Betrayer. Renegade. Mutineer. Defector. No matter how you say it, it all means the same thing: a traitor. I believe that Admiral Jarok from the episode "The Defector" from the third season of Star Trek the Next Generation is indeed a traitor. He betrayed his country and his family, disclosed secret information, and I intend to prove that he fits the definition of a traitor.
The definition of a traitor according to Webster's New World Dictionary from 1994 is: a person who betrays his or her country, cause, or friends (1418). This definition is pretty vague, so to understand the concept of a traitor one must know the definition of betray. To betray is: to help the enemy of one's country or cause; to break faith with; fail to meet the hopes of; to disclose secret information or confidential plans (133). In the following paragraphs, I will analyze this definition and show how Admiral Jarok is a traitor.
Jarok is a traitor in the political sense, regardless of his motives (to stop a war). By political I mean having to do with the Romulan government or empire. To betray one's country is to be a traitor, and Jarok betrayed the Romulan government by giving away top secret information. According to the storyline of Star Trek the Next Generation, the Romulans and the Federation are enemies. Picard and his crew are members of the Federation, and Jarok is a Romulan; therefore, Jarok and Picard are enemies. Jarok claims that he has discovered a plot for a new Romulan offensive, and he wants to help the Federation stop a possible war. By coming to the Federation to help them, he betrays the Romulans and is a traitor by "helping the enemy of one's country or cause."
Jarok elaborates by telling Picard that the Romulans are building a base on Nelvana III, a planet in the Neutral Zone, and there are 21 Warbirds in orbit around her, just waiting to make a first strike. (Lynch 1995) Jarok announces that the Romulans will shortly launch a major offensive against the Federation. (Kernick 1993) At first he wouldn't give Picard the coordinates of the base, but Picard demanded proof. Jarok, beaten, gives all the information he can, including the location of the Romulan fleet and information about cloaking technology. (Tong 1994) Jarok betrays the Romulans by disclosing secret information or confidential plans.
Jarok also breaks the faith with and fails to meet the hopes of the Romulans. Jarok argued against a new war for months. Finally, he was censured, and reassigned to a somewhat isolated sector where he found the plans of which he spoke. When Picard and his crew reach Nelvana III, they didn't find anything. They quickly reach the truth: the Romulans were feeding Jarok misinformation. This was a double plan: to test Jarok's loyalty (a test he quite clearly failed), and to lure the Enterprise into a trap. (Lynch 1995) Jarok breaks the faith with the Romulans, and they view him as a traitor.
Jarok fits all the characteristics of a betrayer or traitor. In fact, there are three quotes from the episode itself that prove Jarok is a traitor. The first was from Captain Picard: "You've made your choices, sir! You're a traitor! Now, if the taste of that drink is unpalatable to you, I am truly sorry." Jarok even admits he is a traitor: "I will never see my child smile again. She will grow up believing that her father is a traitor...." Tomalak keeps asking for the Enterprise to give the traitor back. In one quote he says: "You see, Picard, after we dissect your Enterprise...I intend to display its broken hull in the center of the Romulan capital as a symbol of our victory....And serve as a warning to any other traitor who would create ripples of disloyalty" (1990).
In another point of view, Jarok can be seen not as a traitor but a defector. When you look up the definition, though, defector and traitor are synonyms. Jarok may have had good reasons to go to the federation (stop a war before it starts, protect his daughter, etc.), but his intentions don't hide the fact that he betrayed the Romulan government. In a strictly political sense, Jarok was indeed a traitor.
There are two sides to the story, and both sides have valid reasoning. During an interchange on the episode, people represented the "Jarok was a traitor" side and the "Jarok was a defector" side. Their statements are relevant because they explicate both sides and show different view points. Dora Zamora states, "Picard, the audience and the Enterprise finally believe Jarok is a defector rather than a spy because they realize that he can never go back." However, a traitor could never go back either. Greg Smith also stated that Jarok wasn't a traitor, "He was no traitor. He wanted to see his homeland have a future. He was worried about the possible destruction of his world if a war occurred. It was for that reason that he left. Not for revenge but to save his planet" (1996). I don't think that all traitors betray their country out of revenge. Jarok felt it was out of necessity. His motives were altruistic. His actions were those of a traitor. It is his actions that matter in this argument.
Next, there were people who supported my view that Jarok is a traitor. John Alme proposes, "Jarok is a traitor to the Romulan "Empire", though not to his race." According to Cloyce Spradling, "Jarok wasn't a defector because he refused to join the Federation. He asked for asylum, which is a whole different thing." Finally, Mairi Reyer states, "Jarok is a traitor...in a technical political sense, how could he not be? He left his homeland to spill what he believed to be their state secrets, however altruistic his motives were, I doubt the Romulans are going to care much" (1996).
In conclusion, I have analyzed the definitions of a traitor/betrayer, and have shown how Jarok fits the definitions. Looking at the whole picture, Jarok couldn't possibly be a defector, because there was not a war to prevent. It is not motives but actions that make one a traitor. Admiral Jarok acted exactly like a traitor.
Alme, John. "Interchange on the "Defector". Interchange.
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/309m/class/defect.html (30 Jan. 1996)
"Defector." Prod. Ira Steven Behr. Dir. Robert Scheerer. Perf. Patrick Stewart and James Sloyan.
Star Trek the Next Generation. 14 Jan. 1990.
Kernick, Phil. "The Defector." The Trekker Reviews.
http://ringo.psy.flinders.edu.au:80/trekker/tng/3/the_defector.html (1993).
Lynch, Timothy. "The Defector." Star Trek the Next Generation, Season 3.
http://cruciform.cid.com/~werdna/sttng/tlynch/defector.rev.html (15 Jan. 1995).
Reyer, Mairi. "Interchange on the "Defector". Interchange.
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/309m/class/defect.html (30 Jan. 1996)
Smith, Greg. "Interchange on the "Defector". Interchange.
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/309m/class/defect.html (30 Jan. 1996)
Spradling, Cloyce. "Interchange on the "Defector". Interchange.
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/309m/class/defect.html (30 Jan. 1996)
Tong, Andrew. "The Defector." Mr. Video Productions.
http://cruciform.cid.com/~werdna/sttng/synopsis/defector.syn.html (27 May 1994)
Zamora, Dora. "Interchange on the "Defector". Interchange.
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/309m/class/defect.html (30 Jan. 1996)