130 Fun Facts About The Expanse

On which network did The Expanse premiere in December 2015?

Syfy called it its most ambitious series to date.

Which streaming service revived the show after Syfy cancelled it?

Fans flew a #SaveTheExpanse banner over Amazon Studios during the campaign.

After how many seasons did Syfy cancel the series?

Amazon then made three more, ending with season 6.

Under what pen name are the source novels written?

It combines the two authors' middle names.

Who are the two authors behind the pen name?

Franck had worked as a famous fantasy author's personal assistant.

Whom do the letters S. A. in the pen name refer to?

The name was also meant to sound like a 1970s space opera writer.

What is the title of the first novel in the series?

It was nominated for the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

How many novels make up the book series?

Nine novellas were also collected in Memory's Legion.

What is the title of the ninth and final novel?

It was released on November 30, 2021, weeks before the final season.

Which Hugo category did the complete set of novels win in 2020?

It had first been nominated for the same award in 2017.

Who plays James Holden?

Strait had played Warren Peace in Sky High.

Who plays Naomi Nagata?

The British actress grew up in Limehouse, East London.

Who plays Amos Burton?

Chatham later co-hosted the official aftershow with Ty Franck.

Who plays pilot Alex Kamal?

Anvar did not return for the final season after misconduct allegations.

Who plays detective Joe Miller?

Critics mourned the loss of his wonderful hats when the character left in season 2.

Who plays Chrisjen Avasarala?

The Iranian-American actress has an Oscar nomination and an Emmy.

Who plays Martian marine Bobbie?

Adams is a Samoan New Zealander who was born on Savai'i.

Who plays Camina Drummer?

Gee reprised the role in the Telltale video game prequel.

Who plays Marco?

He was promoted to the main cast for season 5.

What is the name of the ice hauler destroyed at the start of the series?

Its destruction is blamed on Mars and pushes the system towards war.

What was the Rocinante called when it was a Martian gunship?

Fred's people at Tycho help modify its transponder to hide its Martian origin.

Which Martian flagship is destroyed by stealth ships in season 1?

Shed Garvey is decapitated by a railgun shot during the battle.

Whom is Miller hired to find in season 1?

Her rich parents on Luna want her brought back.

On which dwarf planet is Miller a detective?

Star Helix Security polices the station there.

Which asteroid station's population is wiped out by the biohazard in season 1?

Julie dies there in a hotel room, alone.

What does the OPA stand for?

It is a loose confederation of Belt colonies, later recognised as the Belt's government.

What is the name of the government on Mars?

Its culture is described as militaristic and corporatist.

What are inhabitants of the asteroid belt called?

Low gravity gives them thin, elongated bodies.

What is the alien bio-weapon at the centre of the story called?

It was fired at Earth billions of years ago and got stuck on Phoebe.

Into which planet does Eros finally crash?

Miller talks Julie into steering it away from Earth.

Which ship is commandeered to try to knock Eros into the Sun?

Eros dodges it, revealing that something is steering the asteroid.

Which religious group built the generation ship Miller uses against Eros?

Miller visits its temple before proposing the plan.

Where does Bobbie's squad get massacred by an inhuman figure?

Falling orbital mirrors also devastate the moon's farms.

Whose company creates the hybrid soldiers?

They are engineered from Belter children with genetic peculiarities.

What is botanist Prax searching for in season 2?

Terry Chen plays him; Amos ends up shooting the pediatrician so Prax does not have to.

Beyond which planet's orbit does the Ring form?

Earth, Mars and the Belt race to send ships through it.

What triggers the Ring's defences in season 3?

The racer is decelerated to a near stop instantly, killing the pilot.

What name is given to the projection of Miller that appears to Holden?

It is a construct trying to find out what happened to the Ring builders.

How many habitable planetary systems does the Ring network open up?

Each contains an Earth-like planet.

What is the exoplanet at the centre of season 4 called?

The Earthers call it New Terra; the Belter settlers call it Ilus.

Which Torchwood actor plays RCE security chief Murtry in season 4?

He shoots Amos's fingers off in "Saeculum".

Which novel is season 4 almost entirely adapted from?

The novella Gods of Risk supplied Bobbie's Mars storyline.

What does Marco use to attack Earth in season 5?

Earth's Watchtower satellites are only switched on after the first strikes.

What does Marco call his rebel Belter fleet?

He declares it the ruling power of the Sol system and all the ring gates.

Whose son is Filip Inaros?

Naomi spends most of season 5 trying to reach him.

Who assassinates Fred on Tycho?

The traitor also helps steal Tycho's alien sample.

Which crew member dies of a stroke during the season 5 finale?

It happens during the high-G rescue of Naomi.

