I have good news and bad news. The good news is, fan-favorite sci-fi series The Expanse is back. The bad news? The Expanse season six will be the series’ last outing when it launches on Amazon Prime Video.
One of the best streaming shows around, The Expanse has traveled a rocky road to get here. Canceled midway through its run at Syfy, it has since been picked up by Amazon.
Now, with the release of the final book in the series it’s based on just around the corner, The Expanse returns. Below, you’ll find everything we know about The Expanse’s final season.
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The Expanse story recap: Where we left off
The Expanse, based on the novel series by James S.A. Corey, takes place in a future when humans have colonized the entire Solar System. Throughout, we follow various characters belonging to different factions. These include a police officer, politicians, soldiers, and people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Throughout the past five seasons, the series has included escalating hostilities between Mars and Earth, as well as colonies of humans living on the asteroid belt and various moons.
The main characters of the series are the crew of the Martian gunship the Rocinante and the United Nations politician Chrisjen Avasarala and her entourage.
The events of early seasons have led to a huge expansion of habitable worlds, with new political factions forming. When season five ended, a growing contingent of Belters — historically marginalized peoples — was rallying under the leadership of rebel leader Marco Inaros.
What is The Expanse season 6 about?
The pieces were scattered at the end of season five.
Major cities on Earth have been bombed, and alliances are broken. The season teaser suggests that Marco Inaros and his insurrection will take center stage. With that comes the story arc of his son Filip.
Filip’s mother is Naomi Nagata, one of the show’s heroes and a member of the crew of the Rocinante. Naomi fled from Marcos when Filip was still a boy and was reunited with her son as Marcos’s prisoner in season five. While Filip stands by his father, it’s clear that he’s conflicted. Naomi’s attempts to save her son and bring him to her side will almost certainly be included here.
A plot description from Amazon reads: “Marco Inaros and his Free Navy continue to launch devastating asteroid attacks on Earth and Mars. As the tensions of war and shared loss threaten to pull the crew of the Rocinante apart, Chrisjen Avasarala makes a bold move and sends former Martian Marine Bobbie Draper on a secret mission that could turn the tide of the conflict. Meanwhile, in the Belt, Drummer and what’s left of her family are on the run after betraying Marco. And on a distant planet beyond the Rings, a new power begins to rise.”
Where to watch The Expanse season 6
The Expanse season six premieres its first episode on December 10.
The season will roll out weekly on Fridays for six weeks, with the series finale streaming on January 14.
Leviathan Falls, the ninth and final book in the Expanse series, will launch on November 30. It’s not clear how much Leviathan Falls will inform The Expanse’s final season, but fans of both the books and series will have some time to finish up the novel before starting the season.
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The final season will be available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video globally in over 240 countries and territories.
This is the third season to stream exclusively at Amazon after the company picked up the rights to future seasons from Syfy, which cancelled The Expanse after its third season in 2018.
After a fan campaign that included crowdfunding, petitions, and flying a “#SaveTheExpanse” banner over Amazon Studios headquarters, Amazon picked it up, releasing season four in December of 2020.
Who’s involved?
The (surviving) main characters of The Expanse are all back. Cas Anvar, who has played a main character since season one, is not returning. Following a string of sexual misconduct allegations, he was removed from the show in season five, his character dying abruptly. This marks a departure from the novels, and it may mean his role in the narrative will be taken up by a new character, or else some story points will be changed.
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Among the returning cast are the following, along with their respective characters:
- Steven Strait as James Holden
- Dominque Tipper as Naomi Nagata
- Wes Chatham as Amos Burton
- Shohreh Aghdashloo as Chrisjen Avasarala
- Cara Gee as Camina Drummer
- Frankie Adams as Roberta ‘Bobbie’ W. Draper
- Nadine Nicole as Clarissa Mao
- Keon Alexander as Marco Inaros
- Jasai Chase Owens as Filip Inaros
Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby developed the series, including its final season. Executive producers are Naren Shankar, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Laura Lancaster, Sharon Hall, Sean Daniel, Jason Brown, Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck, and Dan Nowak.
Directors for season six are Breck Eisner, Jeff Woolnough, and Anya Adams.
The Expanse season six is produced by Alcon Television Group for Amazon Prime Video.
That’s what we know about The Expanse season six, heading to Amazon Prime Video in December.
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