The freeing of Julian Assange, the Australian activist and founder of the whistleblowing website, WikiLeaks, through a plea bargain after 14 long years in isolation, uncertainty and imprisonment has ended a saga that holds a mirror to defining issues of our time. His high-profile ordeal reflects fundamental debates relating to press freedom and the role of the news media in the internet age, the conflict between national security establishments and anti-war movements, and the alliances and rivalries in international politics that impinge upon acts of individual courage and defiance.