WoT on Prime Episode 4 SPOILERS

[Thalia]

I'm sorry guys, you get the brunt of all my conjecturing because no one else will understand what on earth I'm going on about XD

I think there might actually be evidence Liandrin sabotaged the shield, but not to break Logain free. When he first repels the shield both Kerene and Liandrin are distracted by Kerene's wards being tripped, so I think it happens on the merits of his own strength and their brief lapse in concentration. 

A little later, when Moiraine, Kerene and Liandrin are trying to force the shield back on him, we see him penetrate it with the attack that kills Kerene. The shield is bulging outward with the effort, which is how I think Kerene anticipates the attack, but *should* Logain be able to do that? I can't work out if Kerene looks surprised, or if she's checking to see if the others have noticed the attack/are splitting their weaves to protect themselves (or both). It doesn't seem an unreasonable feat for Logain given his strength, except that afterwards Moiraine and Liandrin manage to put him under such duress he's forced to his knees -- yet they now have one less sister adding to the effort. How does he manage to pierce the shield one moment, then struggles the next? Did it just take that much effort?

I think Kerene's strength was more compromised than she admitted to Moiraine, and possibly for more reasons than just Logain (no one else is struggling with simple weaves, despite Alanna and Liandrin also taking their share of the burden, plus her warder's concern for her. She's murdered by Blacks in the books because she's one of the originals searching for the dragon, maybe that's also relevant). So was Liandrin slacking off, not knowing that Kerene is weaker than she should be? We know for sure Liandrin is putting in all her strength after Kerene's death because she risks burning out, and two sisters are now able to accomplish what three struggled to do -- they haven't quite got the shield in place but Logain looks like he's losing. And he doesn't pierce the shield again -- he's only able to attack because of Stepin's axes being close enough to explode with saidin. Was Liandrin holding back earlier in the hope that Kerene would realise he couldn't be contained, and would give the order for gentling? I don't think she intended for Kerene to die, but I wonder if she grasped what she thought was an opportunity and it went very awry.

I'm not sure though. What did everyone else think?

EDIT: okay, on like the millionth review, I'm not actually sure if Kerene only protects Moiraine and Liandrin protects herself. We see Logain's weave bounce off them both, but you can only really see the barrier in front of Moiraine. Since it's hard to tell, maybe that's a negligible detail. But if we assume Kerene noticed the attack because she's Green, and Moiraine clearly noticed nothing, then Liandrin must have been expecting it because she compromised the shield. That's not just slacking off in the hope she'll get her way and be allowed to gentle Logain.

It makes more narrative sense if Korene could only pick one person to save (if you could pick two, surely you'd save yourself and M and throw the Red to the wolves XD). Moiraine's speech about the raging sun may have been partly for Korene's benefit, because now Korene knows Moiraine is searching for the dragon (which in the books was Korene's goal too). And if Korene had any doubts about her strength failing and ultimately that she wasn't going to be able to complete the search, she'd definitely choose to save Moiraine.

Of course, if that's right then Liandrin is almost certainly Black Ajah already. Still one hell of a risky plan though.