Tear Jerker / The Expanse

The Novels

The novels as a whole

• The whole premise. Space was looked on as the dream frontier in the past, but humanity was forced to the stars because of overpopulation and disasters. Mankind in The Expanse was unprepared.

Leviathan Wakes

• Julie's final fate.
  Julie: "I want to go home."
  Miller: "You can't go home, Julie."
  • Miller elects to stay on Eros until it crashes itself on Venus, thinking his entire life was nothing but failure.
  • And at the moment prior Holden and Fred's reaction when they learned that Rocinante will never catch up to Eros on to it's collision course with Earth.

Cibola Burn

• The Dahlke family. When the news about the reactor explosion and the incoming shockwave reaches First Landing, Clay Dahlke heads three kilometers out of town to his house to get his wife and daughter. They don't make it back, and by the time Holden and Amos realizes they're missing, it's too late to search for them.
• The Investigator is unable to save the Protomolecule victims, and has to kill them and permanently kill himself in order to end their suffering.

Babylon's Ashes

• Anderson Dawes quietly considering the death of Fred Johnson.

Leviathan Falls

• The ending.
  • Naomi and Alex's conversation after Holden injects himself with the protomolecule.
  • Teresa Duarte finds her father again, only to realize he's been completely taken over by the protomolecule when he orders the ring station's defenses to kill her. She then gets to watch Aliana Tanaka gruesomely disembowel him, and sees Holden take control of the ring station, knowing it will kill him. Finally, when she does escape, she's too late to say goodbye to Alex and the Rocinante. Is it any wonder she completely breaks down when she gets to the Falcon?
  • Alex chooses to leave Naomi and Amos, heading to Nieuwestad to be with Kit and his family, and it's clearly a difficult decision for him.

The TV series:

Season 1

Episode #1: "Dulcinea"

• The destruction of the Canterbury. We've spent an entire episode getting to know this ship and her crew, and in a flash, almost all of them are killed for what seems like no reason at all.

Episode #5: "Back To The Butcher"

• The story of Anderson Station. They were forced to work in a low-oxygen atmosphere that caused severe health problems to their children, and the company ignored their demands, so they started to protest, and those protests eventually led to them taking over the station. However, several people died in the fight, so they were labelled as terrorists, and their attempts to negotiate were ignored. By the time they finally decided to surrender unconditionally, it was too late, and then the station was destroyed, killing everyone inside instantly.

Season 2

Episode #4: "Godspeed"

• The entire hijacking of the Nauvoo from the Mormons, stealing decades of work and a dream meant to extend centuries into the future. Miller quietly promises them that it's necessary for God's plan, while the crew of the Rocinante remain almost dead silent the whole time. The OPA agents, normally bombastic and cheerful on a mission, go about their duties with a mournful air, and they don't get angry even when the Mormons repeatedly challenge them. Fred Johnson looks like he's about to cry as he gives the final order to launch.
  Fred Johnson: You were meant to go to a new sun... "Godspeed."

Episode #5: "Home"

• Julie's final scene. Up to this point, she's been kidnapped by the Anubis crew, infected by the protomolecule, abandoned by Dawes on Eros, slowly and torturously died alone from the infection and been revived and re-purposed by the protomolecule as Eros' pilot. She is understandably broken at this point, and just wants to go home... and Miller is here telling her she can't or many people will die.
  Julie: "I'm done fighting. I just want to go home."

Episode #12: "The Monster And The Rocket"

• The Weeping Somnambulist only has enough oxygen for 52 people. Naomi begs a Big Guy named Champa to organize the refugee mob trying to board. He gives an extremely stirring impromptu speech mustering all the grit and pride inherent in Belter lives, convincing them to sacrifice themselves so that a few may live. Naomi almost stays behind, having bribed Champa with her seat, but Champa tells her "you're not finished yet", pushes her onto the ship, and stoically signs goodbye through the airlock window while she tearfully looks back at him.
  • This moment really drives home the born unity between most Belters, even those who've never met.

Season 3

Episode #1: "Fight or Flight"

• Naomi struggled with the decision to give their protomolecule sample to Johnson instead of shooting it into the sun as everyone agreed upon. But she is devastated by the reaction from everyone else.
  • Holden is initially furious but soon starts acting apathetic about it, so it's pretty obvious that he's anything but okay.
  • Alex flat-out calls her a hypocrite and is angrier than we've ever seen him.
  • The worst has to be Amos, who's the closest thing she has to family. His trust in her is shattered, and when she tries to talk to him about it, he shuts her down with "Some things can't be fixed." Amos later tells Alex that Naomi is "not the person I thought she was," and he clearly doesn’t know what to do if he can't trust her moral guidance.

Episode #5: "Triple Point"

• Admiral Souther, the one truly noble senior officer in the top echelons of the UN Navy, is dead.
• Cotyar's Heroic Sacrifice.

Episode #6: "Immolation"

• Holden and Naomi's moment together before she goes back to the Belters.
  Holden: You're not staying, are you?
  Naomi: It's time.

Episode #10: "Dandelion Sky"

• Holden is uncertain whether the Miller he is talking to is really his mind preserved in the Protomolecule construct, or just the Protomolecule using Miller's image to persuade him. He pushes Miller to talk about Julie Mao, until he vanishes. When he reappears, all his previous bravado is gone. He is slouched down against a pillar, his voice wavering, fighting back tears.
  Miller: Julie told me this crazy kids' story. She said, when a child dies, some sort of angel takes their hand and falls halfway, you know, so they wouldn't be afraid. I tried to be the angel. But I was... so scared. So... she held my hand. And I told her, 'If you fall with me, it ain't gonna be for halfway.'"
  Holden: It's good to see you, Miller.

Season 4

Episode #6: "Displacement"

• The little Belter kid calling for their parents who were blown away by the reactor explosion's shockwave winds Holden finds.