The 2022 Netflix spy thriller “Treason” takes us inside the perilous and secret world of espionage, where the past of a celebrated MI6 officer came to haunt him. Adam Lawrence never realized that the biggest day of his entire professional career would make things worse for him and place him at a crossroads. Adam was a family man who loved his wife and children and could do anything for their well-being. You see evidence of how much he cared for his family through the little things he did for them. Generally, we witness that male figures in a patriarchal setup do not invest enough time to understand the problems of adolescence and term it as being something inconsequential. But Adam was not such a father. He knew that his daughter needed time to cope up and he dealt with the issue with a lot of empathy and delicacy. That is why as soon as he was made the interim chief, the first thing he did was to call his family to inform them that they would have to put up with the interference as they would be accompanied by security personnel wherever they went. Even after being such a busy man, he didn’t forget to take out time for his family. Not once did he let them know that he was going through such a huge crisis in his professional life. Contrary to this image that he had in front of his family, Adam Lawrence was being accused of committing an act of treason because of something that had happened 15 years back. So, let’s find out what happened 15 years ago in Baku and if Adam Lawrence ever entertained the thought of betraying his own country.
Spoilers Ahead
Was Adam Lawrence A Double Agent, Dorian? Is He Dead Or Alive?
Adam Lawrence and Kara Yosova had known each other for a very long time. Baku was Adam’s first posting, and he had met Kara there approximately 15 years earlier. Both agents had fallen in love, but something happened that changed their lives forever. Kara was working with five locals who were mysteriously killed in Baku. Adam had promised her that the MI6 would help the families of the deceased get out of Baku. It seemed like a fair trade, as Kara had provided Adam with the intel that the Russians were going to conduct a siege. Adam saved the embassy and became a hero, but he didn’t stay true to his words. Adam didn’t help the families of the deceased and left them and Kara to die. Adam was scared that his relationship with Kara would come to light and that all the hard work that he had put in would be discredited. Adam’s wife, Maddy, thought that her husband was helping Kara because he still had feelings for her, but that wasn’t the case. Adam had carried the guilt of being a deserter for 15 long years, and he wanted to wash away his sins by giving Kara whatever she needed. Adam knew that he was solely responsible for destroying the lives of the families of those people, and moreover, he couldn’t even protect the girl whom he’d loved. Though Adam’s professional life was unblemished, his conscience was tainted, and he wanted to remove the blot anyhow. When Kara met Adam in London, he got to know one more thing, which made him feel even more indebted. Kara told him that whatever intel had fallen on his lap for the last decade was all channeled through her intentionally.
Kara wanted Adam to be the chief of MI6, and that is why she was making sure that he became the golden goose of the organization. Adam didn’t know if what Kara had done was beneficial for him in the long run or not, but he knew for sure that he owed her a lot. It is said that guilt is a painful companion to have, and as soon as Adam saw Kara once again, he felt a pang, and with every passing day, the burden became a little heavier. Kara had to prove to Adam that she had not kidnapped his daughter. After proving to him that there were a few anonymous people who had kidnapped his daughter, she took Ella into her custody. Kara knew that she needed some leverage to make Adam give her the information that she needed. Adam was the kind of man who always felt morally bound, and he became very nervous if somebody asked him to cross the boundaries or be an accomplice in an illegal act. Maybe that incessant need to be politically and legally correct arose from the fact that he was an ambitious man who loved his career, and professional success meant everything to him. But the life of his daughter was at stake, and Adam had no choice but to get his hands dirty. Adam couldn’t find any official intel on what had happened in Baku, and Kara told him to look deeper, as she was quite sure that there would be some hidden details. Adam went to Martin Angelis’ house, and he realized that his intuition was right. Martin Angelis had a large cache of intel on almost every official and every operation undertaken by MI6 since he had become the chief of the organization. Adam came to know that an agent, code-named Dorian, had killed the five men in Baku who were working with Kara.
When Martin Angelis came back from the hospital, he had a theory in his mind according to which Adam was the double agent, Dorian, who had been compromised and had been working for Russia for the past 15 years. Adam couldn’t tell Martin that he had a very strong alibi because telling him that he was with Kara at the time the crime was committed, could complicate things even more. It was true that after those murders, the Russians seized the city, and it all seemed like part of a big plan, but the reality was something very different. The real Dorian was a shrewd conspirator, and he had planned everything in a manner such that all the blame could be easily put on Adam. Even Dede, who was working for the CIA, believed in the theory that Adam was the double agent who had been feeding the Kremlin with all the secret information. Adam knew that if he didn’t fight for his own cause, Martin Angelis would be able to prove that he was a traitor. Adam needed to find where Martin had hidden his secret stash of intel. He needed to take prime ministerial candidate Audrey Gratz in confidence and use her power to expose what the MI6 chief had been doing behind the veil. Adam did find out where the secret files were hidden, but before he could bring them back to Audrey Gratz, he was murdered by Dede. It was in the best interests of everybody that Adam died, and that is why the whole system was after him. Martin believed that whatever he was doing was right, and not even once did he think that somebody other than Adam could be the double agent. Martin and his wife were very close to Adam and his family, and they pretended that they cared for the well-being of their kids, Ella and Callum. What hurt Maddy the most was that even after knowing Adam for all those years, Martin believed that he could commit such an act of Treason. Martin believed that Adam could betray his nation, though all that man desired was to be a true patriot.
Had it not been for Maddy, the nation would have believed that Adam was a traitor. But Maddy brought the truth before the people. She handed over the disc containing all of the classified information to Audrey Gratz, who informed the Commons Intelligence Committee that Martin Angelis used to keep track of every government official in the country so that when the time came, he could use it as leverage and blackmail them to get his own work done. Maddy also confronted Martin just outside the chamber and told her that Adam was not the double agent he believed him to be. She revealed that his judgment was flawed, and that Patrick Hamilton was Dorian, who was leaking information to his Russian counterpart. Adam had a conscience, and he did whatever he could to help Kara get justice for the families of those locals who had suffered. Adam’s integrity and honesty were his legacies, and though he couldn’t finish his mission, the world knew that he had died fighting for the right thing.
See More: ‘Treason’ Ending, Explained: Who Killed Kara’s Men In Baku? What Happened To Adam?
