The Expanse, season 6, episode 5 ("Why We Fight") sets the stage for an eventful and action-packed series finale. The penultimate installment of the show's final season assembles nearly all of its main characters on Ceres Station, as the combined forces of Earth and Mars plan a decisive final strike to defeat The Expanse's Marco Inaros' Free Navy. Compelling dialogue scenes drive the episode's colossal significance in the foreshadowing of The Expanse's culmination, as an explosive final battle looms ahead of the series finale.
While The Expanse book series includes nine novels, the Prime Video series concludes with its sixth entry Babylon's Ashes. Season 6's story centers on the Free Navy in conflict with an eye on The Expanse's future through the Laconia plotline derived from the novella Strange Dogs. Time will tell if writers Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham and showrunner Naren Shankar secure an opportunity to adapt The Expanse's remaining source material. For now, viewers await a satisfying finish to six seasons worth of buildup of the solar system's captivating power struggle between Earth, Mars, and the Belt.
The Expanse season 6, episode 5 prefaces the series' final chapter by hinting at a massive showdown between the combined fleet and Marco's Free Navy at Medina Station inside the ring gate. Docked at Ceres, Holden visits Avasarala to share the ominous findings regarding the rings and disappearing ships, but the UN Secretary-General counters with a concern of her own in the form of the Free Navy's rail guns installed on the ring station's surface. Earth and Mars gain a pivotal ally in Belter faction leader, Camina Drummer. In the wake of an entire Martian fleet's obliteration at the hands of Marco's ring-space defenses, the stakes promise to reach their peak in The Expanse's series finale.
The MCRN’s failed assault on Medina Station reveals the overwhelming threat of the Free Navy’s firepower. This constitutes a previously overlooked problem that the combined fleet will have to navigate. Capturing Medina at the crossroads of the 1,300 worlds and defeating Marco effectively ends the war. Numbers and strategy will be the key to getting the better of Marco's rail guns, and fortunately for the allied forces, they possess the necessary elements to complete the mission. With a lineup of battle-tested individuals in its ranks, which features the Rocinante and its seasoned crew, former Martian marine Bobbie Draper, and Drummer's fleet of eight ships, the allies approach their momentous offensive with solid odds.
With The Expanse's Drummer and her faction now allied with Avasarala's contingent, the Belter captain is primed to undertake a significant role in The Expanse series finale. Only a long-awaited and painfully emotional conversation with her longtime confidant Naomi Nagata could convince Drummer to cooperate with her oppressors. However, her resolve to annihilate Marco for the suffering he has inflicted upon herself and the Belt runs deep. It appears that Drummer's revenge will transcend raiding the Free Navy's supply depots and she may even stare down an opportunity to vanquish Marco for good. Poised in the heat of combat, Drummer should embody a formidable presence in the fight thanks to her experience captaining the Behemoth in The Expanse seasons 3 and 4, followed by helming her own vessel the Tynan beginning in season 5.
The Expanse season 6, episode 5 points to an all-important clash between the Roci and Marco's warship, the Pella, in the series finale. Marco declares that his forces will burn toward Medina, thus it appears inevitable that the two ships will meet at the ring gate. Given Holden's hesitation to shoot down the Pella earlier in The Expanse season 6, the Roci looks certain to have a second chance at finishing the job. Meanwhile, the danger of ring gate transit remains a recurring concept in season 6. The revelation of a mass-energy threshold triggering the ring entities and making ships vanish into thin air seems too important to ignore and it's possible that the phenomenon will resurface and play a crucial role in The Expanse series finale.
The Expanse airs new episodes Fridays on Prime Video.