The Expanse S3E13 'Abaddon's Gate' - AMAZING! FIRST TIME WATCHING - REACTION

[@rodentnolastname6612]

Ive been waiting 3 seasons to tell this joke. Remember back when Diogo's uncle tossed him out the airlock to drift in space? He was just hoping to catch a lift. 😀

[@WarpReactor]

HaHa Worth the wait! Thank you for the laugh and for watching, my friend!

[@IamMeHere2See]

Okay, that's pretty good.

[@wtimmins]

OMFG hahahaha

[@jed70]

Now that is funny!

[@PHDiaz-vv7yo]

I’m so using that!!! 😂

[@garethneller8239]

When Amos tells Anna, "im not going to let anyone hurt you" she became the safest person on the ship😂

[@Yesquire0]

It took three seasons to set up, so it was expected to be a great finale, but, IMHO, it turned out to be the greatest hour of television ever created by mankind, any era, any genre.

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Takes them a little bit to get things running again in S4, but not too long.

[@Yesquire0]

@@Justanotherconsumer I've mulled this over a lot and concluded that many SF series screw the pooch when they think each new season must introduce more evil and super-powerful enemies to be defeated in increasingly more improbable ways by the heroes. What's at stake keeps getting enlarged, too. One season ends with the hereos saving the galaxy. Next seaon, they save the universe. Next season, they save the multiverse. After that, we get time travel and they save every time-line across all universes. I've become copacetic about s.4. and think it was the right way to go.

[@TheDanEdwards]

Another shout out to Clinton Shorter. The music at the reveal of the gates is perfect for the job.

[@Mannchini]

"It was astounding, Bobbie thought, how quickly humanity could go from 'what unimaginable intelligence fashioned these soul-wrenching wonders' to 'well, since they're not here, can I have their stuff?'"

[@genghispecan]

"...they pushed ALL the buttons in the elevator." LOL. Great summation.

[@Markus117d]

Except elevators only open at one place at a time, To me it's more like the concourse of a train station with lots of platforms or an airport with hundreds of terminals..

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Yelena disapproves of this comment.

[@wtimmins]

I absolutely fucking LOVE how this show does record scratch moment after record scratch moment. I've seen it a bunch of times, but when all the gates open up it gives me CHILLS. SUCH a wonderfully written build up and pay off.

[@Justanotherconsumer]

There’s another episode like that coming up. It’ll be a while, but that record player is gonna fall apart.

[@3Kings_Industries]

@@wtimmins the power of a Well written, fully thought out story. The kind you find in TTRPGs.

[@L1VE3V1L]

The score in particular delivers half the impact

[@josephkrengel]

"Well everyone leaves unfinished business. That's what dying is.", might be my favourite line of dialogue in any tv show or movie, ever.

[@anthonydakhin4225]

"Hate is a burden. You don't have to carry it with you" is one of my favorite lines of the entire series. Also "Mercy of gods" is awesome

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Anna and Drummer have the best one liners in the show. Fred’s got some good ones too.

[@jamesholland5761]

Amos talking to Anna " I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. " 😭❤

[@wtimmins]

I tear up every time. Wes Chatham just eats that role.

[@L1VE3V1L]

Drummer has been my phone wallpaper for about 6 years now. Something about her diminutive stature with a terrifying fierceness and she sells it. You would follow someone like that to the death. One of the best characters I've ever seen.

[@menolikey_]

Nice. Bobbie has been my desktop wallpaper for years.

[@L1VE3V1L]

@@menolikey_ yeah, Drummer really connected with me as a character. Of course the show is chock full of incredible characters and Amos is a supremely close second, but Drummer is just so badass, defiant and above all, honest.

[@nokta7373]

It's so funny if you think Cara Gee is the exact opposite in real life, lighthearted and bubbly. Tells you a lot how good an actress she is the fact she can sell you Drummer so well.

[@kirkdarling4120]

@@nokta7373 Everyone uses "bubbly" to describe Cara Gee.

