The Political Conflict in The Expanse Season Six Explained

Today we offer you a comprehensive breakdown of the political conflict in Season Six of The Expanse and an analysis of the decisions made by the characters therein.
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[@Admiral-tz1sp]

I hope we can see a Laconia breakdown video soon.

[@krapto3467]

I hope we get to see the Laconia trilogy adapted into series this decade

[@ivanfreely6366]

GF would have to rely on the books for that which may not be the same should someone decides to adopt into a television series.

[@jeffjohnson1966]

Mi beratna! I was wondering what was taking you so long to make an Expanse video. But I understand your reasons from the last video. Please forgive my lack of commenting as of late, trying to run a business that has been decimated by employees catching covid, so 80 plus hour weeks. I have been watching silently from the shadows, I appreciate you that everything that you give to us with your breakdowns and your talent. Please keep up the good work.

[@GenerationFilms]

Jeff! Good to see ya!

[@jeffjohnson1966]

@@GenerationFilms good to be seen! Better to see your videos my guy.

[@FreemanicParacusia]

A big thing about Marco is that he’s good at *acting* like everything that happens is part of his plan. Mars and the UNN splitting their forces or not, he acts like it was exactly what he wanted to happen. In the book, Filip catches onto this when (after the Pella gets roundly trounced by the Rocinante), Marco acts like they were victorious because (SPOILERS) Fred Johnson had a stroke and died on board the Rocinante during the high-speed pursuit.

[@BannyRuns]

Best Expanse breakdowns around. I would love to see a breakdown of the final assault on the Free Navy and Ring Space

[@GenerationFilms]

I may do it if this vid does well😁🙏

[@MadJustin7]

I'll forgive the last season because I know they didn't have the budget that they needed for a truly epic season. You could tell that they narrowed the focus to the main characters and cut most of the side stories to make it fit. I've accepted that.

[@bjturon]

Final season was great, loved the last one too, for me the fairly realistic politics and geopolitics of 'The Expanse' has been a compelling feature of the books and series. Had to that good writting, great performances, and superb art design, a d you have a really great sci-fi franchise 🚀

[@EarhirX]

I find it scary how this show portrays so well the feelings of a good part of the population. At least in my country, you can see how a part of the population simply wants to see the other part suffer the same things they have, regardless of the long term effect this may have in the whole of the population, while a charismatic leader purportedly working for their sake clings on to power just for ego's sake.

[@00784865]

Heres a little fun fact: the Belter news network Nezavisle News translates to Independent News.

[@epenagon75]

One of your best videos, gratz!

[@gvh5721]

Always the best Expanse breakdowns. Now it is time to do a comparison between the books and the TV show...

[@SlightlySaturated]

I wonder how is the EMC charter crafted? Because it seemed that the whole EMC was under Avasarala's command. While the MCRN retained their autonomy like striking Medina on their own, the Martian Prime Minister is somehow very absent in the command chain.

[@soluslupus8138]

I actually enjoyed this video more than the 6th season ;) great video as always.

[@GenerationFilms]

Thx😁

[@500Prozac]

Fantastic video hope for more!

[@ewok40k]

Poor, poor Marco. He always thinks himself to be the man in charge. Hint: he isn't. Won't spoil the books but you can probably understand already now that renegade martian admiral has much better resource and technology base, plus fleet that is much better trained and disciplined crew. If Marco would even survive EMC retribution, he would have to face a far greater threat from Laconia... Hint: Laconia is ancient Greek for lands of certain city-state. Sparta.

[@Icypenguigo]

Oh please do more Expanse videos. They are basically what brought me to this channel. I'm sure you must have more you want to talk about. You can get far out into the weeds, and I will still watch! :)

[@laughingdogges]

American Ben is back with another one!

[@ganieraorison6192]

I feel as if the channel is not getting enough credit as all their explanations are really good and their not getting as much attention as before

[@sketchtherapy1218]

Damn it u made a video about this last week! I missed it brb. I gotta see it.

[@tracymetherell8744]

They did a surprisingly good job of including most of the elements from the 6th book into the narrative. This was something I feared they were not going to be able to do given the short season. The attack on the ring station by Bobbie and Amos was one of the most exciting scenes of the season. I feared they might not be able to squeeze that in. Don’t give up on further adaptation of the rest of The Expanse. Ty frank and Daniel Abraham explained that Alcon owns the rights. Naren Shankar (the show runner) says “I am working on it”. They all say that “this is a natural pause” in the story because of the time gap between books 6 and 7. Keep the faith everyone! They did do a fine job of setting up a further adaptation by including a build up to Laconia in season 6.

