‘The Expanse’ Season 6 Episode 5 – ‘Why We Fight’ Breakdown
Everyone is gearing up for the series finale as loyalties are shaken and partnerships are formed this week on The Expanse.
The Expanse is gearing up for its series finale this week, and viewers can tell. Some key characters are moving their metaphorical chess pieces into place. Others are figuring out where their loyalties lie, forming tense partnerships.
Some of this week’s progress were things we’ve been predicting for a week. But The Expanse still has a few tricks up its sleeve. Here is where everything is landing before next week’s finale.
Laconia and Zombie
As predicted, Cara brought the body of her younger brother, Xan to see the “dogs.” A search party of her frantic parents are call for her in the woods. Cara doesn’t seem to care because Xan is back.
He lets her know that he feels weird, but he’s also acting and looking strange. Between seeing things in the middle distance that Cara can’t and his change in eye color, it’s clear that this Xan isn’t the same Xan his family lost.
Our money is on this being something protomolecule related. Because everything is protomolecule related. But seeing more than your average human is a symptom of protomolecule interaction. Remember Holden in previous seasons?
I don’t know how they’re going to wrap up an entire protomolecule zombie kid story line in one episode. As far as we’re concerned, that could be an entire season. But we’re looking forward to finding out.
Marco, Filip, And The Pella
It’s clear that Drummer’s message from last week has been weighing heavily on Marco. He fears that he’ll be viewed as weak or a traitor to the belters. But his fears are quickly replaced with confidence once more.
The Free Navy secret weapon we saw referenced earlier in the season is reveled to be at least five (but probably six) huge rail guns. They take out a small fleet of Martian battleships as Marco realizes that Filip was rallying the Navy around him, and everything seems to be coming up Marco again.
Filip seems to be back to having his doubts, though. He learns that one of his new friends is in the brig for attempting to contact his brother on Ceres. He also learns that this brother was one of the fatalities of the explosion on Ceres.
His friend is guilt-ridden because he had been one of the people to set the bombs in Ceres, promised by Marco that no Belters would be hurt. It’s becoming clear to Filip that his father isn’t the good guy or interested in helping Belters.
But he has come close to learning this lesson before and somehow missed the mark. We’d like to see Filip earn some character development and redemption. But he’s just not consistent enough to know for sure in which direction he’s heading.
Everyone Else On Ceres
This season of The Expanse is very much a story of two distinct teams, and that is exactly how this episode is laying it out. Marco’s Free Navy’s action is all aboard the Pella. And now everyone else is on Ceres.
Amos and Bobbie have a drink together and discuss Holden’s restraint. Amos seems to have doubts about returning to the Roci, but Bobbie convinces him to stay with his people. Meanwhile Drummer’s team is volunteering to stay on Ceres as injuries are healed.
Holden attempts to convince Chrisjen that the ring is volatile and that explaining this to Marco would help bring the war to an end. Unconvinced, Chrisjen instead reaches out to Drummer as one of the people most respected by the Belters.
Drummer is uninterested in an alliance with Chrisjen or Earth, but the two seem to come to a tense mutual respect by the end of the episode. The enemy of Drummer’s enemy may not be her friend, but they can temporarily help each other defeat the universe’s current greatest evil.
What to Expect in The Expanse Finale
There are a lot of loose ends left to tie up in next week’s episode. But The Expanse has always been a show to raise the stakes as high as they go before the final show down. We can’t wait to see how everything plays out next week!
Which team-up are you most excited to see? What do you think is up with Cara and Xan? How do you think the season finale will play out? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!
