Holy hell, they really just skipped so much. Yeah people are shocked about the entire Begaritt trip being skipped over (all the creatures they fought, Elinalise sleeping with other men, the bandit raid, etc.), but that's not even the worst part of it. They skipped all of the catching up with...
Too many important characters forgotten? What do you mean? Many of the important characters were present this arc. I don't know which you are referring to.