I love the effect of that last scene where a guy, who looks like he might be Amos, walks past the camera as a ship takes off in the distant background... the fact that he doesn't even bother looking is so powerful an image to me. It's like an average city dweller walking home, not bothering to look toward the sound of just another bus driving off from the curb. In that way, not looking at the ship is putting us exactly where we were supposed to be to witness the banality of life in the 24th century. Making it real. Brilliant!
This is when writers of shows don't think the audience is stupid and needs to feed every thought via exposition. The shot is perfect and tells you all you need to know.
This show is by far the best thing to happen to scifi on TV in more than a decade in my opinion. Loved it so much that I picked up the books to finish where the show ended. I still crave more The Expanse. So while I wait for the game to come out I decided to start reading Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Great book so far.
@@kinetic_kane9033 I'll take over that question :) Show "wraps up" with the book 6 called "Babylon's Ashes" you could continue reading forward starting with "Persepolis Rising" (and there is 30 years time jump) BUT there would be some slightly confusing differences. Not a deal breaking ones but big enough. Like some characters being still alive and some being made of few characters from the book, merged into one that is in in the show. Also audio books are A W E S O M E, as the guy who reads them for us (Jefferson Mays) is so talented!
The Expanse is a testament to how you can take current social themes, apply them to a future context, and examine them without being hamfisted, preachy and annoying. A wonderful exploration of humanity's best and worst aspects set amongst the mystery and wonder of the stars. Many current showrunners and writers should be taking notes--particularly about how not to be preachy and annoying. It is counter-productive.
@@Blackburn5360 Nah, I would agree that some moments they try to play the victim little too hard, but I think that really only serves the series well later, when belters start committing atrocities using their victimhood as a shield.
It's one of the best, albeit saddest, plot arcs in the story because it is one of the most tragic & complex features of human nature: playing the victim is a slippery slope that tells the sweet lie, "it's not my fault, but it is his fault" and grows into a recursion loop....becoming an annoying exaggerated feature....then a political movement....then a war...then a genocide.
The unfortunate reality is that we have to collectively change for the better just to get to The Expanse as a future. In The Expanse, Earth's climate change problem was stopped by a united global effort in (if I recall correctly) the 21st century.
@@wagnarokkr it was, but only after climate change because an absolute climate catastrophe that decimated entire nations and lead humanity to the brink of extinction
One thing I would point out about the expanse’s ships is that they are oriented like a tower meaning that when the thrusters are on , Vector gravity ( caused by acceleration ) creates gravity as the crew of the ship is falling down towards the ground as that is where the centre of thrust is.
It's one of the best sci-fi shows I've watched. It deserves a lot of praise and popularity and i even don't know why isn't it popular. Just before writing this comment i went to google and searched best sci-fi series to watch. I was shocked to see that The Expanse was not recommended as the first option it was so down the list. I was more shocked to see Ms. Marvel as a top recommendation for sci-fi series. Are you serious Ms. Marvel 🤦🏻
The Expanse is the most accurate SciFi series of its type. I think, too, that it builds on the gritty space realism of Battlestar Galactica - and possibly would not have made it to production without the former being as successful as it was. I do wish that it had not been cancelled.
The Expanse wasn't cancelled. It just finished that part of the story. There's a decades long time gap in the books after the end of Marco, which I fully expect to see brought to the small screen in the next few years, with some changes in the timescale to account for the cast not aging all that much. The writers and producers are guardedly confident that we haven't seen the last of this universe.
This is the problem all sci-fi eventually faces. I came into the expanse to watch Earth and Mars and the beaters duel it out, I don’t care about the Lyconian Empire (or whatever it’s called). The scope creep ruins most stories eventually as you get further and further from the point in the stories timeline that got you interested in the first place. More writers need to know when to end it.
@@g.williams2047 It’s different. The Laconian story was set up in the show in like season 3. In the books, it’s book 4. AND it’s out of a natural consequence of the events of the first books. Not some “new threat that comes out of nowhere.” It fits perfectly in the scope of the original story. Ty and Daniel do not do story bloat or creep. Even the last three books are tight. With books 8 and 9 debatably being the best ones in the series.
the thing I like about protomolecule is that while it acts as the soft magic, characters clearly describe it as just alien weapon or tool that was engineered and purpusefully delivered to solar system people in the universe understand that it's just very advanced science, but despite that it's idea is executed so well that you can't stop yourself from fearing it as the mystical unnatural danger
Well, the Earth doesn't always have a day/night cycle. If you live in north Alaska or, god forbid, Canada (I'm kidding I love you guys! C'est tres beau!). The summers don't have long daytimes, they have ONLY daytimes. And the winters are the opposite. Humans adapt and sci-fi writing seems to always forget this. The Expanse is one of the best shows that I've seen since Breaking Bad. And this channel is awesome. Thanks for making the video.
Love this. Especially the conclusion, tying it back into our own world. I’ve seen a bunch of these videos, but many don’t give near-enough of an understanding of the Belters specifically. And those that do are often much longer than this. Your skill in crafting a lean and concise script shines through!
Great Video. I loved The Expanse a great deal both the books and the show. Very sad we wont get an adaptation of the final three books. I think your last point is quite good. I think a big part of the series' message is that it doesn't matter how far out into space we go, if we don't solve the problems we have at home we won't outrun them, we'll just take those problems with us to the stars.
Stumbled onto your videos today. Another great summary. This show doesn’t have the bright futuristic outlook created in Star Trek but it does create a code of decency and loyalty. I like to think that the Rocinante is an ode to Rush given the song that mentions that ship is a sci fy song.
