Star Trek Fans May Not Have Realized, But 1 of the Show's Biggest Betrayals Was All an Act

Star Trek fans may not realize it, but one of the biggest betrayals in the franchise’s history may have been just an act. Starfleet rarely sees mutinies or betrayals, leaving the few times they happen burnt into fan’s brains. Ro Laren, once a promising Starfleet officer, violated her oath, but as seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #28, from 1995, there was more to it than fans realized.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #28, written by Dan Mishkin and drawn by Leonard Kirk, and first published by Malibu Comics in 1995, is set roughly a year after Ro Laren betrayed Starfleet and joined the Maquis. Ro comes to Deep Space Nine attempting to stop a Maquis splinter faction from instigating a war. After the threat is neutralized, Chief O’Brien tries to convince Ro to turn herself in, saying as long as the Maquis exist, the possibility of war lingers.

Ro then fires back that she will then have to be the one to keep matters from escalating that far.

Ro Laren Shook Up Star Trek: The Next Generation

While Ro Was Butting Heads with Riker and Picard, A Big Threat Was Growing to Galactic Safety: the Maquis

For Star Trek: The Next Generation’s fifth season, the producers decided to shake the bridge crew’s usual dynamic up by introducing a harder-edged character: Enter Ro Laren. Played by actress Michelle Forbes, the Bajoran Ro Laren grew up under a brutal, decades-long occupation of her homeworld by the Cardassians. Throughout the season, Laren tried to rise above her rough and tumble background, and live up to the potential Captain Picard saw in her. Ro Laren did not play by the standard Starfleet rulebook, and fans could not get enough.

While Ro Laren’s story was unfolding, Star Trek’s producers introduced the Maquis storyline. In the Star Trek universe, the Maquis colonists, former Federation citizens whose worlds were seceded to the Cardassians, began a crusade against both their new rulers and the Federation, who they believed left them behind. The Maquis storyline further shook up the Star Trek franchise, as it shattered illusions about the benevolent, supposedly utopian United Federation of Planets. That the Federation would abandon its own citizens to a cruel and oppressive government seemed to fly counter to the franchise’s ideals.

And the plight of the Maquis had sympathizers in Starfleet. In the seventh season Next Generation episode “Preemptive Strike,” Ro Laren returned to the Enterprise after some time away. The episode was The Next Generation’s penultimate one, and the producers were trying to wrap up as many loose ends as possible, including Ro Laren. At the end of the episode, Ro Laren seemingly betrayed Captain Picard and the rest of Starfleet, throwing her lot in with the Maquis. Ro’s betrayal deeply unsettled Picard, who had been one of her biggest advocates.

Ro Laren's Betrayal Never Sat Right With Star Trek Fans

Ro Would Eventually Return to Starfleet

Yet Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #28 gives new context to Ro Laren turning her back on Starfleet. While Laren having sympathies with the Maquis is understandable, her time serving aboard the Enterprise, and having a galaxy-class mentor in Captain Picard, should have shown her that extremism is not the way. Thus, selling out Picard in “Preemptive Strike” was out of character, and negates the amazing development she received. Yet, if Laren was not lying to O’Brien, and she intends to reign any overzealous Maquis in, then her betrayal takes on another layer.

As seen in season three of Star Trek: Picard, Ro Laren eventually returns to Starfleet, working in its Intelligence Division. She would ultimately funnel valuable information to Picard and company that helped them in their fight against the renegade Changelings. The episode showed Laren still had good left in her. It can be assumed past transgressions were forgiven on both sides, and Laren has come to once again respect Starfleet, at least in some capacity. Ro Laren seemingly died in the same episode, but she went out a hero, saving Captain Picard’s life.

Ro Laren Was a Good Star Trek Character That Went to Waste

Malibu's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Comic Buts Ro's Betrayal In a New Light

While fans rued Laren’s sudden Star Trek return, redemption and sudden death, issue 28 of Malibu’s Deep Space Nine comic seemed to presage it by almost three decades. In the issue, Laren has multiple opportunities to take out O’Brien and the others, but she does not. Laren believes in the Maquis' cause, but her time in Starfleet counts for something as well. At the time, Laren believed she could never return to Starfleet after selling them out, so she decided to keep her fellow Maquis in check, putting her betrayal in a whole new light.