213 Caliban’s War – The Expanse Podcast – Tales From The Rocinante

May 1, 2017 | The Expanse Podcast - Tales From The Rocinante | 1 comment

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Caliban’s War

This episode Timestamps

[3:37] News
[7:17] Episode Recap
[12:16] My Observations
[20:31] Feedback
[None] Book Discussion

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This week we finish season 2 of The Expanse with the episode titled “Caliban’s War”.

In this week’s podcast after sharing some news from The Expanse, I talk about the most recent episode. I end the podcast with some great listener feedback.

News

If you would like to read The Expanse book series or order season 1 on DVD or Blue-ray you can purchase them via Amazon. USA or Canada.

Or listen to the audiobook version through Audible

The University of Toronto holds Modle UN “Crisis Conference!” based on The Expanse.

Science and Tech in The Expanse

Adam Savage gets 3D scanned for The Expanse.

Episode Recap

Caliban’s War

The episode opens with the standoff on Jules-Pierre Mao’s ship. Neither side willing to stand down.

Bobbie finds a way out for them but Cotyar is shot and too hurt to make the climb. He tells Bobbie that they brought her power armour with them. If she can get to the skiff she can save them so the marine heads off.

She encounters some resistance along the way but manages to make her way to where their skiff is docked. One of Mao’s men stands between her and her armour but she convinces him that dying for Mao isn’t what he wants to do. He agrees and steps aside.

After exchanging fire, Mao’s men ask Cotyar to negotiate. Avasarala coaches him what to say but the conversation is going nowhere. Then Mao’s men offer safe passage to Cotyar if he hands over the Under-Secretary.

Avasarala thinks he’s going to give in to them but he tells her he’s doing what he’s doing because he owes it to her son to keep his mother safe.

Wanting to keep Cotyar safe Chrisjen surrenders to Mao’s men, who receive orders to kill her.

Before they can follow through, Bobbie, dressed in full power armour arrives and takes them out.

——

After making arrangements for the Somnambulist, Naomi and Amos are back on board the Rocinante.

While evaluating the damage sustained by the missile explosion they discover they have a stowaway on board. The monster from Ganymede is in their cargo bay.

Prax is still convinced he can talk to the creature but Holden won’t hear it. Their only course of action is to destroy the monster.

Holden and Amos enter the cargo bay intending to shoot it. They watch as the creature digs out and discards a failsafe device that was implanted in its chest. Not taking any chances they open fire spraying the monster with bullets but they have little effect on it.

In retaliation, the monster rips a magnetic cargo container off the floor and throws it at them hitting Holden and pinning him to the wall.

Amos tries to help his captain but his suit is loosing air so Holden orders him to leave.

The rest of the crew are arguing what to do. Prax still wants to try communicating with the creature but the rest just want it destroyed. Holden calls their attention to the monster’s actions. It’s ignoring Holden and trying to dig its way through a bulkhead.

They realize that it’s looking for food and trying to dig its way to their reactor. If it succeeds they’re all dead.

Every solution they come up with to destroy the creature would also be fatal to Holden.

Amos comes up with the idea to pressurize the compartments around the cargo bay and then blow the hatch. The result will be like a balloon deflating, blowing the creature off the ship. Holden will probably be torn apart if they try but he orders them to get started anyway.

Time is tight so Alex shuts down their drive figuring if it’s off it won’t be as attractive to the creature. It works, but with its food source off it turns it’s attention back on Holden so Alex starts the drive up again.

Figuring he’s a goner, Holden opens up to Naomi but she refuses to see the inevitable.

On his way to help Amos, Prax being the botanist he notices the plants growing on the Roci and comes up with a new plan. Just like the way plants search for water. If they give the creature an easier food source to reach it may leave the reactor alone.

Using one of their nuclear warheads as bait. Naomi and Prax take it outside the Rocinante to attract the creature. It works, sensing an easier meal, the Monster exits the cargo hold and chases them down.

After a slight hesitation, Prax tosses the nuclear core into space and the monster jumps for it. Alex immediately fires up the Roci’s drive frying the creature in its wake.

They manage to free Holden who will need some time to heal.

Knowing he’s safe, Naomi doesn’t want to hold any more secrets from Holden and confesses to hiding their Protomolecule sample. She truly believes that since Earth and Mars have their samples, that the Belt should have one as well. Thinking she was about to die on the Somnambulist she sent a message to Fred Johnson telling where to find it.

——

Around Venus, The Aborgast starts descending to the planet to get better readings. Not to be outdone, the Martian ship also descends at a much higher rate than the science ship.

Suddenly, their descent is halted and everything calms down. The Protomolecule invades the ship and then tears it apart seam by seam, bolt by bolt until every single individual part of it is separated from the next. Killing everyone on board.

——

The season ends with Dr. Strickland loading Mei into some kind of sleeping pod and storing her away.