Great vid. I think that this show really shows a middle ground between what we want to happen through its characters like naomi and what will happen through its setting and storytelling
They don't remove air from the inside of the ship to not lose it per se. They remove it because a leak would mean an acceleration into an uncontrolled trajectory. So no more controlled evasive maneuvers.
This just popped up in my feed... Thank you TH-cam algorithm! I liked the presentation: clear, concise, and you kept the video moving towards the conclusion. As you made a video to explain worldbuilding, you made a video that is an example of how to make a TH-cam video. I loved it!
I never knew that it started as a RPG, that is as amazing as it seems pretty reasonable! I can only imagine the amount of material an author would get from playing an RPG with other authors.
Ahh yet again the Emerald city problem. Not everyone can live there. Even the belters had parts of the station they considered upscale and probably full of inner tourists. I like how they deal with this in the series.
The world building in The Expanse , the verisimilitude, is common currency in the prose form of sophisticated space opera. This originated , mostly, on the pages of Astounding Magazine starting about 1940 , evolving into a very mature form by the 1950s and has stayed so ever since. Both Franck and Abraham are big fans of 1950s science fiction , on the page, writers like Heinlein, Asimov , Anderson .... many others had perfected the 'lived-in' domesticated advanced technology we see in the Expanse more 70 years ago.
I liked the ending idea. The idea of our problems persisting together with us, as in, they are not tied to a location, but to us. But at the same time, look at our history. The new world: USA mainly but also others. They brought immense change and (in my opinion) immense advancement not only in technologies, but also in the betterment of the whole humankind. Maybe a change of location will actually help humankind. It is obviously much easier to create something new and immensely different, than change something that already exists. The rest of the world (or atleast the most of the world) is desperately and pathetically trying to copy and adapt USA's cultural achievements and in general, just their policy (bureaucracy, administration, whatever). Your two examples of current space explorers is truly saddening, but I hope they are only the beginning (or atleast the second stage of the beginning) of exploration.
I've often felt that the Expanse is how we probably will be when we go into space. It won't be the sterile utopia of Star Trek, but people will continue to be people. In other words, we'll be taking the best of us, as well as the worst, when we go into space.
The way this show succeeded was by working with the writers of the book. By the end of the first season (Which does have a little bit of a learning curve) you feel as if you could walk down the corridors of a ship, down the streets of Earth or tunnels on Mars and it feels right. It's a living Universe that really is just us about 500 years ahead. We're still human so we're still terrible. And that's why it works.
Reminds me all those bright predictions made about the year 2000 and the rest of the 21st century during my childhood in the late Sixties and early Seventies. Technology has advanced over the last 50 years, but we still have all the same old problems and issues. Yes, here we are, in the actual 21st century, and it's dreadful so far!
I saw krautwatch react too the first episode of the show considering I hadn't seen it before and had no idea what it's about I found myself not liking, but still finding it interesting, but since seeing this video I have too watch it thank you for this and great video on world building
I came so very very close to saying some words that I know for a fact, a stone cold fact, That others feel exactly the same way I do when I say these words into my, Apple iPad Pro, 12.9. So it will do my typing for me. And those words are these. “You have no idea, absolutely no idea, how lonely I feel knowing that the show is over and now I will not be able to watch it. Again. And again. And again. 😢 😢 😭 😭”.
this was awesome! I think one nitpick though: I think even though ships could cruise at 1g, most do it at 1/3g. Like if the Roci was moving at 1g, I don't think Naomi could be on the ship.
I agree with something she said that we're only one scientific discovery away from the world of The Expanse.. inexpensive, reliable, efficient propulsion systems. Once humanity can easily build engines that escape earth's gravity and move us quickly through space, we would expand (no pun intended) throughout the solar system rapidly.
Wonderful video, I discovered your channel via the video about Westworld (another gem of a video, for a series that was, after season 1, as disappointing as the Expanse was fulfilling). Keep up the great work! (and if you don't mind my asking, what's the name of the music that starts at minute 10? It's oddly familiar but I can't quite place it)
An Expanse video game would honestly be awesome right now. Probably if they start making it now it would release 10 years before Star Citizen releases...
Our problems do not merely follow us, they are within us. A deep part of us that we try to change but are compelled to keep. Yep I just came up with that of the top of my head... Neat. :) Thank you for the video and the final words were the obvious inspiration. Also if you want to (Idk why you would though) you can quote me. :)
It had 6 seasons. Hardly cut short. For comparison, Breaking Bad only got 5 seasons, I wouldn't consider that cut short. Unless you're just talking about season 6, which, yeah was a bit rushed, but not too much.
@@raymondsims7042 True but there is a huuuuge time jump, like 20 some years between book 6 and 7. It would be a pain to have to age everyone to keep with that. As far as I know the set for the Roci is still intact and they may revive the series. It's not completely dead.
I like that some new SCI-FI fiction looks at how some of the first settlers on other worlds might be citizens from poorer and more overpopulated countries that would want to get rid of their extra mouths while those in richer areas may just feel too comfortable to go out into space without major incentives.
The Epstien drive is impossible. The degradation from fission metals and ALL components would ground a vehicle rated for orbit in a couple years. Maybe if you designed a tug boat configuration it might work? Hydrogen Anti-Matter has the potential combustion rating. But we have no electrical systems that are reliable enough to descend onto a planet with enough explosive material to make Beirut look like a firecracker...
Iirc Epstein drive is not fission but fusion. In some scenes, you can actually see roci's engine operation schematic where the fuel pellet is ignited by laser compression. And yes, it is impossible. Now. Not so long ago, a kilopower reactor was impossible. A bit further back, modern missiles. Further back, electricity, combustion engines, steam engines, fire would be considered ridiculous fantasy...
