Still have a long wait until season 6 comes out, so I wanted to put together something Expanse related. Let me know what you think, and any ideas for future videos. Season 5 book to show changes - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-A6nmP8CgK14.html
@@cathalodiubhain5739 just finished book 4, an excellent book it was too, seeing the return of Havelock from the first season, shame he didn’t appear in the 4th season.
@@danjsilveThis indeed. Poor auld Millers buddy. Just two of the great characters from the show and book. I think they done a great job with Drummer in the show. Its hard to have a favorite character I think.
I just hope The Expanse isn't cancelled: "Did you know that every Belter character on the show is portrayed by an Earther?" And they claim to have a diverse cast.
@@Whatisthisstupidfinghandle With Cyn we had the first actually overweight Belter. All the others are at least thin, although not very thin or tall and some probably have a bit too much muscle mass.
@@baltazarvok2564 a woke reboot would be a nightmare However, if they did a reboot, would you rather Sinclair or Sheridan? (In the original vision there was no Sheridan)
You mention there being no timeline divergence, however there’s an easter egg for the alt history show For All Mankind in the S5 premiere when Amos is on Luna. The easter egg is a digital plaque that states “Explore Historical Jamestown base established 1976. If you take this at face value, it would mean The Expanse takes place in an alternate timeline where we had already colonized the moon by the late 20th century.
I assume that the divergence wasn't that big if it happened. Maybe a base was established in 1976 but it didn't go very far. Or the information is wrong, which is a possibility because someone it was 400 years ago, and I doubt someone today will care if Isaac Newton explained gravity in 1657 rather than 1687 (the real date).
Fantastic find. I had a look for it myself it appears at 47.45 in, I only saw it on my laptop. I could not see "Base established 1976" Then I re ran it, I could only just see one second later, underneath Historical Jamestown in smaller text. Amazing.
Also an ship from the expans was mentioned in the marsien so after for all mankind the marsien and then the explance and you can also put tribes of Europa if you want
Interesting detail: In book 6 there's a ship named the Mark Watney. This is a reference to The Martian, and the writers have said it could very well have taken place in the same universe. And the Martian canonically takes places around 2035, so that's a starting year for colonisation (because Watney technically colonised Mars by farming there). As their mission was the third to Mars, I assume ARES I or II (the first could have just been an orbital mission) landed on Mars around 2030. Since there's no way we're getting to Mars in just nine years, we can safely say the point of divergence is the year Leviathan Wakes was published, in 2011.
I left that out because it was something they said at a con, and then Daniel Abraham walked it back in a Reddit post. No idea if that had something to do IP or whatever.
I can just imagine 'pulling a Watney' or 'doing a Watney' as being some combination of an exercise of sheer will & 'sciencing the shit' out of a potentially long-term problem.
I'm still waiting for the next Sci-Fi Space/Time-related movie that stars Matt Damon, Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain and is directed and/or produced by Christopher Nolan.
It makes sense that they condensed the timeliness...imagine having to watch episodes of the Roci crew bored playing cards and other things....they basically just "Fast Traveled" the series
When i watched the first episodes of The Expanse I thought this is bullshit, so I didn’t follow it anymore, but I retired in 2018 and had more time so I started watching and found out how incredibly wrong I was, and I mean wrong. This is absolutely the best syfy series ever,and that includes all of Star Trek series. I’m in the process of restudying the series for the third time. Waiting on the finale season.
I would also recommend Babylon 5 if you haven't seen it. It had terrific characters (and character development), over-arching story lines that last multiple episodes and even several seasons (in the case of the Shadow War), and, for the time, had great special effects.
I like how the premise of Earth's current state is basically the same between Star Trek and The Expanse is much the same, forced globalization in the face of a potentially apocalyptic crisis, while in Star Trek, Earth entered a period of utterly unprescidented prosperity as a result, in the Expanse, simply having a job is considered a status symbol, as half of the planet is unemployed and a good chunk of the UN's GDP is spent on keeping the cities from drowning in raw sewage
More accuracy is better. This series is a testament to that in and of itself. Considering how high they've managed to raise the bar I can cut them some slack.
Great video! I started re-watching from the beginning and wow, this show was so great right from the very start. Everything makes more sense now - the first time watching was just trying to figure out who was who. The tension of each episode was magnificent! The episode aboard the Donager was SO DAMN GOOD!
I watched the entire show, then bought the books and read all of them and I still watch all these Expanse videos on youtube lol. I still hope for a season 7 too.
When The Expanse came to Amazon the direction changed to melodrama and interpersonal character development. The exploration and discovery which makes good science fiction took a back seat. The Expanse became a soap opera.
I agree that direction of season 5 focused on more character development. There were some episodes that dragged on a bit, but I think the payoff will come in season 6. Also trying to finish a production during the whole pandemic/quarantine environment had something to do with the direction choice.
