Who's trying to swipe Fred Johnson's Protomolecule sample in The Expanse season 5? Following the end of The Expanse season 4 on Amazon Prime, the Sol system is in a period of transition. Citizens of Earth and Mars are flocking to new systems beyond the Ring Gate, and the delicate truce between Inners and Belters is barely maintained. None of the main three factions are exactly thriving, and this has created an opportunity for a dark horse to emerge. Marco Inaros and the Free Navy will act as main antagonists in The Expanse season 5, following Marco's execution of Klaes Ashford at the end of last season.
When The Expanse season 5 begins, the four main characters of the Rocinante are embarking on separate tasks. Naomi Nagata has left to wrestle her son Filip from Marco's grasp, Amos Burton is heading back to his home city of Baltimore, and Alex Kamal has returned to Mars, hoping to make amends with his family. This leaves James Holden twiddling his thumbs on Tycho station, making coffee, sleeping, and overseeing the repair of his ship. Fortunately for The Expanse's protagonist, it's not long before he has a problem to solve
The Protomolecule has wreaked havoc over the past 4 seasons of The Expanse, but since the expedition to Ilus, the blue stuff is mostly off the board. Alas, one sample remains active in season 5. While Earth and Mars were instigating a Protomolecule arms race in previous seasons, the Belt quickly fell behind until Naomi Nagata passed a sample onto Fred Johnson and evened the odds, with the OPA's leader also taking custody of Protomolecule scientist Paolo Cortazar. After the truce, Holden assumed all Protomolecule samples had been destroyed, but Fred Johnson admits to keeping his at hand. Now a mystery enemy is attempting to seize it - and Marco Inaros is surely the prime suspect.
The Protomolecule Conspiracy In Season 5 So Far
Understandably, Holden isn't best pleased when he learns that Fred Johnson has been secretly fiddling with a surviving Protomolecule sample. Holden trusts Johnson, more or less, but the Rocinante's captain views the mere presence of Protomolecule as an invitation for trouble, and his fears are justified when trouble comes to Tycho station. The Expanse's resident journalist, Monica Stuart, kicks off the conspiracy by informing Holden of clandestine Protomolecule experiments taking place in the Belt. Johnson later confirms the rumors to be true - he and fellow OPA leader, Anderson Dawes, are continuing their research. The tenacious Monica then lobbies Holden with another scoop - someone is coming after the Belt's Protomolecule, and she can prove it. When Holden goes to meet Monica, she's already been kidnapped, effectively confirming her story is true.
When CCTV footage of the incident is revealed to have been wiped, Fred Johnson suspects someone within Tycho's security team. Monica is eventually discovered in a shipping container, kept alive by an artificial atmosphere. She's barely rescued by Holden before asphyxiating, and after a brief recovery period, reveals that Cortazar has been snatched from Ceres, with Belters suspected to have carried out the strike. Monica's kidnappers are identified, but are already corpses when Holden arrives. In a lucky coincidence, Sakai is able to uncover the ship scheduled to pick up Monica's container, allowing Johnson to set a trap. The opening 3 episodes of The Expanse season 5 don't reveal the mastermind of this operation, but the obvious suspect would be Marco Inaros.
Marco Inaros Wants The Protomolecule
While the ringleader's identity may still elude Holden and Fred Johnson, they know disgruntled Belters are involved doing the groundwork. There's a mole in the upper echelons of Tycho, a bloody revolt on Ceres, and dock workers performing kidnap jobs on the side. Despite Fred Johnson's success legitimizing the Belt, many still consider his cooperation with Earth and Mars a betrayal. These sentiments are evident throughout The Expanse season 5. Camina Drummer, particularly during the Pallas station scenes, where Naomi is subjected to torrid abuse from her fellow Belters simply for associating with Avasarala and the Martians. Taking full advantage of all that hatred and division is Naomi's former boyfriend, Marco Inaros.
Marco is currently the only Belt leader pushing an anti-Inner agenda, but his sympathizers can be found across the system, including on Tycho and Ceres. One of these like-minded Belters could've tipped off Marco about Fred Johnson's Protomolecule sample, hushed-up Monica, then tied up the loose end of her kidnappers. Whoever the spy might be, the head of the operation is surely still Inaros, using his deep-rooted influence and convincing ideology to coordinate multiple attacks from within.
The eloquent speech Marco delivered before killing Ashford in The Expanse season 4 decried how Belter dreams are always too "small." In his mind, the Belt shouldn't just be considered equal to Earth and Mars, it should dominate the system completely. Since the Inner planets have already enjoyed some alone time with the Protomolecule, Marco's quest won't be truly complete until he gets a sample of his own. Marco will also know that Earth and Mars have officially destroyed their samples of Protomolecule, presenting a golden opportunity for the Belt to gain an advantage over its enemies.
Another important clue is Holden's observation that the attackers are surprisingly organized and well-coordinated. Belters are traditionally chaotic, impulsive and divided, but Marco brings a rare mixture of vision, and charisma that allows him to rise above other would-be revolutionaries. An ordinary group of rebel Belters would've killed Monica upon discovering her collusion with James Holden. Instead, Monica is kept alive for interrogation, which better fits the modus operandi of Marco Inaros than any other suspect in the Belt.
How Marco's Protomolecule Could Affect The Expanse's Final Season
The Expanse season 5 is an adaptation of James S.A. Corey's Nemesis Games novel - the fifth book in a series of nine. Amazon Prime has announced that The Expanse will conclude with its sixth season, which means the TV adaptation will need to hit the narrative accelerator sooner rather than later. Marco Inaros coming into possession of a Protomolecule sample can help bring The Expanse to its endgame. Earth, Mars and Fred Johnson have all learned their lessons when it comes to the Protmolecule - they won't be meddling any time soon. Even if Fred still holds a sample, he treats the substance more as a nuclear deterrent, where the power comes from possessing, not using. Marco Inaros, on the other hand, is perhaps the only major figure in The Expanse angry and desperate enough to use the Protomolecule to its full potential, and this could prove a fatal mistake for everyone in The Expanse season 6.
The inevitable finale of The Expanse appears to be an encounter with the mysterious, powerful race of aliens who destroyed the Ring builders many, many years ago. Holden speculates that every time the Protomolecule is used, these enemies stir in the shadows, and will eventually come to Sol, looking to commit another act of genocide. Should Marco Inaros find a sample of Protomolecule in his possession, the resulting experiments could be the final straw, calling forth the alien race Holden is so afraid of. Although this wouldn't quite follow the path of the original Expanse book series, the Amazon TV show needs a quicker conclusion. With Fred Johnson's Protomolecule sample, Marco can provide that.