I just couldn't get into the expanse. I think it was the acting and kinda stilted 80s dialog. But I absolutely adore people who care about something passionately and can paint a beautiful picture of their Fandom and how it inspired them.
Fun video, but Sanderson DID NOT create the distinction between "hard" and "soft" magic systems -- that distinction has been around forever. Gygax, for example, talks about it in early D &D rules...
Outstanding video right up to the point where you mentioned Jeff Bezos and Richard branson. That whole bit was utter nonsense. You might have mentioned SpaceX that put four tourists into orbit.
The Epstein drive is also magic, it's not really explained, but it's the thing that makes the whole story possible, and we have to just accepts that it works. I guess it fits the "hard magic" definition
Frankly- if Elon Musk went to space it would hurt my soul less than Bezos or Branson, since he actually designed parts of that rocket and had the conception of it. Plus he was only worth $150 million when he founded SpaceX- not $142 Billion...
I love the expanse, from the novels the one of the best shows of any genre I've seen. I just hope that the authors don't turn out to be prophets given how they imagine the UN governing earth, with most of the population eking out an existence via what the novels call "Basic" a cashless form of Universal basic income, where instead of just giving people money for them to do with as they please, their basic necessities are provided for, albeit in a manner no civilized or any even slightly ambitious person would ever want, & with almost no chance of upward mobility it's easy to see why non adventurous / indifferent towards the exploration of space types of people would sign up to be colonists of a place like series or Eros. That to me was the most unsettling thing about the expanse, not the ancient alien jellyfish or the entities in the ringspace, but 30 billion people living on earth and most left to rot with no means to escape.... unless you live in Baltimore and you kill a crime boss who wanted you to kill your best friend, and your best friend happens to make fake identities and gives you the crime bosses name and background so you can go be a space mechanic who winds up fighting for the survival of humanity and being one of the best characters ever put to page. :)
As someone who does live in Baltimore I've never had to kill any bosses to leave so far :) But you'll be happy to know that estimates recently came out in the literature that put the peak population around 13.8 billion in 2080. Still though, if we were headed for 30 billion how could it be much different than portrayed as far as production/employment? It's fine to not like that future but if we're 'going to do better' we need a methodology and ideology to achieve that.
That final question skips over a bunch of assumptions. How are we to select the most capable, or the most intelligent? Who decides what criteria are used to ascertain intelligence and capability? As for most experienced... how can someone who does something "first" be experienced at all? On the other hand, rich men have an awful lot at stake when they risk their lives. Their comfortable existence, which has greater potential to be prolonged, is more of a sure thing than some dirt poor ordinary person. The USSR willingly and knowingly sent many cosmonauts on a one-way trip to accomplish single steps on the road to space travel. These men lacked any freedom or resources of their own, and so were forced to die for someone else's agenda. Bezos and Branson, by putting their own asses in the vehicles, are far more invested in the safety of the project than any Soviet commissar, director or administrator who knew whatever happened, it would not be his own ass on the line if the capsule malfunctioned or the rocket exploded. Furthermore, whatever faults in their characters, neither Bezos nor Branson was born among the richest men alive. Branson was the son of a lawyer, but was not himself wealthy and was challenged academically. Bezos was the son of teenagers, and adopted by his immigrant stepfather, and he worked in McDonalds as a teenager himself. You might bemoan the methods by which they became wealthy, but the fact is, they set out to find a way to earn money, and did. They succeeded as few others in the history of the world ever have. Who are you to say they are NOT the most capable or the most intelligent? Half the seasons of the Expanse only aired, because Jeff Bezos is a fan of the show, FFS! The benefit of a free market system is not that it gets commodities to those who need them or those who deserve them (but no system yet has been shown that can do that), but that those with the resources and inclination to do something CAN do it. There is, at present, no real motive for going to space, other than a dream. Governments which are supposed to be taking care of people have better things to do with their money than invest in a project that will have no foreseeable way to payoff in the future. Now a theocracy or an aristocracy or a dictatorship, that does not have to answer to people with immediate problems to be addressed, those types of societies can embark on long-term projects at great cost or expense. But not a democratic government. But Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos don't have to answer to anyone, no one can tell them to stop wasting their money on a project with no return. If Virgin and Amazon were suddenly given over to the ownership of the workers, and Branson's and Bezos' money redirected back to something that someone else has arbitrarily decided is a worthier cause, there would likely not have been any such space flights planned. A guy who cares, no matter how little snobs think of his qualifications, might just have a better chance of bringing the rest of us up there with him, than a elite specimen chosen with the full and certain knowledge of his own alleged superiority, who has an interest in retaining that as his exclusive privilege, because as long as he is the only one allowed, he can retain his claim on elite status. This is not to say that this is good or bad, certainly not that this is the best way to do things, but it is a reality that for now, we have a scarcity or resources, and we will always be arguing how they will be allocated, and whom we will grant their agency to. The one benefit our current economic model has to the issue in question is that it worked. It got people into space who were not government henchmen and brought them safely back. For now, that's what we can get, so we might as well take it.
Oh yeah that's other things that bugged me. Clichéd 'future problems' like overpopulation. If anything we have an under population problem. If we lived in the same population density as Japan (which really isn't that bad) 30 billion people would fit in about half of Alaska. And like the old saying "the bureaucracy must grow to meet the needs of the growing bureaucracy." Elderly and children will always rely on everyone else to have their needs met. The only real problem is if age or gender gaps got too wide. It's an ebb and flow. Maybe if they introduced more automation technology they might be on to something. But considering they still need people to do stuff like fly ships and mine it doesn't seem like unemployment should EVER be an issue.
