The Expanse · Season 3 · Episode 13 · 27 June 2018
S3E13 Abaddon's Gate
THE MOMENT The Ring Gate opening - one of streaming science fiction's most iconic visual achievements.
The season finale and the show's creative peak: the Ring Gate activates, a thousand new solar systems open, and the story of humanity's survival transforms permanently. The Syfy cancellation announcement arrived days later - making this episode both a summit and a farewell.
Full episode analysis below. Spoiler-light verdict above.
Updated
The Expanse Season 3 Episode 13 'Abaddon's Gate' aired June 27, 2018 on Syfy as the season finale. Rotten Tomatoes holds Season 3 at 100 percent from 25 critics; IMDb audiences scored the season 9.8. io9 called it 'a landmark finale - The Expanse delivering the cosmic payoff hard sci-fi television has never before achieved.' The Ring Gate activates, opening 1,300 new solar systems and permanently transforming the story's scope. The episode is simultaneously the series' creative peak and a farewell: Syfy's cancellation announcement arrived within days. For the audience that had followed the show since 2015, the finale was both an achievement and an institutional failure. Amazon Prime Video's subsequent rescue began with this episode's reception as evidence of what the show was worth.