Phoebe is actually a Kuiper belt cometary body captured by Saturn's gravity a couple billion years ago — which is important to know — but yes, it is orbiting Saturn.

The "Epstein drive" is the advanced fusion drive that opened up the moons of Jupiter and Saturn (there's even a small colony on Neptune's moon Triton). The Rocinante is about the smallest ship class powered by an Epstein, which makes it very useful in a variety of roles. Such as quickly getting to wherever "Lionel…

Makes you wonder if Captain Shaddid knew all along that Julie Mao was never really "missing" — it's one place where the book and the series have diverged.

Miller is fascinated by the IDEA of Julie Mao — but yes, Dawes landed a solid blow by mocking him for it.

The moment in the book where Miller puts it all together and realizes that he's the Star Helix joke — saddled with the Earth-born partner, stuck with the off-the-books missing heiress case he was supposed to screw up — was really well done.

It reminded me that, somewhere out there, bounty hunter Jubal Early is also still out there in his suit, wondering about his life choices.

WAAAAY south. ;-)

Now that she has the secret recording from Tycho that Holden survived the Donnager fight, looks like Avasarala is off the visit his communal family in Montana. People we've never seen in the books and only know about through Holden's descriptions. Looking forward to that.

Earth and Mars (also Luna as an extension of Earth) are one happy Inner Planets Coalition as the series started — though as we've seen from the Avasarala scenes, what seems a happy marriage from the Belt's perspective is more like a Cold War to those in the know.

Pretty good summary (though…Anubis, Canterbury, Donnager).

I found myself filling in the blanks with book knowledge — which is not, on the whole, a good thing for anyone coming in to the series not steeped in the mythology of the James S.A. Corey books.

"Uncle Mateo" isn't in the book, so while I have a suspicion about that, I'm as intrigued as you as to how it plays out.

I suppose, but the black-on-black with black trim (both the ships and the battle armor) is a little…stark.

The Knight (the Canterbury's shuttle) was tiny, cramped and only meant for short trips. The MCRN Tachi (now Rocinante) is a full-fledged warship (think a fleet escort) small enough to fit in the Donnager's vast hangar but armed and equipped for long independent missions, and with an Epstein drive to get places quickly…

There's at least one more thing that should happen this season that will demand Chrisjen Avasarala's attention and response (as well as the other Earth-based leaders like Undersecretary Errinwright and Admiral Souther). It was told as exposition in Book One rather than shown, simply because Avasarala wasn't introduced…

Unless the series takes a shortcut, he's got at least one more moment of sanctimonious ass-hattery in him.

That they do. Too bad the Donnager battle wasn't decided on fashion sense or style.

The book does an excellent job of conveying the fragility of life in the Belt . Everything is scarce (not to mention recycled endlessly), and the only thing separating you from hard vacuum is your suit, a bulkhead, a ship's hull or — if you're lucky — a thin layer of rock.

Just reread that whole sequence, and am now very curious about how the series will make it visually compelling without confusing people.

Holden's love/hate relationship with the black gold is well-documented, but the specific match head hack is series-specific (and gave viewers one more scene with Ade).