The reunion of the Rocinante crew (minus one) and Avasarala’s return to power provided some measure of resolution in The Expanse season 5 finale, but even with season 6 being the final outing for the show, the story of the protomolecule is far from over. Showrunner Naren Shankar helped shed some light on those final moments, including the nature of Laconia and the status of several characters whose arcs are ongoing.
The Rogue Martians Bring the Protomolecule to Laconia
Let’s start at the end and work backwards. There was something dangerously familiar about the dark swirls that engulfed Sauveterre and Babbage as the Barkeith passed through the gate to Laconia. “These are the things that Holden’s been concerned about from the very beginning of the season,” explains Shankar. “When he goes to Fred’s office, and he says, ‘I think there are entities inside the Ring. I think they destroyed the protomolecule builders. I think we’re waking them up.’ And at the end of the season, sure enough, the audience sees he’s right. They have been woken up! They are taking an interest in our world in a very dangerous way.” “You’re not sure what is up there!” says Shankar. “You see a structure… the only reference point you have is what they discovered on Ilus back in season 4: that there are giant machines of some nature on these planets, that these are, to some extent, constructed planets built with the technology that built the Ring gates — the protomolecule technology.”
The Return of Cortazar
Cortazar, who has been the foremost expert in the protomolecule since The Expanse season 1, is talking about entering phase 3 construction, and it’s clear that the protomolecule sample for which the Martians traded their warships to Marco Inaros is a key element in activating the technology. Could we be looking at a Builder spaceship? And if so, what could the MCRN breakaway faction want with it? Although a minefield protects Laconia from anyone trying to pass through from Sol system, there’s nothing keeping the ex-Martians from returning with some serious firepower.
What’s Next For Drummer?
In the meantime, the fate of other characters might also benefit from some clarification. What of Drummer, for example, and the split within her family? “She commits them to a course of action that essentially destroys the thing she was trying to preserve, and there’s no way around it,” Shankar says. “She does it for a perfectly believable, sympathetic, ethical reason: she’s not going to kill people that she cares about no matter who commands it. But it comes at tremendous cost. That absolutely has ramifications.”
Is Filip Beginning to See Marco’s Manipulations?
Filip seems to have come to a realization about his father as well in The Expanse season 5’s final moments in which he loads a gun and speaks nonchalantly about Marco’s plans.
The Rocinante’s New Crew Member
While some families fracture, others grow. The Rocinante crew may have lost Alex, but they gained Clarissa. “Amos wanted to keep her on the ship, and Holden said yes — or Amos said Holden said yes,” Shankar says, laughing. “These are two souls who have constantly resorted to violence to solve their problems. The difference between them is that Amos feels nothing when he does it, and Clarissa feels everything. She feels the weight of every terrible thing that she has done, and Amos I think senses that and is trying, to the extent that he can, to give her a path for getting through the world.”
