Season 3, Episode 7:
Delta-V
The protomolecule structure launched from Venus turns out to be a large ring, which goes into orbit beyond Uranus. A joint convoy of ships from Earth, Mars, and the Belt are sent to examine the ring.
The Rocinante is in the convoy, carrying a documentary crew who spend most of the episode trying to provoke Holden, Alex, and Amos into saying something interesting.
Naomi has taken a leave of absence from the Rocinante and is currently chief engineer on the Behemoth, which is the Belter ship formerly known as the Nauvoo. She finds herself having to mediate between Camina Drummer, who Fred Johnson appointed captain of the ship, and Klaes Ashford, one of Anderson Dawes' cronies who was made first officer in the name of Belter unity.
Anna is on board the Thomas Prince, along with a collection of other Earth dignitaries and scientists. Also on board the Thomas Prince is Melba, a maintenance tech who appears to be planning to sabotage the ship.
Tropes:
- Beard of Sorrow: Manéo grows one after his girlfriend breaks up with him.
- Halfway Plot Switch: Relative to the season as a whole, this episode marks the beginnning of a new arc for the show.
- Put on a Bus:
- Prax is mentioned to have left for Ganymede.
- Former Secretary-General Esteban Sorrento-Gillis has resigned offscreen by the start of this episode.
- Spaceship Slingshot Stunt: Manéo, a slingshot pilot, is shown maneuvering his ship, the Y Que, through a slingshot maneuver around Jupiter and later Saturn.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: Manéo decides to be the first person to cross the ring and rockets past the blockade. As he hits the aperture, his ship is immediately decelerated from max burn to nearly a dead stop, and poor Manéo, inside the ship and not affected by the same mysterious force, is shredded by his own skeleton bursting out of his squishy flesh.
- Transformation Sequence: The protomolecule structure that left Venus is shown turning itself into a giant ring shaped structure outside the orbit of Uranus.
- Wham Episode: Earth, Mars and the OPA are now allied with each other. Sorrento-Gillis has resigned, and Avasarala is now Secretary-General. The protomolecule structure from the last episode has formed a large ring that many of the main characters (including Naomi, who's now working for the OPA, and Bobbie, who's been reinstated into the MCRN) are now heading towards. Oh, and Miller's back... or is he?
