Also a reasonable explanation.

Well played.

That adds another layer to Amos' backstory, as described in the companion short story, "The Churn" (brilliantly referenced in this episode, by the way).

We got our first glimpse of an otherwise insignificant rock, and they found an easier way to get Miller to drop everything and buy a ticket to Eros.

I dunno…floating space crumbs can get into some pretty unexpected places.

How good is that spy-eye? The books (and to a lesser extent, the series) make very clear that everyone knows Mars has better technology, newer ships, and so on. But assuming Kenzo is an Earther sent to Tycho Station, having an implant able to instantly handshake and get schematic data from a state-of-the-art Martian…

She figured out, and with a couple of conversations was able to prove, that Mars wasn't in collusion with the OPA about the stealth composite materials. Kept Earth from getting prematurely involved in the war out in the Belt.

BTW, "reasonable" still means weeks, often months (as opposed to months, often years for the older drives, along with fuel usage and radiation issues).

Solomon Epstein, who discovered the enhanced fusion drive, was also killed by it (fortunately, he left the specs on his home computer first). The very first page of the first book says that if you look real hard with a big enough telescope, you can still see Epstein's ship accelerating towards interstellar space.

Ganymede is prominent in Book Two: The breadbasket of the outer planets, with a proper radiation-blocking magnetosphere that draws pregnant Belters from all over to give birth within its massive domes.

I think in this universe, the Plot Hammer drive will do just fine.

For a character introduced in Book Two, they've done a remarkable job finding things for Avasarala to do, while providing the Earth perspective missing from Book One.

Legitimately salvaged property, you mean.

Yep. Leverage, pure and simple. Now, what happens when that information gets out and certain people learn where those ships really came from…well, that's a tale for another episode comment thread.

The series has gone places — apparently including Montana — and introduced concepts — such as slingshot clubs — that the books haven't or that they glossed over as exposition.

*slightly spoiler-y*
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Depends on your definition of "newer." ;-)

Martian ship names in the books tended to be better than their Earth counterparts. The MCRN Sally Ride is another that makes a couple of cameo appearances. So, warriors and scientists/space explorers.

Your summary would be pretty spot-on — if the only players were Earth, Mars and the Belt/OPA.

But Avasarala's fear in the opening episodes — with that OPA smuggler she was torturing — is that the Belt could use stolen stealth composite technology to drop rocks that can't be detected until it's too late.

I've heard Amos called a lot of things, but "Paladin?" ;-D