The long wait for the fourth season of The Expanse is finally over.
The new season of the sci-fi drama was scheduled to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on December 13th, but the streaming service gave fans an early Christmas treat by dropping the entire 10-episode of the season a few hours before the clock strikes midnight.
As expected, a lot of fans were surprised by the early release, as some of them were actually watching the marathon of the show’s first three seasons on Twitch when they found out that the new season has already arrived on Amazon Prime Video.
This isn’t the first time Amazon has dropped a new season of a returning series ahead of its announced release date. Earlier this year, the streamer also released the sophomore run of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan as well as the third season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel earlier than their scheduled premiere dates.
In Season 4 of The Expanse, crew members of The Rocinante find themselves on a mission from the U.N. to explore new worlds beyond the Ring Gate. For the first time, humanity has been given access to thousands of Earth-like planets, which has created a land rush and furthered tensions between the opposing nations of Earth, Mars and the Belt. While Earthers, Martians and Belters maneuver to colonize Ilus, the first of these Earth-like planets, the explorers are unaware of the larger dangers that await them.
Season 4 marks the show’s first run as a global Amazon Original. Based on The Expanse novels by James S. A. Corey, the series aired its first three seasons on Syfy before getting cancelled in 2018. A week after it was axed, Amazon saved the series by renewing it for a fourth season. Last July, five months ahead of the Season 4 premiere, the streamer also ordered a fifth season of the show.