[@arthurbriand2175]

This season was good but far too rushed. The last episode especially is so rushed, the ending is so short you get dizzy.

[@robgraham5697]

Eh. I regard Inaros's defeat as inevitable. What he did to Ceres was just what I expected. Marco loved the conflict. But he hated the ruling. It takes more than a military and war victories to create a nation. It takes infrastructure, laws and justice. He couldn't be bothered with these things. Another thing that doomed him was his inability to see anyone who opposed him as human. Inners or Belters, if you weren't with him you weren't a person. It's why he fucked over Ceres the way he did. It's why his followers killed Fred Johnson, one of the Belt's strongest supporters, in cold blood. "Just a tourist." Avasarala regarded everyone as humans, worthy of respect, regardless of their place of birth. People were opponents, not enemies. Except maybe for Marcos. As an aside, Marcos along with too many other people believe that the deaths of their enemies somehow balances the scale. It doesn't. Bodies only pile up on one side of the scale. The more bodies that pile on it the more unbalanced it becomes.

[@kidgforce1]

Like Robert Baratheon, Marco Inaros was a warrior, but not a ruler

[@Jamnexec]

Can't help but draw a parallel line between Inaros and Putin

[@JohnKoenig-db8lk]

Hey, look! It's Admiral Chain-smoker!

[@estherstrek4796]

My 🪙 🪙: There was one point I couldn't agree with, the primary reason Holden disarmed the bomb was he couldn't be that person.... theeeee person who killed Naomi's Filip. He was surprised to actually see Filip (in the book and series) [well played Marco], and Filip had Naomi written all over his face. He wouldn't choke again, but he couldn't do it that time.

[@benwilson1088]

We don't deserve Shohreh Aghdashloo. Remember her from House. Not falling until Constantinople.

[@aliensounddigital8729]

Episode 6 was pretty good. The rest of the season was lackluster and a letdown.

[@iandaniel1748]

It can be extended story the aftermath to able to show and reference on how to solve problem . We can come out with a better solution and idea in the future 😉 . It's better to be prepared than sorry like now covid 19 pantene there are no rules strategy and tactics to implement turn it to law

[@Andrew-qq8fb]

i want Avasarala to femdom me.

[@honestlordcommissarbrighte7921]

Mhm

[@xBINARYGODx]

Not showing more of what happens to earth, and not getting IMO a satisfying comeuppance to Marco/bad-Martians is a total failure of the final season - the worst season in the entire series to boot (and no, I dont care if the books can be blamed). The third season is hard to top, but other than the first Amazon season, they are (the last two, Amazon-made) the worst even if without a great 3rd to compare to. Oh well, here is to hoping the future-stuff gets done too.

[@williamreffett5862]

I can't even watch this on Netflix or anything like that because it's apparently exclusive. Thanks so I don't really care about the expense it looks cool But I'm not gonna watch a video on it

[@krapto3467]

It's on Amazon Prime. Among the Greatest Sci Fis out there right now.

[@ivanfreely6366]

bit torrent

[@moejaime2654]

FARTED AT YOUR ANALYSIS ! OOPS OH NO THAT WAS A FULL ON SHART !!!

[@merlinwizard1000]

6th

[@calebtovar6408]

seventh view

[@FirstNameLastName-tg3rc]

