Endgame in the System: Strategic Movements and Final Confrontations in The Expanse Season 6
Picking up right after the devastating asteroid impacts on Earth and the onset of Marco Inaros’ rise to power, The Expanse Season 6 begins with the prospect of a system-wide Free Navy Conflict. The desolate image of Earth engulfed in nuclear winter that will ultimately lead to climate catastrophe and worldwide food shortages brings nothing but joy to Marco Inaros and his Free Navy, who see it all as justice for the centuries-long oppressed Belters.
But Marco might have acted with little calculation, because right now Avasarala is back as the Secretary General of the UN, and she will do everything she can to work with the Martians and the Rocinante to strike back. It’s him against everyone else.
Rocinante’s Battle Plan
While the rest of the joint UNN-MCRN-OPA fleet, known as the Consolidated Fleet Offensive, are going after Marco and preparing for a potential direct clash, the Rocinante is on a secret mission to take over the rail guns mounted on the Ring Station by the Free Navy. A big part of the plan is to use the ice hauler Giambattista to fire thousands of container pods – some of which carry assault teams – to absorb much of the damage caused by the rail guns. The tactic entirely relies on “safety-in-numbers” in the sense that with so many pods flying toward the station, the guns won’t be able to hit them all. Luck is also at play here, because the plan will only work if the pods that carry the soldiers can land safely.
It’s a risky tactic with a lot of casualties, but of course, Bobbie and Amos (along with a handful of soldiers) make it to the station pretty much intact. After some bleak action sequences, Bobbie destroys the power generators and disarm the rail guns. But that’s only part one of the plan; the next part is to get out of there alive, as a much larger Free Navy fleet is coming with all the fury and vengeance in the entire Solar System.
Camina Drummer’s Assault
Not every Belter joins the Free Navy. Case in point: Camina Drummer, who has her own reason to hunt down and kill Marco. The all-out battle against the Free Navy begins with an assault aimed at the UNN, MCRN, and Drummer’s faction. Leading her own OPA faction in the Consolidated Fleet Offensive, Drummer’s fleet suffers many casualties.
In the confusion of it all, her forces are up against what they think is just another one of Marco’s freighters. As the space battle continues, Drummer comes to realize that her forces are fighting Marco himself in a disguised ship. But determination alone is not enough. As much as she wants to kill Marco, there’s no denying that she’s not exactly a match for him. Approaching the end of the battle, her faction is scattered all over the space and her ship takes a major blow. Drummer is injured, but not down. In a “last resort” move, she plans to ram Marco’s ship and ensure a mutual destruction, but Liang Walker – an ally who shares a resentment toward Marco – beats her to it. Walker deals some damage to the ship, but Marco survives and actually escapes to the Ring.
The Ring to the Rescue
Marco’s original plan is to take control of the Ring Network, establishing himself and the Free Navy as the rulers of the Solar System and the worlds beyond. If Earth wants to look for resources on any of the exoplanets, he gets to decide which one and how much Earth has to pay; if the Martians want to do more explorations, they have to deal with him as well.
Now that the rail guns have been disarmed, Marco makes one last attempt to go to the Ring station and hopes for the best. There isn’t much he can do now but to fix the power generators. Taking no chances, Naomi proposes an idea about using the Ring to destroy Marco once and for all. Still remember Giambattista? Naomi plans to hit the ice hauler with all the torpedoes they have, hoping to wake up the ring entities. It works, and when the entities are indeed awakened, Marco and his freighter get consumed almost immediately. And the Free Navy Conflict is practically over.
What Now?
The Consolidated Fleet Offensive comes out of the Free Navy Conflict victorious, with yet another conflict lies ahead in plain sight. What to do with Medina Station now? Drummer wants to control the station, and by extension the ring gate, as a measure to give Belters a bargaining power in the Solar System dominated by Earthers and Martians. This plan isn’t that much different from Marco’s, but there is confidence that Drummer will not abuse such an enormous authority. Both the UN and MCR want none of it, but eventually all parties come to a compromise that Holden should be in charge of the station as President of the Transport Union. He accepts the offer with one condition, Drummer has to be the Vice President. And of course, Holden’s first act is to resign and make Drummer the President.
Without Marco and the Free Navy, do you think Camina Drummer (or any other Belter for that matter), really has a shot at being the President of the Transport Union? Does Holden make the right decision to resign and give the position to Drummer? We’d love to hear from you.
We think from the very beginning of the Free Navy Conflict, Marco is fighting a war he cannot win. There’s no easy path to victory, considering the fact that the battle puts him on the receiving end of a massive alliance between Earth, Mars, the Rocinante, and Drummer. The Free Navy might be powerful, but it’s merely wishful thinking to win a war when the fight is against all the major forces in the system. As for the series itself, it has a generally satisfying ending, although there are still many unanswered questions. This shouldn’t come as a surprise because the source material (The Expanse novel series) has nine books, while the show is only given a chance to work on the first six.
Other Things You Might Want to Know
Other popular books by Daniel Abraham:
Stand-alone novels:
Hunter’s Run (with Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin, 2007)
The Incident of the Harrowmoor Dogs (Novella, 2013)
The Long Price Quartet series:
A Shadow in Summer (March 7, 2006)
A Betrayal in Winter (2007)
An Autumn War (2008)
The Price of Spring (2009)
Black Sun’s Daughter series (as M. L. N. Hanover):
Unclean Spirits (2008)
Darker Angels (2009)
Vicious Grace (2010)
Killing Rites (2011)
Graveyard Child (2013)
The Dagger and the Coin series:
The Dragon’s Path (April 7, 2011)
The King’s Blood (2012)
The Tyrant’s Law (2013)
The Widow’s House (2014)
The Spider’s War (2016)
What is “The Expanse: One Ship?”
It’s a series of webisodes that doesn’t actually offer any continuation to the main storyline after Season 6. However, it introduces a bit more detail about certain characters to add some depth to the Season 6 plot.
