the way how showrunners pulled the Sakai and Bull introduction was just brilliant oh she is so cute, nice, funny ... oh hes and old grumpy dude ... i dont like him ... have the feeling he must be a bad guy .... and then the showrunners came like surprise moth.... :D it was brilliant (the sound was railgun shattering the asteroid )
It was a decisive battle fought by Alexander the Great against the Persian Empire. It’s important to note that Inaros ship is called The Pella, which was where Alexander grew up. Gaugamela was a staggering loss for the Persian Empire.
@@ronakpurohit3511 Bad Speculation. Marco comparing himself to Alexander the great is a bad comparison. There are lots of differences he conveniently ignores.
The way she said those lines was like a victim mocking her bullies. Anyone who has been bullied knows the tone. You know that a massive beatdown is coming... but just for *one fucking moment* you HURT them...and you want them to know. Amazing actress.
We have to appreciate who this taunt is coming from. We've seen her in action. She's clearly very intelligent, resourceful and even friendly. She's not a maniac, but she has a seething hatred for inners that is probably justified by things that happened to her or those close to her.
Yes, I agree, amazing acting, amazing line. Have to admit it really hit me hard... putting myself in the place of Holden, I had a rush of feelings towards her comment. I was intensely mad at her and sad for her...
im very sympathetic to naomi and i dont agree with people who say she was being stupid or naive. we as an audience have the luxury of foreknowledge but naomi's perspective is limited. she wasnt aware of this attack nor his involvement. all she knew was that marco had a bounty on his head for some small criminal and she wanted filip away from that. the fact that he has been radicalized didnt even cross her mind. she probably thought he lived under marco's abusive thumb and needed a way out. its heartbreaking, seeing her realize how far gone filip is and how she wont be able to save him after all now that he is complicit in the death of millions of innocents.
This season is book 5 and it's the first time we get chapters from Naomi's perspective in the series. I hope they do it justice because the inner turmoil and struggle that naomi has lived through that we experience in the book is powerful and only makes her a more amazing character. Not weak or naive as some might say. I look forward to the rest and I hope we get her full backstory of what happened and why she left
Anyone calling Naomi weak and naive are not taking the time to at least try to empathize with the character. You are correct, Naomi did not know what Marco planned and for all he’s this big terrorist it was on no additional level than any other Belter faction like Black Sky or Golden Bough. He didn’t become anything of great importance until the rocks hit. It’s also why I rather despise the show making Avasarala see the plan just before as it makes other characters feel incompetent when in the books this plan of his was completely secret and not ferreted until it happened. I thought it was fab service to Christjen when it was rather meant to be a tale of how her past behaviors led to her inability to act quick enough but many have disregarded instead as her being right and everyone else needing to have listened. What is clear in this episode is that Naomi has been emotionally abused by Marcos who has now radicalized their son and brought us dangling is acesion in front of her. She took a risk and felt it was small in comparison to what fate deemed it to be but how much is fate and how much is deliberate manipulation by a man who has been keeping tabs on her despite her purposely attempting to disappear from them. She was watching Filip before she left and knew he was alone of Pallas. He’s all of about 15-16 years old and she never imagined Marco would raise him and who’s to say he actually did or endocrined him the same way as he did her. Emotional abuse of what Marco excels at and he used her motherly instincts to protect her child to kill her. that will likely be shown clear but Naomi has not shrunk at all not shown weakness but anger and outrage even in the face of captivity and. That’s courage. Also IA Nemesis Games was Naomi’s story and inside her mind was a true masterful tale of strength and badassery and I will not entertain those who think otherwise
@@secbro16 I'm show-only and Dominique Tipper has sold me on Naomi's suffering since very early on. Naomi's controversial actions all very clearly stem from a lifetime of hardship as a Belter, then a crash course in manipulation and abuse at the hands of Marco, and all that just feeds in compassion: compassion for her fellow Belters, compassion for her friends and found family, and compassion for the son she couldn't rescue the first time. Plus, Dominique Tipper has some anime-tier anguished crying skills.
He's a great casting. It's hard to portray charismatic if you don't actually have it. At the same time he's devious and manipulative and doesn't strait out lie, but he's great at fitting the facts to his narrative.
Sakai seemed straight-up terrified in the aftermath. She was meant to be on that boarding skiff with the construction mech and the Proto-molecule and all of a sudden she's in the belly of the beast. That defiant tone was sheer bravado in the face of an imminent world of hurt. Also, parallels between Nancy Gao and Chrisjen. Chrisjen refused to evacuate to Luna in the face of Eros potentially crashing into Earth.
Agreed. She wasn't one dimensional. She was terrified/lost because she didn't think she'd have to face the consequences of her actions. She expected she'd spend the evening celebrating her victory not rotting in prison or worse.
Yeah, my partner and I both were victims of domestic abuse when we were younger, and have been in abusive relationships, and that scene really hit hard for both of us, it's such a classic abuser tactic and rhetoric
Never clicked so fast. This episode was a 11/10. One of the best Christmas presents! Keep up the great reviews and stay healthy! Greetings from Germany :)
Even knowing the book I was still sat there gawping and stunned for nearly all of the episode! They took some serious risks with the story and so far have pulled it off really well! Dominique's acting as Naomi this season has been on fire! And how good does this season look? The effects are really taking it up a notch
Just admire the genius of this show. This incident (rocks being thrown at earth) was what the belter, Chrisjen interrogated in S1 Ep1, who was caught transporting stealth tech, was involved in. This has been planned for awhile. It is rare for a TV show to live up to what is in a book, but this episode did it. Believe it or not there were even surprises for book readers in this episode.
Also, after Diogo and his uncle Mateo were rousted by the Martians, Mateo was drinking and listening to an OPA propagandist talking about launching rocks at Earth. That's what gave him the idea to toss his rocks at the Martian patrol.
Actually it was Filip who stole the stealth cladding that they used to cover the asteroids. From Callisto in the books, and from Mars in the show, last season. They never would have been able to pull that off back in Season 1 as that was before Mars fell apart from the repercussions of the gates opening.
@@spacecadet2172 yes, however, that scene and Avasarala were not in book one. They make it seem like it is part of the original sheath ship mystery, but why would Mao need belter help for stealth tech. So why was that belter smuggling stealth tech and for who, and why was he so willing to off himself. It feels like someone that worked for Marco. I have no confirmation on this from anyone, it just makes the most sense. Also this is a big job it would seem like they wouldn't able to cover all 9 asteroids with stealth after the events on Mars. This theory is only from what we see in the show, book plot isn't exactly the same as the show, things have been added and changed. So it is possible.
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, Admiral Yamamoto wrote in his diary “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” Marco just woke up the twins. If he loses control of the proto molecule to either Earth or Mars, the retaliation against the Belters will be epic and brutal.
I'm not sure about that. Marco is proving he's a tactical genius and I think the choke point issue that was discussed by Admiral Sauveterre in episode two of this season will play a crucial role. Mars doesn't have the economy anymore to sustain a military and the UN fleet is pretty old. The Belters look like they have a modern fleet that can take on Earth and Mars threats. Guagamela is a perfect title for this episode because in one day, the balance of power shifted from Persia to Macedonia/Greece and Alexander the Great became defacto ruler of the known Greek world. I think the writers are saying the events that took place in this episode are a sea change event for the solar system.
@@chaost4544 The Belters have stolen Martian ships bought on the black market. And Mars does make the best ships. And the UN lost a lot of it's numerical advantage in the last war. I remember them saying that. But yeah, the UN, OPA, and Mars all unite and The Free Navy (Marcos) will end up retreating to the gate space. They simply can't hold the belt. Especially without water and food from UN & Mars. They literally can't survive. Especially since the one food growing station where everyone came to have their babies was destroyed with that battle and protomolecule test. So there's really nothing Marco can do but retreat to the gate and hold the chokepoint. Leave them with the Solar System, they can control a 1000 solar systems. Or access to them at least. It wasn't by chance that Admiral Sauveterre was talking about the tactics of that chokepoint.
In terms of helping the belt, yeah, from our perspective it is clear that Marco is massively in the wrong, that his actions will result in the deaths of so many innocent belters. The book notes, however, that Marco's speech wasn't for the benefit of Martians or Earthers, or even people like Fred Johnson, but rather for the dirt poor rock-hoppers and isolated individual colonies. With his declaration of freedom, Marco just declared victory: an impossible dream. In doing so he received the allegiance and support of every belter that has ever wished harm on the inner planets. But yeah, he just got so so so many belters killed.
Marco also pulled those Belters into his sphere whether they would have wanted it or not. Earth never gave them quarter before, so they know they'll get no quarter now. Might as well fight with Marco.
13:40 - The sound is the planetary rail guns firing. If you look at the Western horizon you'll see blue flashes (blue shifted due to them traveling a measurable percentage of c) - these are the planetary rail guns firing to break up the asteroid. The second strike is the nuclear missiles cleaning up the remainder of the debris.
Yeah, the railgun did the main work, because even the fragments large enough to make it to the surface would only do "city killer" or "neighbourhood killer" levels of damage, but the plasma missiles then took out even those big fragments, turning the rock into a pretty meteor shower with maybe some "house killer" level impacts. What all that shows is how critical the Martian stealth composites were to the plan - even with just a small bit of notice, Earth had the defences to easily take out each rock as it came in. they
Welcome back to "Holy shit!!!"- The Show. ;) Marco is a perfect example of somone not seeing the forrest for the trees. Thinking that past injustices justify in any way what he did, deluding himself into believing that this will usher in a new way of peaceful human expansion by the Belters... He is almost tragic in his blindness to reality.
