Reflecting on The Expanse: Themes and Messages from the Epic Conclusion of The Expanse Season 6

A series of surprise assaults on Earth using weaponized stealth asteroids marks a major highlight for the fifth season of The Expanse. Masterminded by Marco Inaros and his Free Navy, the barrage of asteroid impacts kills millions of people in North America, West Africa, and South Asia combined. A massive tsunami traveling across the Atlantic following the impact off the western coast of Dakar has practically obliterated New York City, home to the UN headquarters, and forced prominent officials to evacuate to Luna. Here is a deeper look at the themes and messages from the epic conclusion of The Expanse Season 6.

The sixth and final season of The Expanse begins with the Earth’s government trying to prevent subsequent attacks. While the asteroid bombardment might not be an outright apocalypse, it delivers the inevitable threats of nuclear winter, prolonged radiation, crop failure, and food shortage. Avasarala, having returned to her former position as the Secretary General of the United Nations, proceeds with caution how to deal with Inaros, provide safety for Earthers, and ensure political stability in the Solar System.

Idealism, Realism, and Redemption

As usual, the Rocinante is at the forefront of the fight for Earth’s survival and a peaceful Solar System at large. The Rocinante remains some sort of independent agency, which this time, working on behalf of both UN and MCR, to hunt down Marco Inaros and the entire Free Navy fleet. It has two simple jobs: kill rogue Belters and prevent more asteroid attacks. But the situation on board is far from simple. Naomi struggles with personal conflict that involves Inaros, whereas Amos is second-guessing his role on the Rocinante following a confrontation with Holden.

Clarissa Mao is also on board, training under Amos to become a mechanic. While it’s true that Clarissa has fully abandoned her murderous nature and embraced the path to redemption, Holden and Naomi are reluctant to give her the benefit of the doubt. With Alex missing from the picture, Holden pilots the Rocinante and does his best to hold this family together.

The major theme on the Rocinante, and by extension The Expanse Season 6, is the inevitable clash between realism and idealism. Holden, as Captain of the Rocinante, has always been an idealist with a big dream of equality for all. Much of what he does throughout his journey revolves around championing the Belters to everybody else in the system. However, the conflict with Inaros has now put him in a difficult position where he must set idealism aside and see things from a more pragmatic perspective. In order to save the Solar System from further destruction, Holden has to fight a war against the rebellious Belters of the Free Navy.

It’s even harder for Naomi because she herself is an outright Belter. And to make things worse, the entire Free Navy is under the command of her former lover, Marco, and their son, Filip. All indications suggest that the current conflict will only end with the death of Marco. Although the rest of the crew, including Avasarala’s operator Bobbie Draper, have no moral dilemma in killing Marco Inaros, they might refrain from doing so out of respect for Naomi.

Revenge

Meanwhile, on Ceres Station, the rebellious duo Marco and Filip are leveraging their hero status among the Belters. But the situation quickly goes out of hand when they are involved in an altercation, forcing the father to keep a distance from his son. One poor decision leads to another. Marco’s leadership soon comes into question.

Even before the UN-Behemoth joint blockade at the Ring Gate in Season 4, a surprising turn of events that certainly came with a risk of sending the wrong message to Belters and certain OPA factions, Marco already was fanatically vengeful toward Earthers and Martians. Since then, Marco’s obsession with revenge has intensified as much as his power and authority over the rebellious Belters. In fact, revenge is his only driving force to where detaching himself from family (Naomi and Filip) is a small price to pay to establish dominance in the entire Solar System.

He is a charismatic rebel, but it turns out that charisma alone is far from a sufficient trait to be a leader of a large fleet. The way he treats his son, Filip, is no different from the way he handles his subordinates – shifting abruptly between harsh discipline and high praise. This doesn’t say that Filip isn’t undeserving of rough punishments, either. His poor-decision making abilities and unbound hedonistic approach to life make him volatile at best and a liability at worst in the upcoming decisive battle against, well, everyone, including his own mother Naomi. A lot of Marco’s actions this season have made him at odds with Filip; something they can’t afford during a critical time when an epic conclusion of their revenge-driven exploits is about to go down.

Speaking of revenge, Camina Drummer is hellbent on putting an end to Marco’s maniacal reign over the Free Navy. Like Naomi, Drummer also is a Belter – one of the few brave and powerful enough to stand up to the rogue leader. Her betrayal to the Free Navy at the end of the previous season means there’s now a hefty price for her head, and the number just keeps increasing as she defeats and kills more Free Navy soldiers at every turn. This somehow makes Drummer a highly valuable part of the alliance against Marco.

We think you should really look beyond the typical overarching “good vs. evil” plot line to see the subtle references to human nature in The Expanse. Underneath all the impressive visual effects and hard science, it all comes down to humanity’s tendency to engage in practices of tribalism, prejudice, and violence. Despite everything, The Expanse offers a glaring testament that we’re still an admirable species, with all the attributes that make us all survivors. Yes, we are capable of terrible, heinous acts, but then again, kindness and bravery are much more common traits.

Do you find Season 6 a satisfying conclusion to the TV series? Is there a certain characteristic you admire in Marco Inaros? We’d love to hear from you.

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