What does Naomi inject herself with before leaping out of an airlock in season 5?

She is aiming for a derelict ship.

What is the name of the ship Marco rigs as a trap for the Rocinante?

It was Filip's personal ship, lent for the plot.

Where do Amos and Clarissa commandeer a suborbital shuttle in season 5?

They let some of the abandoned mansions' winter staff come along.

Whom is Amos visiting in prison when the asteroids hit Earth?

They climb a service ladder to the scorched surface together.

Which crime boss from Amos's home city is an old friend of his?

Amos leans on him to keep his late foster mother's boyfriend housed.

What does the alien world in the season 6 subplot get called?

Rogue Martian admiral Duarte leads the settlement there.

What do the "strange dogs" do for young Cara?

Xan comes back with pitch-black eyes.

How is Marco finally defeated?

Naomi's plan wakes the entities just as Marco's fleet reaches the Ring.

Which Belter pirate sacrifices himself by ramming the Pella?

He and Drummer had teamed up to raid Marco's supply depots.

What post is Holden elected to at the end of the series?

He accepts on condition Drummer is vice-president, then immediately resigns to hand it to her.

Which crew member is added to the Rocinante at the end of season 3?

She had just defended Alex from her own turned marines.

Which crew member is Belter engineer Naomi's estranged partner from her past?

He hid their son from her for years.

What is OPA leader Fred's grim nickname?

As a UN Marine colonel he massacred surrendering miners, children included.

Which Mad Men and Chernobyl actor plays OPA liaison Anderson Dawes?

Dawes convinces the Belt that Earth and Mars will never respect it.

Who plays Belter pirate turned Behemoth XO Klaes Ashford?

Strathairn has an Oscar nomination for playing a famous newsman.

What is the Behemoth renamed once it controls the Ring space?

Drummer commands it as custodian of the ring gates.

Which UN undersecretary secretly conspires with Julie's father?

Shawn Doyle plays him for three seasons.

Under what alias does Clarissa Mao sneak aboard the UN fleet in season 3?

She blows up the Seung Un and frames Holden.

Who plays Methodist pastor Anna Volovodov?

Mitchell is best known as Juliet on Lost.

What was the Rocinante temporarily renamed to hide in season 3?

It is the Latin name of the lodgepole pine.

What do Alex and Bobbie rename the Razorback in season 5?

It honours the fans who campaigned to save the show.

What did the fans who fought the cancellation call themselves?

They gathered over 100,000 petition signatures.

What stunt did fans crowdfund during the #SaveTheExpanse campaign?

Wil Wheaton and Patton Oswalt backed the campaign.

Which astronaut lent his name to the save campaign?

The Danish ESA astronaut joined Patton Oswalt and Wil Wheaton.

Who developed the TV series and wrote the pilot?

The pair were Oscar-nominated for the Children of Men screenplay.

Which Marvel film did the show's developers co-write?

Their Children of Men script earned an Oscar nomination.

Which showrunner holds a PhD in applied physics and engineering?

He started out on Star Trek: The Next Generation after Cornell.

Which long-running CBS crime drama did Shankar also co-run?

He also worked on Farscape and three Star Trek series.

Who created the Belter language for the show?

Franck recommended him; the two had worked together before.

What is the Belter language called in Belter itself?

It is an English-based creole with Spanish, German, Slavic and other influences.

Where was the series filmed?

Season 1 photography ran from October 2014 to March 2015.

Which production company financed and produced the series?

Its bosses said afterwards they were "considering all kinds of interesting possibilities".

Where is Breeder, the studio that made the title sequence, based?

Critics compared the wordless opening to Game of Thrones' map.

Who composed the show's score?

Lisbeth Scott sings the title theme.

From which language did singer Lisbeth Scott draw the title theme's lyrics?

She apologised on Facebook for any grammar errors.

How many Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation did the show win?

Out of six nominations; the wins were for the season 1, 5 and 6 finales.

What is the title of the series premiere?

It shares its name with Don Quixote's idealised lady, as the Rocinante does with his horse.

Who directed the first two episodes?

He shared the show's first Hugo, for the season 1 finale.

Which cast member directed the season 5 episode "Mother"?

His character had been dead for three seasons by then.

How many viewers watched the premiere, the show's most-watched episode?

It had already been posted online three weeks early.

How many episodes did the series run?

Season 6 was only six episodes long.

How many episodes were in the final season?

Its finale dropped on January 14, 2022.

Where was the pilot first screened, in July 2015?

io9's reviewer said she was "blown away".

What was the industry's shorthand description for the show when Syfy ordered it?

Syfy won the project in a bidding war.

What engine makes travel across the Solar System possible in the story?