@@RazvanMihaeanu Stop being vague. You have something to say? Say it. For starters, can you tell who these "international socialists" are and what have they done to fit into "reverse racism" title? I mean hating the fash is pretty morally right thing to do. Right?
@@RazvanMihaeanu it's the most vague shit I've ever heard. No one speaks like that. Except the IDW and their fanatics. Fascist doesn't mean authotarian or dictatorial. Look up 12 characteristics of fascism. Again, who are the international-socialists. I think you ment the Jews, but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. Who are they? If you don't clarify I'm going to declare you as neo-Nazi and the conversation is over.
@@RazvanMihaeanu Nazis are not left. They are self described third position. History has deemed them ultra authotarian right. Leftism means wish for abolishing capitalism, nothing else. Nazi Germany only wanted to abolish the "Jew" out of capitalism. They couldn't care less about actual faults of capitalism. What makes the leftists like me, and liberals like Labour in UK and Democrats in US, seem the same to you is thay we want to help the losers of the system and at minimum create systemic change so that the losers don't lose too hard as it's not their fault. Just a point though, liberals are inherently inefficient because to us Leftists, capitalism is too flawed to be reformed. Feudalism - Mercantilism - Capitalism - why not Communism? We think natural evolution from capitalism is Communism (with socialism as transition period). You are still speaking vague speak. You are being a contrarian to a boogieman you imagined. Case and point: international-socialist. That term is not a thing. I googled it and literally nothing came up. You made that term up in your delusion, or you are trying to backpedal a dogwhistle that I called you out on. If you mean leftist, just say leftist. If you mean communist, just say communist.
@@RazvanMihaeanu You tell me I have failed at education, then you follow up with a video that is about how in the last 80 years everyone else got it wrong except this YTuber and few who share their opinion. So did I fail at education or did the education fail me. You need to pick either or. Correct answer is neither. I don't care about the video but I did check the sources linked in description. Absolute bollocks. The ones that supports the video are from far right science denying think tanks. The rest are decent but certainly misused. Why do I always run into bloggersphere when I argue with yous.
This was a great one, almost Red Wedding style. Fred dying surprised even us, book readers. Is it me or you completely missed explosion in Martian parliament? (news feed during Alex/Bobbie scene)
@@TheDetailsMatter "congress: a formal meeting in which representatives or experts discuss important matters, make decisions, etc. : the group of people who are responsible for making the laws of a country in some kinds of government" A parliament is a congress. I'd think a Congressional Republic in contrast to a Constitutional Republic is one wherein the Parliament/Congress is the supreme authority.
So, then, ought the acronyms not be "MPR" & "MPRN"? In any case, we have seen that the legislature on Mars is the ultimate authority. The C definitely does not stand for "Constitutional."
Yes, this episode was a long time coming. The book that the current season is based on is sometimes compared to "The Empire Strikes Back", as the bad guys are in a rather powerful position, as you can figure out from this episode. More WTF moments coming up. P.S.: The sound before the asteroid broke up was most likely a railgun, to smash the asteroid into pieces, so that the following barrage of nukes could vaporise the debris.
The rail gun makes sense. They used the anti-stealth ship technology to fire a kinetic dart at the asteroid. Which would destroy enough of the stealth tech for the conventional asteroid buster missiles.
It was a railgun, I don't know if a lot of people saw it because it was dark but there were about 8 pinkish purple lights (the same color we've seen when railguns have been fired by the Roci, Donnager, except for the stealth ships in S1 which destroyed the Donnager which were blue) that lit up right before the asteroid got broken up. I think there were two on the left, two on right and various other positioned towards the planet.
After a long delay back into it again. Emotionally totally sucked in as in the good old days. What an episode. I noticed how touched you were on 8:20 attack on earth. Also the speech of Inaros, which was on a more grander, abstract scale. IMO kind of remarkable, because it is not about one specific fate of a specific person. I explain it with our deeply rooted love in earth and humankind. Love to Denmark 💕
Marco Inaros is such a damn good speaker like it'd be hard to not side with him. I can relate to the Belters because they are persecuted, thought of as inferior, and terrorized for hundreds of years. Social injustice and persecutuion. Sound familiar? I don't agree with his methods but I understand why he did them. How many times can you beat a dog until it bites back? This show is very relevant!
Yea, he has such an incredible ability way to twist the truth to a point that you almost start to think that maybe he was right to kill millions of innocent people (who have also most likely been living miserable lives) in order to ensure that they don't keep exploiting and oppressing them in the new worlds. The corporations have already started taking all the riches for themselves, it'll be more of the same if we don't destroy them. That message would for sure resonate with a lot of people who have been violently oppressed. It would take some strong resolve and an unbendable sense of right and wrong not to get swept up in the moment and see it for the foolishness it truly is if you were one of those people.
@@mickys333 It's not right...but it should be expected. All too often in history, oppressive nations have figured, "We've got them cowed. We can always handle them. They can never hurt us." That always, eventually, proves wrong. As author Robert Heinlein wrote, "You cannot enslave a man who is determined to be free. The worst you can do is kill him...but he will die free."
Kat&Sonny, I been waiting to see y'alls reaction. Both of you were a perfect reflection of my reaction to this episode. As rough as it was it was an amazing episode. Just another reason why I believe this show is one of if not the best out there! Can't wait for the next one!
I was feeling so down, and the only thing in the world (literally) that could make me feel better was this.. (and blindwave reaction to expanse, but they are still in the first season).. so, thank you for this.. this saved me from a horrible day
A passing detail that a lot of people seemed to have missed is during Alex's and Bobbie's scene, their feeds had mentioned that Martian Parliament was also attacked. You can infer that Marcos Inaros was probably responsible for that as well.
@@louiscachet7681 Mm-hm. Now that's *the* question, right? And if you're a book reader like me, the easter egg hidden in the new openers *always* gives me chills.
OMG Kat is my spirit amI also! Sonny you lucky man! When you said “it’s deep” I thought what Kat said......and I saw her face changing as the thought came through her mind and couldn’t contain it....PERFECTION😅💀
Fred was a warrior who saw the folly of war, lay down his arms and choose to build livelihood for the belters in Tycho stations. Tycho station was able to provide aid to refugees Ganymede station when it fell. His way gave the belters a better choice. Inaros and sons just trapped the whole solar system in further cycles of hate with his attack. Marco might fancied himself to be the Alexander the Great for the outer planets. But what the belters and the solar system needs is Fred, who like Ashoka the Great (not the Jedi, but the Mauryan Emperor) who was remorseful of his bloody conquest and chose peace. Rest in Peace, Frederick Lucius Johnson. PS: Don't feel bad about swearing at Marco. He really deserved it. I flipped him the bird multiple times watching the episode :D
In this one attack, more people probably died on Earth than currently live in the Belt and the Outer Planets. The total population of the Belt and beyond is less than 100 million. I'm still not sure if the show will have the same scale of destruction as the books did, but even a fracture of that... well, we'll see what happens in future episodes. As for the title of the episode, in the book, Marco references the Battle of Gaugamela after this attack, comparing himself to Alexander for toppling the greatest empire the world had known up to that point.. He's also a big fan of the Afghans and their long history of being the gravediggers of empires.
I think I heard in the episode that several million people died just from the first asteroid, which was 'only' ~250 kt of force along the Coast of Africa (?). The second one hit in the presumably much more densely populated eastern seaboard with an unknown payload, and I don't know if the third location was announced, but the shockwave destroyed the UN1 from several hundred miles away. I'm betting your assessment is pretty close to accurate.
Just when I was about to start studying, I see this. The reaction I've been waiting for :P Great one, you guys! You helped me remember what it felt like watching this amazing episode for the first time (I've already watched it several times by now). I'm kind of bothered by how clueless Fred Johnson looked as Holden was figuring out that something was off. It seems a bit out of character to me. That being said, his death came as a shock and I'm sad to see him go.
200 - 300 kilotons is actually quite small for an asteroid, the one that hit Russia, Chelyabinsk in 2013 was a 20 metre diameter rock and was measured at 400 - 500 kiloton airburst. From the image they showed of the explosion and shockwave in the Expanse, Marco's rocks were more like 20 - 50 megaton explosions.
Yeah, I think that was a script error, or maybe we'll find out that it was just a mistake by the people initially reporting on it, since that happens a LOT in news reports
Book spoiler: In the books, the asteroids are way more destructive. The aftermath kills billions and billions. I don't know why the television show makes them much smaller and less destructive.
@@jakobkramer I don't think they made it less destructive, I could see the area of destruction of just one, and even with less blast than that, it generated tsunamis that could kill billions in last season (if it was on earth).. and in the books billions didnt die of the blast, billions died of blast and tsunamis and fires and almost the same amount died of hunger and violence and the aftermath.. so I think they will still go the same route in the show
History-fan here: Gaugamela was the site of the final battle between Alexander the Great and the Persian King Darius III. in 331BC. It was one of the largest and most decisive battles of Greek Antiquity, marking a crushing loss for the Persians (the dominant empire of the world at the time) and paving the way for Alexander's subsequent conquests. As far as episode titles go, you can't get much more ominous :D Also, I only just realized that Marco's ship is called the Pella, which was Alexander's capital at the time. He is one arrogant bastard. Edit: Just watched the whole vid, and you explained it a lot better than I did xD
Any people who are oppressed, especially for how long the belters have been, will retaliate. No matter how much the Belters, tried to play by the rules, the Inners, always treated them as beneath them. What Marcos has done is horrific, but I cannot hate him for it. Any people oppressed will retaliate eventually. Now lets hope that when we actually do become a mulit-planetary species, and live and work out in the belt and beyond, that we treat them a f&*king whole lot better. Thanks to SpaceX,and Blue Origin, we will get there.