The Expanse is probably the best science fiction series I've ever watched. It all feels grounded in plausible world building (as this video points out) but also the motivations of the characters, the broad amount of cultural diversity that's feels like an extension of Earth (makes sense, since that was the foundation of the galactic civilisation) and political intrigue that again mirrors human behaviour. It really is excellent.
'Gravity' isn't what is being generated by spin. Gravity is a fundamental force, like electromagnetism. Spin provides what we experience of gravity on a planet, namely the downward force of being pulled toward the center. Spin just emulates that whereas a gravitational body provides this in proportion to it's mass/distance. 2. 'Utopian' (You toe pee an) is generally preferred to 'Utopic' (You toe pic (btw)). That said, I loved the video and thought it incredibly well thought out and resourced. I had to put my criticism first otherwise I imagine it is easy to ignore the rest of a comment. Love the references to the original writing and how other writers think about the bridge between science and magic. More people should keep this in mind when interfacing with daily technology. It is eye opening.
I love how well thought out the world and background of the series are, but I could not get past the 3rd episode of the first season. I found the show to be more interesting on paper. I'm not sure if it was the dialogue or maybe the cast but it didn't click with me. (Great video by the way)
the first season is slow as nails. I also didn't liked it. Tbh, the sow got good for me from the half point of season 2. And when it went up, it never got back down.
You should really, really give it another go. There's a lot of track to lay before it starts paying off consistently, but it pays off so, so many times once you're deeper into it.
Maybe give it another go someday. The start is realy slow, but Episode 4 is usually the hook for most people, and from the middle of the first Season it's just a wild ride onwards.
Trying to create utopia always results in dystopia. Paving roads to hell with good intentions and so on. Allowing free people to figure it out for themselves while protecting their rights and liberties is the only way to make a tolerable future. This includes allowing rich people to build rocket ships for luxury purposes first, developing the tech until it becomes more common and affordable.
As far as I understand, Bezos was a quant and highly intelligent. He’s the right person to go space. Why is he less worthy than the usual type (pilots)?
You said, "For a story set in space, it always feels fairly grounded". Really? I guess you slept through season 1, the very best season! "The Expanse" is sci-fi fantasy, with a "McGuffin" called the "Proto-Molecule" which can redefine 'life' as humans perceive it. The creators of this "Proto-Molecule" have created gateways to other galaxies but deny access to the average person, but allow access to 'special people'. It's 'Harry Potter' meets Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (i.e. the Monolith) with a deluge of LGBTQ+ diversity & speculative pseudo-scientific hogwash to dazzle the viewer. Season 1 was great! Every season after that is mired in political nonsense, overly emotional diatribe and inane dialogue. The entire concept of the ""Proto-Molecule" being able to reanimate life is stolen from the Hebrew myth of 'The Golem', Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's "Frankenstein" and H.P Lovecraft's "Herbert West: Re-animator". Blimey!
Protomolecule is just sufficiently advanced nanotech which acts without external guidance and in an environment it was not quite designed for. So no, it is not pure magic. It is scientifically plausible, though highly unlikely
"Just not the coffee maker" has to be the second best line in all of The Expanse IMO
im betting the best line is 'I am that guy.'
@@khaaneph7311 Ayyyy
@@khaaneph7311 And both Amos lines...
@@71CMM Because Amos is a man of few words, every single one of them has to be acknowledged accordingly
“Holden, it’s fucked enough already. Don’t put your dick in it,” has my vote for a top 5 entry.
I love the effect of that last scene where a guy, who looks like he might be Amos, walks past the camera as a ship takes off in the distant background... the fact that he doesn't even bother looking is so powerful an image to me. It's like an average city dweller walking home, not bothering to look toward the sound of just another bus driving off from the curb. In that way, not looking at the ship is putting us exactly where we were supposed to be to witness the banality of life in the 24th century. Making it real. Brilliant!
Yeah that is Amos when he visited Baltimore
This is when writers of shows don't think the audience is stupid and needs to feed every thought via exposition. The shot is perfect and tells you all you need to know.
I caught that too and enjoyed it for the same reason
This show is by far the best thing to happen to scifi on TV in more than a decade in my opinion. Loved it so much that I picked up the books to finish where the show ended.
I still crave more The Expanse. So while I wait for the game to come out I decided to start reading Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Great book so far.
Hey if you see this reply to your comment, can you tell me where I can pick up the book to complete the rest of the story after the show ended?
@@kinetic_kane9033Persepolis Rising, Tiamat's Wrath and Leviathan Falls are the last three books taking place after the show.
@@kinetic_kane9033 I'll take over that question :)
Show "wraps up" with the book 6 called "Babylon's Ashes" you could continue reading forward starting with "Persepolis Rising" (and there is 30 years time jump) BUT there would be some slightly confusing differences. Not a deal breaking ones but big enough. Like some characters being still alive and some being made of few characters from the book, merged into one that is in in the show.
Also audio books are A W E S O M E, as the guy who reads them for us (Jefferson Mays) is so talented!
The Expanse is a testament to how you can take current social themes, apply them to a future context, and examine them without being hamfisted, preachy and annoying. A wonderful exploration of humanity's best and worst aspects set amongst the mystery and wonder of the stars. Many current showrunners and writers should be taking notes--particularly about how not to be preachy and annoying. It is counter-productive.
Not to mention lazy.
I thought the Belters were pretty hamfisted most of the time
@@Blackburn5360 At least it felt like an organic part of the world and story.
@@Blackburn5360
Nah, I would agree that some moments they try to play the victim little too hard,
but I think that really only serves the series well later, when belters start committing atrocities using their victimhood as a shield.
It's one of the best, albeit saddest, plot arcs in the story because it is one of the most tragic & complex features of human nature: playing the victim is a slippery slope that tells the sweet lie, "it's not my fault, but it is his fault" and grows into a recursion loop....becoming an annoying exaggerated feature....then a political movement....then a war...then a genocide.
