“The Expanse” Season 2 aired from February 1 to April 19, 2017, spanning 13 episodes. Based on the second and part of the third novel in James S.A. Corey’s book series, the season continues the complex political and human drama across the solar system.
The season opens with the immediate aftermath of the Canterbury and Donnager destructions. The crew of the stolen Martian warship, the Rocinante—James Holden, Naomi Nagata, Alex Kamal, and Amos Burton—find themselves in possession of a vital piece of evidence: a protomolecule-infected child named Mei Meng, who was on the stealth ship attacking the Donnager. They deliver her to her father, scientist Praxideke “Prax” Meng, on Ganymede, forging a crucial alliance.
On Earth, U.N. Deputy Undersecretary Chrisjen Avasarala works to uncover a conspiracy, maneuvering against formidable opponents like Jules-Pierre Mao, whose corporation is behind the protomolecule research. Her efforts lead to a tense alliance with Martian Marine Bobbie Draper, who survives a catastrophic attack on Ganymede by a protomolecule hybrid. Bobbie, disillusioned with Martian command’s cover-up, defects to Earth to tell the truth.
The central crisis escalates on Venus, where the protomolecule sample has begun transforming the planet. This activity culminates in a massive structure erupting from Venus and launching towards the outer solar system. It eventually settles near Uranus and constructs a giant ring, an alien-built gateway to thousands of habitable star systems. This discovery instantly changes the balance of power for Earth, Mars, and the Outer Planets Alliance (OPA).
The season’s climax focuses on the OPA’s internal struggle. On Tycho Station, Fred Johnson and the Rocinante crew attempt to prevent a radical OPA faction, led by Anderson Dawes and his operative Diogo, from launching a stolen nuclear missile at Earth. Simultaneously, a renegade OPA commander, Ashford, seeks to destroy the alien ring with a radiation burst, threatening all life within it. The Rocinante crew races to stop both catastrophes.
Holden enters the ring’s non-space and encounters a powerful entity that interprets his ship’s aggression as a threat. By shutting down the Rocinante’s systems, Holden demonstrates peaceful intent, deactivating the ring’s defenses and allowing humanity access to the new frontiers. The season ends with the ring gate stabilized, a new political landscape dawning, and the Rocinante crew, now joined by Prax and journalist Monica Stuart, setting off as independent contractors into an uncertain future.