Absolutely. Look even at the recent events. Belters number a few million. One hundred thousand Belters died on Eros, hundreds died on Ganymede, and the loss of Ganymede cause starvation among hundreds more, with no Earther tears shed. Earthers number many billions; the losses are proportionately comparable. Human beings are composed mostly of water. Water is incompressible. Put constant pressure on water, and it will break out somewhere, some how...probably violently.
I can sympathize with the revolutionary factions of the OPA, but not with Marco Inaros. Revolution is one thing but Marco committed genocide. He didn't attack the oppressors, he murdered billions of innocent people. Also, having read the books, I know more about Marco than has been shown so far in the show.
Freedom for a victim doesn't come when oppressor is killed, it comes when the victim is no longer under threat. Killing the oppressor only creates more violence, because somebody will try to avenge that person eventually too. This is a vicious circle, in which victim and oppressor roles change places continuously. And almost all oppressors were victims once.
I mean...nah. Bull's comment earlier on Fred's "thinking that someone being the underdog makes them the good guy" is a key rider here. The Belter plight is legitimate, and I think it's vitally important to make room for empathy and understanding in our enemies while still holding them accountable for their atrocities. Marco is the most successful mass murderer in human history at this point, and there is no amount of prior injustice done to the Belter peoples that justify his actions as anything less than absolutely evil. Marco is a narcissist, an abuser, and was an aspiring megalomaniac turned successful, and I cannot truly believe that he spearheaded this plan to do anything more than rise his own station, no matter what he says. As for treating people better when we start truly traversing space as a species...we're not off to a great start while we're still on Earth. I won't hold my breath.
@@quegs well, there are real examples of people killing millions and remembered as heroes. Don't get me wrong, you have a point about what he did, but eventually it is sided towards Earthers, and the history will be written by the victors, as always.
Gaugamela is reference to Marco because he sees himself at the same plane as Alexander The Great (Alexander of Macedonia). You can see in more other hints. For example, his named his ship Pella, what is the name of capitol of ancient Macedonia under Alexander's rule. Other hint is Filip's name, because Alexander's father was Philip (or Filip) of Macedonia. I don't see that Razorback is really renamed. I think this is just way to go incognito. If somebody sees them on the radar, would not get it in connection with Bobbie or Alex. Razorback is registered to Bobbie probably, and they know Alex came to Mars inside her.
Couple of notes: I'm wondering if Sakai had sabotaged the Roci since we saw her working on it earlier this season. Also given how hard Drummer took the loss of Ashford, I wonder how she'll handle hearing the loss of Fred Johnson.
The emotion the show elicits proves it's good. It's great fun to ride along with you guys experiencing the story. I'm very excited for each episode :) It's nice to have something to look forward to every week with a show like this.
this was one of the best episodes in the series and maybe the best of the season. well written, gripping dialoge, fenomenaly filmed and shot, perfectly passed. jesus christ, it was so good that i genuily felt i was on the losing team and felt personaly atacked by the asteroids that hit earth ........
I personally love Marco Inaros. I don't like him, but I love him as a villain. I can understand his point and the factors that conditioned him to end like that. It's been a lot of generations of belters suffering and explotation, and yes, he might also be power hungry, but their nation have been trampled over and over by Earth and Mars and even after the show events belters are still in the bottom of the chain, being left to die when there's a vast amount of free land to claim so sustain ALL humans. I don't like that innocent (and probably also pover people) died by what Marco did, but it sure sent a big message of strength, and after that a threat now that he's in possesion of the protomolecule. I hate that it works that way, but it does, and now that the other nations have something to fear they might stop treating belters as worthless shit because of that. I mean I guess it won't go that way in the show, or maybe it will, but there's a chance they can finally be respected.
Yeah, I also sat in disbelief for the full end roll credits pondering what a HELL of an episode I just saw... "hell" in positive way at what (another) masterpiece of TV history this show produced and in negative way when seeing in the events from an in-series view.
There were 9 asteroids coated in Martian stealth tech launched toward Earth by Inaros (in order of appearance): > The 1st asteroid was the one that broke up in S05E01 (called #9) while slingshotting around the Sun and then detected by the science ship at Venus. > The 2nd asteroid was the one at the end of S05E03 that hit the Atlantic Ocean near the West African coast where the city of Dakar (Senegal) is located. > The 3rd asteroid was the one in this episode that hit near Philadelphia which cracked the deep underground prison cell Amos and Peaches were in. > The 4th asteroid was the one in this episode that hit South Asia (Gulf of Bengal) near where the UN-1 plane of Nancy Gao was flying returning to NYC. > The 5th asteroid was the one in this episode that was detected and then broken up first by a railgun hit and then dispersed by torpedos in Earth orbit. > The same ostensibly happened to the rest of the asteroids (6 thru 9) as they approached Earth (not shown, only mentioned by Inaros' crew).
"Battle of Gaugamela" Alexander the Great. That was a important battle 331BC (I didnt know that). This episode ... One thing i like most is how Amos cares about Clarissa in this episode. He didnt forget her and he wants that she didnt feel alone and he wants to help her. (i hope he can help her now :)
Yes, this was THAT episode where we didn't see any of that happening. I wonder how they will move forward? Love your reactions. So true and pure. Thanks for the discussions afterwards, too. Be safe. Can't wait for Episode 5's reaction.
Unpopular opinion: I like Marco Inaros. As a character, he was the culmination of revenge, one single man to repay atrocities untold, centuries apart.Yes, he is extreme.Violent on a scale not yet imagined, Symbol of something barely imagined, let alone respected. But he made the Inners pause.For once, no Embargo or Patrol was going to bring "them" to heel.No matter the threat or bluster.Having read the books - for that I respect Marco Inaros.
I wouldn't worry about people criticizing you for still rooting for the belt. We all feel for oppressed people and are outraged when they're abused or if some radical faction takes up arms to just strike back. But Bull stated in an earlier episode "Not all underdogs are good guys" or something like that. Episode 5 coming up tonight! I'm not sure what they're going to follow up on for more of a spotlight.
just finished watching episode 5 and i was astounded by the turn of events but i still have to watch your take on the previous episode! This is the way! ooops!
Gaugamela is the name of a battle where Alexander defeated the Persians. Alexander with a smaller army was the underdog before the battle but dealt a decisive blow to the Persians in that battle. In this episode the Belters are the underdog against Earth and they strike decisive blow against Earthers and bring Earth to its kness. I think that's why this episode is called so.
Gaugamela is the site of the ancient battle between Alexander and Cyrus, during which the greeks defeated the Achaemenid Empire. It's a classic example of a much smaller force defeating a much larger military force.
First off have to say poor Kat. The shock of this episode is just so evident in her expressions. I love how clever the writers are for this series, like most people seeing "Gaugamela" and wondering wft? To Zemya the belter ship which means snake in Russian and let's not forget season 1 episode 6 where Avasarala says: "I worry about people who throw rocks". I wonder how much of a threat the protomolecule is now? It's not really a weapon but a construction tool mainly for building a road. Now that the road is built is there a need for another road to this solar system? So would it do anything or just kind of remain inert? Of course the people in the show don't know what we know about the protomolecule, except Holden.
Starting at 9:29 was probably the best reactions I've seen from you guys. I was totally waiting to see how you'd both respond, and you didn't disappoint. 😊
This episode was probably Gao's best showing as a leader figure. She recognized that when the chips were down, Avasarala was also coming from the same place.. They both want the best for Earth, and when rocks are falling is not the time for BS, and they're ultimately on the same team. A shame that dynamic was flattened by the shockwave.
Let me told you best delivered line beside 'I am that guy' sequence. "Too bad. So sad. Bye bye" "You lose.... You all lose" Ofc happy new year to both of you.
The book vs TV show drift get bigger and bigger. This has just become an alternative timeline with Fred Johnson dying this early. He had so much more to do.
I happened to stumble across this video. Great channel! And.. my reaction to this episode...like... 100% the same, or almost there. Best (and toughest to watch) episode in the show for me, or competes with season 3 finale
The initial sound was a railgun round hitting the asteroid, breaking it apart; if the follow-up missile barrage failed to stop it outright, the smaller fragments would be much more likely to break up in the atmosphere, compared to potentially the missile just toasting the outside and leaving no other recourse.
Great reactions. Hope you had a nice holiday. Notice that Marco is comparing himself to someone who is called the Great, his ego is out of control, he sees himself as the messiah of the belt. That is a high perch to fall from. How many will fall with him? There's free proto-molecule causing danger; Holden to the rescue, again.
What you missed was that shiny new state of the art warship that Marcos has acquired from a dying planet known for making the best weapons. Could there be more?
Thinking interesting stuff could be happening for the Martian Navy... The timing of events transpiring are a bit too well lined up... We'll see what Alex and Bobby find out.
Yup, the books described the Pella as a newer corvette (or light frigate) that replaced (or was supposed to replace) the older Tachi-type corvettes. It was also the ship that Filip used to escape Mars in the final episode of Season 4 when he blew up the shipyard (or at least I think it was) and almost killed Bobbie (the cool continuous shot sequence).
@@artboymoy Nope. It's all known *tv* info on the ships as of S05E04. No book-related spoilers. I think I chose my words poorly with the 'final episode' thing. Gimme a sec and edit it.