Star Trek is our future if we decide to collectively change for the better, The Expanse is our future if we continue to be the same.
The unfortunate reality is that we have to collectively change for the better just to get to The Expanse as a future. In The Expanse, Earth's climate change problem was stopped by a united global effort in (if I recall correctly) the 21st century.
At this point we'd be lucky just to get the expanse future
@@invadervim9037 Agree, I think we are heading to Bladerunners more than The Expanse.
@@wagnarokkr it was, but only after climate change because an absolute climate catastrophe that decimated entire nations and lead humanity to the brink of extinction
@@protato911 Try Mad max fury road.
One thing I would point out about the expanse’s ships is that they are oriented like a tower meaning that when the thrusters are on , Vector gravity ( caused by acceleration ) creates gravity as the crew of the ship is falling down towards the ground as that is where the centre of thrust is.
4:10 she mentions creating the illusion of gravity by using constant acceleration.
The crew isn’t falling down so much as the ship is pushing against them. (Nitpicking comments beg nitpicking replies.)
I love all of you. Milowda
It's one of the best sci-fi shows I've watched. It deserves a lot of praise and popularity and i even don't know why isn't it popular.
Just before writing this comment i went to google and searched best sci-fi series to watch. I was shocked to see that The Expanse was not recommended as the first option it was so down the list. I was more shocked to see Ms. Marvel as a top recommendation for sci-fi series. Are you serious Ms. Marvel 🤦🏻
It’s hard sci-fi and requires media literacy and attention to detail. The first thing alone makes it niche media, sadly.
I'm watching The Expanse again after just 12 months and can't believe all the details I missed the first time, it's that good.
The Expanse is the most accurate SciFi series of its type. I think, too, that it builds on the gritty space realism of Battlestar Galactica - and possibly would not have made it to production without the former being as successful as it was. I do wish that it had not been cancelled.
The Expanse wasn't cancelled. It just finished that part of the story. There's a decades long time gap in the books after the end of Marco, which I fully expect to see brought to the small screen in the next few years, with some changes in the timescale to account for the cast not aging all that much.
The writers and producers are guardedly confident that we haven't seen the last of this universe.
Fingers crossed we can see more of this universe with the same characters!
This is the problem all sci-fi eventually faces. I came into the expanse to watch Earth and Mars and the beaters duel it out, I don’t care about the Lyconian Empire (or whatever it’s called). The scope creep ruins most stories eventually as you get further and further from the point in the stories timeline that got you interested in the first place. More writers need to know when to end it.
@@g.williams2047
It’s different. The Laconian story was set up in the show in like season 3.
In the books, it’s book 4. AND it’s out of a natural consequence of the events of the first books. Not some “new threat that comes out of nowhere.” It fits perfectly in the scope of the original story.
Ty and Daniel do not do story bloat or creep. Even the last three books are tight. With books 8 and 9 debatably being the best ones in the series.
that was a well thought out video. love the world of the expanse. the realism is well up there
It is the best thing I have ever seen, no movie or show before or since comes close. It is exactly what I have been looking for my whole life.
It's up there with the best things I've seen on tv or cinema.
the thing I like about protomolecule
is that while it acts as the soft magic, characters clearly describe it as just alien weapon or tool that was engineered and purpusefully delivered to solar system
people in the universe understand that it's just very advanced science, but despite that it's idea is executed so well that you can't stop yourself from fearing it as the mystical unnatural danger
Well, the Earth doesn't always have a day/night cycle. If you live in north Alaska or, god forbid, Canada (I'm kidding I love you guys! C'est tres beau!). The summers don't have long daytimes, they have ONLY daytimes. And the winters are the opposite. Humans adapt and sci-fi writing seems to always forget this. The Expanse is one of the best shows that I've seen since Breaking Bad. And this channel is awesome. Thanks for making the video.
Love this. Especially the conclusion, tying it back into our own world.
I’ve seen a bunch of these videos, but many don’t give near-enough of an understanding of the Belters specifically. And those that do are often much longer than this. Your skill in crafting a lean and concise script shines through!
It's always a good day when you find a new awesome video essay channel. Awesome video for an awesome show!
Great Video. I loved The Expanse a great deal both the books and the show. Very sad we wont get an adaptation of the final three books. I think your last point is quite good. I think a big part of the series' message is that it doesn't matter how far out into space we go, if we don't solve the problems we have at home we won't outrun them, we'll just take those problems with us to the stars.
Human nature will never change, unless there is a spiritual awakening and national repentance.
Stumbled onto your videos today. Another great summary. This show doesn’t have the bright futuristic outlook created in Star Trek but it does create a code of decency and loyalty.
I like to think that the Rocinante is an ode to Rush given the song that mentions that ship is a sci fy song.
One of the most underrated shows.... Really needs more exposure and love like GoT
Great vid. I think that this show really shows a middle ground between what we want to happen through its characters like naomi and what will happen through its setting and storytelling
They don't remove air from the inside of the ship to not lose it per se. They remove it because a leak would mean an acceleration into an uncontrolled trajectory. So no more controlled evasive maneuvers.
Fine I'll watch the expanse again.
This show and this channel have one thing in common, they need more appreciation
The end of this essay would be a perfect segue into a sequel about a cyberpunk setting.
You deserve a million followers, this is real quality. Expanse, Wire, Westworld S1, Mad Men. Spot on.
This just popped up in my feed... Thank you TH-cam algorithm! I liked the presentation: clear, concise, and you kept the video moving towards the conclusion. As you made a video to explain worldbuilding, you made a video that is an example of how to make a TH-cam video. I loved it!
