Is this the end of The Expanse? The beloved science fiction show has come to a close. Marco Inaros is defeated, Earth can begin to rebuild and the crew of the Rocinante has not only accepted Clarissa Mao but also Bobbie Draper onboard our favorite Martian warship. Together, they are looking forward to an almost quiet life of hunting pirates. Sounds like a perfect ending to the fast-paced TV show, doesn’t it?
The Expanse almost ended after only three seasons when it was dropped by Syfy, yet after an extensive fan campaign, it was picked back up by Prime Video for three more seasons. Now, with the finale of its sixth season, The Expanse appears to have ended for good. Only it doesn’t quite feel this way.
That is because, originally, The Expanse is a book series of nine novels and multiple novellas written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under the pen name of James S.A. Corey. The sixth and currently final season of the show doesn’t feel final because it isn’t the end of the story. Even the authors have stated before the beginning of this season that there is potential for more. So let’s have a look at some of the questions that still remain open at the end of this eventful season…
Trouble on Laconia
Book fans were probably most excited by the glimpses we got of Laconia. While I can’t speak for everyone, I personally would watch an entire season set only on this fascinating planet. But who are the Laconians? This plot was set into motion much earlier and centers around the charismatic Winston Duarte, who rallied many like-minded Martians behind him to make a run for one of the newly discovered worlds (one that happened to have abandoned Protomolecule technology). A few so far loose ends are tied together during the sixth season because we finally figure out where Paolo Cortazar, the scientist studying the Protomolecule, ended up: Right there on Laconia, working alongside Winston Duarte. After conspiring with Marco Inaros, stealing a third of the Martian fleet, and disappearing through one of the Ring Gates, Duarte sets up his own colony on Laconia where he intends to rekindle the Martian dream. And study the Protomolecule even further.
Book fans will know where this story leads and I’m certainly not here to spoil the fascinating plot that Persepolis Rising and the following books have in store for those who haven’t read them yet, but what we saw on Laconia probably raised more questions than it answered.
The most obvious one would be the dog-like robots roaming the planet of Laconia and seemingly fixing broken things. At the end of the season, we realize that not only can they fix broken technology but also bring people back to life. This leftover Protomolecule technology is fascinating, but up until this point, there is no reason to include it in the show. It doesn’t help defeat Marco Inaros, it doesn’t matter to the main characters, but it paves the way for the plot of the remaining three books in which Cara, Xan, and the dog robots play a much bigger role than expected. It is one mystery around the Builders that doesn’t get solved, one that makes me hope for the continuation of The Expanse.
The Dark Gods are after humanity
At the end of the third season, as the Roci passes through the newly activated Ring Gates for the very first time, we catch a glimpse of what the books call the “Unknown Aggressors” or the “Dark Gods”. Admittedly, when I first watched that particular season, I had no knowledge of the books and if you don’t, the brief flicker seen as James Holden enters the gate is easily dismissed as a strange effect. However, it was the first look we got at what killed the Builders and it is referenced and shown multiple times during the following seasons. It is also what killed Marco Inaros and his ship.
Since the Builders were eradicated, all that was left of them was their inert technology spread across multiple systems, but as James Holden reactivates the Ring Gates and humanity starts using the old technology, the Builder’s old enemies are reawakened, too. And they’re not exactly happy about humanity using the Ring Gates. What starts out as ships disappearing in transit develops into more intense attacks in the books, but the show leaves it at the destruction of Marco Inaros. Since Naomi figured out how many ships would be able to pass through the gates safely without attracting the Dark Gods’ attention, it appears that humanity found a safe way to navigate through 1300 worlds. However, the threat is still out there, the Unknown Aggressors are not defeated and could strike at any time. All they did at the end of this season was to find a way for humanity to fly under the Dark Gods’ radar and it is unlikely that they will be able to keep up this status quo forever. Not when humanity is always reaching for bigger, better things.
Filip’s fate at the end of The Expanse
Compared to the rise of Laconia and the threat of the Dark Gods, the fate of Naomi’s son seems like a small problem, but it is one that is bothering a couple of people. Whether you like him or not, Filip is a character deserving of sympathy. Raised by his father to kill billions of people and think that his mother abandoned him as a child, it was clear from the beginning that he and Naomi were never going to have a normal mother-son relationship. At the end of the season, as Naomi figures out a way for Marco and his crew to disappear in transit through the gates, she does it, knowing that she would kill her son, too. What she doesn’t know is that, right before the ship passes through the gate, Filip leaves his father and the cause. The books go even further in showing Filip’s change of heart by having him assume his mother’s last name as he signs on to work on the station.
While it is understandable that Filip, after a lifetime of manipulation, feels the need to find his own path, it is quite sad that, at the end of the show, Naomi never learns that she didn’t kill him. As she sets out to hunt pirates with her real family, she does so thinking that her son is dead and that she is the one responsible for it.
While the sixth season concludes many plotlines, some still remain open, and – on top of that – more questions have arisen during the last couple of episodes. Since the writers have expressed that they wouldn’t rule out continuing The Expanse in a TV show or movie format, there is still hope that fans will someday have an answer to these questions, regardless of whether they have read the books.
You can stream the end of the television series The Expanse exclusively on Prime Video.
Temple of Geek is an Amazon Affiliate and earns a commission on qualifying purchases.
About Author