I think 'Gaugamela' also refers specifically to the way that Marco is casting himself both in his own narrative and as how he views himself. He sees himself in the role of a new Alexander for the Belt, whether they want him to be or not. Hence his ship being called The 'Pella' and his long-running grand plan to flatten all of his enemies being personally seen as his own 'Gaugamela,' even if all it boils down to is genocide on a planetary scale.
One thing to remember while Earth has a huge population, and Mars has a sizable population, their military forces have been decimated due to the Earth/ Mars war recently. And space (even in our own Solar system is vast beyond are ability to really comprehend. So sent a ship or a missile plot a course get it up to speed and then turn the engines off, don't use a transponder and a small ship or torpedo is going to be almost impossible to find. And that's all it would take for them to spread the Photo Molecule,
The Battle of Guagamela (332 BC. I think) was the decisive battle between Alexander the Great and Darius, Emperor of Persia. Persia, the superpower of it's time, was soundly defeated by the underdog, upstart Greeks/Macedonians under Alexander, and the balance of power between Persia and Greece was flipped after that. EDIT oops, posted this before your commentary after the episode.
One of the most intense 45min. episodes of SciFi tv I've seen. This is pretty much a 9/11 episode. The expression of disbelief on Alex and Bobbie's faces remind me of my coworkers on that day
I think the reference to Gaugamela is more likely what Marcos Inaros sees it. He believes all inners are the same so he classifies civilians and military as thing. Crazy episode.
The girl that killed Fred is the one that supervised the repairs to the Roci. I don't trust that the ship isn't sabotaged in some way so that Holden would be slowed down in hunting down Marco. Also I don't know if you noticed but Marco was on a Martian warship. So he has serious firepower.
I'm worried about the Rosi, that chick that shot Fred was in charge of repairs on it, I'm worried she sabotaged it. Also interesting how Inaros built warships with the stuff he bought from Mars, not just getting stealth tech for the asteroids. Did you notice how this episode paralleled a lot of Avasarala's fears from season one? How she feared people throwing rocks.
Not really a spoiler, but the Pella was an actual Martian ship, and wasn't built by Belters. It was a corvette / light frigate (the one that lifted off of Mars in the final ep of Season 4 when Filip blew up the shipyard, and almost killing Bobbie), a newer class that replaced the old Tachi-type corvettes. At least, that's how it was in the books. The TV version's quite interesting though, with four drives instead of the usual one. I almost mistook it for a Donnager or Hammurabi-class ship.
@@alcor7104 ah I thought it was built in the belt. But they could change things from the books. From what I heard (havent read the books myself), Fred didnt die this soon in the books.
Yeah, that's not how Fred was supposed to go. And that's what's great about the TV series. They get to tweak the story just enough for us book readers to enjoy the show. The expanded Ashford arc was an excellent mod IMHO. And heck, if you think the past few episodes/seasons were wild, wait till you get to the "final trilogy". The ones that're supposed to run after season six. Finished reading 'Tiamat's Wrath' early this year, and it was easily one of the top 3 books I've read in the past decade. Can't wait for 'Leviathan Falls' coming out next year.
@@cypherdk85 That's a really interesting dilemma, because I don't think I've seen a comment anywhere from a person who's read a book like "Cibola Burn" after watching season 4. I honestly don't know how that'll work for you. I think you should go with your gut. Do your thing, and enjoy the show/books in any way you want to enjoy them. Here's a little un-spoilery tease for you: Each book in The Expanse (unlike other book series like Harry Potter, LoTR, the Wheel of Time, etc.) is better than the last one. The novellas can be merged with its matching novel (like how "The Churn" matches with "Nemesis Games"), but generally speaking, each volume is better than the last one. So expect a really wild and awesome ride. And I hope Leviathan Falls blows all of the past books out of the water just so Bezos can keep the show going after S06.
The actor that plays Fred Johnson also played in The Walking Dead. I had this uncontrollable urge to yell at the screen to tell them they needed to shoot him in the head so he wouldn't turn into a zombie. I think Amos calls Melba "Peaches" because of the French dessert Peach Melba. The aftermath of the asteroids will kill more than the actual impacts. Millions of tons of dust has been thrown into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight for a long time. Nuclear winter will severely shorten or eliminate growing seasons. Crops will die, people will starve. People will kill other people, steal their food to survive.
The battle of Gaugamela was a major battle between Alexander the Greats Greek armies and the Persian Empire where he broke Darius III armies forcing him to run and bringing an end to the Persian empire
Don't forget someone high up on the Martian chain of command is responsible for Marco having all the ships, weapons and equipment he has. So what does that person stand to gain from Marcos war on the system? Remember season 1. Someone stood to gain from Earth and Mars being at war. We've seen clues already but saying more would put us in spoiler territory. This episode became my favorite of the whole series. Perfectly structured with great action and performances and, you know, a bad Savage Industries robot punching Holden out. Too bad. So sad.
It will be very interesting to see what effects the asteroid strikes have on the pit where Amos is right now, because one hit off the coast of Africa, which presumably would send a tsunami across the Atlantic that would hit the Chesapeake Bay area where the pit is. But there's also the Philadelphia strike, which is not that far from the Chesapeake Bay either. We see one news report in this episode showing that New York City has mostly flooded because the seawalls failed, that's probably from the tsunami from the Africa strike, but it's also possible that it could be from an earthquake from the Philadelphia strike. Amos seems to be in a place that will get affected by both of those strikes, but luckily he's underground, which should protect him to an extent. But it's also possible that it could bury him alive, or that the prison could start flooding
6:05 Um, didn't she blow up a ship full of people? My guess is life sentence, multiple life sentences. She redeemed herself towards the end of season 3 but I'm not sure the UN or military would take that into consideration much. Amos might bust her out now tho, he will probably ask his buddy to help get her off world maybe.
At Gaugamela, the emperor of the Achaemenid Persians brought between 50 and 100 thousand soldiers against Alexander of Macedon's 47 thousand. Through the brilliant positioning of his infantry and a superb cavalry maneuver, he defeated the Persians. The parallels are obvious here. The main exception is that I don't think that Marco can win this war.
Of course, Alexander defeated Persia, but went on to drive his forces across too large an expanse of land getting to the subcontinent and they turned on him- turn back or mutiny. Made not to rule, but to conquer.
@@Rob-rr4yp they only turned on him once he started moving toward modern-day Pakistan. His soldiers felt that they had already conquered one empire, and didn't want to keep fighting.
All i i feel like Marcos plan did was guarantee his ppls doom i get were hes coming from but man he really messed up and IMO i dont think ppl from earth or mars will ever trust belters again after what he did its about to be open season on every belter.
Sonny: That's deep
Kat:*chuckles* That's what she said
that's always funny lol
I mean, seriously... I don't think I've ever seen better casting in all my days.
Keon Alexander is utterly perfect as Marcos.
Fred Johnson literally hid the protomolecule under his bed 🤣🤣🤣
"I have in my possession a weapon which could wipe out the human race. What to do with it, I wonder? I know! I'll hide it in my mattress!"
it's a monster under the bed
Prison Guard: "You must have friends in high places"
Amos: "Yup...A stripper named Chrissy"
Oh... he should have said that! I would have died😂😂😂😂😂😂
lol
So she is both!
the way how showrunners pulled the Sakai and Bull introduction was just brilliant oh she is so cute, nice, funny ... oh hes and old grumpy dude ... i dont like him ... have the feeling he must be a bad guy .... and then the showrunners came like surprise moth.... :D it was brilliant (the sound was railgun shattering the asteroid )
It was a decisive battle fought by Alexander the Great against the Persian Empire. It’s important to note that Inaros ship is called The Pella, which was where Alexander grew up.
Gaugamela was a staggering loss for the Persian Empire.
and there was thinking it was the guy who chased the Smurfs
@@Cydonius1 LOL! Did you ever see the Robot Chicken where Gargomele finally killed the smurfs?
Also the Persian Empire was more or less destroyed by Alexander so it might be hinting at things to come. Just some speculation on my part.
@@ronakpurohit3511
Bad Speculation.
Marco comparing himself to Alexander the great is a bad comparison.
There are lots of differences he conveniently ignores.
What's really funny is that the actor playing Marco Inaros is actually called Keon ALEXANDER, but is actually Persian by ethnicity.
"Too bad. So sad. You lose. You all LOSE."
Something about those lines is so haunting to me.
The way she said those lines was like a victim mocking her bullies.
Anyone who has been bullied knows the tone.
You know that a massive beatdown is coming... but just for *one fucking moment* you HURT them...and you want them to know.
Amazing actress.
She looks super unsure. Almost like she's about to cry which pisses off more. The false bravado.
So childish but also so chilling.
We have to appreciate who this taunt is coming from. We've seen her in action. She's clearly very intelligent, resourceful and even friendly. She's not a maniac, but she has a seething hatred for inners that is probably justified by things that happened to her or those close to her.
Yes, I agree, amazing acting, amazing line. Have to admit it really hit me hard... putting myself in the place of Holden, I had a rush of feelings towards her comment. I was intensely mad at her and sad for her...
im very sympathetic to naomi and i dont agree with people who say she was being stupid or naive. we as an audience have the luxury of foreknowledge but naomi's perspective is limited. she wasnt aware of this attack nor his involvement. all she knew was that marco had a bounty on his head for some small criminal and she wanted filip away from that. the fact that he has been radicalized didnt even cross her mind. she probably thought he lived under marco's abusive thumb and needed a way out. its heartbreaking, seeing her realize how far gone filip is and how she wont be able to save him after all now that he is complicit in the death of millions of innocents.