0:30 And Avasarala, genius politician that she is, just let that happen without launching an immediate nuclear retaliation, setting the precedent of that you can attack Earth and not expect a retaliation in kind - that is an element of politics in The Expanse - Avasarala being a spineless coward. 1:13 If only that was shown - and it would be happening, and yet for some reason the show just pretended that your average Earther didn't really care that Avasarala refused to retaliate against Marco, played into his strategy of using civilian areas as military locations (she didn't even try to prevent him from using Ceres as a military location), and she also failed to get it through her head that inner ships annihilate Belter ships. 1:36 That is complete bullshit from the show. The show did nothing in the slightest to justify how Earth's numbers were whittled down, and then they somehow expect the audience to be dumb enough to believe that the entire UNN and MCRN navies can only defend their own planets, that they have so few ships that an offensive is out of the question, and then they expect no-one to question why they're building battleships when cruisers and frigates and destroyers can do a perfectly good job at annihilating Free Navy ships, and they allow more tactical flexibility than a battleship. 2:13 They were building battleships, and as to that, see the point at 1:36. 2:16 As shown in S6E6, one Free Navy light cruiser with the element of surprise (and going by one video a damaged stolen MCRN frigate) destroyed four belter ships and severely damaged five others. That is an illustration of just how poor Belter ships are in combat. And taking that into account, the Belt can help... how? 2:42 Is Avasarala part of a deep state? No. Is she placing the Belt over Earth by doing things like not launching an immediate nuclear retaliation to Marco's asteroid launches, building battleships, and keeping UNN forces around Earth? Yes. 3:05 And despite that, Avasarala holds back. 3:54 Marco used Ceres as a pawn, both to rally Belters to his cause and then to force a poor situation on Earth. 4:20 That scene... Holden clearly being a hero (I'm being sarcastic). 4:31 As you pointed out, Avasarala's use of the media only made the Belt happy. 5:27 It isn't potent optimism. It is stupidity and naivete. And knowing the show, it's easily possible that the reports were just made up - but hey, if the Inners need the belt to fight Marco, any amount of illogic can happen. 6:06 That media was aimed at Earthers, not Belters. In S6E4 (38:15) Monica said "If you want the enemy to see you as human, you have to see them as human." Avasarala responded with "I'm not sure Belters will ever do that." Monica said "I'm not sure I'm talking about them." My point? Avasarala was trying to use the media to lower Earther support for a war of aggression from Marco, a terrorist. 6:13 How? Monica's intention was to show that to Earth, and it still shows weakness - that Marco can do that to the Inners. And how likely are Belters to just blame the Inners? 8:02 And Marco also doesn't care about the Belters in the slightest. He sees them as pawns in his fight with the Inners. 9:45 On your point on their forces, you're right, that is what logic would say. But the Expanse isn't into logic when it comes to military combat - so going by them, Marco has a chance in a conventional space battle (so you're right in terms of what is realistic, but wrong in terms of the show). 12:25 That isn't a straw man. A straw man is portraying someone's argument as something else, and then attacking the something else. For the argument to be a straw man, among other things, it would have required Avasarala to have already said something on that topic, which she didn't do. Also, nothing about what he said was inaccurate. 13:06 Earth and Mars don't need the Belt. What they need a leaders with a willingness to fight back. UNN and MCRN ships are leagues ahead of Belter ones, and both Earth and Mars have large nuclear arsenals. 14:32 Nope, that is who Avasarala is. If she attacked back like a real leader would - using nuclear weapons and Earth's forces to the fullest, there would be no more Free Navy. 14:50 She chose the strategy of trying to work with the Belt then gain military advantages elsewhere. Also, if Avasarala really is some brilliant strategist, she'd have put a lot more effort into working with the anti-Marco OPA forces in Season 5 - except she didn't. 15:25 Ok, you are absolutely wrong about this. Holden did that purely because of Naomi's son. He did that, not destroying the command ship of the Free Navy, not killing Marco and other key Free Navy leaders all so he could continue his relationship with Naomi. And yes, Marco would have been turned into a martyr. But the Free Navy was also held together by Marco. No Marco means no unifying force, and then there's chaos as a new leader is chosen, if they even can get one new leader. Also, if that was a reason, Holden would have said that. 18:04 I'd argue that the Martian Prime Minister is a serious candidate for the most powerful person - primarily due to Martian military strength. 20:30 If only Avasarala hadn't called Mars rushing forces to the ring gate an attempt to gain lost glory. 20:43 Avasarala in a nutshell. Doing what she thinks is the right move, not what people with actual military experience say is the right move. 21:50 That scene proves just how effective Inner ships are. And considering that, how is Marco a threat? 22:33 Good point. 23:44 Another good point. 25:10 That wasn't at all planned - it was Mars having the backbone to fight and Avasarala being a coward. 25:40 How is Marco, a brutal terrorist, a tragic villain? And as to the thumbnail image (and the text that says Secret Agenda with a photo of Avasarala) yes, she does have a secret agenda - one where she'd rather place the Belt over Earth.

[@GenerationFilms]

Haha too much to respond to for my fried brain after rushing out this vid but I really appreciate you taking the time to offer a thoughtful point-by-point analysis. I hope other people read this comment and offer their thoughts. I appreciate your passion! 😂🙏

[@drbrunch]

I think you're wrong.

[@blob537]

That's an interesting take and a lot to bite off at once... But I can't get over how much it feels like I'm reading something Errinwright posted from prison.

[@Jacaerys1]

You need to be floated for speaking against your UN Secretary General that way. That’s treason. 😅

[@FirstNameLastName-tg3rc]

@@GenerationFilms Thank you for responding to my comment regardless.