The Expanse Teased What Really Happened To The Protomolecule

The Expanse season 5 leaves subtle hints regarding the fate of the Protomolecule sample on board the Zmeya. The Expanse‘s “Gaugamela” provided one of the season’s most shocking moments so far – the Belter insurrection on Tycho Station, with Marco Inaros’ followers assassinating Fred Johnson and stealing the sample of Protomolecule hidden in his office. A tough little salvage robot (who was only following orders, and doesn’t deserve any of the blame, poor guy) hauls the Sol system’s last remaining blob of Protomolecule out of Fred’s office and onto the Zmeya, which speeds off back to Marco before Tycho has a chance to fight back.

But Marco’s carefully-laid plan is disrupted when Naomi warns her crew about the sabotage job performed on the Rocinante. Holden is able to undo the damage to his ship and quickly sets out with Bull and Monica in pursuit of the Zmeya. Due to the nature of its mission, the Zmeya must travel slow to avoid detection, and this allows the Roci to catch up. The two ships engage in a vicious dogfight and the Roci wins decisively, but before Holden and his team can board the enemy vessel, the Zmeya explodes. Has Marco just sent his precious Protomolecule sample up in flames? Not likely.

During the battle between the Zmeya and the Rocinainte, the Free Navy ship opens a cargo hold, releasing a swarm of missiles that fly out toward the Roci. In this scene, eagle-eyed viewers would’ve noticed one of these rockets glowing blue instead of emitting the fiery yellow light of every other missile. Curiously, this little sucker also doesn’t head in the Rocinante’s direction. Holden has yet to pick up on this anomaly, but it’s highly likely that the Protomolecule on board the Zmeya was smuggled away when the rockets were fired, hiding in plain sight and then shooting off to Marco while Holden and the gang were busy handling the many, many bombs coming their way.

It’s inconceivable that Marco would willingly blow up the Protomolecule he worked so hard to attain. Whether he plans to use it himself or, as Monica suggests, give it to Mars as payment, the final splodge of blue goo in The Expanse has a value beyond numbers. Marco would fight tooth and claw to retrieve it, not play into Holden’s hands by blowing it up.  Without the Protomolecule from Tycho, Marco would also have some very angry Martians knocking on his door looking for their promised prize, and the Free Navy would fall as quickly as it rose. Thanks to his cunning, however, such drastic measures weren’t needed, and Marco only had to sacrifice a single ship to trick his enemies.

It surely won’t be too long before Holden realizes what’s happened. The Rocinante captain witnessed the planning and organization of Marco’s Protomolecule heist first hand, and has been through enough to know when a situation smells fishy. Under normal circumstances, the Zmeya’s detonation wouldn’t sit right in Holden’s mind, and he’d be frantically searching for something he missed. But with Holden’s girlfriend still kidnapped (as far as he knows, at least), these are far from normal circumstances. Will Holden’s desperation to save Naomi in The Expanse season 5 prevent him from realizing that Marco still has the Protomolecule?

About The Author

Craig Elvy
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Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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