'The Expanse' dials the space drama up to 11 in new full trailer for Season 6

The first full trailer for Season 6 of "The Expanse" has dropped and it shows an escalating, explosive and costly conflict with Marco Inaros and his growing band of Belter terrorists that call themselves the Free Navy.

The sixth and final season of "The Expanse" will premiere on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on Dec. 10 and it picks up with the solar system at war, as Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander) continues 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 (Shohreh Aghdashloo) makes a bold move and sends former Martian Marine Bobbie Draper (Frankie Adams) on a secret mission that could turn the tide of the conflict. Meanwhile, in the Belt, Drummer (Cara Gee) 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.

Feeling lost? Check out our streaming guide to watch The Expanse and get caught up before Season 6 drops. 

After the events of the last season, it's great to see Clarissa Mao joining the ranks of the Rocinante. (Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

Much like the teaser we saw back in October, Avasarala provides a voiceover, "We're wounded. We're broken," she says as we see a glimpse of New York, flooded and on fire. "Trying desperately to keep ourselves going by pretending we're not." And then we hear the forceful and frightening voice of Marco Inaros as he calls for all Belters to unite against the Earthers and the Martians. 

This is the last season that Amazon is going to produce. It brings us up to the events in book 6, "Babylon's Ashes" by James S. A. Corey, the joint pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. The final book in the series, the ninth novel, "Leviathan Falls" is due out at the end of November of this year. In the story, there is a 28 year gap between the events of "Babylon's Ashes" and book 7, "Persepolis Rising," so this seems like a natural break. Whether another studio picks up the show to continue the story remains to be seen.

Related: The best sci-fi movies and TV shows to stream on Amazon Prime

Naomi, Holden, Amos et al must dig deep and fight fire with fire if they are to stop the threat of Marco Inaros. (Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

"We're broken," Avasarala says as we see a glimpse of New York, flooded and on fire. "Trying desperately to keep ourselves going by pretending we're not. We must remember the lives we have lost. The pain we've suffered ... because with every new attack Inaros' power grows."

This is the last season that Amazon is going to produce. It brings the audience up to date with the events in book 6, "Babylon's Ashes" by James S. A. Corey, the joint pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. The final book in the series, the ninth novel, "Leviathan Falls" is due out in November of this year. In the series, there is a 28-year gap between the events of "Babylon's Ashes" and book 7, "Persepolis Rising," so this seems like a natural break. Whether another studio picks up the show to continue the story with the seventh book remains to be seen.

It's great to see the regulars once again, Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper), Jim Holden (Steven Strait), Amos Burton (Wes Chatham) as well as Clarissa Mao (Nadine Nicole) once again whose story arc with Amos was one of the most interesting elements of last season. 

Season 6 will consist of six episodes of unknown length and premiere on Friday Dec. 10 on Amazon Prime TV. Just one episode will be available on this date and new installments will drop weekly until Jan. 24, 2022.

This means that at the end of December/beginning of January, we will have "The Book of Boba Fett" on Wednesdays on Disney Plus, "Star Trek: Discovery" on Thursdays on Paramount Plus and "The Expanse" on Fridays. Plus "Lost in Space" season 3 on Netflix. It is truly going to be a great Christmas for science fiction fans.

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Scott Snowden

When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.