Season 3

Complete listed story — includes the ending

S3E1 · Fight or Flight

The crew cleans up the Rocinante, missing a small piece of protomolecule in the process. They also conduct repairs and rename the ship Pinus contorta to hide during escalating tension between Earth and Mars. Errinwright convinces the UN to declare war, Mars blames Earth for the assassination of defence minister Korshunov, and everyone wonders what is happening on Venus. Things are strained between Naomi and the crew. Though Naomi wants them to dock at Tycho, Holden picks up a protomolecule signal on Io, convincing the others to find answers for Prax. Fred Johnson reaches out to Dawes to use the scientist and protomolecule to work together, and orders the Nauvoo retrieved as the Belt must unite as one nation. Errinwright frames Avasarala for Eros and says she is the one working with Mao, having missiles fired at Mao's ship to kill her. Bobbie, Avasarala and Cotyar force one of the employees of the ship, Theo, to help them gather evidence to expose Errinwright, then Bobbie and Avasarala escape on Mao's racing ship Razorback, while Theo and Cotyar escape on a landing shuttle.

S3E2 · IFF

As the civilians of Earth become more fearful about the prospect of war with Mars, Secretary General Esteban Sorrento-Gillis calls in an old friend, the Methodist pastor Anna "Annushka" Volovodov, to help convince the people that God is on Earth's side. Anna irritates Errinwright by calling for restraint. Jules-Pierre Mao visits Dr Strickland on Io, considering shutting down the whole project, though Strickland reveals the children of Ganymede can be controlled hosts for the protomolecule, including Mei. Pursuing the Razorback, Errinwright's men fire again and Avasarala's body cannot take the force of acceleration needed to escape. Bobbie sends out a Martian distress signal that is picked up by Holden's crew. Holden and Amos want to ignore it and Alex and Naomi want to help. Prax breaks the tie and decides to assist them. Holden has torpedoes fired around the Razorback as a shield and then uses an explosion for cover to get in close to disable the UN ship's engines. After Amos saves his life, Prax admits he is scared of what he will find on Io, though Amos says Prax should not give up on his daughter. As Avasarala passes out, she and Bobbie are picked up by a stunned Holden and crew.

S3E3 · Assured Destruction

Errinwright pushes a preemptive strike against Mars' long-range capabilities. Anna tells Esteban to take as few lives as possible so he refuses. Errinwright tells Esteban he must end this war to unite humanity against whatever comes from Venus, so Esteban has Earth launch an attack. A malfunction in the earth system allows one Martian missile to kill two million people in South America, which Errinwright reveals to Anna. Cotyar and Theo's signal reaches the UNN ship Agatha King. Cotyar kills Theo to maintain the story of Avasarala's death. UNN Fleet Admiral Nguyen believes Avasarala to be alive and a traitor, and prepares to charge Cotyar with treason. Admiral Souther of the Agatha King believes Cotyar's story about Errinwright, but Nguyen takes command and orders the ship to Io. Mao begins to bond with Mei. He demands the project be shut down when an infected child begins dying. Avasarala recovers and tells the crew of Mao and Bobbie's role on Ganymede. Holden still does not want to get involved with the war. Alex gets a message from his family that they do not need him anymore. Avasarala is disgusted Naomi gave the protomolecule to Fred Johnson. Naomi swears to never let Avasarala or Earth get any protomolecule sample.

S3E4 · Reload

Drummer retrieves the Nauvoo. Esteban gives Anna's speech but it is revised by Errinwright to further justify destroying Mars before dealing with Venus. Anna is disgusted and prepares to leave. The Rocinante is very low on fuel and its crew prepares to scavenge supplies from a destroyed Martian gunship, but find three surviving Martian naval crew. Avasarala convinces Holden to send the recording of Errinwright's treason to Anna so she can get through to Esteban; shocking her just as she is about to depart. The three Martians are disgusted they are on a stolen Martian war ship, preparing to capture it by beating Alex and taking him and Naomi hostage. Bobbie is able to talk them down. Holden has the Martian's ship repaired so they can rejoin their fleet, giving them a copy of the Errinwright recording to pass onto their captain, whom Avasarala wants to pass it to the Agatha King. On Io, Dr Strickland secretly keeps working on Mei's infected friend. Mao is initially furious but when he sees that the boy is communicating with the protomolecule on Venus; and learning by ripping out and disassembling his nurse's organs, Mao realizes this is the key to everything.