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Beltalowda!

[@silafuyang8675]

First three seasons raise the bar so high that even Amazon can't deliver. 1-3 are the best.

[@eriope]

I'm a fan of Steven's portrayal of Holden, his performance and his character are often overlooked as The Expanse has so many distinctive characters and so many great actors. Everybody's talking how amazing Amos or Drummer is, but Holden is on my list of favourite characters too and Steven Strait is really great as Holden IMO, he also has a very good chemistry with I guess everybody. Also, from what I've read and heard he is a decent guy guy irl so that's nice.

[@hoos3014]

Holden is the axle that holds all of the spokes of the wheel together.

[@jasondolph2785]

He is also arguably the most stereotypical character in the show that doesn't avert its own tropes constantly, which makes his acting stand out less. His facial acting in particular is astounding.

[@mahelaniarektbb]

I feel like I've made the same comment on the last few reactions, but damn I love watching this man watch The Expanse.

[@PHDiaz-vv7yo]

I say this for every reactor for the end of season 3. Imagine that this is the series finale. And Amazon didn’t renew it. How incredible, promising and fcukin frustrating to end it like that with all those worlds. Can’t wait for you to read all 9 books and the novellas

[@huro1845]

That line of Ashoford's "the station killed thousands without reason" has always bugged me. A stupid Martian threw a grenade without reason inside an alien station and damaged it! 🤦‍♀️

[@ZakhadWOW]

we as viewers have a better understanding, but given Ashford's bloody background, his blindered focus, filtered thru his rage, means thinking critically aint exactly gonna happen.

[@thernymous]

I hope most people would consider killing thousands (or 'just' hundreds) over one person throwing a grenade literally overkill.

[@TheNowerianRaven]

Other ships can turn their reactors off, but Behemoth can either fire and try to destroy the ring or turn of the reactor, they dont have the time to do both because of the station charging up.

[@rodentnolastname6612]

In the books, Diogo is barely mentioned once. They decided to smear him across the series to show the gradual radicalization of a Belter youth. 🤟😎

[@Justanotherconsumer]

Not as smeared as Maneo! Jung! Espi…

[@ponfed]

​@@Justanotherconsumer😂😂😂😂

[@vidarCRC]

As I say to everyone at this point: Welcome to The Expanse!

[@oleksandr_ins]

"The planet is fine. The people are fucked" One of my favorite Carlin`s quotes ever

[@rauminen4167]

Yep. He's right too.

[@nitanor6475]

One thing to know at this point in the expanse history: the show runners were not at all sure if they would be continuing. So, they needed to structured the ending of this season to be close to the series if it needed to be. That affects some of the details chosen in this episode.

[@HeliRy]

In the Book of Revelation, Abaddon is described as "Destroyer.” The angel of the Abyss, and the king of a plague of locusts. Just gonna let ya mull that over for a while…

[@JJSmith1981]

The thing I like about this episode is when Drummer and Holden are in the lift shaft and they stop, so that Drummer can take on Diogo. Drummer tells Holden to tell Naomi, that she is sorry that she tried to kill him. That's nice right? 'Tell her I said that.' You take a moment and then realise, she has not said sorry. She has said that she want's Naomi to think that she is sorry because she knows that Holden matters to Naomi so it matters to her. Damn cold, and right to Holden's face.

[@josephdocis1488]

Congrats on making it to the end of Act 1 of The Expanse! It's almost crazy to think about how everything in the first 3 books/seasons is about opening the ring gates. It's even crazier to realize this is only the beginning! I still hold out hope they'll put the final 3 books to screen, even though anyone who has read those knows how difficult that would likely be.

[@menolikey_]

I'd be happy to wait some time I'd they do it.

[@RaoulKunz1]

@@josephdocis1488Maybe if we wait a bit and let the show gather fans... ah well... but it would be awesome to see... so many potential book spoilers though so I'll shut up.😅 Best regards Raoul G. Kunz

[@DrEsky914]

At this point I have supported close to 100 reactors just to continue to elevate this show in the hearts and minds of Alcon and those in charge of our hopes! It is so amazing that one can continue to watch it over and over and never get tired of it!! Great reaction as always! Thanks Clarissa for saving ALL of humanity! For once you out shone your sister Julie!