This season is book 5 and it's the first time we get chapters from Naomi's perspective in the series. I hope they do it justice because the inner turmoil and struggle that naomi has lived through that we experience in the book is powerful and only makes her a more amazing character. Not weak or naive as some might say. I look forward to the rest and I hope we get her full backstory of what happened and why she left
Anyone calling Naomi weak and naive are not taking the time to at least try to empathize with the character. You are correct, Naomi did not know what Marco planned and for all he’s this big terrorist it was on no additional level than any other Belter faction like Black Sky or Golden Bough. He didn’t become anything of great importance until the rocks hit. It’s also why I rather despise the show making Avasarala see the plan just before as it makes other characters feel incompetent when in the books this plan of his was completely secret and not ferreted until it happened. I thought it was fab service to Christjen when it was rather meant to be a tale of how her past behaviors led to her inability to act quick enough but many have disregarded instead as her being right and everyone else needing to have listened.
What is clear in this episode is that Naomi has been emotionally abused by Marcos who has now radicalized their son and brought us dangling is acesion in front of her. She took a risk and felt it was small in comparison to what fate deemed it to be but how much is fate and how much is deliberate manipulation by a man who has been keeping tabs on her despite her purposely attempting to disappear from them. She was watching Filip before she left and knew he was alone of Pallas. He’s all of about 15-16 years old and she never imagined Marco would raise him and who’s to say he actually did or endocrined him the same way as he did her.
Emotional abuse of what Marco excels at and he used her motherly instincts to protect her child to kill her. that will likely be shown clear but Naomi has not shrunk at all not shown weakness but anger and outrage even in the face of captivity and. That’s courage.
Also IA Nemesis Games was Naomi’s story and inside her mind was a true masterful tale of strength and badassery and I will not entertain those who think otherwise
@@secbro16 I'm show-only and Dominique Tipper has sold me on Naomi's suffering since very early on. Naomi's controversial actions all very clearly stem from a lifetime of hardship as a Belter, then a crash course in manipulation and abuse at the hands of Marco, and all that just feeds in compassion: compassion for her fellow Belters, compassion for her friends and found family, and compassion for the son she couldn't rescue the first time.
Plus, Dominique Tipper has some anime-tier anguished crying skills.
Marco is my type of villain, love the casting, Keon Alexander is doing a great job
Your kind of villain has basically put all the belters to death
@@antonnovo695 That's what you think
He's a great casting. It's hard to portray charismatic if you don't actually have it. At the same time he's devious and manipulative and doesn't strait out lie, but he's great at fitting the facts to his narrative.
He is doing a fantastic Job with Marco.
All the actors have been amazing this season. Filip is great too. Very realistic portrayal without it being annoying or whinny.
Sakai seemed straight-up terrified in the aftermath. She was meant to be on that boarding skiff with the construction mech and the Proto-molecule and all of a sudden she's in the belly of the beast. That defiant tone was sheer bravado in the face of an imminent world of hurt.
Also, parallels between Nancy Gao and Chrisjen. Chrisjen refused to evacuate to Luna in the face of Eros potentially crashing into Earth.
Agreed. She wasn't one dimensional. She was terrified/lost because she didn't think she'd have to face the consequences of her actions. She expected she'd spend the evening celebrating her victory not rotting in prison or worse.
Yeah, she's a scared, naïve child. She'll crack.
This episode for me goes in the top 3 best episodes of the series SOOO GOOD
Just like Kat’s sweater, this episode delivered in spades!
Hahaa, that was a good one 😂
He sounded like such a sociopathic abuser when he said welcome home.
Yeah, my partner and I both were victims of domestic abuse when we were younger, and have been in abusive relationships, and that scene really hit hard for both of us, it's such a classic abuser tactic and rhetoric
♥️
The book does a great job of painting Marco as the abuser he is, and it's fascinating to watch Naomi grapple with and overcome that.
God I'm so ready for episode 5 tonight
Same
@@jamesholland5761 tis a blessing to be in the states where it comes out Tuesday evening
Never clicked so fast. This episode was a 11/10. One of the best Christmas presents! Keep up the great reviews and stay healthy! Greetings from Germany :)
Even knowing the book I was still sat there gawping and stunned for nearly all of the episode!
They took some serious risks with the story and so far have pulled it off really well!
Dominique's acting as Naomi this season has been on fire!
And how good does this season look? The effects are really taking it up a notch
Just admire the genius of this show. This incident (rocks being thrown at earth) was what the belter, Chrisjen interrogated in S1 Ep1, who was caught transporting stealth tech, was involved in. This has been planned for awhile. It is rare for a TV show to live up to what is in a book, but this episode did it. Believe it or not there were even surprises for book readers in this episode.
It may also be worth going back and rewatching Avasarala's conversation with her grandson while lying on the roof in season 1.
Also, after Diogo and his uncle Mateo were rousted by the Martians, Mateo was drinking and listening to an OPA propagandist talking about launching rocks at Earth. That's what gave him the idea to toss his rocks at the Martian patrol.
Chrisjen even foreshadowed it in her talk with her grandson on the roof in the first season. Talking about people throwing rocks.
Actually it was Filip who stole the stealth cladding that they used to cover the asteroids. From Callisto in the books, and from Mars in the show, last season. They never would have been able to pull that off back in Season 1 as that was before Mars fell apart from the repercussions of the gates opening.
@@spacecadet2172 yes, however, that scene and Avasarala were not in book one. They make it seem like it is part of the original sheath ship mystery, but why would Mao need belter help for stealth tech. So why was that belter smuggling stealth tech and for who, and why was he so willing to off himself. It feels like someone that worked for Marco. I have no confirmation on this from anyone, it just makes the most sense. Also this is a big job it would seem like they wouldn't able to cover all 9 asteroids with stealth after the events on Mars. This theory is only from what we see in the show, book plot isn't exactly the same as the show, things have been added and changed. So it is possible.
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, Admiral Yamamoto wrote in his diary “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” Marco just woke up the twins. If he loses control of the proto molecule to either Earth or Mars, the retaliation against the Belters will be epic and brutal.
I'm not sure about that. Marco is proving he's a tactical genius and I think the choke point issue that was discussed by Admiral Sauveterre in episode two of this season will play a crucial role. Mars doesn't have the economy anymore to sustain a military and the UN fleet is pretty old. The Belters look like they have a modern fleet that can take on Earth and Mars threats. Guagamela is a perfect title for this episode because in one day, the balance of power shifted from Persia to Macedonia/Greece and Alexander the Great became defacto ruler of the known Greek world. I think the writers are saying the events that took place in this episode are a sea change event for the solar system.
@@chaost4544 The Belters have stolen Martian ships bought on the black market. And Mars does make the best ships. And the UN lost a lot of it's numerical advantage in the last war. I remember them saying that. But yeah, the UN, OPA, and Mars all unite and The Free Navy (Marcos) will end up retreating to the gate space. They simply can't hold the belt. Especially without water and food from UN & Mars. They literally can't survive. Especially since the one food growing station where everyone came to have their babies was destroyed with that battle and protomolecule test. So there's really nothing Marco can do but retreat to the gate and hold the chokepoint. Leave them with the Solar System, they can control a 1000 solar systems. Or access to them at least. It wasn't by chance that Admiral Sauveterre was talking about the tactics of that chokepoint.
In terms of helping the belt, yeah, from our perspective it is clear that Marco is massively in the wrong, that his actions will result in the deaths of so many innocent belters. The book notes, however, that Marco's speech wasn't for the benefit of Martians or Earthers, or even people like Fred Johnson, but rather for the dirt poor rock-hoppers and isolated individual colonies. With his declaration of freedom, Marco just declared victory: an impossible dream. In doing so he received the allegiance and support of every belter that has ever wished harm on the inner planets.
But yeah, he just got so so so many belters killed.
Marco also pulled those Belters into his sphere whether they would have wanted it or not. Earth never gave them quarter before, so they know they'll get no quarter now. Might as well fight with Marco.
Marco's Free navy won a battle but not the war!
Good thing for the righteous belters, they have Holden
The faction that I would be in if I lived in the world of The Expanse, is Holden's faction (which includes Avarsarela and Bobbie Draper).
"The right side"
-Gunnery Sgt. Roberta Draper
13:40 - The sound is the planetary rail guns firing. If you look at the Western horizon you'll see blue flashes (blue shifted due to them traveling a measurable percentage of c) - these are the planetary rail guns firing to break up the asteroid. The second strike is the nuclear missiles cleaning up the remainder of the debris.
Good observation!
More like plasma torpedoes/missiles to avoid unwanted x-rays and gamma radiation. But yeah, same purpose.
Yeah, the railgun did the main work, because even the fragments large enough to make it to the surface would only do "city killer" or "neighbourhood killer" levels of damage, but the plasma missiles then took out even those big fragments, turning the rock into a pretty meteor shower with maybe some "house killer" level impacts. What all that shows is how critical the Martian stealth composites were to the plan - even with just a small bit of notice, Earth had the defences to easily take out each rock as it came in. they
Welcome back to "Holy shit!!!"- The Show. ;)
Marco is a perfect example of somone not seeing the forrest for the trees.
Thinking that past injustices justify in any way what he did, deluding himself into believing that this will usher in a new way of peaceful human expansion by the Belters...
He is almost tragic in his blindness to reality.
@@RazvanMihaeanu that's not a thing at all.
@@RazvanMihaeanu Stop being vague. You have something to say? Say it.
For starters, can you tell who these "international socialists" are and what have they done to fit into "reverse racism" title?
I mean hating the fash is pretty morally right thing to do. Right?
