A myriad of dangers will emerge at the forefront of The Expanse season 6 as the sci-fi series reaches its explosive conclusion—however, no entity poses a greater threat than the Sol system's Ring gate. The deep blue wormhole formed at the edge of the Sol system already houses innumerable dangers (some of which are yet to be revealed), though Marco Inaros' Free Navy paired with the rising Laconian Empire on the other side of the Ring add a new dimension to the peril awaiting at the gate. In season 6, the war against the Free Navy draws to a close, as James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante lead the effort, while former Martian Marine Bobbie Draper undertakes a secret mission at the orders of UN Secretary-General Chrisjen Avasarala. With the Ring gate's danger level at an all-time high, it promises to play a major role as events unfold in The Expanse's final season.
The Expanse debuted in 2015 on Syfy and ran for three seasons before its cancellation by the network. A campaign run by the show's passionate fanbase contributed to The Expanse's revival on Amazon Prime Video for seasons 4, 5, and 6. Based on the novels written by Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham under the pen name James S.A. Corey, The Expanse adapts the series' sixth book Babylon's Ashes with material also drawn from the novella Strange Dogs. Plans to adapt the final three novels are yet to formulate publicly, thus, The Expanse's conclusion will leave plenty more story to tell.
The Expanse's pivotal season 5 finale "Nemesis Games" saw Marco Inaros' Free Navy take possession of Medina Station and the Ring space. They then shot down a joint UN-MCRN fleet at the Ring gate, proving that its failure to eliminate Holden and the Rocinante did little to perturb Marco's plans for absolute rule of the Sol system. With more asteroid attacks on Earth likely in-store, the extremist Free Navy's bid for power looks far from defeated. Here's why the Ring gate's status at the core of Marco's leverage makes it the most dangerous place in the system.
The Expanse's Ring Gate (aka Slow Zone) Explained
Referred to as the "Slow Zone" in The Expanse novels, the Ring space refers to the empty, starless region inside the Ring gate. The entity formed in season 3, episode 7 "Delta-V," after the protomolecule on Venus mysteriously broke away from the planet. At the center of the Ring space lies a spherical structure known as the Ring station, functioning as a control center for the protomolecule's Ring network. Through a series of flashbacks while inside the Ring station in season 3, episode 10 "Dandelion Sky," Holden learned that the ancient alien civilization known as the Ring builders used this network before the unknown aggressors eradicated them and closed the Rings. Transit through the Ring space initially proved a dangerous task, as in what later became known as the Slow Zone Incident, a grenade launched by an MCRN soldier inside the Ring Station resulted in the freezing of every moving object due to the Ring space's speed limit. Thanks to Holden's communication with "The Investigator," traffic was only allowed to resume once every ship inside the Ring space powered down its reactor, thus convincing the station they were not a threat. Subsequently, a network consisting of more than 1,300 wormholes to other systems opened, thus making the Ring space the gateway to new worlds.
Marco & The Free Navy Control Medina Station (& Slow Zone)
At the end of The Expanse season 5 finale, it was revealed that Medina Station had fallen under Free Navy control. Formerly commanded by Camina Drummer of Fred Johnson's OPA before she resigned from the position toward the end of season 4, Medina Station was always vulnerable, and thus, a fairly effortless conquest for the Free Navy. Aided by Fred's death in season 5, episode 4 "Gaugamela," no one but Marco was in pole position to rule the retrofitted warship. The Belter extremists' securing of the Ring Space's gatekeeper holds enormous implications for the future. At this point, both UN and MCRN ships are unable to pass through the Ring, which enables the Free Navy to halt the inner planets' civil expansion and continue its devastation of Earth.
The Expanse Season 5 Finale Hinted At A New Threat
With Duarte's defected Martians now settled on Laconia, the threat of the rising empire looms at the onset of The Expanse season 6. The Laconians possess a protomolecule sample that, in season 5, was shot through the ring on a missile from the Zmeya before the Rocinante destroyed the ship. The Free Navy's commander stole Fred Johnson's protomolecule sample from Tycho Station and traded it to Admiral Winston Duarte's rogue Martian fleet in exchange for ships and weaponry. Additionally, Marco allowed Duarte to pass through to the Laconia Gate along with the protomolecule scientist Paolo Cortázar—who, at the end of season 5, was seen reporting the preliminary results of his research from the ground to Admiral Sauveterre aboard the Barkeith. The incorporation of Strange Dogs should provide insight into the Laconians' work relating to the protomolecule and the future dangers the rising empire could pose, such as the battleship dubbed the Heart of the Tempest—which briefly appeared during the season 5 finale's closing credits.
Why The Slow Zone Is So Dangerous In The Expanse Season 6
Although Earth may be reeling from Marco's asteroid attacks while the Belt teems with Free Navy combatants, the Ring gate can be considered the most dangerous place in the Sol system. One aspect of Marco's Ring space occupation yet to be emphasized are the Free Navy's new defense mechanisms used to maintain its control of all traffic in and out of the Ring space. The Ring station is heavily armed with rail guns poised to fire on any trespassing ship. As a result, the UN and MCRN are effectively locked out of the Ring Space and thus, all of the more than 1,300 worlds. Furthermore, a large-scale offensive would be required to rid Medina Station and the Ring Space of Marco's rule. In the teaser trailer for The Expanse season 6, Bobbie can briefly be seen wearing her power armor on a bridge, with bullets flying about. A closer look at the glowing blue background indicates her presence in the Ring space.
In addition, the occurrence of disappearing ships illustrates the Ring gate's current state of peril. Presumably an act of the unknown aggressors, large ships have been known to vanish in a phenomenon that the novels refer to as "going dutchman." This very incident was shown in The Expanse season 5 finale when the rogue MCRN ship, the Barkeith helmed by Admiral Sauveterre, attempted to enter the Laconia Ring and was instantly destroyed in a cloud of red particles. What exactly happened to the ship in The Expanse season 5's ending is yet to be revealed, therefore, many more ships are prone to vanish in the same manner.