[@nrran6835]

I’ve listened to the books more than I can count now and man. I’d KILL to see that last arc on tv. The entire series feels like a prologue once it gets insane, like they wanted to tell that story and had to go backwards to explain how we got there in the first place. I know they didn’t, but good lord Tiamats Wrath is an insane book. Up there with Storm of Swords imo for biggest highlight off a series.

[@DrEsky914]

@@nrran6835 Yeah, I have to say Tiamat's Wrath is my favorite book. I cannot say why for spoilers but it is truly insane and amazing and detailed and....Fantastic book.

[@nokta7373]

This was supposed to be the final episode of The Expanse. Can you imagine that? How could you cancel this masterpiece? Thank Bezos Amazon picked it up and gave us 3 more seasons. I still hope the final 3 books will get their own show at some point. A man can hope.

[@3Kings_Industries]

Nice call back to ep.01, " Should have brought more light."

[@ethal1222]

I was hooked on this series from the very first episode. But the last few episodes of season 3 starting with "Delta V" absolutely blew me away.

[@josephkrengel]

Regarding why Ashford is unwilling to try shutting down the reactor; there's a bit of a ticking clock that the show doesn't do an ideal job of setting up. The Station is charging up and they know when it's going to be done; and what they get at but don't say explicitly is that they don't have time to do the shutdown, see if it works, and then fire the laser if it doesn't.

[@MattNolanCustom]

Seemed pretty clear to me

[@josephkrengel]

@@MattNolanCustom Mazel tov. Not everyone picked up on it. I guess they're not as smart as you are.

[@MattNolanCustom]

@@josephkrengel the UN scientist gave us a 7 hour countdown on the ring station charging up, and Ashford hammers home the urgency repeatedly and with increasing ferocity. I don't think so much that I'm smart, just saying I don't think the show did a poor job of conveying the time limit. To be fair though, it would seem that Mr Warp here hadn't quite grasped it, so there must be merit to your observation. The show gives us all different things.

[@ChipMatthews]

I feel sorry for all the people who bounced off the first season and missed out on this remarkable season of television. Incredible writing and pacing and maybe the best season finale of all time. Had the series ended here it would have been a fine place to leave it.

[@richstuart6816]

I've not long finished reading the third book, Abaddon's Gate and although this is one of the best seasons of the show, I now think it was a bit of a shame that book 3 had to compressed into just seven episodes. The book gives you much more of an insight into Clarissa's guilt and internal struggle over the crimes she's committed.

[@GhostRunner404]

Such an amazing season finale! Definitely a favorite season ever of mine! Love the writing, the characters, all of it!

[@3Kings_Industries]

Season 4 of the Expanse was pretty enjoyable too. I believe season 4 marks when Amazon production took over.

[@IamMeHere2See]

Fourth book is considered the black sheep of the series, but I really like it.

[@alexanderpauli2835]

@@IamMeHere2See I gulped down Cibola Burn in two days and felt perfectly entertained. The book I took the longest with and is the weakest of the complete series in my opinion, is Babylon's Ashes. Heard many agree to that. But you are right: There are also many, who like CB at least.

[@davebcf1231]

Amazon had nothing to do with production. Alcon Entertainment owns the IP and produced the show for the entire run.

[@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t]

@@davebcf1231 Apart from funding and distributing the show after syfy canned it at the end of season 3.

[@IamMeHere2See]

@@alexanderpauli2835 Really? Babylon's ashes is a climax of a major ongoing story arc. I'm surprised people consider it the weakest. Tbh, I don't think I have a weakest or strongest. I think the series is equally solid from beginning to end.