S3E5 · Triple Point

The Martian crew passes the Errinwright recording along to Sandrine Kirino (CO) of the Martian cruiser Hammurabi. Avasarala admits Earth needs a protomolecule sample but wants to unite humanity and needs Holden's help to end the war. Naomi explains to Holden why she gave the protomolecule sample to The Belt; she has a son, Filip, in the Belt and believed that by giving the protomolecule to the Belters, it was a way of protecting her son. At the lab, Katoa tells Mao that the work on Venus is almost complete. Mao realizes that the protomolecule has an objective, orders the next subject, Mei, to be infected. Kirino gives the evidence video to Souther and explains that war is an unstable interaction between emotion, politics and luck (hence the title of the episode). Admiral Nguyen orders Mao to turn over control of the protomolecule monster missile-pods to him. Souther and members of his crew mutiny, announcing to Earth and Mars that they want to stand down and charges Nguyen with conspiracy to fight an illegal war. Nguyen kills Souther and many of those loyal to him, as others are taken to the brig. Nguyen destroys the Jimenez. The UNN ships begin firing on one another. The Hammurabi offers aid to any Earth ship willing to stand down. A wounded Nguyen launches the missile pods containing the protomolecule monsters.

S3E6 · Immolation

Believing Holden's group to be Martian Marines, Mao and Strickland prepare to use the children as hostages. The boy hybrid attacks Bobbie. A missile hits and infects the Agatha King. Holden captures Mao and Amos kills Strickland, so that Prax does not have to. An infected Cotyar destroys the Agatha King to stop the protomolecule. Naomi tells Johnson about the hybrid missiles and he destroys them using the Belt's captured Earth missiles. On Earth, Anna exposes Errinwright who admits his treason and Esteban orders Errinwright's arrest. Mao is brought to Avasarala as a prisoner, Bobbie recovers with Alex, Prax spends time with Mei and Holden reunites with Naomi. A large protomolecule structure takes off from the surface of Venus.

S3E7 · Delta-V

The protomolecule forms the Ring, a structure orbiting beyond Uranus. Earth, Mars, and the Belt send fleets to investigate it. The OPA is recognized as the government of the Belt, led by Anderson Dawes and Fred Johnson. Anna flies to the Ring with the UNN fleet. Bobbie, reinstated into the MMC, is with the Martian fleet. Mars sues the Rocinante crew over the ship. A journalist and her cameraman are allowed on board the Rocinante in exchange for paying the crew's legal fees. The Rocinante escorts the OPA fleet to the Ring. Naomi and Drummer command the OPA flagship Behemoth (formerly Nauvoo). Dawes' representative, former pirate Klaes Ashford, is named Drummer's first officer. Ashford undermines Drummer by preventing her from spacing a drug dealer. A UNN tech crew including Melba Koh is deployed to a support ship in the Earth fleet. Koh places a bomb on the ship and kills a coworker who discovers it. A Belter racing ship slingshots through the Ring and is instantly decelerated to a near complete stop, killing the pilot. Holden, alone in his quarters on the Roci, sees Miller sitting on his bed.

S3E8 · It Reaches Out

Melba hides the body and returns to the Thomas Prince. She briefly meets Anna. Holden keeps scanning himself for brain defects and protomolecule, finding neither. Miller only shows up when he is alone. Using timestamps from Monica's footage Holden determines Miller first appeared when the racer entered the Ring. Monica's cameraman swaps out a circuit on the Rocinante. Miller says he is an Investigator and he and Holden are tools for "it" to get to the Ring. Melba destroys the Seung Un and sends a fake message with Holden claiming responsibility. The Rocinante is unable to communicate a denial. On the Behemoth, Ashford demands they fire on Holden to prove the OPA is not with him. Drummer gives the order despite Naomi begging her not to. The ship malfunctions but eventually fires. Holden is able to get Amos to give him a minute alone, whereupon Miller says they should aim for the ring but they are moving too fast. Holden convinces Alex to slow down and enter the Ring. The deceleration hurts everyone on board. The ship starts to enter the Ring with the missile just behind it.

S3E9 · Intransigence

The missile has been stopped and redirected by the Ring but the Rocinante is unable to communicate or access any weapons. The MCRN Xuesen follows them inside. Its probes determine a speed limit of 18,000 kph; and another of its probes blinks out of existence when it hits the wall. Cohen the cameraman admits to sabotaging the ship but says he only wanted information and never met the person who contacted him to do this. Alex notes that Holden's fake message came from within the Roci. Amos sends him and Monica out of the ship to be picked up by the Martians to explain Holden's innocence. Unable to repair the ship without Naomi, Holden believes their only option is to surrender to the Martians. On the Behemoth, Naomi realizes her heart is still with the Rocinante. Drummer rallies the Belters to enter the Ring but lets Naomi take a shuttle back to her old crew once inside. Flashbacks reveal Melba is the other daughter of Jules-Pierre Mao who could never get his approval as he preferred Julie. Melba intends to destroy Holden for her father. Earth's civilians are evacuated away from the Ring but Anna is able to stay. Miller has Holden investigate the center of the pocket dimension the Ring connects to. Holden detaches himself from the ship and goes towards a structure in the center.