You get a like just for the kickass intro, editing, and sound design. Already LOADS above other Expanse/Corey creators! 👍🏻👍🏻
This channel deserves so many more views! Thank you for the great work!
Excellent video essay and your choices of shows to cover are on point. :)
I never knew that it started as a RPG, that is as amazing as it seems pretty reasonable!
I can only imagine the amount of material an author would get from playing an RPG with other authors.
This is a great video and is really well-written and well-narrated. Great work!
Ahh yet again the Emerald city problem. Not everyone can live there. Even the belters had parts of the station they considered upscale and probably full of inner tourists. I like how they deal with this in the series.
This was very nicely done, thank you!
Uuuuuh that intro was so slick. I had to go back after I finished the video to watch it a couple more times lol
ok, for a video on worldbuilding, that intro had no right being as amazing as it was XD. Fucking phenomenal work
This was an excellent break down of the amazing world building into the expanse! Great video :)
even though the world I'm working on is more sci-fantasy the expanse it such a cool setting to me, I love all the tech and the different societies.
An absolutely outstanding analysis and summary. Thank you !
You-toe-pick… my quibbles about pronunciation aside, this is a great video. Keep up the good work. Thank you for putting in all this effort.
The world building in The Expanse , the verisimilitude, is common currency in the prose form of sophisticated space opera. This originated , mostly, on the pages of Astounding Magazine starting about 1940 , evolving into a very mature form by the 1950s and has stayed so ever since. Both Franck and Abraham are big fans of 1950s science fiction , on the page, writers like Heinlein, Asimov , Anderson .... many others had perfected the 'lived-in' domesticated advanced technology we see in the Expanse more 70 years ago.
What a great style of Video, nicely done!
I love this show. Though it has reduced my ability to suspend my disbelief at X-Wings turning on a dime.
And doing so by banking as if they're in atmosphere at that lol
If it helps you forget all you need to invent is an inertial damper. That would win you more than a Nobel prize lol
Liked for the content, subbed for the reflexion at the end. Great stuff.
I liked the ending idea. The idea of our problems persisting together with us, as in, they are not tied to a location, but to us.
But at the same time, look at our history. The new world: USA mainly but also others. They brought immense change and (in my opinion) immense advancement not only in technologies, but also in the betterment of the whole humankind.
Maybe a change of location will actually help humankind. It is obviously much easier to create something new and immensely different, than change something that already exists. The rest of the world (or atleast the most of the world) is desperately and pathetically trying to copy and adapt USA's cultural achievements and in general, just their policy (bureaucracy, administration, whatever).
Your two examples of current space explorers is truly saddening, but I hope they are only the beginning (or atleast the second stage of the beginning) of exploration.
Excellent breakdown. And video.
Really good video. I watched The Expanse and loved it, now after watching this video I love it even more!!
The Expanse is easily the most awesome show (and book series) I've ever seen. Strongly recommended if you're a fan of SciFi.
Just discovered your excellent channel. Subscribed and notifications are on! Really great work.
Excelent video! Best regards from Argentina
For Beltalowda!
This was awesome! Thank you for this
This is good. I'd love to see a video on Andor or The Bear next.
I am loving these videos I mean truly good stuff keep up the beautiful work
This is a great video! Glad I found this channel
great video! thanks for sharing
I've often felt that the Expanse is how we probably will be when we go into space. It won't be the sterile utopia of Star Trek, but people will continue to be people. In other words, we'll be taking the best of us, as well as the worst, when we go into space.
The way this show succeeded was by working with the writers of the book. By the end of the first season (Which does have a little bit of a learning curve) you feel as if you could walk down the corridors of a ship, down the streets of Earth or tunnels on Mars and it feels right. It's a living Universe that really is just us about 500 years ahead. We're still human so we're still terrible. And that's why it works.
Being design initially as a TRPG before it became a novel series, it requires strong world building to start with.
0:45 Winston Duarte says otherwise...
…now I want to watch it again!!
Thank you for the video!
thanks for sharing! I'm eager to see a show that's about technology and it's well written.
There comes a point in life when the future stops being exciting and becomes dreadful.
Reminds me all those bright predictions made about the year 2000 and the rest of the 21st century during my childhood in the late Sixties and early Seventies.
Technology has advanced over the last 50 years, but we still have all the same old problems and issues. Yes, here we are, in the actual 21st century, and it's dreadful so far!
I saw krautwatch react too the first episode of the show considering I hadn't seen it before and had no idea what it's about I found myself not liking, but still finding it interesting, but since seeing this video I have too watch it thank you for this and great video on world building
I came so very very close to saying some words that I know for a fact, a stone cold fact, That others feel exactly the same way I do when I say these words into my,
Apple iPad Pro, 12.9. So it will do my typing for me. And those words are these.
“You have no idea, absolutely no idea, how lonely I feel knowing that the show is over and now I will not be able to watch it. Again. And again. And again. 😢 😢 😭 😭”.
0:47, I mean there is that too. Hail Duarte!
this was awesome! I think one nitpick though: I think even though ships could cruise at 1g, most do it at 1/3g. Like if the Roci was moving at 1g, I don't think Naomi could be on the ship.
Awesome video!
I agree with something she said that we're only one scientific discovery away from the world of The Expanse.. inexpensive, reliable, efficient propulsion systems. Once humanity can easily build engines that escape earth's gravity and move us quickly through space, we would expand (no pun intended) throughout the solar system rapidly.
I love this show!
Wonderful video, I discovered your channel via the video about Westworld (another gem of a video, for a series that was, after season 1, as disappointing as the Expanse was fulfilling). Keep up the great work! (and if you don't mind my asking, what's the name of the music that starts at minute 10? It's oddly familiar but I can't quite place it)
great video
An Expanse video game would honestly be awesome right now. Probably if they start making it now it would release 10 years before Star Citizen releases...