[@kirkdarling4120]

It's so curiously astounding that Wes Chathan got a part in Star Wars: Ahsoka that requires him to wear a Stormtrooper helmet that totally obscures his face and voice. Hopefully, the next season will see them use his talents. But if not, it's good that he's paying his mortgage.

[@rauminen4167]

Oh, I didn't know that. What a waste. Can't help but think it's an intentional insult.

[@Justanotherconsumer]

@@rauminen4167 probably not, it’s hard to jump from smaller projects like The Expanse to the big AAA productions. Gets him a foot in the door, lets him prove what he can do, and if he gets things right he gets a role in the MCU or something. Probably good money either way.

[@minkalampinen9519]

And this is the Expanse! The greatest story told since Babylon 5! This episode is everything! And we're not done :D

[@ZakhadWOW]

And that is no accident.. It took the brilliance of the universe and story woven by J.Michael Straczynski to serve as a blueprint showing how it could be done, if enough care and focus was put into it. Also Ty/Daniel are huge B5 fans.

The Expanse just got WAY bigger. The challenge now is to predict how this amazing development will affect the various factions in the sol system. You know The Expanse is not going to make it easy.

[@3Kings_Industries]

Ty & That Guy is a Ton of fun !!!

[@rodentnolastname6612]

The earlier episode title "Dandelion Sky" was almost the title of book 3. In the book, within the ring space, all the other rings were present, just inert. Its described as like standing in the middle of a dandelion puffball looking out. They decided to stay with the mythic references for the book titles but was able to reuse the phrase for the episode title, even though the context was lost.

[@Mannchini]

@@rodentnolastname6612 not lost on us book readers though 🤤 If I recall, in the book The Investigator is pretty open with his intentions to open them. I think from a TV aspect it was a good choice not to have all the inert rings there as it helps with the mystery and gives you a good reveal to end the season on.

[@blackpaw29]

Good call on how Ren taught Clarissa to reverse the buffer for a cascading shutdown, lots of people miss that.

[@3Kings_Industries]

Haha, it was The Last Ride of Deogo. Just not how you thought. LoL

[@samronin1141]

I couldn't wait for this episode so actually began rewatching the series for this season end, next I knew I am early into S5. Needing to spend a week in hospital also helped give me more time to kill. but I still forgot how easily the series leands itself to "just one more episode" watching.

[@stevemartegani]

Nice, glad you will check out the Ty & That guy podcast! The episode recaps are very much worth it.

[@Lyrazel]

This has got to be one of the best episodes of television to ever be made. Also, your favourite Drummer episode, so far! ;)

[@seeflatbesharp]

Perceptive job noticing Clarissa caused the cascade power error that Ren told her about! Looking forward to seeing your view of the next 3 seasons!

[@jamesholland5761]

We came so far out into the darkness, why couldn't we have brought more light....

[@Zeno3111]

The thing with the reactor is that they might not be able to spool it back up to full power to try the laser because it was looking like the station is almost fully charged and firing. So it was either fight to try to protect their home or listen to a crazy sounding man whos seeing ghosts and surrender and potentially have humanity be exterminated

[@normalmighty]

This last half season diverted a fair bit from the books in order to hit the end of the third book for the season finale (SyFy dropped the show so they were trying to make a season finale that could work as a series finale if nobody picked them up), but I love what they did with the changes. They merged together a bunch of characters and changed a bunch of motivations for the conflict in these episodes, but the result was a situation where both sides have a reasonable perspective, and everyone is convinced their side needs to win in order to save humanity.

[@Mannchini]

@@normalmighty Show Ashford > Book Ashford

[@alexanderpauli2835]

So, now imagine, this would be the end of the TV series, like all the fans thought for a while. What do you think about this episode as a series finale?

[@ZakhadWOW]

it was an excellent incentive to start reading the books...

[@ohdarn693]

If someone could invent a pill I could take so that I could forget everything I know about the Expanse and watch it all over again for the first time, you'd make millions. I'm talking to you science guys. Git 'er done.

