think the Wise Ones suck for not teaching Egwene in a faster, more effective way. You would think saying "I have an important need to help Rand, and part of this involves assisting other Aes Sedai who are hunting Black Ajah." would make them realize that the 6 month version of the Dreamwalking class might need to be accelerated. I actually like TSR, and I didn't think she needed to reveal exactly what she was doing to get the point across that it was an important quest. She should have taken lessons from Moiraine, but the Wonder Girls were too busy trying to pout and mistrust her to look at her as an example - they're young and it's hard to get past their immaturity. Egwene reminded me of Moiraine's personality in NS in this book, of all the main characters...it's hard to balance too many obligations when they are each very important.

And I liked Berelain because she was the first character to not be ultra-conservative about flirting, seduction or intercourse or to be spend hours complaining about men. Most of the main and secondary characters are quite moderate and conservative in their points of view, with few outright liberal or individualistic POVs. This was why Verin is so fun compared to Moiriane, Siuan, Elaida, Cadsuane, Elayne, Nynaeve, Egwene, etc - she not only thought for herself, but her personality was quite different with a different set of interests than we've seen in the main protagonists. Berelain is similar. Plus, IMHO, she would have whooped Faile's butt during their duel in the Stone.