Well there is a Expanse video game being made right now. It was announced at last years game awards.
Our problems do not merely follow us, they are within us. A deep part of us that we try to change but are compelled to keep.
Yep I just came up with that of the top of my head... Neat. :)
Thank you for the video and the final words were the obvious inspiration.
Also if you want to (Idk why you would though) you can quote me. :)
I see THE EXPANSE, I like it!
Truly a great show. Too bad it was cut short
It had 6 seasons. Hardly cut short. For comparison, Breaking Bad only got 5 seasons, I wouldn't consider that cut short. Unless you're just talking about season 6, which, yeah was a bit rushed, but not too much.
@@nutbastardno he’s saying it was cut short because it didn’t cover all the books
@@raymondsims7042 True but there is a huuuuge time jump, like 20 some years between book 6 and 7. It would be a pain to have to age everyone to keep with that. As far as I know the set for the Roci is still intact and they may revive the series. It's not completely dead.
I like that some new SCI-FI fiction looks at how some of the first settlers on other worlds might be citizens from poorer and more overpopulated countries that would want to get rid of their extra mouths while those in richer areas may just feel too comfortable to go out into space without major incentives.
What's the source of that ship at 10:13 that looks kind of but not quite like a space shuttle?
Its from For All Mankind
As awesome as the T.V. show is the books are even better.
The Epstien drive is impossible. The degradation from fission metals and ALL components would ground a vehicle rated for orbit in a couple years. Maybe if you designed a tug boat configuration it might work? Hydrogen Anti-Matter has the potential combustion rating. But we have no electrical systems that are reliable enough to descend onto a planet with enough explosive material to make Beirut look like a firecracker...
Iirc Epstein drive is not fission but fusion. In some scenes, you can actually see roci's engine operation schematic where the fuel pellet is ignited by laser compression.
And yes, it is impossible. Now.
Not so long ago, a kilopower reactor was impossible. A bit further back, modern missiles. Further back, electricity, combustion engines, steam engines, fire would be considered ridiculous fantasy...
I just couldn't get into the expanse. I think it was the acting and kinda stilted 80s dialog. But I absolutely adore people who care about something passionately and can paint a beautiful picture of their Fandom and how it inspired them.
It is funny you made an example of Jeff Who and Branson and left out Inspiration4. That crew was far from the "most richest".
Good video. Only it’s 2350 the 24th century.
Fun video, but Sanderson DID NOT create the distinction between "hard" and "soft" magic systems -- that distinction has been around forever. Gygax, for example, talks about it in early D &D rules...
Outstanding video right up to the point where you mentioned Jeff Bezos and Richard branson. That whole bit was utter nonsense.
You might have mentioned SpaceX that put four tourists into orbit.
The Epstein drive is also magic, it's not really explained, but it's the thing that makes the whole story possible, and we have to just accepts that it works. I guess it fits the "hard magic" definition
Frankly- if Elon Musk went to space it would hurt my soul less than Bezos or Branson, since he actually designed parts of that rocket and had the conception of it. Plus he was only worth $150 million when he founded SpaceX- not $142 Billion...
I love the expanse, from the novels the one of the best shows of any genre I've seen. I just hope that the authors don't turn out to be prophets given how they imagine the UN governing earth, with most of the population eking out an existence via what the novels call "Basic" a cashless form of Universal basic income, where instead of just giving people money for them to do with as they please, their basic necessities are provided for, albeit in a manner no civilized or any even slightly ambitious person would ever want, & with almost no chance of upward mobility it's easy to see why non adventurous / indifferent towards the exploration of space types of people would sign up to be colonists of a place like series or Eros. That to me was the most unsettling thing about the expanse, not the ancient alien jellyfish or the entities in the ringspace, but 30 billion people living on earth and most left to rot with no means to escape.... unless you live in Baltimore and you kill a crime boss who wanted you to kill your best friend, and your best friend happens to make fake identities and gives you the crime bosses name and background so you can go be a space mechanic who winds up fighting for the survival of humanity and being one of the best characters ever put to page. :)
As someone who does live in Baltimore I've never had to kill any bosses to leave so far :)
But you'll be happy to know that estimates recently came out in the literature that put the peak population around 13.8 billion in 2080. Still though, if we were headed for 30 billion how could it be much different than portrayed as far as production/employment? It's fine to not like that future but if we're 'going to do better' we need a methodology and ideology to achieve that.
@@Biomirth Try living in Birmingham here in the UK LOL.
That final question skips over a bunch of assumptions. How are we to select the most capable, or the most intelligent? Who decides what criteria are used to ascertain intelligence and capability? As for most experienced... how can someone who does something "first" be experienced at all?
On the other hand, rich men have an awful lot at stake when they risk their lives. Their comfortable existence, which has greater potential to be prolonged, is more of a sure thing than some dirt poor ordinary person. The USSR willingly and knowingly sent many cosmonauts on a one-way trip to accomplish single steps on the road to space travel. These men lacked any freedom or resources of their own, and so were forced to die for someone else's agenda. Bezos and Branson, by putting their own asses in the vehicles, are far more invested in the safety of the project than any Soviet commissar, director or administrator who knew whatever happened, it would not be his own ass on the line if the capsule malfunctioned or the rocket exploded.
Furthermore, whatever faults in their characters, neither Bezos nor Branson was born among the richest men alive. Branson was the son of a lawyer, but was not himself wealthy and was challenged academically. Bezos was the son of teenagers, and adopted by his immigrant stepfather, and he worked in McDonalds as a teenager himself. You might bemoan the methods by which they became wealthy, but the fact is, they set out to find a way to earn money, and did. They succeeded as few others in the history of the world ever have. Who are you to say they are NOT the most capable or the most intelligent? Half the seasons of the Expanse only aired, because Jeff Bezos is a fan of the show, FFS!