Season 2 shows its Martian inventor Solomon Epstein testing it.

What does the show NOT have, according to the novels' setting?

Until the Ring appears, humanity is confined to the Solar System.

What standard of plausibility did the authors say they aimed for?

They kept inertia and light-speed delay realistic, solving a "cellphone problem".

Where is Amos originally from?

Season 5 sends him home to settle a dead friend's affairs.

Where do Holden's co-op parents live?

Avasarala visits them to understand why he sided with the OPA.

Which Martian moon does Earth destroy in retaliation for the Phoebe strike?

It causes tension inside Bobbie's squad.

Which Protogen scientist does Miller execute on Thoth Station?

Dresden had just argued he should be allowed to continue his work.

Whom does Naomi secretly give the Rocinante's alien sample to?

She wanted the Belt to have it too, to protect her son.

Which UN research ship is dismantled in Venus's atmosphere?

It is taken apart in an expanding spherical pattern.

Whom does Amos kill so that Prax does not have to?

Holden captures Mao in the same raid on Io.

Whom does Drummer's tribunal acquit in season 4, to keep the OPA united?

He had stolen the Sojourner and executed its passengers.

Why is Holden immune to the eye-blinding organisms on Ilus?

He has taken the drugs since his radiation dose on Eros.

Who wins the UN Secretary-General election against Avasarala in season 4?

Gao dies when an asteroid strikes near her plane in season 5.

What does Bobbie do for a living at the start of season 4?

Discontented, she ends up working for a Martian gang.

Where does Naomi finally meet her son in season 5?

Her old friends Cyn and Karal help take her captive.

Which Martian admiral sells warships to Marco's fleet?

Tim DeKay plays him.

Where does Marco declare the capital of the Belt in season 6?

He then strips it bare and abandons it to the Inners.

Which ship coordinates the asteroid strikes in season 6?

Its data core reveals every rock aimed at Earth.

What weapons does Marco's fleet mount on the Ring Station?

They shred an MCRN strike force before Holden's team destroys them.

Which studio co-developed the 2023 Expanse video game with Deck Nine?

It is a prequel with Drummer as executive officer of the scavenger ship Artemis.

Which comic series continues the story after season 6?

It fills the gap between Babylon's Ashes and Persepolis Rising.

Aghdashloo earned an Oscar nomination for which 2003 film?

She later won an Emmy for HBO's House of Saddam.

Which Marvel antihero did Jane play in a 2004 film?

He also voiced the character in the 2005 video game.

Strathairn was Oscar-nominated for playing which broadcaster?

Good Night, and Good Luck dramatised the clash with Senator McCarthy.

Which Hunger Games character did the actor who plays Amos also play?

He appeared in both Mockingjay films.

On which New Zealand soap did Adams play Ula Levi?

She was born on Savai'i in Samoa.

Where was Cas Anvar born?

His Iranian parents then raised him in Montreal.

Which 2005 Disney film gave Strait his breakout as Warren Peace?

He followed it with The Covenant.

Which Caribbean island is Tipper's father from?

She trained as a dancer as a child in East London.

Forbes described Cara Gee as one of the most prominent what in entertainment?

She was raised near Bobcaygeon, Ontario.

Who narrates the audiobooks of the novels?

His recording of the first novel was nominated for a 2012 Audie Award.

Which franchise novel, Honor Among Thieves, did the authors also write?

Random House published it in 2014.

Which fantasy author employed Ty Franck as a personal assistant?

Martin later backed the campaign to save the TV show.

What was Ty Franck originally building The Expanse's world as the setting for?

After years of development it became a d20 Modern tabletop campaign; Daniel Abraham then suggested the setting was deep enough to carry a series of novels.

On which moon of Saturn did the protomolecule crash after missing Earth 2.5 billion years ago?

It had been launched to hijack Earth's early biosphere but was captured by Saturn's gravity, lying dormant until humans dug it up.

Which film did Ty Franck call 'the single largest influence on The Expanse'?

Ridley Scott's 1979 working-class-in-space horror shaped the series' grimy, lived-in feel; the authors also joked it might be set in the future of Andy Weir's The Martian.

Who is the Martian defector who becomes High Consul of the Laconian Empire in the later novels?

Duarte uses the protomolecule on himself to become essentially immortal, and his daughter Teresa is his heir.

How far in the future is the epilogue of the final novel, Leviathan Falls, set?

By then humanity has invented its own faster-than-light travel and reconnects the colony worlds cut off when Holden shut down the gates.

Which Expanse novel is sometimes called the series' 'Empire Strikes Back'?

The fifth book splits the Rocinante crew apart while Marco Inaros launches his stealth-asteroid attack on Earth, the arc adapted as the show's season 5.