Speaker 1: When it comes to sci-fi on television, there's not much else that quite compares to The Expanse. Based on the hit series of novels by James S. A. Corey, The Expanse starts off at the very least as an interesting subversion of what we expect from space operas. Instead of a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, it's the 23rd century, just a few hundred years in our future, in our own cosmic backyard. Instead of wormholes and force fields, there's realistic physics and acceleration gravity that can kill. Instead of god emperors and galaxy-spanning civilizations, there's a society of blue-collar workers fighting for independence as much as they are fighting the elements of space for survival. The Expanse is an enormous epic adventure, with dozens of characters across a number of opposing factions, but for a story mostly set in space, it always feels fairly grounded. By using our current technological trajectory in the real world, it creates an image of what our future could look like in space, taking into account everything from politics to physics to food supply. This is what's called worldbuilding, the construction of a fictional universe in which a story can take place. While most stories take place in settings we're already familiar with, fantasy and science fiction stories oftentimes have to start from the ground up and create their own original universe, and The World of the Expanse provides a fantastic example of how effective worldbuilding can make for more immersive storytelling. The author of The Expanse books, James S. A. Corey, is actually the pen name of two authors, Ty Frank and Daniel Abraham. Frank initially dreamed up The World of the Expanse for a video game that was never realized before adapting it into a pen and paper role-playing game, which he played with other writers like Abraham, as well as George R. R. Martin. The RPG became a series of novels, and the novels became The Expanse TV show, which is the work I want to focus on here today. To keep things simple, I'm only really going to be looking at The World of the Expanse as it appears in the first season of the show, without divulging any major plot spoilers. In my humble opinion, there are six essential elements of worldbuilding that make up any given fictional universe. Geography, environment, history, culture, technology, and magic. By looking at how these are applied to The World of the Expanse, we can show what separates it from other works of science fiction, and how it builds off the many great works of fantasy and sci-fi that came before it. I like maps. Not only are they fun to look at, but they're the best way to orient yourself when stepping into a new world. And what better place to begin building a world than with geography? The Expanse takes place on a map you're probably already familiar with, our own solar system. By keeping the story mostly confined to Earth, Mars, the asteroid belt, and the space in between them, we get a clear look at the type of places that humanity would bring out first into space. Military outposts and research facilities, mining colonies collecting water, iron, and other valuable resources on asteroids, and these enormous spinning space stations that generate their own gravity through centrifugal force. Earth has the largest population, but is also the most bloated. Mars is outnumbered, but has the most advanced military and tech, and the belt is the most disorganized and violent, but also the most resourceful. Besides their different ways of life, these factions are separated literally by the millions of miles of empty space between them, serving to further alienate them from one another and worsening the conflicts driven by tribalism. But perhaps more than geographic location, the people of this world are shaped most by their immediate environment. On Earth, water, air, and gravity can be taken for granted, but in space, the scarcity of these things informs all aspects of life. Water is so valuable that there is a thriving black market of criminal organizations stealing it and selling it deep in the underbelly of Ceres Station. Larger enterprises like the Pure and Clean Water Company are founded just to mine ice on asteroids and sell it, to be turned into drinking water on Ceres, or Eros, or Tycho. And when the company misses a shipment, the resulting water rations lead to violent protests on the station. Just as much, if not more important, is the scarcity of air. Lack of oxygen will kill you within minutes, and the threat of simply being thrown out into space is one that always lingers just around the corner. In the vacuum of space, you don't experience any gravity unless you make it yourself, and the only way of creating the illusion of up and down is by constantly accelerating or by spinning. Ships are able to accelerate constantly as they travel, but stations like Ceres and Eros are built on asteroids that are artificially spun up to create gravity. These stations only experience a third of the gravity experienced on Earth, and belters that grow up in these environments are generally taller and thinner than those from Earth or Mars. The further out you go into the solar system, the further you get from the sun, and this lack of sunlight out in the vast expanse of space can take a toll on people mentally. In the pilot episode, an executive officer experiences a mental breakdown that he attributes to homesickness and lack of sun. The absence of a day and night cycle can disrupt circadian rhythm and affect sleep quality, and thus many of the characters that live in space are frequently seen drinking coffee

Speaker 2: to stay alert.