The benefit of a free market system is not that it gets commodities to those who need them or those who deserve them (but no system yet has been shown that can do that), but that those with the resources and inclination to do something CAN do it. There is, at present, no real motive for going to space, other than a dream. Governments which are supposed to be taking care of people have better things to do with their money than invest in a project that will have no foreseeable way to payoff in the future. Now a theocracy or an aristocracy or a dictatorship, that does not have to answer to people with immediate problems to be addressed, those types of societies can embark on long-term projects at great cost or expense. But not a democratic government. But Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos don't have to answer to anyone, no one can tell them to stop wasting their money on a project with no return. If Virgin and Amazon were suddenly given over to the ownership of the workers, and Branson's and Bezos' money redirected back to something that someone else has arbitrarily decided is a worthier cause, there would likely not have been any such space flights planned.
A guy who cares, no matter how little snobs think of his qualifications, might just have a better chance of bringing the rest of us up there with him, than a elite specimen chosen with the full and certain knowledge of his own alleged superiority, who has an interest in retaining that as his exclusive privilege, because as long as he is the only one allowed, he can retain his claim on elite status.
This is not to say that this is good or bad, certainly not that this is the best way to do things, but it is a reality that for now, we have a scarcity or resources, and we will always be arguing how they will be allocated, and whom we will grant their agency to. The one benefit our current economic model has to the issue in question is that it worked. It got people into space who were not government henchmen and brought them safely back. For now, that's what we can get, so we might as well take it.
24th century*
Oh yeah that's other things that bugged me. Clichéd 'future problems' like overpopulation. If anything we have an under population problem. If we lived in the same population density as Japan (which really isn't that bad) 30 billion people would fit in about half of Alaska. And like the old saying "the bureaucracy must grow to meet the needs of the growing bureaucracy." Elderly and children will always rely on everyone else to have their needs met. The only real problem is if age or gender gaps got too wide. It's an ebb and flow. Maybe if they introduced more automation technology they might be on to something. But considering they still need people to do stuff like fly ships and mine it doesn't seem like unemployment should EVER be an issue.
"Instead of God Emperors..." eeehm, yeah...are you sure?
The Expanse is probably the best science fiction series I've ever watched. It all feels grounded in plausible world building (as this video points out) but also the motivations of the characters, the broad amount of cultural diversity that's feels like an extension of Earth (makes sense, since that was the foundation of the galactic civilisation) and political intrigue that again mirrors human behaviour. It really is excellent.
'Gravity' isn't what is being generated by spin. Gravity is a fundamental force, like electromagnetism. Spin provides what we experience of gravity on a planet, namely the downward force of being pulled toward the center. Spin just emulates that whereas a gravitational body provides this in proportion to it's mass/distance.
2. 'Utopian' (You toe pee an) is generally preferred to 'Utopic' (You toe pic (btw)).
That said, I loved the video and thought it incredibly well thought out and resourced. I had to put my criticism first otherwise I imagine it is easy to ignore the rest of a comment. Love the references to the original writing and how other writers think about the bridge between science and magic. More people should keep this in mind when interfacing with daily technology. It is eye opening.
Interesting but most likely they gonna have a geriatric make gravity by this time.
Makes me so sad that we will never get a season 7 of this show because of that crap show that is rings of power….
I love how well thought out the world and background of the series are, but I could not get past the 3rd episode of the first season. I found the show to be more interesting on paper. I'm not sure if it was the dialogue or maybe the cast but it didn't click with me. (Great video by the way)
the first season is slow as nails. I also didn't liked it.
Tbh, the sow got good for me from the half point of season 2.
And when it went up, it never got back down.
You should really, really give it another go. There's a lot of track to lay before it starts paying off consistently, but it pays off so, so many times once you're deeper into it.
Maybe give it another go someday. The start is realy slow, but Episode 4 is usually the hook for most people, and from the middle of the first Season it's just a wild ride onwards.
jeffery bezos
Trying to create utopia always results in dystopia. Paving roads to hell with good intentions and so on. Allowing free people to figure it out for themselves while protecting their rights and liberties is the only way to make a tolerable future. This includes allowing rich people to build rocket ships for luxury purposes first, developing the tech until it becomes more common and affordable.
As far as I understand, Bezos was a quant and highly intelligent. He’s the right person to go space. Why is he less worthy than the usual type (pilots)?
"centrifugal effect" hon, it's not a "force".
You said, "For a story set in space, it always feels fairly grounded".
Really? I guess you slept through season 1, the very best season!
"The Expanse" is sci-fi fantasy, with a "McGuffin" called the "Proto-Molecule" which can redefine 'life' as humans perceive it.
The creators of this "Proto-Molecule" have created gateways to other galaxies but deny access to the average person, but allow access to 'special people'.
It's 'Harry Potter' meets Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (i.e. the Monolith) with a deluge of LGBTQ+ diversity & speculative pseudo-scientific hogwash to dazzle the viewer.
Season 1 was great!
Every season after that is mired in political nonsense, overly emotional diatribe and inane dialogue.
The entire concept of the ""Proto-Molecule" being able to reanimate life is stolen from the Hebrew myth of 'The Golem', Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's "Frankenstein" and H.P Lovecraft's "Herbert West: Re-animator".
Blimey!
Protomolecule is just sufficiently advanced nanotech which acts without external guidance and in an environment it was not quite designed for. So no, it is not pure magic. It is scientifically plausible, though highly unlikely