@@ericgarcia5865 I hope you right about season 6. I am re-watching season 5 now and I just skip through all the melodrama with Naomi. Her charachter is always crying about something. I wish she would leave and another Miller would be introduced to take her place. Amos and Bobbi are the best characters since Miller left. I like people with grit.
Its true. I sometimes forgot i wasnt watching the wall scenes of GOT (come on, the same actor being the same character and Holden basically acting like Jon Snow). And season 5- ah the family therapy series. Protomolecule was left outside for the session. I really hate scifi that is people exploring a new precedent of civilisation and then just talk about relationsips entirely distracted from the bigger picture they set out.
Seriously, Naomi irritates me so much. In the first seasons she was a badass, now it seems like her primary function is to manufacture drama: "I belong with the Belters, no wait I belong with the Roci, no wait I have to go find my son I haven't mentioned ever until now"
I would say that it's mostly a function of how the books work not amazon's change in direction. Book 5 is really when you get to know a lot more about the expanse crew (in comparison to the way the show works) so it definitely takes its time. But it also is a moment where the protomolecule takes a back seat and we see the human story of how the gates have cascading effects. Book 6 is more fast-paced but similarly is working out the churn of the gates. The protomolecule is still lurking in the background just less present. The exploration and cascade really ramp up in Books 7,8 and (I assume but its not out yet) 9.
Condensing it for the show makes sense; travel times in the books are way off; usually taking approx. 10 times longer than they actually should. One exception being in Abaddon's Gate when Holden heads off to the Ring Station with Proto Miller which actually takes him far LESS time than it should
This is amazing, the act of using the population to feed the molecule ended up creating(allowed to be created) a ring that has the potential of saving humanity while exposing them to unknown danger
That's some excellent work, Pete! I really appreciate the time you invested into developing the timeline for both the books and the show. I think it could be developed into a detailed comparison of the two stories to help illuminate them. Now I have to start back through both and compare the two, but this is a terrific start. Taki!
Evolved from “jellyfish” on an ice planet. They reached out. Up to the light of the stars, and down to the heat of the core. They sent other organisms into the heat and pressure of the core to change and become tools to reach out. They become one mind, a hive mind. They use another universe to power the gates…but that universe pushes back This is the birth of the ring builders, and the protomolecule.
I'm a Star Trek TNG fan so my feelings on this are muddled. This is by far the best SciFi series to date with shows like Battlestar Galactica and Firefly a close second. TNG tried to pay homage to the physics and science behind its tech by consulting NASA on a "what if we did have this tech..." basis but nothing addresses the issues of space the way this show does. Having said that, I did enjoy the fact that TNG would have upwards of 26 episodes a season and I wish The Expanse were similar. I realize this would be challenging as far as story writing, costs, etc. but the books are detailed and complex enough that even 18-20 episodes a season would have been doable. There was definitely room for an even greater level of character development. As for the timelines, I can live with the differences, and fast fowarding as no one wants a season of episodes that just covers returning from Ganymede to Earth (for example). Still, this is the absolutely best SciFi series I have ever seen.
Thank you! Without your videos, I don't think I could have stuck with the show past season 1. It was just too hard for me to understand the plotlines and all of the different characters on my own. Your videos are a huge help.
I am a diehard sci-fi fan and it all started with the first Star Wars opening scene. Thanks Pete for your commentary on 'The Expanse', 6 riveting seasons. I pray there will be more on this adult orientated space saga. No cute ewoks or Jar Jar Bing thank god! 😅
If anybody has the limited edition Soundtrack Vinyls, there's a stamp of sorts on the back that say "Limited edition of 2353 copies". That number, I theorize, is the year that Season 3 of The Expanse takes place in.
This is very helpful to get the early events put in reference. I've gone ahead and downloaded Leviathan Wakes on audible, and it's full of additional information and details. I'd love it if you'd do some book videos 😉
@@Whatisthisstupidfinghandle Nu BSG at its peak was as good as anything on television, but the producers were winging it from the very start, and when it came time to deliver answers and start wrapping things up the political and personal drama was buried by the show’s own mythology. With an already-published series of books to work from, hopefully the “Expanse” producers will do a better job of sticking the landing.
Good job, Pete Peppers. The recap was very welcome after having binged on the the first three seasons and much of the fourth, then many months later watched the fifth as it came out, week after long week. You try to provoke in your parting questions, discussion and judgments about the two forms of the story, and I answer you that each form is its own independent narrative. Consider, they're different narrative substances, book versus video, and are motivated and sustained by different economic and creative systems. They share many details, of course, but they're distinct enough one from the other to warrant creative and narrative independence.
From Leviathan Wakes to Babylon's Ashes, the books take place over a span of 10 years. The show takes place over what looks like about 5 1/2. Using that as a benchmark, the Persepolis Rising gap will probably skip over about 15 years instead of the books' 30.