@@RazvanMihaeanu it's the most vague shit I've ever heard. No one speaks like that. Except the IDW and their fanatics. Fascist doesn't mean authotarian or dictatorial. Look up 12 characteristics of fascism. Again, who are the international-socialists. I think you ment the Jews, but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. Who are they?
If you don't clarify I'm going to declare you as neo-Nazi and the conversation is over.
@@RazvanMihaeanu Nazis are not left. They are self described third position. History has deemed them ultra authotarian right. Leftism means wish for abolishing capitalism, nothing else. Nazi Germany only wanted to abolish the "Jew" out of capitalism. They couldn't care less about actual faults of capitalism.
What makes the leftists like me, and liberals like Labour in UK and Democrats in US, seem the same to you is thay we want to help the losers of the system and at minimum create systemic change so that the losers don't lose too hard as it's not their fault. Just a point though, liberals are inherently inefficient because to us Leftists, capitalism is too flawed to be reformed.
Feudalism - Mercantilism - Capitalism - why not Communism? We think natural evolution from capitalism is Communism (with socialism as transition period).
You are still speaking vague speak. You are being a contrarian to a boogieman you imagined. Case and point: international-socialist. That term is not a thing. I googled it and literally nothing came up. You made that term up in your delusion, or you are trying to backpedal a dogwhistle that I called you out on. If you mean leftist, just say leftist. If you mean communist, just say communist.
@@RazvanMihaeanu You tell me I have failed at education, then you follow up with a video that is about how in the last 80 years everyone else got it wrong except this YTuber and few who share their opinion. So did I fail at education or did the education fail me. You need to pick either or. Correct answer is neither.
I don't care about the video but I did check the sources linked in description. Absolute bollocks. The ones that supports the video are from far right science denying think tanks. The rest are decent but certainly misused. Why do I always run into bloggersphere when I argue with yous.
This episode was EPIC!!
This was a great one, almost Red Wedding style. Fred dying surprised even us, book readers.
Is it me or you completely missed explosion in Martian parliament? (news feed during Alex/Bobbie scene)
Would a Congressional Republic have both a congress _and_ a parliament? It seems redundant, somehow.
They do not have a congress. A parliament is a better system.
@@TheDetailsMatter "congress: a formal meeting in which representatives or experts discuss important matters, make decisions, etc. : the group of people who are responsible for making the laws of a country in some kinds of government"
A parliament is a congress. I'd think a Congressional Republic in contrast to a Constitutional Republic is one wherein the Parliament/Congress is the supreme authority.
So, then, ought the acronyms not be "MPR" & "MPRN"?
In any case, we have seen that the legislature on Mars is the ultimate authority. The C definitely does not stand for "Constitutional."
This was "The Empire Strikes Back" episode. The low point for our heroes.
Or red wedding
I know that from this point forward, I'll be referring to this sort of massive scale surprise attack in fiction as a "Rocks" moment.
Yes, this episode was a long time coming. The book that the current season is based on is sometimes compared to "The Empire Strikes Back", as the bad guys are in a rather powerful position, as you can figure out from this episode. More WTF moments coming up.
P.S.: The sound before the asteroid broke up was most likely a railgun, to smash the asteroid into pieces, so that the following barrage of nukes could vaporise the debris.
Definitely a railgun. The subtitles said [railgun sound] or some such.
The rail gun makes sense. They used the anti-stealth ship technology to fire a kinetic dart at the asteroid. Which would destroy enough of the stealth tech for the conventional asteroid buster missiles.
It was a railgun, I don't know if a lot of people saw it because it was dark but there were about 8 pinkish purple lights (the same color we've seen when railguns have been fired by the Roci, Donnager, except for the stealth ships in S1 which destroyed the Donnager which were blue) that lit up right before the asteroid got broken up. I think there were two on the left, two on right and various other positioned towards the planet.
After a long delay back into it again. Emotionally totally sucked in as in the good old days. What an episode.
I noticed how touched you were on 8:20 attack on earth. Also the speech of Inaros, which was on a more grander, abstract scale. IMO kind of remarkable, because it is not about one specific fate of a specific person. I explain it with our deeply rooted love in earth and humankind. Love to Denmark 💕
Marco Inaros is such a damn good speaker like it'd be hard to not side with him. I can relate to the Belters because they are persecuted, thought of as inferior, and terrorized for hundreds of years. Social injustice and persecutuion. Sound familiar? I don't agree with his methods but I understand why he did them. How many times can you beat a dog until it bites back? This show is very relevant!
Yea, he has such an incredible ability way to twist the truth to a point that you almost start to think that maybe he was right to kill millions of innocent people (who have also most likely been living miserable lives) in order to ensure that they don't keep exploiting and oppressing them in the new worlds. The corporations have already started taking all the riches for themselves, it'll be more of the same if we don't destroy them.
That message would for sure resonate with a lot of people who have been violently oppressed. It would take some strong resolve and an unbendable sense of right and wrong not to get swept up in the moment and see it for the foolishness it truly is if you were one of those people.
@@mickys333 It's not right...but it should be expected. All too often in history, oppressive nations have figured, "We've got them cowed. We can always handle them. They can never hurt us." That always, eventually, proves wrong.
As author Robert Heinlein wrote, "You cannot enslave a man who is determined to be free. The worst you can do is kill him...but he will die free."
great episode. RIP Fred Johnson. RIP Nancy Gao. this season is moving at break neck speed. one word for Marco. Monster.
What an episode, i was looking at the empty when it finished for 15 min.
BTW i just want to say Happy New Year and say goodbye to this messy year.
Kat&Sonny, I been waiting to see y'alls reaction. Both of you were a perfect reflection of my reaction to this episode.
As rough as it was it was an amazing episode. Just another reason why I believe this show is one of if not the best out there!
Can't wait for the next one!
I was feeling so down, and the only thing in the world (literally) that could make me feel better was this.. (and blindwave reaction to expanse, but they are still in the first season).. so, thank you for this.. this saved me from a horrible day
Thank you too ♥️ we're happy to help out.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Sending you love and warm thoughts!
Best of the series.
So we'll written and directed!!
A passing detail that a lot of people seemed to have missed is during Alex's and Bobbie's scene, their feeds had mentioned that Martian Parliament was also attacked. You can infer that Marcos Inaros was probably responsible for that as well.
@Techno Master who's funding Marco?
@@louiscachet7681 Mm-hm. Now that's *the* question, right?
And if you're a book reader like me, the easter egg hidden in the new openers *always* gives me chills.
Oh boy! Been waiting for this one! Good stuff!
OMG Kat is my spirit amI also! Sonny you lucky man! When you said “it’s deep” I thought what Kat said......and I saw her face changing as the thought came through her mind and couldn’t contain it....PERFECTION😅💀
Fred was a warrior who saw the folly of war, lay down his arms and choose to build livelihood for the belters in Tycho stations. Tycho station was able to provide aid to refugees Ganymede station when it fell. His way gave the belters a better choice. Inaros and sons just trapped the whole solar system in further cycles of hate with his attack. Marco might fancied himself to be the Alexander the Great for the outer planets. But what the belters and the solar system needs is Fred, who like Ashoka the Great (not the Jedi, but the Mauryan Emperor) who was remorseful of his bloody conquest and chose peace. Rest in Peace, Frederick Lucius Johnson.
PS: Don't feel bad about swearing at Marco. He really deserved it. I flipped him the bird multiple times watching the episode :D
In this one attack, more people probably died on Earth than currently live in the Belt and the Outer Planets. The total population of the Belt and beyond is less than 100 million. I'm still not sure if the show will have the same scale of destruction as the books did, but even a fracture of that... well, we'll see what happens in future episodes.
As for the title of the episode, in the book, Marco references the Battle of Gaugamela after this attack, comparing himself to Alexander for toppling the greatest empire the world had known up to that point.. He's also a big fan of the Afghans and their long history of being the gravediggers of empires.
I think I heard in the episode that several million people died just from the first asteroid, which was 'only' ~250 kt of force along the Coast of Africa (?). The second one hit in the presumably much more densely populated eastern seaboard with an unknown payload, and I don't know if the third location was announced, but the shockwave destroyed the UN1 from several hundred miles away. I'm betting your assessment is pretty close to accurate.
Just when I was about to start studying, I see this. The reaction I've been waiting for :P Great one, you guys! You helped me remember what it felt like watching this amazing episode for the first time (I've already watched it several times by now).
I'm kind of bothered by how clueless Fred Johnson looked as Holden was figuring out that something was off. It seems a bit out of character to me. That being said, his death came as a shock and I'm sad to see him go.
"For fuck's sake!" pretty much sums up this episode... good stuff y'all
200 - 300 kilotons is actually quite small for an asteroid, the one that hit Russia, Chelyabinsk in 2013 was a 20 metre diameter rock and was measured at 400 - 500 kiloton airburst. From the image they showed of the explosion and shockwave in the Expanse, Marco's rocks were more like 20 - 50 megaton explosions.
Yeah either effect was off or the line stating 200-300 kt was. Or both.
Yeah, I think that was a script error, or maybe we'll find out that it was just a mistake by the people initially reporting on it, since that happens a LOT in news reports
I thought they said the diameter of blast zone was 200 to 300 km.. maybe I'm wrong
Book spoiler: In the books, the asteroids are way more destructive. The aftermath kills billions and billions. I don't know why the television show makes them much smaller and less destructive.
