Warning: SPOILERS for The Expanse finale.
The Expanse series finale included a massive Easter egg hidden in the background of the episode, making a number of legendary sci-fi characters canon. The highly-anticipated climax dropped the unexpected plot twist of adding the beloved characters to the crew of the Rocinante’s ragtag team of commandos, consequently meaning some of sci-fi's greatest heroes now exist in the show's universe. At another time, this would seem deeply out of place, but with it being the series finale, it was a fun thing to embrace.
The Expanse season 6 finale “Babylon’s Ashes” ends one of the most popular shows of recent years in the sci-fi genre. Following its initial cancellation after three seasons on Syfy, the series was given new life after being picked up by Amazon for a further three seasons, much to the delight of its audience. The Expanse season 6, however, ends with the sixth book in the nine-book series, potentially leaving the door open for future show developments such as future villains like Laconia's gods.
The Expanse finale's massive Easter egg saw highly recognizable characters join the coalition in its attack on the ring station, including sci-fi heroes from movie, television, literature, and gaming lore. The systems check for the Rocinante ran with assault teams signaling their readiness, and among the voices could be heard the confirmations, “Thrace ready!” and “Ripley ready!” But Kara Thrace from Battlestar Galactica and Ellen Ripley from Alien were not the only familiar combatants in that fight. Here is the complete list of all sci-fi characters who are now officially canon in The Expanse.
Every Sci-Fi Character in The Expanse Finale's Battle
Alpha Team
Gial Ackbar – Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - The Mon Calamari rebel fleet commander of the battle over Endor, best known for his famous phrase, “It’s a trap!”
Douglas Quaid – Total Recall - The construction worker who received an apparently false implanted memory of an adventure on Mars. Audiences still debate to this day how much of Total Recall’s ending was real.
David Bowman – 2001: A Space Odyssey - The mission commander of the Discovery 1 and lone survivor of the malfunctioning HAL-9000 onboard robot.
Commander Shepard – Mass Effect - The main protagonist of the first three installments in the Mass Effect video game series.
Duncan Idaho – Dune - The swordmaster in the service of House Atreides, loyal to Duke Leto Atreides and his son Paul Atreides.
Alex Rogan – The Last Starfighter - The high school student who was unable to afford a college loan and wound up becoming a real Starfighter on the planet Rylos after he beat the high score on the Starfighter arcade game.
Jason Nesmith – Galaxy Quest - The actor who portrayed Commander Peter Quincy Taggart in the cult-hit fictional Star Trek parody Galaxy Quest from the 1980s.
Edward Buck – Halo - The SPARTAN-IV super-soldier with the UNSC Marine Corps during the Human-Covenant War.
Bravo Team
Shaenon K. Garrity - The only non-fictional member of the roster, Garrity is a sci-fi author and webcomic creator who is known for her creation of the webcomics Narbonic and Skinhorse.
Ellen Ripley – Alien - The warrant officer and sole survivor of an alien attack against spacecraft The Nostromo.
Dwayne Hicks – Aliens - The corporal in the Colonial Marines who teamed up with Ripley after she saved his life.
Joseph Cooper – Interstellar - The former NASA astronaut who joined a mission to save humanity on the spaceship The Endurance.
John Anderton – Minority Report - The police chief in charge of overseeing three “precogs” based in the Washington D.C. Precrime department in the year 2054.
William Hudson – Aliens - A private in the Colonial Marines who teamed up with Ripley after she saved his life, recognizable for his panicked “Game over, man!” line in Aliens.
Jenette Vasquez – Aliens – Another private in the Colonial Marines who teamed up with Ripley after she saved her life.
Rick Deckard – Blade Runner - The bounty hunter known as a “Blade Runner” who was in charge of hunting down androids known as “replicants” in the year 2019.
Jack O’Neil - Stargate - The U.S. Air Force Special Operations Officer who joined an expedition through the Stargate.
Charlie Team
Lucky Starr – Lucky Starr - The protagonist of the Isaac Asimov book series of the same name.
Louise Banks – Arrival - The linguist who assisted extraterrestrials in communicating with humanity upon their arrival on earth in arguably one of the best sci-fi movies of the 2010s decade.
Kevin Flynn – Tron - The ENCOM video game developer and programmer who created the arcade game TRON.
Ron Neary – Close Encounters Of The Third Kind - The electrical lineman from Indiana who left earth to join visiting extraterrestrials on their travels across space.
Johnny Rico – Starship Troopers - The lieutenant commander of the Roughnecks who joined humanity’s fight against the “Bugs.”
Kara Thrace – Battlestar Galactica - The ace pilot of the Battlestar Galactica who goes by the callsign “Starbuck.”
Sarah Connor – The Terminator - The mother of John Connor who trained her son to lead the fight against Skynet.
Ryan Stone – Gravity - The medical engineer who navigated her way back to earth after the Space Shuttle Explorer was destroyed by space debris.
William Riker – Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Starfleet First Officer under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the Starship Enterprise. His time on Star Trek saw him captain The Enterprise briefly and eventually take on his own command as the Captain of the USS Titan.
H. Ochiai and R. Levine have also been confirmed by The Expanse Motion Graphics Supervisor as scripted names by the writers (via Reddit.)