The Expanse's Rocinante's captain accepts his nomination. However, he proceeds to resign in the moments after delivering his acceptance speech and announces Drummer as the Transport Union's president in his place — illustrating the only way to achieve progress toward a future in which Belters are no longer oppressed.
In The Expanse's setting of a colonized solar system hundreds of years in the future, the asteroid belt's inhabitants have long suffered exploitation at the hands of Earth and Mars. Access to air, food, and water remains a perpetual struggle, while the Belt sees its resources harvested by the Inner Planets with little aid or representation in return. Drummer, who rose from working the Ceres docks under Anderson Dawes to leading an OPA faction of her own by The Expanse season 6, exemplifies the plight of a politicized existence in which the constant burden of choosing allegiances fails to yield her people's advancement.
The Expanse series finale could have fallen into the trap of presenting a shallow conclusion to its intricate narrative in which all sides seamlessly defer their differences in favor of peace. Instead, Marco's violent extremism is addressed head-on without ignoring the complicity of the Inner planets in radicalizing Belters like him. Drummer's reiteration of Earth and Mars' generational neglect of the Belt and Holden's subsequent act of awarding a Belter the system's highest leadership position, when no one else would, signify an appropriate payoff that acknowledges the complexities of The Expanse's politics.
The Belt has long been denied a proper voice among the solar system’s powers and the Transport Union fixes that problem. As the commander-in-chief of Medina Station — the crossroads of over 1,3000 systems — Drummer has become the most powerful individual in the universe. In her new role, the strong-minded Belter will take charge of istering trade to the developing colonies and managing traffic through the ring to avoid awakening the mysterious ring entities triggered by the protomolecule. Having previously served as Fred Johnson's second-in-command on Tycho Station and captain of the Behemoth — later renamed Medina Station — Drummer undoubtedly possesses the capacity to guide humanity's future.
Drummer's ending illustrates a light at the end of the tunnel for a character who has intensely suffered and sacrificed in the name of a greater good. Despite having worked and fought alongside Inners in high-stakes scenarios, Drummer is defined by her loyalty to the Belt and her refusal to compromise with her oppressors. In The Expanse season 6 episode 5, Drummer painfully its to Naomi, "This universe has no place for me," and reluctantly agrees to collaborate with the Inner planets' combined fleet to vanquish Marco. In The Expanse series finale's negotiation scene, Drummer presses Avasarala on her side's history of broken promises to the Belt, telling her, "I will not be reasoned back into my place." The tense exchange highlights the problematic nature of a power dynamic that perpetuates marginalization through an inadequate representation. When Holden breaks that spell, The Expanse not only rewards Drummer's hardship but also grants her the agency to execute her vision for an independent Belt that can no longer be overlooked or underappreciated.