[@RaoulKunz1]

Back when I read Abaddon's Gate I felt (and still feel) that *this* is the point that the title actually starts to*truly* make sense. But humans stay homo sapiens... *That's* why its truly Lovecraftian... just like HPL's original works there are eldritch things beyond comprehension... but humans are bastards who just got more stuff to *be* a-holes... Best regards Raoul G. Kunz

[@ZakhadWOW]

All the titles are quite relevant. Leviathan Wakes - refers generally to the protomolecule fully activating, and specifically "Leviathan" applies to an entire asteroid suddenly become "awake" with some form of consciousness or intelligence, and becomes MOBILE. Caliban's War - Caliban being a half human half demon creature from a Shakespeare play, and the war between Mars and UN becoming all about who will control that very monster. Abaddon's Gate - you basically touched on this, but more clearly, by opening the gates the station just unleashed the most malevolent plague of locusts humanity will ever see. =================End of First Trilogy, Sol system bound Cibola Burn - I wont reveal details about the story, but Holden referenced a Gold Rush... what happened in the Americas when the Spanish Conquistadors hit Mexico, Peru, etc? Bloody Gold Fever. Columbus all but wiped out the native Arawak population on Hispaniola in his mad search for gold. The 7 cities of Cibola was a legend about cities of gold up in the Northern area of what is now New Mexico, and Coronado spent many years searching for them. Nemesis Games - you'll see Babylon's Ashes - read up on the history and fall of the civilization of Babylonia, and how it all happened. ================= End of Second Trilogy, Human Race no longer bound to one system. The last 3 books are yet another Trilogy, and if people ever want to know the general gist of what happens 30+ years into the future, they need to read them. We have no guarantee they'll ever make it to a screen, but there is serious investigation of the possibility some day, given the cumulative groundswell of popularity and demand that has resulted after the entire series was made available on Amazon, and everyone could stream it (and binge it).

[@jed70]

Wes is phenomenal.

[@sverebom7069]

Oh, nice, you've made it through the prologue 😎

[@3Kings_Industries]

Yeeeessss!! Been waiting for this drop !!!!

[@Shawn_M]

Somehow the expanse keeps managing to raise the stakes. From a bunch of ice haulers solving a mystery to mankind gaining access to the stars. The show had been officially cancelled by this point. I thought it was a great series ending but i also saw so many story telling opportunities beyond those rings

[@TheDanEdwards]

" I thought it was a great series ending "

[@MattNolanCustom]

Wonderful reaction as ever. And some nice hypotheses. Now a question. Could you have imagined at S1E1, heck even S1E10, that the show could get from there to here?

[@avsbes98]

9:25 That's probably one of the greatest and most universally true statements in the whole show. This quote is simply amazing

[@avsbes98]

And now, we're finally realizing what the series title is even referring to...

[@avsbes98]

Also, as other people have also already stated, i really hope that, when you're finished with the Expanse, you're gonna take a look at one of the series that inspired it: Babylon 5.

[@Markus117d]

You asked what has Ashford's group got to lose by trying the power down, Well the problem is there's not enough time to try both options, If they power down they'll not have enough time to recharge the laser before the ring station fires..

[@SciFiCatGuy]

So, in book #8(?) we learn of a system named "Persephone." It is for this reason I have created my head cannon that Firefly is the sequel to The Expanse. 😉

[@drafaustMD]

Just finished Mercy of God's yesterday I was stoked to see you holding a copy!! Hope you'll share your thoughts with us as you read!

[@Metro498]

When I saw this episode and the rings appeared, my thought is the advance level civilizations are being explored by the writers. We are 0.75 level and the ring builders are at 2 level.

