Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Expanse season 6
Marco Inaros' Free Navy. While the book character, Michio Pa, similarly featured as a Belter military officer-turned pirate who allied with Marco before betraying him, Michio takes on a different, albeit more limited, role in the Amazon Prime Video series.
Modifying characters in its adaptation from book to screen has been customary for The Expanse during its six-season run on Syfy and Amazon Prime Video. Drummer's arc remains the most outstanding change from the series' source material, as she embodies a hybrid of characters from the novels, assuming the roles of Bull, Sam, and Michio Pa at various points in the TV series. The decision to condense personas in the form of Drummer could have erased Michio's on-screen presence from The Expanse entirely, through the writers attributed the name to a ing figure in Camina Drummer's story as a nod to the book character.
Michio in The Expanse TV series mostly bears a name-only resemblance to who the character was in the books. In Drummer's crew, she primarily serves as a salvage technician aboard their ship, the Tynan. Although The Expanse portrays Michio Pa's "pirate queen" arc through Drummer, the Michio depicted on-screen still contributes to this segment of the show's narrative in a ing role that honors her namesake's roots.
Dedicating Michio Pa's arc to Drummer allows the TV version of Michio to establish an identity of her own. Her most prominent moment came in The Expanse season 5 finale when she rescued Drummer, who staged a mutiny to save the Rocinante from other Free Navy combatants. When Marco's loyalist crewmember Karal held Drummer at gunpoint, Michio emerged from the shadows of the Tynan and killed Karal using a fire extinguisher—representing the same devotion to her family that Michio Pa exhibited in the book.
The duress of having the Marco on her faction's tail has evidently taken a toll on Michio by The Expanse season 6 premiere, in which she botches the crew's attempt to ward off a Free Navy bounty hunter, resulting in the faction’s loss of their only other ship. Clearly, the levelheadedness of the books' Michio Pa does not cross over to the show's depiction of the character. The Expanse took its most interesting turn with Michio in a bonus scene following season 6 premiere in which Michio secretly views Drummer's personal log, growing upset when she only uncovers saved messages from Naomi and not of herself or their other family . In this case, Michio's discreet and jealousy-prone nature presents a contrast to the character in the novels—who was the leader of her family.
Establishing Michio as devious is an intriguing development that could lead the character down a darker path. It's nice that The Expanse chose to include a character by the name of Michio to honor the book character, even if her role is much smaller. It remains to be seen where Michio's story will go in The Expanse season 6, though her days may be numbered if Drummer goes through with her plan to send her away. If a higher conflict arises and Michio stays with the crew, can she make amends for her mistakes?
The Expanse releases new episodes Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.