He does it as a last resort specifically as a deterrent ('insurance'). I don't think he outright says Mars blew up the Cant - he says the distress beacon was MCRN, that they were about to get picked up by an MCRN ship, and if anything happened to them that would mean Mars was responsible. It's changed in the show to quickly establish Holden as someone with a strong moral center, not for empty drama.Īs for the Cant and Mars, I actually think what he does in the show is smarter. Sure, in hindsight it gets the Cant blown up, but 'shadowy corporation with stealth tech itching to start a war' is not something anyone reasonably would've concluded from it (especially after he hears Julie's message). I don't think logging the distress call is necessarily dumb. That last line is not stating that Mars did indeed destroy the Cant, only that killing Holden and his crew would be the bit of confirming evidence needed to conclude that Mars killed the Cant. We are about to be taken aboard the MCRN Donnager.' - there's a bit here where the others are speaking over him, can't make out his words - 'We intend to cooperate and hope this means we won't be harmed.' - Amos offers to kill Holden to Naomi, Holden says they're dead anyway, then continues the broadcast - 'Any such action will only confirm that the Canterbury was destroyed by Mars.' - broadcast ends We recovered a false beacon and identified it as Martian naval technology. Our ship was destroyed answering a bogus SOS from a ship called the Scopuli. 'My name is James Holden, speaking for the five survivors of the Canterbury. I've quoted the transmission scene from the show below.

Holden does not state that Mars destroyed the Cant in the show, instead he largely says what he said in the book, that Martian tech was found on board.

E.g in the show he flat out says that martians destroyed the Canterbury, but in the books he simply says that there was martian tech involved in the incident.

The expanse holden