The problem with the story is that it came off as someone who wanted to write specifically the climax and didn't have any interest in the warm up. Also, a big problem with the entire thing is that Wuk Lamat felt like she needed to learn and train more than take a test of succession. When someone is taking a test, the idea is that they already have the needed qualities to qualify for the test, of which Wuk Lamat did not display at all in a good capacity. And then when we got to later points in the story her dialog fell flat and hollow.

Just contrast the entire thing involving Wuk Lamat with Hien: The man was living in a rough and tumble place and had time to learn about the different tribes, as well as let life lessons rub off on him, far ahead of when we entered the instance to go get a Yol. There just wasn't any time for Wuk Lamat to get to understand anyone in this. This is why the end felt so painfully forced because the supposed big main character that had growth had none, and the author wanted to pretend they did.

To really make this work Wuk Lamat should have been literally the tour guide and already familiar with the tribes.