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The Expanse 4x9 | Full Episode Watch Along (Patreon)

Published:
2023-11-08 16:55:11
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Saeculum

Vision has been restored to those trapped on Ilus, but are they out of danger now? Not even close!

And Miller is back. Or is he?

This was a tense one, y'all with Murtry hunting down everyone. Who makes it out of the relic alive?

Buckle up, y'all and let's go!

Files

Previews only

The Expanse 4x9 | Full Episode Watch Along

Thank you Patrons!

Comments

Tony Camas

I know you've heard this before, Anna, but do keep in mind that, to some extent, this is all *supposed to* be a bit opaque. I don't know if you watched Twin Peaks back in the day, but they did a very similar thing there; there was a lot of lore and backstory, and the people in the show who were steeped in it understood it, but many others did not. We basically learn what we know of the Builders and the Protomolecule and all that related stuff from Holden, and Holden only vaguely understands it all himself. So since he is basically our proxy in this matter, we understand it about as well as Holden does. The other thing to keep in mind is that the Protomolecule is just a tool. It's sort of an AI with a lot of technological capabilities that we don't understand. But the Protomolecule doesn't "want" anything, at least not in the sense that you or I would use that word. The Protomolecule has work to do, has goals, but they were basically programmed into it; it doesn't really have any free will. The long gone race we usually call "The Builders" certainly wanted something, but we only vaguely understand what that was. The Protomolecule's goals, such as they are, basically exist in support of the Builders' goals, but they're not necessarily the same. So the builders sent this very capable, very "smart" tech out to find solar systems matching some unknown set of criteria (we can guess, but we don't really know, at least not at this point in the story). So the Protomolecule follows its programming; it finds systems that match its criteria (and apparently our system was a match). Then it harnesses biological life, absorbs it and repurposes it to fulfill its programming; specifically, to build a ring - a gateway to somewhere else, that somewhere else being basically the "ring space" (or "slow zone" or "bubble" or whatever you want to call it). That space is like a giant transit hub with rings that lead to other places where the Protomolecule was previously sent. Then, after doing this, the Protomolecule is supposed to "report in" in some manner to the Builders, basically saying "hey, this is protomolecule #173 - I just found a system and built a ring and it's ready for you" -- whatever that means. But this instance of the Protomolecule was unable to report in, because the Builders are all gone. And so this AI, which learns things (as all good AIs do) finds within it a person that it absorbed with a particular skill set conducive to conducting investigations, one Josephus Miller. It uses Miller's skills, thought processes, and memories and constructs a sort of simulation of Miller ("The Investigator") and gives it the task of finding The Builders, so that its report can be filed. In turn, The Investigator and the Protomolecule realize that travel to far flung places will be required in order to solve the mystery, so it uses its technological wizardry to have The Investigator contact Holden and convince him to provide that transportation. The technology on Ilus, although Holden refers to it as "Protomolecule tech," is probably more properly called "Builder tech," and while the Protomolecule has a lot of knowledge and capabilities, it doesn't necessarily know about all of the tech on Ilus. So part of The Investigator's task on Ilus is to turn stuff on, to "flip switches" as he terms it, to try to figure out how the planet works. In the process, he activates a lot of technology whose purposes are not fully understood, though we can probably guess. Those swarming proto-insect things are probably some form of defense, for instance. The spinny digging machines were probably involved in some terraforming (or "Builderforming") operation, or maybe they were mining drones... who knows? And the reactors on the islands on the opposite side of the planet were probably the power source for all this stuff, and some switch Miller flipped, probably accidentally, caused the explosion. And then the shutdown of fusion was Ilus' reaction to that event, probably -- it was trying to prevent any further catastrophes. All of this is conjecture, of course, but these are reasonable suppositions. And if they're wrong, it doesn't really matter. What matters -- which we find out in this episode -- is that ultimatly The Investigator is not Miller; it is a simulation of Miller with a particular task to complete. But the consciousness of the "real" Miller also exists somewhere within the giant hive mind of the Protomolecule, and he is evidently able, eventually, to contact Holden on his own. He has a different set of goals -- the Investigator wants to find The Builders so the Protomolecule can report back, but the "real" Miller just wants a little peace. And the real miller finds this "dead zone" or "magic bullet" or "angry eye" which seems to be left over from whatever battle The Builders fought on this planet prior to their demise. And Miller, who just wants peace, reasons that if he could get some part of the planet's tech in touch with that thing, it might destroy all of the tech that's connected at the time he touches it. So his plan is to turn everything on and then get a piece of something alien to touch that magic bullet and, thus (he thinks), kill all the tech on the planet and set him (Miller) free. That's sort of the gist of it. And that gist took, what, three pages for me to write? Yeah, it's complex. And there's more that we don't know about all this, a lot of the whys are not answered until the ninth and last book of the book series, and they remain a mystery in the TV show, which only goes up to essentially Book 6. So... when you get to the end of this journey, you will understand more, but you will not understand everything unless you read the last three books, or they adapt them someday. I don't know if that helped or made things worse. Probably a little of both. You honestly "get" this show better than 90% of the reactors I've seen, so if it's not all crystal clear to you yet, don't fret - you're doing quite well, considering. Whether that's a comfort to you or not... that's up to you. :)

anna_alexander
>>121767219

Thank you for the essay! That was more than I expected, and I appreciate the effort. But I'm also sad to hear that the series doesn't end with the conclusion of the books. I'll have to read the books?!?! I hope Miller's hypothesis is correct. 🤞🏻

DrEEsky

"go to the optometrist if you haven't in a while"! I wasn't expecting that line, so funny as I just made my appointment! This cliff hanger is very intentional and part of the beauty of the show is that viewers are just trying to put the pieces together much as the characters are at the same time. I always liked the line of Cortazar that "the protomolecule didn't come with an instruction manual". We are all just monkeys playing with a microwave here! so no worries, all will become clear after a little more play!