@@jakobkramer I don't think they made it less destructive, I could see the area of destruction of just one, and even with less blast than that, it generated tsunamis that could kill billions in last season (if it was on earth).. and in the books billions didnt die of the blast, billions died of blast and tsunamis and fires and almost the same amount died of hunger and violence and the aftermath.. so I think they will still go the same route in the show
History-fan here: Gaugamela was the site of the final battle between Alexander the Great and the Persian King Darius III. in 331BC. It was one of the largest and most decisive battles of Greek Antiquity, marking a crushing loss for the Persians (the dominant empire of the world at the time) and paving the way for Alexander's subsequent conquests. As far as episode titles go, you can't get much more ominous :D
Also, I only just realized that Marco's ship is called the Pella, which was Alexander's capital at the time. He is one arrogant bastard.
Edit: Just watched the whole vid, and you explained it a lot better than I did xD
Any people who are oppressed, especially for how long the belters have been, will retaliate. No matter how much the Belters, tried to play by the rules, the Inners, always treated them as beneath them. What Marcos has done is horrific, but I cannot hate him for it. Any people oppressed will retaliate eventually. Now lets hope that when we actually do become a mulit-planetary species, and live and work out in the belt and beyond, that we treat them a f&*king whole lot better. Thanks to SpaceX,and Blue Origin, we will get there.
Absolutely. Look even at the recent events. Belters number a few million. One hundred thousand Belters died on Eros, hundreds died on Ganymede, and the loss of Ganymede cause starvation among hundreds more, with no Earther tears shed. Earthers number many billions; the losses are proportionately comparable.
Human beings are composed mostly of water. Water is incompressible. Put constant pressure on water, and it will break out somewhere, some how...probably violently.
I can sympathize with the revolutionary factions of the OPA, but not with Marco Inaros. Revolution is one thing but Marco committed genocide. He didn't attack the oppressors, he murdered billions of innocent people. Also, having read the books, I know more about Marco than has been shown so far in the show.
Freedom for a victim doesn't come when oppressor is killed, it comes when the victim is no longer under threat. Killing the oppressor only creates more violence, because somebody will try to avenge that person eventually too. This is a vicious circle, in which victim and oppressor roles change places continuously. And almost all oppressors were victims once.
I mean...nah. Bull's comment earlier on Fred's "thinking that someone being the underdog makes them the good guy" is a key rider here. The Belter plight is legitimate, and I think it's vitally important to make room for empathy and understanding in our enemies while still holding them accountable for their atrocities. Marco is the most successful mass murderer in human history at this point, and there is no amount of prior injustice done to the Belter peoples that justify his actions as anything less than absolutely evil. Marco is a narcissist, an abuser, and was an aspiring megalomaniac turned successful, and I cannot truly believe that he spearheaded this plan to do anything more than rise his own station, no matter what he says.
As for treating people better when we start truly traversing space as a species...we're not off to a great start while we're still on Earth. I won't hold my breath.
@@quegs well, there are real examples of people killing millions and remembered as heroes. Don't get me wrong, you have a point about what he did, but eventually it is sided towards Earthers, and the history will be written by the victors, as always.
Guys, they read the comments, try not to spoil the damn "reactors" if you are here to see "reactions." When you do you're ruining it for everybody.
Gaugamela is reference to Marco because he sees himself at the same plane as Alexander The Great (Alexander of Macedonia).
You can see in more other hints. For example, his named his ship Pella, what is the name of capitol of ancient Macedonia under Alexander's rule. Other hint is Filip's name, because Alexander's father was Philip (or Filip) of Macedonia.
I don't see that Razorback is really renamed. I think this is just way to go incognito. If somebody sees them on the radar, would not get it in connection with Bobbie or Alex. Razorback is registered to Bobbie probably, and they know Alex came to Mars inside her.
Couple of notes: I'm wondering if Sakai had sabotaged the Roci since we saw her working on it earlier this season. Also given how hard Drummer took the loss of Ashford, I wonder how she'll handle hearing the loss of Fred Johnson.
Great observation, I'm worried about the Rocinante. And yes I think Drummer is going to go on a rampage!
She definitely can't be trusted...!
The emotion the show elicits proves it's good. It's great fun to ride along with you guys experiencing the story. I'm very excited for each episode :) It's nice to have something to look forward to every week with a show like this.
this was one of the best episodes in the series and maybe the best of the season. well written, gripping dialoge, fenomenaly filmed and shot, perfectly passed. jesus christ, it was so good that i genuily felt i was on the losing team and felt personaly atacked by the asteroids that hit earth ........
I personally love Marco Inaros. I don't like him, but I love him as a villain. I can understand his point and the factors that conditioned him to end like that. It's been a lot of generations of belters suffering and explotation, and yes, he might also be power hungry, but their nation have been trampled over and over by Earth and Mars and even after the show events belters are still in the bottom of the chain, being left to die when there's a vast amount of free land to claim so sustain ALL humans. I don't like that innocent (and probably also pover people) died by what Marco did, but it sure sent a big message of strength, and after that a threat now that he's in possesion of the protomolecule. I hate that it works that way, but it does, and now that the other nations have something to fear they might stop treating belters as worthless shit because of that. I mean I guess it won't go that way in the show, or maybe it will, but there's a chance they can finally be respected.
Yeah, I also sat in disbelief for the full end roll credits pondering what a HELL of an episode I just saw... "hell" in positive way at what (another) masterpiece of TV history this show produced and in negative way when seeing in the events from an in-series view.
There were 9 asteroids coated in Martian stealth tech launched toward Earth by Inaros (in order of appearance):
> The 1st asteroid was the one that broke up in S05E01 (called #9) while slingshotting around the Sun and then detected by the science ship at Venus.
> The 2nd asteroid was the one at the end of S05E03 that hit the Atlantic Ocean near the West African coast where the city of Dakar (Senegal) is located.
> The 3rd asteroid was the one in this episode that hit near Philadelphia which cracked the deep underground prison cell Amos and Peaches were in.
> The 4th asteroid was the one in this episode that hit South Asia (Gulf of Bengal) near where the UN-1 plane of Nancy Gao was flying returning to NYC.
> The 5th asteroid was the one in this episode that was detected and then broken up first by a railgun hit and then dispersed by torpedos in Earth orbit.
> The same ostensibly happened to the rest of the asteroids (6 thru 9) as they approached Earth (not shown, only mentioned by Inaros' crew).
"The Expanse" isn't a television show.
It's a time machine.
"Battle of Gaugamela" Alexander the Great. That was a important battle 331BC (I didnt know that).
This episode ...
One thing i like most is how Amos cares about Clarissa in this episode. He didnt forget her and he wants that she didnt feel alone and he wants to help her. (i hope he can help her now :)
Yes, this was THAT episode where we didn't see any of that happening. I wonder how they will move forward? Love your reactions. So true and pure. Thanks for the discussions afterwards, too. Be safe. Can't wait for Episode 5's reaction.
Unpopular opinion: I like Marco Inaros.
As a character, he was the culmination of revenge, one single man to repay atrocities untold, centuries apart.Yes, he is extreme.Violent on a scale not yet imagined, Symbol of something barely imagined, let alone respected.
But he made the Inners pause.For once, no Embargo or Patrol was going to bring "them" to heel.No matter the threat or bluster.Having read the books - for that I respect Marco Inaros.
Episode 5 is ready available here. I'll watch it when I'm done watching you guys.
I wouldn't worry about people criticizing you for still rooting for the belt. We all feel for oppressed people and are outraged when they're abused or if some radical faction takes up arms to just strike back. But Bull stated in an earlier episode "Not all underdogs are good guys" or something like that. Episode 5 coming up tonight! I'm not sure what they're going to follow up on for more of a spotlight.
just finished watching episode 5 and i was astounded by the turn of events but i still have to watch your take on the previous episode!
This is the way! ooops!
Gaugamela is the name of a battle where Alexander defeated the Persians. Alexander with a smaller army was the underdog before the battle but dealt a decisive blow to the Persians in that battle. In this episode the Belters are the underdog against Earth and they strike decisive blow against Earthers and bring Earth to its kness. I think that's why this episode is called so.
Gaugamela is the site of the ancient battle between Alexander and Cyrus, during which the greeks defeated the Achaemenid Empire. It's a classic example of a much smaller force defeating a much larger military force.
Great detail in the image of Earth in the background, you can see the smoking impact where rock #2 hit.
I didn't expect references to Parks and Rec and The Office from you two. Pleasant surprise.
First off have to say poor Kat. The shock of this episode is just so evident in her expressions. I love how clever the writers are for this series, like most people seeing "Gaugamela" and wondering wft? To Zemya the belter ship which means snake in Russian and let's not forget season 1 episode 6 where Avasarala says: "I worry about people who throw rocks". I wonder how much of a threat the protomolecule is now? It's not really a weapon but a construction tool mainly for building a road. Now that the road is built is there a need for another road to this solar system? So would it do anything or just kind of remain inert? Of course the people in the show don't know what we know about the protomolecule, except Holden.
Starting at 9:29 was probably the best reactions I've seen from you guys. I was totally waiting to see how you'd both respond, and you didn't disappoint. 😊
This episode was probably Gao's best showing as a leader figure. She recognized that when the chips were down, Avasarala was also coming from the same place.. They both want the best for Earth, and when rocks are falling is not the time for BS, and they're ultimately on the same team. A shame that dynamic was flattened by the shockwave.
Let me told you best delivered line beside 'I am that guy' sequence.
"Too bad. So sad. Bye bye"
"You lose.... You all lose"
Ofc happy new year to both of you.
The book vs TV show drift get bigger and bigger. This has just become an alternative timeline with Fred Johnson dying this early. He had so much more to do.
Wow. You guys said she was cute. It's the cute ones that always get you. RIP Fred.
