: I mean, technically he disobeyed Del Rio in Halo 4, but like, he saved the
: galaxy and stuff by doing so. I'd think he'd be pardoned.

Captain Del Rio was relieved of command by CINCFLEET Lord Hood, and with the relationship Hood and the Chief have, it's unlikely that John would face punitive repercussions for his disobedience. We don't get any such indication of that in Escalation so I think that would probably be the weakest argument for "traitor." Plus no one is going to call you a traitor for disobeying a superior officer like Andrew Del Rio. It's obvious that no one aboard Infinity cared for the asshole. That really wouldn't be the right terminology either. Traitor is an entirely different beast to "dumbass who didn't follow orders and is now in jail."

That being said, however, you don't get to captain without making friends and Del Rio is probably no exception. Anyone willing to cast out the Master Chief and label him a traitor would definitely try to use this instance of disobeying a seemingly lawful order from a superior officer as proof that he's going off the rails.

Otherwise, there's nothing really I can to that would lead anyone to arbitrarily decry the Chief as a traitor with established canon. What he did must still be ahead of us.