[@alm2587]

rip diogo o7 whenever i watch a reaction to this episode all the comments act like he’s the devil incarnate and the worst character in the show but i always liked seeing him and how far he’s come

[@alm2587]

like yeah some would say he’s a bit of an annoying prick but that is neither uncommon nor some heinous crime

[@L1VE3V1L]

also an interesting note: Drummer was only supposed to be in a few episodes but Cara Gee, who plays Drummer, adopted the belter language and performed so well onscreen, they wrote her in for the rest of the show. I'm glad too. In the books, Drummer is made up of three separate characters (drummer, Michio Pa and Bull). They amalgamated them into one and I'm happy they did. She's one of the biggest assets of the show. Also, ashford in the books is a bit of a stereotypical asshole moustache twirling villain and the show did him way better. He's not a bad guy, he just has a different opinion on the situation which leads to amazing depth when looking at this fight from both sides. I think the show is a better honed version of the books. Almost sacrilegious to say but the show is just so well done.

[@ZakhadWOW]

fun fact for those in the know: Cara Gee and Keon Alexander are like besties for a LOOONNNGG time. The way they work together is just incredible.

[@TenSevenTN]

This was the last episode before the show was cancelled by SyFy. Imagine thinking this was the last episode you were going to get. The #savetheexpanse campaign was massive.

[@DrEsky914]

We knew by the airing of E8 that the show was saved! Best memorial day weekend ever for me. But of course the showrunner and other production members thought it might be the end when they put the show together. The show was saved between E6 and E8 (only two weeks!) and in that time there was a move to start striking the sets etc but we never gave up hope! It was a LONG wait though for S4. But of course well worth it.

[@madux42]

_""This was the last episode before the show was cancelled_ The show was cancelled mid season. By the time this episode aired, it was already clear it was saved for several weeks. It happened around episode 8 iirc.

[@KevinLyda]

Expanse season/book finales are great because they wrap everything up and then, in the last few seconds, they pull on some threads. If Holden hasn't figured out by now that Drummer and Naomi love each other, he'll never figure it out!

[@thomashiggins9320]

Naomi cares about Drummer deeply, but doesn't love her romantically. However, Drummer's love for Naomi is both romantic, and nigh-absolute.

[@spud69g]

EXPANSE DAY! ✊🤘

[@TheSurlySoutherner]

As many have said in the past, it's scary how close this came to being the end of the show! Season 3 is definitely up there as possibly being the best season! That's not to say there ain't a load of epic shit ands tory telling coming though! Also this season introduced us to Monica, and she's a real guilty pleasure of mine! Hahaha

[@comanchy]

Every season of this show is amazing but seasons 3 & 4 are my favorite!

[@ZakhadWOW]

given the 2 billion year time frame involved, it would be HIGHLY unlikely that any remnant of that civilization would remain aside from physical evidence. I would never even consider that if presented with the question.

[@pssthpok]

This show affects you, doesn't it? I have never resonated more strongly with a show before or after this one. And what a finale eh? Amazing.

[@scope40k]

"Everyone dies with unfinished busyness" -- yeah, just like that Holden's girlfriend in S01E01. There was something she wanted to say to Holden, and we are never going to know what.

[@Yesquire0]

At the time this episode first aired, I was so gobsmacked by the totally unexpected (for me, at least) opening of the 1300 rings that I let the denouement slide. But upon later replaying it in my mind, a developed some concerns about it. We were advised that it took a goodly number of months to travel from the inner planets to the vicinity of Uranus to where the blue goo constructed The Ring. I think it is a fair assumption that rings won't operate properly if constructed too close to a system's sun, and all the rings, once you travel through them from station-space to the other side, will leave you at least six months away from the goldilocks zone where the the habitable planets reside. So, how did anybody immediately ascertain that all 1300 systems had habitable planets? Maybe some shots were left on the cutting rooom floor to squeeze the show into the alloted amount of episode space, but this show was so excellent at exposition that being asked to just accept something so major to the plot sort of sticks out like a sore thumb, IMHO.

[@xaqbarnitz4937]

Mr. Tossbottle I will become a patron for the opertunity to play the expanse rpg with you. I have the books and am a fan of your dm style at least from the live plays.

[@3Kings_Industries]

Wooo, TTRPG !!!