Speaker 1: The asteroids, stations, ships, and living environments of the characters we see in the show are shaped by a rich fictional history that serves as the backstory to The Expanse. Much of this worldbuilding through history is told in the Expanse novellas that accompany the main series of novels, and these novellas are integrated into the TV show in various ways that help display the vastness of this world. In season one, Fred Johnson is a well-known and controversial public figure, but we as the audience don't have this insight, having never lived in this world. The show uses this to its advantage by integrating the Butcher of Anderson Station novella, which takes place more than ten years earlier, as a series of flashbacks, to slowly reveal Fred's experience in the Navy, his role in the destruction of the station, and the injustices frequently faced by Belters. The show doesn't have to do this, it would be just as tense for the protagonist to meet Fred with us having no idea who he is, but this extra bit of story gives us a clear picture of the type of oppression that Belters experience, and gives us a nuanced look at the military leaders who perpetuate this violence. The three conflicting factions of the Expanse, Earthers, Martians, and Belters, are separated by cultural differences that have developed through their different ways of living, from class separation, to religious beliefs, to political differences. Earth is a bloated, overpopulated planet, home to over 30 billion people. About half the population lives on government assistance, unable to find work due to the sheer size of the populace. Because of this, many see Earthers as lazy, citizens of a crumbling empire in decline. Especially the Martians. Mars, the most united of the factions, has a population a fraction of the size of Earth, but their Martian society is formed around a collective goal of terraforming the planet, turning a lifeless red rock into a green, livable environment with breathable atmosphere. It's a project most Martians know they won't live to see finished, but serves as a source of purpose, uniting the people of Mars into a collective cause. Belters, being the furthest out into space, and having no formal government, have developed a culture of resourcefulness as they fight for their independence. The stations of Ceres and Eros are operated by Earth-based companies, as are the security teams tasked with enforcing their rules. Star Helix is an Earth-owned company employing Belters to police other Belters. Without any proper representation or protections, the residents of the station are ruled by the invisible hand of the corporation owners back on Earth.

Speaker 2: Any laws against beating up suspects? No laws in Ceres, just cops.

Speaker 1: The Outer Planets Alliance is an organization of Belters advocating for Belter rights and safety, but they're also a loosely organized group with their own opposing factions within it. Some of these employ terrorism and violent tactics to drive home their political message, which Earth and Mars use to discredit the organization. The independently governed Republic of Mars was once a colony of Earth, first settled by humans about 300 years before the main story of the series. After becoming almost entirely self-sufficient, Mars was eager to break off from Earth and establish their own government, but were unsuccessful until almost 50 years later, when a Martian engineer named Solomon Epstein invented a highly efficient drive that could accelerate a ship at a constant rate, and Mars was able to share this technology with Earth in exchange for independence. This single piece of technology is essential to solar system-wide civilization, as it allows for faster and more efficient travel between locations. Using our current technology, it would take months to travel from Earth to Mars, but traveling at 1G, the trip would last just a couple of days. Perhaps the most advanced technology humans have brought out into space is their weapons of war. The military forces of Earth and Mars do battle in a similar manner to battle at sea. They operate huge naval ships the size of cities, and attacks come in the form of missiles and torpedoes. Without any force fields or other sci-fi tech, defense is limited to point defense cannons, these automated turrets that attempt to shoot down any inbound projectiles. Some of the most advanced ships even use a sort of stealth technology to avoid radar detection, similar to real-world fighter jets. The preparation before battle is perhaps just as important as the combat itself. Pilots prepare by running flight simulations, and before going into a fight, the Rossi crew opts to vent their air from their cabin to store it in reserve tanks, since they fully expect that enemy defenses will be shooting back and venting their valuable oxygen out into space.

Speaker 2: We've got to do it. They'll be poking holes in us. Yeah, but this feels like we're agreeing to it.

Speaker 1: Renowned fantasy and science fiction author Brandon Sanderson is known for popularizing the idea of hard and soft magic systems in fiction. These exist on a spectrum. On one side, hard magic systems are defined by clear rules that are explained outright to the audience. On the other side, soft magic systems are when the extent of magic is not fully known to the audience, and it exists more in the background to give off an air of mysticism. After the Expanse sets up its world, its history, its inhabitants, and their conflicts, these elements are disrupted by one distinct wildcard. The protomolecule. While it might seem strange to call it magic, in terms of how it affects the story, the protomolecule acts within a soft magic system, as a sort of mystical power that isn't fully explained or understood. To quote Arthur C. Clarke, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Science fiction has always been a reflection of humanity's hopes and dreams, a utopic vision of the future, and a hope that the world of tomorrow will be better than the world of today. It's exciting to think about the endless possibilities that come with our species leaving Earth and expanding out into the void. It's exciting to think that this may bring us closer to uncovering the secrets of our solar system, our galaxy, our universe. At the same time, science fiction has always been a reflection of humanity's deepest fears. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of leaving everyone you love behind. Space is full of wonder and opportunity, as much as it is full of danger and greed. The world of the Expanse succeeds not just in showing us a physics-accurate view of life and space, but one that equally reflects the hopes and fears of our species. A world that, in a few hundred years, could become our reality. The world of the Expanse is not real. You can't book a trip to Mars or vacation to Ganymede, but you might be able to someday soon. While serving in the Martian Marine Corps or slingshot racing around Saturn might not be in your future, we get closer and closer every day to a world in which regular civilians can go to space. Last year, Jeffrey Bezos and Richard Branson both independently succeeded in funding their own trips to space, in events that I found both marvelous and unsettling. The thought that this could possibly spark a new space race and reignite public interest in space exploration for the first time in 50 years is thrilling to me. But at the same time, there's a question that lurks in the back of my mind. What does it mean that the men who get to go to space first are not the most capable or most intelligent or most experienced, but simply the richest? For better or worse, humanity will always keep developing better tools and venturing out into the unknown. We're just one scientific miracle away from the world of the Expanse becoming a possibility in our reality. And that reality will never be as utopic as we might hope. Because, like a thousand times before in human history, in forging a new frontier, the problems we face here on Earth will continue to follow us as we reach up into the stars.