Prepare for the final mission —

The Solar System is at war in trailer for final season of The Expanse

"We need something to give us a reason to hope."

The Solar System is at war in the sixth and final season of The Expanse.

Fans of The Expanse were devastated several years ago when SyFy canceled the beloved series after just three seasons. Fortunately, it got a second lease on life through Amazon Prime Video, coming back stronger than ever with stellar third and fourth seasons. But all good things must eventually come to an end, even for the intrepid crew of the Rocinante. Amazon just dropped the official trailer for the sixth and final season of The Expanse, and it promises to be the most high-stakes season yet.

(Some spoilers for prior seasons below, especially S5.)

As we previously reported, The Expanse is based on a series of novels by James S.A. Corey (the pen name for writing team Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck), exploring interplanetary tensions breaking out all over a Solar System long since colonized by humans (known as Earthers, Martians, and "Belters"). Part mystery, part political thriller, part classic space opera, The Expanse has earned almost nothing but praise from critics and devoted fans alike, not just for its gripping storytelling but also for its use of accurate physics.

In the S4 finale, Belter leader Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander) launched cloaked asteroids toward Earth, cleverly targeting blind spots in the planet's defenses. S5 opened with multitudes of humans leaving the Solar System in search of new homes and vast fortunes on the Earth-like worlds beyond the alien Ring. The Rocinante crew split up to go on their own personal quests.

Amos (Wes Chatham) returned to Earth to confront his past and the legacy of the life he fought to leave behind. Naomi (Dominique Tipper) tried to save her estranged son, Filip (Jasai Chase-Owens), from his father Marco’s toxic influence. Bobbie (Frankie Adams) and Alex (Cas Anvar) confronted the collapse of Mars as they chased a shadowy cabal with ties to terrorists and criminals. Holden (Steven Strait) wrestled with the consequences of his own past with the Protomolecule, the aliens who built it, and the mystery of what killed them. Drummer (Cara Gee), with a new crew, fought to escape who and what she used to be. And Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), refusing to be relegated to the sidelines, fought to prevent a terrorist attack unrivaled in history.

Eventually, all those storylines started to reconverge. In the S5 finale, the Rocinante escaped destruction by Free Navy ships, thanks to the intervention of Drummer. Inaros wasn't pleased by Drummer's betrayal, executing one of her associates in retaliation. In a fine bit of political maneuvering, Avasarala was re-elected as UN secretary-general. Bobbie and Alex successfully rescued Naomi from her captors, although Alex died in the process. (Cas Anvar was written out of the show after multiple allegations of sexual harassment surfaced.) And in a final twist, an alien superstructure orbiting a world beyond the ring of space known as Laconia suddenly began blooming with the Protomolecule.

That brings us to the sixth and final season. Per the official premise:

This season of The Expanse picks up with the Solar System at war, as 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. Meanwhile in the Belt, Drummer and what’s left of her family are on the run and hunted for betraying Marco. And on a distant planet beyond the Rings, a new power begins to rise.

The trailer opens with Avasarala's trademark raspy voice waxing philosophical. "We wandered, broken, trying desperately to keep ourselves going by pretending we're not," she says. Meanwhile, Marco declares that Ceres will be the capital city of the new Belter nation, "a place all Belters can forever call home." Avasarala's spies finally locate Marco's ships, and she has a plan to take him down, which apparently involves recruiting the crew of the Rosinante. But Marcos is clever and should put up a good fight. Ultimately, Avasarala recognizes that, in the midst of all-out war, "we need something to give us a reason to hope." It's still unclear what role Laconia and its blooming Protomolecule will play, but we're hopeful this sixth and final season will deliver for fans.

The sixth season of The Expanse debuts on December 10, 2021, on Prime Video.

Listing image by YouTube/Prime Video

Channel Ars Technica