[@jaiverdeorta1295]

Hard to beleive but only after 3 full seasons do we get to hummanity reaching a true way to expand into the cosmos. Making the series title take a new meaning

[@menolikey_]

I'm always saying "here we go" but... here we goooo! And i think the rpg just changed scope after this episode.

[@billross7245]

I think the loss of Ashford's daughter is at the core of his irrational decisions.

[@kirkdarling4120]

His decisions aren't irrational, though. Believing that Holden is seeing a ghost is irrational.

[@puckhockey4733]

If this series wasn't sci-fi a lot more people would probably have appreciated the drama in it. Their loss, I'm afraid. One of the best TV shows ever produced, not just in the sci-fi genre.

[@liambury529]

Now I can share something about the TRPG that would have been a spoiler before. One of the misc books has about 200 worlds and their descriptions as settings for roleplaying and exploration. I've been dying to get my hands on it

[@tealscott10]

Mercy of Gods is an entirely different thing. It is much slower pacing because while it's building the world it is also dealing with infighting between academics even before the 'event' Its frankly kinda depressing.

[@davidbergfors6820]

Yeah, what was that in the end... 1300 systems to discover, may I welcome you to the REAL Expanse!! this marks the end of the 3rd book, and the run on network television. they did so because they had a feeling the network wasn't going to continue with the show, and they didn't. However, even before the sets had been torn down, Amazon had saved the show and picked it up.

[@helldvan]

Well... Miller is your Alexa :P I mean maybe Investigator is not that talkative but for real, noone said that it will be eager to tell us everything ^^

[@kirkdarling4120]

So, there are 1300 _habitable_ worlds. I don't know if the Protomolecule Builders did any terraforming, but if those are all human-habitable worlds, that indicates the Builders evolved on (or at least enjoyed) the same basic environment as Earth life. That wouldn't mean they were humanoid (Earth does have so many non-humanoid life forms), but it would be interesting. Because they did write this episode to serve as a series finale, don't be surprised if they seem to slightly retcon a couple of the ending moments to continue the story next season. We haven't figured out the language of whales yet, so I believe if we ever did come across the remnants of a totally alien species advanced enough to span star systems, we would _never_ figure out their technology...it would remain "magic" for at least as long as it takes us to trudge through the process of climbing the ladder ourselves.

[@thomashiggins9320]

Well, each system may have at least one habitable world, but the habitable worlds aren't the only worlds they have. They're full *solar systems* , most with multiple planets/asteroid belts/etc.

[@rakaydosdraj8405]

Book spoilers below: . . . The protomolecule builders were NOT from an earthlike world. They were from an ice moon, "slow cold life", who assimilated "hot fast life" which were first encountered in thermal vents. Exploring the stars, earthlike worlds had useful biology they could assimilate.

[@ZakhadWOW]

nothign said HUMAN* habitable specifically, just suitable for whatever form of life built the gates. The primary concept is that each is a star system with at least one planet in the goldilocks zone (liquid water, etc), but the chemistry of each planet could vary widely.. Humanity has no idea until it explores.

[@HectorLugo]

Mercy of Gods is okay to read now. It is not an Expanse novel.

[@IamMeHere2See]

Yeah, I'm 90% of the way through and agree it's not part of The Exapanse's narrative. (SPOILERS: I'm still not convinced it's not part of same universe.)

[@helldvan]

Ashford in a series is amazing character! Sadly he is much dimmer in books same as Drummer. And since youre planning to read them i will shut up now :P

[@deo44x]

I love expanse day

[@3Kings_Industries]

Ab-a-Dawn. 😂

[@ZakhadWOW]

as it is an ancient Hebrew word, the emphasis historically is not entirely clear. So it really doesnt matter where the stress goes

[@liambury529]

It's not mentioned explicitly, but if they shut down the reactors then potentially thousands might die. Between the people relying on the artificial gravity to heal and the air and water recycling systems, they need every ounce of power they can get. That's why in the last episode it was mentioned so many times that the grid was overloading.

