One of the most significant moments in Australian military history unfolded without fanfare on a tarmac at Sydney airport, when Ben Roberts-Smith was calmly escorted off a plane and into a waiting police car.
The country's most-decorated living soldier and the most famous of his generation, Roberts-Smith was on Tuesday charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.
It follows a high-profile civil defamation case, which three years ago found that the former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal and Victoria Cross recipient had unlawfully killed several unarmed Afghan detainees.
Roberts-Smith, who left the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in 2013, denies all wrongdoing and says the allegations are egregious and driven by spiteful and jealous peers.
His case – now set to be tested to a higher, criminal standard – has become the face of Australia's reckoning over the country's alleged conduct in Afghanistan, which has cast a pall over its much-mythologised military legacy.
For Roberts-Smith to now be charged with war crimes - and not just one, but multiple war crimes - is a very significant cultural and social moment for a country that, for much of its history… has placed a lot of store in the exploits and contributions of the members of its defence forces, Professor Donald Rothwell told the BBC.
But the prosecution of such a highly-decorated veteran is also an extraordinary moment for the globe.
We've never seen this before, says Deane-Peter Baker, a special forces ethics scholar.
When Roberts-Smith came home from Afghanistan in 2013, he was considered a national hero, having been awarded Australia's highest military honour for single-handedly overpowering Taliban fighters attacking his SAS platoon.
Plum speaking engagements and board gigs, magazine covers and massive portraits, accolades and awards – like Father of the Year – followed.
But in 2018, Nine newspapers began publishing a series of articles alleging misconduct during his time with the SAS – claims of unlawful beatings and killings of prisoners, bullying of colleagues, and domestic violence against a mistress.
He said it was all untrue, and in a bid to clear his name, launched a high-profile legal battle. It spanned seven years, cost millions of dollars and was dubbed by some as Australia's trial of the century.
He lost. While the claims of domestic violence and some of the bullying allegations were dismissed, a Federal Court judge in 2023 ruled the reports he committed four murders were substantially true, a judgement that was upheld on appeal.
Roberts-Smith now faces even higher stakes if convicted of the five charges against him: life in prison, and an unwelcome place in history.
Victorian Cross recipients from other Commonwealth nations have faced criminal charges, but Roberts-Smith is believed to be the first charged with a war crime.
Roberts-Smith's arrest was the culmination of a five-year investigation by a special watchdog set up after a landmark inquiry into allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. The 2020 Brereton Report found credible evidence that elite soldiers unlawfully killed 39 people, recommending 19 current or former ADF members be investigated.
While Australia has long seen its military as ethical and effective, this drawn-out saga is challenging perceptions and posing difficult questions about accountability within the armed forces.
As the nation navigates this unprecedented legal landscape, the implications for military culture and the rule of law continue to unfold.
