upon the Enterprise. Picard realizes Jarok was used as a pawn by the Romulans, feeding him disinformation to lure the Federation into the Neutral Zone while disgracing Jarok. In response to Romulan commander Tomalak's demand for the Enterprises surrender, Picard reveals he prepared for this: at his command, three Birds-of-Prey, sent by the Klingon Empire at Picard's request (as relayed by Worf), decloak and surround the warbirds, rendering the situation a stalemate. The Romulans re-cloak and retreat, allowing the Enterprise to leave. After the Enterprise left the Neutral Zone, the crew discover Jarok committed suicide... leaving behind a note for his family. While Data notes relations with the Empire make delivery of the letter impossible, Picard states 'as long as there are Romulans with Admiral Jarok's courage and conviction, it may, one day, be possible to deliver Jarok's letter home'. Notes In addition to his regular role of Captain Picard, Patrick Stewart also played the role of the holodeck character of "Michael Williams" from Shakespeare's Henry V, Act 4, Scene I, in the opening scenes of the episode. Stewart, who performed the role under heavy prosthetic makeup, requested this out of his love for Shakespeare—Stewart is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stewart uses a regional English accent from the Black Country, an area between Birmingham and Wolverhampton; his version is of the strong 'Gornal' variety of Black Country dialect. This is the second episode written by Ronald D. Moore; the episode earned him a position on the show's writing staff. Moore would have a long association with Star Trek, staying with Star Trek: The Next Generation through its final season, then moving to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; he became a co-executive producer. Moore co-wrote the first two feature films based on The Next Generation, Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: First Contact. The planet Nelvana III is named after the popular Canadian animation studio Nelvana. Releases On June 6, 1995 "The Defector" was released with "Vengeance Factor" on LaserDisc in the United States by Paramount Home Video, and in Japan on July 5, 1996, in the half season set Log. 5: Third Season Part.1 by CIC Video. This included episodes up to "A Matter of Perspective" on 12-inch double sided optical discs. The video was in NTSC format with both English and Japanese audio tracks. The episode was released with Star Trek: The Next Generation season three