[@Dendood]

You have a big heart in your chest. And a really sharp brain in your head.

[@IamMeHere2See]

I'm most of the way through "The Mercy of Gods," and I have thoughts. I would love to hear yours!

[@Ajonr]

Silly lad, never forget Naomi Nagata is a factor.

[@Markus117d]

True it could have been just ten years ago the ring civilization went down, but for me that begs the question, why did they not try again to get a gate in our system? To me it seems more likely the ring civilization has been dead for at least a few hundred million years, so they never had the time to realise the first protomolecule probe / von Neumann machine had failed.. 🤔

[@ZakhadWOW]

It is clarified if you're paying attention that Phoebe was sent 2+ billion years ago, and that is roughly around the same time that the PM Creators civilization was wiped out. Phoebe sat there unactivated until humans stumbled across it.

[@JPruinc]

I would be ok with a TTRPG experience in the Expanse verse.

[@liambury529]

Check out the lore books! They have hundreds of pages describing the worlds through the gates.

[@commandere2475]

Guess WHO finally got his Wifi back! Also I'm pretty sure the name Abbadon refers to a malevolent biblical entity from the book of revelation (aka the Apokalypse).

[@ZakhadWOW]

literally "The Angel of the Abyss, associated with a destructive swarm of Locusts. That is the specific reference here: humans swarming through the gates like said swarm

[@jendragon42]

Destruction, technically, rather than Death ;)

[@gravshark]

I have the Expanse TTRPG materials if you need them! And I might be down to play, where will you talk about it more? Want to make sure I'm keeping an eye out in the right places.

[@mepos6639]

The books make it clear what is going on by this point. You are so close with your speculation.

[@hawkmaster381]

Probably the wrong place to ask this, but why hasn't your Star Trek TOS -Trouble with Tribbles reaction/review not posted? It appeared once or twice (I saw the post) but vanished without a trace before I could watch it.

[@TheDanEdwards]

Took me some time, but I finally resolved that S3E13 should be looked upon as the *show's ending* , not just the season finale. What comes after this I think of as as sequel to the original show, and as is so common with sequels it does not live up to the original show.

[@ZakhadWOW]

when you break your reductionist thinking, and remember that the authors created each book in a specific narrative style, you get past this disrespectful attitude.

[@madux42]

Couldn't disagree more...

[@Yanchi_YT]

Why are all your videos lately in 720p only?

[@LE-hq6ej]

Sorry to be pedantic, it really makes no difference, but it's driving me crazy. Maneo. Not Neo. That is all.

[@MattNolanCustom]

Didn't his wayward girlfriend use Neo as a diminutive form of Maneo though?

[@LE-hq6ej]

@@MattNolanCustom I don't remember that, but if she did she pronounced it "Nayo" not "Neeo". That hard E would sound really weird in their dialect.

[@MattNolanCustom]

@@LE-hq6ej yes, IIRC, she pronounced it Nayo. But then how many of us pronounce Paris as Paree?

[@LE-hq6ej]

@@MattNolanCustom Place names often have foreign language equivalents. Personal names don't usually, unless the person themself has assimilated the alternate culture, and often not even then.

[@MattNolanCustom]

@@LE-hq6ej I've known a Regis who everyone called Reejiss and I called him Raysjees, a Jörn everyone called Yorn and I called Yern, a Xavier everyone called Zayvee-er and I called Havee-ay, a Michael everyone called Mike-ull and I called Mischael, and a Nicolas that everyone called Nick-o-lass, and I called Nee-co-la. It's pretty common in my experience for non-Anglophones to just give up and let people call them whatever.

[@Icypenguigo]

You may think you can understand the protomolecule builders, but they are so much bigger and stranger than the average human could comprehend. If they were still around, we might not even recognize them as what we would traditionally call a "civilization". And we would almost certainly be beneath their notice.

[@ZakhadWOW]

and frankly the specific revelation of their actual physical nature isnt revealed until the last 3 books of the series. Nothing will ever be revealed on the TV show.