The Expanse Season 4 Gives Ashford The Story The Books Couldnt

The Expanse Season 4 Gives Ashford The Story The Books Couldn’t

The Expanse season 4 makes a bold character development with the OPA’s Klaes Ashford, and it’s a considerable deviation from the book series.

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The Expanse Season 4 Gives Ashford The Story The Books Couldnt

The Expanse season 4 takes Ashford in a vastly different direction, vastly improving the character as a result. First introduced back in season 3, Klaes Ashford acts as the shady right hand of the equally untrustworthy Anderson Dawes and walks a predominantly antagonistic line. Aside from a series of verbal spats with the Behemoth’s Captain Drummer, Ashford fires on the Rocinante in response to a bogus message and is the main enemy of The Expanse’s season 3 finale, misguidedly intent on destroying the Ring Gate despite Holden’s belief that doing so will destroy the entire solar system. As the two sides struggle for control, Ashford effectively stages a mutiny aboard the Behemoth and orders the execution of those following Holden.

Despite being a pain in the reactor shaft during season 3, Klaes Ashford returns in The Expanse season 4, the show’s first run on Amazon Prime. With an alliance now in place between Dawes and Fred Johnson, Ashford returns to his position as second-in-command of the Behemoth, but now works earnestly and cooperatively alongside Drummer. Despite some fleeting disagreements between the pair, they present a united front and Ashford seems to sacrifice his older ways in favor of protecting the existing peace between Earth, Mars and the Belt.

Ultimately, Ashford gives his life for this cause. The emergence of Belter rebel Marco Inaros threatens to cause chaos and war among the 3 sides, and Ashford opts to hunt the terrorist down personally. In the final battle, Ashford makes it all the way to the enemy ship’s bridge and even wounds Inaros, but the tide turns with the appearance of Marco’s son with Naomi Nagata, Filip. Outnumbered, Ashford is given an airlock execution, but appears to send a secret recording to an ally before he goes. This fate vastly differs to that of Ashford in the original The Expanse novels, in which the villain is still alive.

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Appearing in Abaddon’s Gate, Ashford is more of a straightforward, unlikable villain in the books compared to David Strathairn’s character on TV. While it could be argued that the live-action Ashford does the wrong things for the right reasons, or acts in a way he believes is best for the Belt, the book character is more prideful and egotistical, with a distinct nasty streak. The same season 3 finale struggle from the TV series occurs in the books, but with a more out-of-control Ashford, who murders Naomi’s friend Samara while rallying against Holden, creating a more one-dimensional villain type than Strathairn’s conflicted military man.

While The Expanse season 3 had already added more layers to Ashford than he displays in the books, season 4 takes the character and evolves him into something that the source material doesn’t thanks to a compelling and tragic redemption arc. With hints towards family members that might’ve been lost, Ashford matures between seasons, turning a haggard dedication to violence into a weary, wiser father figure looking to make amends for past indiscretions. Ashford valiantly attempts to keep the peace when everyone around him is intent on tearing each other apart, he defends Drummer when he previously would’ve undermined her to seize power, and he considers the bigger picture that peace for all might just be the best thing for his own kind. Sure, there are flashes of Ashford’s old treachery – he definitely uses an ally as a human shield while boarding Marco’s ship – but The Expanse season 4 takes a relatively straightforward character from the books and makes them one of the most complex personalities in the entire series.

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This improved development makes Ashford’s eventual death all the more effective, since the audience has become attached to the character over the course of the season. Moreover, the fact that Ashford’s role in the books has already played out by this point in the story essentially means that his on-screen death is unlikely to cause any narrative bumps. So many live-action adaptations make the mistake of killing an important character prematurely; The Expanse avoids this pitfall by building up a character the books did away with, and then using them as a dramatic, season-closing character death.

The Expanse season 4 is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/expanse-ashford-death-book-difference-explained/

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