It'll probably be the same thing. I think it's a little confusing because the authors chose to make the portal a ring instead of a sphere (which is the way portals through space should be). If it was a sphere, you could enter through any point on its surface and emerge from the surface a corresponding sphere inside the ring space. But now that it is a ring, we would have to imagine objects entering the ring in opposite directions emerging the same way into the ring space or that the ring space is not accessible from the back side of the ring.
I think one reason that they decreased the severity of damage on earth after the asteroids was to shorten the time jump from 30 years to less than a decade. They still have to think about Laconia's rise to power if the still want to include that arc.
At the end of season 5, the 'enemy' of the Ring Builders destroys the rebel Martian ship. If season 6 is going to be the final series, they need to defeat this enemy or the show could take a dark path and civilisation ends. In years to come this will end up being one of the top Syfy cult shows it has been so well put together.
I think the pacing of the stories of the show relative to the books are "close enough". I think this possibly gets to be more of an issue post book 6 with the often-lamented gap of multiple decades to allow... "stuff to happen" within the Laconia system. But I suspect that could be hand-waved away to some extent, should there be additional TV shows produced to play out that plot line. One difference in the timelines/plots are when and how Fred Johnson dies. Like other differences, it doesn't really impact the overall way the larger story proceeds. And of course, I think the biggest difference is the Drummer character (and now, Bull) vs. the books. I think this adaptation in the show is great change and introduces us to a really interesting character.
Great video, as always. From a storyline point of view, I prefer the books timeline, it makes more sense for the characters to develop real love and affection and feel like a real family after staying together for all those years, but I understand the need for the show to condense the timeline and to remain as vague as possible about timing and dinstances to avoid a GoT-like disaster.
Old School Trekker, and this is one of the best series Ive seen, though I like Discovery and The Mandalorian, this is a whole new Universe, solid writing, acting, characters, special effects. Still a little bit lost, wven after this and having watched all 5 seasons. Quite complex and mysterious. Right up there with Babylon 5.
One thing I've noticed about time and distance in the books is it kinda always feels like they wrote it with a kinda uncertainty principal in mind. Sometimes they give you really detailed and specific numbers for g burns and times spent under them and all that, but no time traveled, other times they give you the days traveled but no meaningful info on the speed they were traveling. Its a smart way to write, gives the illusion of well thought out, calculated travel times, without the need for em.
Excellent video I appreciate your work. I love the show but have no plan to read the books. So this explains a lot. Your book reviews are good as well thank you for your efforts. Have you considered explaining the Belter's language? I still have difficulty understanding it sometimes. That is one reason why I think some people don't watch the show that barrier and closed caption doesn't help. So if you haven't already that would be a good topic.
The 22nd century gets referenced, nevertheless, in season 6 there is Drummer's dialogue with Crisjen where she says that 100 years of inner oppression have created Marco... so it still is kinda accurate, it would have taken a while since the 22nd for the belters to come about.
I just started watching this show and I'm already bored to tears but my friend says it's important that I watch it so I'm just kinda tuning in and out. Even watching this I'm already bored but want the Cliff Notes.
Such a great show, but far the best attempt at simulating how i believe humanity will be like in the future. As far as politically and technologically.
"Wow! 🤔 The opening story foundation reminds me of that sci-fi game with the Citadel thing, MASS EFFECT. Relays, new particle, old civilization. Very interesting similarities... then the due smiling like Zephra Cochran in Star Trek, who created warp drive. 🥶🥶🥶 The more I watch, the more it seem like lots of sci-fi show plots melded into one." (-James)
Could please make a vid to explain what the story is about - including books up to date? Especcially concering Protomolecule. I know you made one, but only according to tv show. Cheers!!
Great timeline, I think that the UN and Mars' political situations should've been mentioned more (Errinwright turning against Avasarala, Sorrento-Gillis' fall, the election between Avasarala and Gao and Gao's death. Lots of really cool stuff could've been mentioned!
I’m so dang confused can someone please clear this up. Are the species who built the ring gates the same ones who made the proto molecule. And did the ring gate or proto molecule kill them and if so why would it destroy its creators. In the video the ring gate’s core shot an energy beam to kill the ring gate’s creators so that’s why I’m confused
The proto molecule and the ring gates were built by the same civilization. They're referred to as the builders. They were attacked by another civilization you can refer to as the unknown aggressors. In trying to defend themselves the builders destroyed their own systems trying to stop the aggressors from spreading to others. Then they shut down the gate network to try to quarantine. I think that's the best I can explain it without further spoilers from the final trilogy.
The Books are much more descriptive of the time it takes to get around than anything we've seen on the show. (In the books, It's close to 3 weeks between the death of the Cant' and the Knight being picked up by the Donnanger and another 2 weeks from her death to the Roci arriving at Tycho)
Only mostly through book 1 on my Post Season 6 reread but I recall Book 3 opening almost 2 years later, between a refit, court case, and stated 7 month trip out to the ring. I would assume an equal time back with Peaches in the brig. and book 4 mentioned almost 2 years to get to ilus