S3E10 · Dandelion Sky

The Thomas Prince enters the Ring. Anna and others on board theorize the Ring is trying to isolate potential threats. Anna's friend Tilly recognizes Melba as Clarissa Mao and confronts her. Clarissa attacks Tilly to avoid being revealed. The Investigator admits he is just a construct in Holden's brain attempting to fulfill the protomolecule's mission of discovering what happened to an ancient civilization. As Holden goes towards the station at the center of the pocket dimension he touches a circuit, revealing Miller's last thoughts to get Holden to comply. Believing Holden to be insane, a Martian team including Bobbie follow him. They fire at Holden but the bullets are stopped in mid-air and a Martian lieutenant is disassembled and absorbed by the station when he throws a grenade. The station forces every ship to slow down further, interrupting Clarissa's attack on Tilly. Holden touches the circuit and is shown visions from the protomolecule's point of view. He is shown previous events in reverse before witnessing events in the distant past, planets exploding and a connection to farther away in space, and finally loses consciousness.

S3E11 · Fallen World

The mass deceleration caused fatalities and severe wounds among all the ships; without gravity internal wounds cannot drain, meaning many more will die. Naomi returns to the Rocinante treating a wounded Amos and Alex. On the Behemoth, Drummer and Ashford are pinned on opposite sides of a large piece of equipment, working together to try to free themselves and learning about each other. Drummer allows it to roll forward, crushing her further to give the ship a captain in Ashford. Once free, to treat Drummer and the others, Ashford commands the ship's drum to create spin gravity, opening the ship to everyone's wounded. Leaving Tilly for dead, Clarissa realizes with all ships being drawn to the center, she can board the Rocinante. However, Tilly survives just long enough to tell Anna the truth. Clarissa boards the ship and attacks Naomi, seeking Holden, but Anna follows and tasers her from behind. On Bobbie's skiff, Holden wakes up and tells her he saw a vision detailing the end of everything.

S3E12 · Congregation

Everyone boards the Behemoth with all weapons seized by the OPA. Holden is believed to be insane and Clarissa wears an injection system to impair her abilities. She is locked across from Holden without him knowing who she is. Anna tells her all she can hope for now is forgiveness. Holden tells Ashford the beings that created the Rings and protomolecule were somehow killed and used Rings to destroy planetary systems, attempting to save themselves. Drummer builds herself mechanical legs with help from Naomi, whom she later reunites with Holden. Clarissa can hear Holden's torment as he tries to get Miller to tell him what to do next. Amos takes a liking to Anna. A tech from Earth has the idea to send a damaged skiff with a nuclear missile to try and weaken the field blocking immobilizing ships and blocking the laser communication to the outside world. In response, the station begins charging energy. Ashford realizes the station intends to destroy the entire solar system and convinces the leaders of Earth and Mars to destroy the Ring with the laser, saving humanity at the cost of marooning everyone inside the Ring.

S3E13 · Abaddon's Gate

Holden talks with Miller. The station thinks humans are a threat and Ashford's laser will cause it to destroy the solar system. To calm the station, they must power down the ships. Holden, Naomi and Drummer storm the Behemoth ' s reactor room. Amos, Alex, Anna and Monica broadcast to the other ships asking them to power down. Ashford frees Clarissa to work on the laser. Bobbie's squad is sent to stop Anna's broadcast. The Marines turn on Bobbie, who defends herself and Alex. Diogo attacks the reactor room in Martian power armor. Naomi crushes him with an elevator to save Drummer. Anna's message convinces the other ships to power down. Ashford orders Naomi and Holden killed, but Clarissa saves them and is shot shutting down the Behemoth. The station releases all the ships. It reactivates the remaining Rings to 1300 habitable planetary systems. Bobbie joins the Rocinante ' s crew. Holden says Miller wanted the other rings open and to find out what killed its creators. It has given humanity something to explore as part of its plan. The Rocinante passes through the Ring barrier while Holden watches some ghostly object seem to speed towards him.