So Suddenly Human is an interesting ethical question wrapped in a Star Trek episode.
A human teenager is discovered amongst a species unaligned with Starfleet. There's evidence that Jono may have been abused in the last seven years he's spent with the Talarians. And he's clearly been fully disconnected from human culture, considering himself Talarian and going solely by his Talarian name - Jono - instead of his Human name - Jeremiah.
There's a parallel there with Worf, who was adopted by humans. And it would have been interesting if they'd explored that parallel between Worf and Jono instead of having Jono and Picard bond. Not that Picard and Jono aren't an interesting dynamic. But Worf was adopted by humans who reached out first to the Klingon Empire for permission before taking Worf as their son. Jono was adopted by Talarians who killed his parents and made no attempt to return him to relatives.
In short Jono was kidnapped and indoctrinated by his captors. I can understand why Picard chooses to return Jono to the Talarians. It's the life Jono knows now and it's the life he believes he wants. And sending him back stops a war from breaking out. The problem is, his situation is not unlike children who are kidnapped in real life and raised to believe their kidnappers are their real parents.
No one would ever leave a kidnapped child with their kidnappers once the crime has been uncovered. Of course that kid would be returned to his parents or living relatives.
Now there is Talarian custom that allows for replacing a lost child with the child of the enemy that slew their child. Which supposedly justifies Jono's kidnapping. But Jono's parents did not kill the Endar's son. Humans did, but not these specific humans. Which I suspect means that Talarian custom is being heavily stretched by Endar to justify adopting Jono because he felt sorry for the boy at the time. And I do think he genuinely cares about Jono now.
I've seen this episode get compared to a DS9 episode with Rugal favorably, saying that this episode got it right with Jono and DS9 got it wrong with Rugal. But.
I do think Picard got it wrong.
And while I disagree with the decision, it isn't necessarily a bad decision either since, by Talarian standards, Jono is well treated. He loves Endar and is loved by Endar. And by Talarian law it's not a kidnapping, even if by Federation law it probably should be considered as such. And as Picard tells Dr. Crusher, what she interpreted as physical signs of abuse are more likely just evidence of normal childhood injuries.
Picard prevented a war, yes. He sent Jono back to the life Jono thinks he wants, which does respect Jono's stated wishes as Picard notes.
But Jono does still show signs of mental and emotional abuse. When shown images of himself with his parents, he has trauma flashbacks to their deaths and remembers things he's repressed about them - which Picard's discussion with Endar rather implies that Jono repressed as much from the trauma as because it was not safe for him to continue considering himself their son. Jono is legally a Federation citizen and by Federation law he should be considered a kidnapped child... who was allowed to return to his captors because it was more politically convenient.
If I were Vice Admiral Rossa, his grandmother? I'd be pissed off at Picard for sending my grandson back to his kidnappers instead of following through on his rescue.
