The Expanse Season 5 is almost here (due December 16) and Amazon has added to the excitement with the release of a new poster. What do we know about the further adventures of the crew of the Rocinante?

Season 4 ended with Cibola Burn, released on December 12, so fans have had to wait a whole year for the show’s return. Given how many other shows have fared in 2020 this is good going. The basic synopsis for The Expanse Season 5 is:

In different parts of the Solar System, the crew of the Rocinante and their allies confront the sins of their past, while Marco Inaros unleashes an attack that will alter the future of Earth, Mars, the Belt, and the worlds beyond the Ring.

So, business as usual and we also know: The future of The Belt has begun as Marco Inaros wages Armageddon against the Inners for a lifetime of oppression and injustice.

We understand it’s not all politics and conflict, but there’s still room for the characters fans have come to know and love. Thanks to Flickering Myth, we have this more extensive summary:

Season five of the series picks up as multitudes of humans leave the solar system in search of new homes and vast fortunes on the earth-like worlds beyond the alien Ring, and a heavy price for centuries of exploitation of the Belt finally comes due and a reckoning is at hand. For the crew of the Rocinante and the leaders of the Inner Planets and the Belt, the past and present converge, bringing forth personal challenges that have wide-reaching repercussions throughout the Solar System. Amos (Wes Chatham) returns to Earth to confront his past and the legacy of the life he fought to leave behind. Naomi (Dominique Tipper) reaches out to her estranged son in a desperate bid to save him from his father’s toxic influence. Bobbie (Frankie Adams) and Alex (Cas Anvar) confront the collapse of Mars as they chase a shadowy cabal with ties to terrorists and criminals. Holden (Steven Strait) wrestles with the consequences of his own past with the Protomolecule, the aliens who built it, and the mystery of what killed them. Drummer (Cara Gee), with a new crew, fights to escape who and what she used to be. And Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo), refusing to be relegated to the sidelines, fights to prevent a terrorist attack unrivaled in history.

The Expanse Season 5 starts with three episodes released on December 16, with a new episode each Wednesday until February 3. The first four seasons are all available on Amazon Prime, and the official trailer is here.