The Expanse’s Final Season Arrives This December

The sixth and final season of TV’s best sci-fi series finally has a release date: The Expanse will return on December 10 via Amazon Prime Video. Which is the good news. The bad news, however, is that it’s going to be a shortened season.

Whereas previous Expanse seasons had either ten or thirteen episodes, The Expanse’s sixth season will only have six episodes. Which doesn’t seem like near enough time to resolve everything that’s necessary to bring the series to a satisfying conclusion.

Here’s the official synopsis:

The sixth and final season of The Expanse picks up with the solar system at war, as Marco Inaros and his Free Navy continue to launch devastating asteroid attacks on Earth and Mars. As the tensions of war and shared loss threaten to pull the crew of the Rocinante apart, Chrisjen Avasarala makes a bold move and sends former Martian Marine Bobbie Draper on a secret mission that could turn the tide of the conflict. Meanwhile, in the Belt, Drummer and what’s left of her family are on the run after betraying Marco. And on a distant planet beyond the Rings, a new power begins to rise.

Again, that all sounds like way too much to cram into just six episodes. Still, I can’t wait to return to the Rocinante and her crew alongside Avasarala and Draper. (Sadly, Alex Kamal will not be returning as the Roci’s pilot, having died in the season five finale. Actor Cas Anvar was written off the show after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment and assault.)

And there might be some hope yet. In various interviews, cast and crew members have hinted at the possibility of The Expanse continuing on another service; they seem to want to keep making the show, even if Amazon doesn’t. Heaven knows there’s still plenty of story left to adapt: the ninth and final Expanse novel, Leviathan Falls, arrives on shelves this November, with one final novella to follow next March.