I happened to stumble across this video. Great channel! And.. my reaction to this episode...like... 100% the same, or almost there. Best (and toughest to watch) episode in the show for me, or competes with season 3 finale
Wow I totally missed the name change when I watched this :D Screaming Firehawk!
The initial sound was a railgun round hitting the asteroid, breaking it apart; if the follow-up missile barrage failed to stop it outright, the smaller fragments would be much more likely to break up in the atmosphere, compared to potentially the missile just toasting the outside and leaving no other recourse.
Great reactions. Hope you had a nice holiday. Notice that Marco is comparing himself to someone who is called the Great, his ego is out of control, he sees himself as the messiah of the belt.
That is a high perch to fall from. How many will fall with him?
There's free proto-molecule causing danger; Holden to the rescue, again.
This episode surprised me a lot, it might just be my favorite one of the show.
where the second rock hit is about 60 miles from the northern end of Chesapeake bay.
4:55 Yoooooo! Thats hilarious! You can actually see Kat's inner Michael Scott begging her to make the joke. This is gold!!
Cat with the office and parks and rec jokes make this the best reaction
The Inaros speech. GFY Inaros. The proudest moment of the belters will always be with Ashford.
What you missed was that shiny new state of the art warship that Marcos has acquired from a dying planet known for making the best weapons. Could there be more?
Thinking interesting stuff could be happening for the Martian Navy... The timing of events transpiring are a bit too well lined up... We'll see what Alex and Bobby find out.
Marco must be a rich boy to afford all the Mars tech, even at a discount. Where'd ya get the money, marco?
Yup, the books described the Pella as a newer corvette (or light frigate) that replaced (or was supposed to replace) the older Tachi-type corvettes. It was also the ship that Filip used to escape Mars in the final episode of Season 4 when he blew up the shipyard (or at least I think it was) and almost killed Bobbie (the cool continuous shot sequence).
@@alcor7104 ARe you giving shit away that hasn't happened yet?
@@artboymoy Nope. It's all known *tv* info on the ships as of S05E04. No book-related spoilers.
I think I chose my words poorly with the 'final episode' thing. Gimme a sec and edit it.
Sonny you do realize that the bad buys have the Protomolecule. They have the power for the first time.
I think 'Gaugamela' also refers specifically to the way that Marco is casting himself both in his own narrative and as how he views himself. He sees himself in the role of a new Alexander for the Belt, whether they want him to be or not. Hence his ship being called The 'Pella' and his long-running grand plan to flatten all of his enemies being personally seen as his own 'Gaugamela,' even if all it boils down to is genocide on a planetary scale.
One thing to remember while Earth has a huge population, and Mars has a sizable population, their military forces have been decimated due to the Earth/ Mars war recently. And space (even in our own Solar system is vast beyond are ability to really comprehend. So sent a ship or a missile plot a course get it up to speed and then turn the engines off, don't use a transponder and a small ship or torpedo is going to be almost impossible to find. And that's all it would take for them to spread the Photo Molecule,
The Battle of Guagamela (332 BC. I think) was the decisive battle between Alexander the Great and Darius, Emperor of Persia. Persia, the superpower of it's time, was soundly defeated by the underdog, upstart Greeks/Macedonians under Alexander, and the balance of power between Persia and Greece was flipped after that.
EDIT oops, posted this before your commentary after the episode.
One of the most intense 45min. episodes of SciFi tv I've seen. This is pretty much a 9/11 episode. The expression of disbelief on Alex and Bobbie's faces remind me of my coworkers on that day
Was that a Parks and Rec reference!? Haha
😇😇
I think the reference to Gaugamela is more likely what Marcos Inaros sees it. He believes all inners are the same so he classifies civilians and military as thing. Crazy episode.
The girl that killed Fred is the one that supervised the repairs to the Roci. I don't trust that the ship isn't sabotaged in some way so that Holden would be slowed down in hunting down Marco.
Also I don't know if you noticed but Marco was on a Martian warship. So he has serious firepower.
This was the expanse jumping the shark, there's no where to go from here but Jack Ryan in space...
Gaugamela - battle that destroyed Persian Empire...
I'm worried about the Rosi, that chick that shot Fred was in charge of repairs on it, I'm worried she sabotaged it.
Also interesting how Inaros built warships with the stuff he bought from Mars, not just getting stealth tech for the asteroids.
Did you notice how this episode paralleled a lot of Avasarala's fears from season one? How she feared people throwing rocks.
Not really a spoiler, but the Pella was an actual Martian ship, and wasn't built by Belters. It was a corvette / light frigate (the one that lifted off of Mars in the final ep of Season 4 when Filip blew up the shipyard, and almost killing Bobbie), a newer class that replaced the old Tachi-type corvettes.
At least, that's how it was in the books. The TV version's quite interesting though, with four drives instead of the usual one. I almost mistook it for a Donnager or Hammurabi-class ship.
@@alcor7104 ah I thought it was built in the belt.
But they could change things from the books. From what I heard (havent read the books myself), Fred didnt die this soon in the books.
Yeah, that's not how Fred was supposed to go.
And that's what's great about the TV series. They get to tweak the story just enough for us book readers to enjoy the show. The expanded Ashford arc was an excellent mod IMHO.
And heck, if you think the past few episodes/seasons were wild, wait till you get to the "final trilogy". The ones that're supposed to run after season six. Finished reading 'Tiamat's Wrath' early this year, and it was easily one of the top 3 books I've read in the past decade. Can't wait for 'Leviathan Falls' coming out next year.
@@alcor7104 I am considering reading the books, but I just enjoy the show so much that I dont want anything spoiled before seeing it 😂
@@cypherdk85 That's a really interesting dilemma, because I don't think I've seen a comment anywhere from a person who's read a book like "Cibola Burn" after watching season 4. I honestly don't know how that'll work for you.
I think you should go with your gut. Do your thing, and enjoy the show/books in any way you want to enjoy them.
Here's a little un-spoilery tease for you: Each book in The Expanse (unlike other book series like Harry Potter, LoTR, the Wheel of Time, etc.) is better than the last one. The novellas can be merged with its matching novel (like how "The Churn" matches with "Nemesis Games"), but generally speaking, each volume is better than the last one. So expect a really wild and awesome ride.
And I hope Leviathan Falls blows all of the past books out of the water just so Bezos can keep the show going after S06.
Sorry I came here late but, “I wonder how long she’ll stay there” had me cackling. Oh, maybe not long at all.
The actor that plays Fred Johnson also played in The Walking Dead. I had this uncontrollable urge to yell at the screen to tell them they needed to shoot him in the head so he wouldn't turn into a zombie. I think Amos calls Melba "Peaches" because of the French dessert Peach Melba. The aftermath of the asteroids will kill more than the actual impacts. Millions of tons of dust has been thrown into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight for a long time. Nuclear winter will severely shorten or eliminate growing seasons. Crops will die, people will starve. People will kill other people, steal their food to survive.
The battle of Gaugamela was a major battle between Alexander the Greats Greek armies and the Persian Empire where he broke Darius III armies forcing him to run and bringing an end to the Persian empire
I see equivalencies can be drawn with Marco Inaros being Malcolm X and Fred Johnson being Dr. Martin Luther King.
Don't forget someone high up on the Martian chain of command is responsible for Marco having all the ships, weapons and equipment he has. So what does that person stand to gain from Marcos war on the system? Remember season 1. Someone stood to gain from Earth and Mars being at war. We've seen clues already but saying more would put us in spoiler territory.
This episode became my favorite of the whole series. Perfectly structured with great action and performances and, you know, a bad Savage Industries robot punching Holden out. Too bad. So sad.
It will be very interesting to see what effects the asteroid strikes have on the pit where Amos is right now, because one hit off the coast of Africa, which presumably would send a tsunami across the Atlantic that would hit the Chesapeake Bay area where the pit is. But there's also the Philadelphia strike, which is not that far from the Chesapeake Bay either. We see one news report in this episode showing that New York City has mostly flooded because the seawalls failed, that's probably from the tsunami from the Africa strike, but it's also possible that it could be from an earthquake from the Philadelphia strike. Amos seems to be in a place that will get affected by both of those strikes, but luckily he's underground, which should protect him to an extent. But it's also possible that it could bury him alive, or that the prison could start flooding
13:41
That sound you heard was the impact from Earth's planetary railguns (you can see the muzzle flashes from the cannons firing just before impact.)
I was referring to the sound I made, but thanks anyway 😅
@@KatSonny Oh LoL okay. XD
6:05 Um, didn't she blow up a ship full of people? My guess is life sentence, multiple life sentences. She redeemed herself towards the end of season 3 but I'm not sure the UN or military would take that into consideration much. Amos might bust her out now tho, he will probably ask his buddy to help get her off world maybe.
At Gaugamela, the emperor of the Achaemenid Persians brought between 50 and 100 thousand soldiers against Alexander of Macedon's 47 thousand. Through the brilliant positioning of his infantry and a superb cavalry maneuver, he defeated the Persians.
The parallels are obvious here. The main exception is that I don't think that Marco can win this war.
Of course, Alexander defeated Persia, but went on to drive his forces across too large an expanse of land getting to the subcontinent and they turned on him- turn back or mutiny. Made not to rule, but to conquer.
@@Rob-rr4yp they only turned on him once he started moving toward modern-day Pakistan. His soldiers felt that they had already conquered one empire, and didn't want to keep fighting.
All i i feel like Marcos plan did was guarantee his ppls doom i get were hes coming from but man he really messed up and IMO i dont think ppl from earth or mars will ever trust belters again after what he did its about to be open season on every belter.