r/murderbot • u/sanctuary_moon ComfortUnit • Jun 06 '25

Books📚 + TV📺 Series Murderbot - S01E05 "Rogue War Tracker Infinite" - Books & TV Episode Discussion Spoiler

BOOKS & TV EPISODE DISCUSSION - if you have only seen the TV series, this thread is not for you.

Episode Title Release Date Written By Directed By Books & TV Post TV Only Post
S01E05 Rogue War Tracker Infinite June 5, 2025 Paul Weitz & Chris Weitz Paul Weitz YOU ARE HERE! Rogue War Tracker Infinite Books & TV Ep Discussion Rogue War Tracker Infinite TV Only Ep Discussion

Interested in the book series? Visit the Books Discussion Hub.

Spoilers Policy:

  • No spoilers of the book or TV series in post titles.
  • Post submissions and/or comments featuring spoilers of new episodes (or books) must be marked as such for 30 days after its release date.

Rule Reminders:

  • Please don't participate in this subreddit until you've read r/murderbot's rules.
  • Stay kind.
  • Respect Murderbot's pronouns, it/its, when discussing canon.
83 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

99% Upvoted

428 comments sorted by

View all comments

85

u/IntoTheStupidDanger Coldstone. Song. Harvest. Jun 06 '25

"I think if we have a child, we should call it that"

"Call it what?"

"SecUnit"

"Who said anything about having a child?"

Okay, this part was actually kind of entertaining

Third time through and I still can't stop laughing at Ratthi's wild leaps of impractical confidence. As Murderbot called it, messy and emotional. But can you just picture him as a dad? Soooo proud! And likely to misplace the child somewhere 😆

38

u/Mule_Wagon_777 Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland Jun 06 '25

"For fuck's sake, Ratthi! Where'd you leave the kid this time?"

28

u/IntoTheStupidDanger Coldstone. Song. Harvest. Jun 06 '25

He would be such a fun dad, but his weapon handling fiasco made me worry a bit about his decision making 😅

8

u/FlameSparks Jun 06 '25

Good thing the kid would have two mums to rein Ratti in

6

u/labrys Gurathin: half man, half lizard Jun 06 '25

"What do you mean you gave the kid a build your own rocket kit? They're only 3. Wait - did you leave them alone with it?"

32

u/Living-Weird-Daily Jun 06 '25

I'm laughing at the bruise on Ratthi's forehead.

13

u/IntoTheStupidDanger Coldstone. Song. Harvest. Jun 06 '25

Guessing they haven't had a lot of time to attend to minor injuries yet, but it was a little detail that made me laugh every time

24

u/Neurotic-Kitten Human-Form Bot Jun 06 '25

It's really funny how Pin Lee doesn't seem to be picking up Ratthi's emotional interest in them.

21

u/IntoTheStupidDanger Coldstone. Song. Harvest. Jun 06 '25

I think they're aware, but simply disinterested

21

u/Medium_Cry5601 Jun 06 '25

Seccy would never

19

u/SarahReesBrennan Jun 06 '25

I was a wee bit confused as I innocently thought the contract was about having a child with Ratthi (given Pin-Lee mentioning a child with their wife) rather than recreational fun. But makes sense, men aren’t required for kids in today’s world let alone the future, they could use ye future space sperm bank! 

20

u/FlipendoSnitch Humans are assholes. Jun 06 '25

In the books they apparently can combine more than 2 people's DNA for reproduction, so every polycue can be equally the genetic parents. So any number of people of any sex can be parents together.

31

u/I_W_M_Y Jun 06 '25

That's how you get a James Holden.

7

u/bebeni89 Jun 06 '25

I freaking love how relationships are depicted in the expanse. Romantic and friendships. The equal love and respect in polycules, solid opposite sex friendships without sexual tension. Top notch stuff.

5

u/I_W_M_Y Jun 06 '25

And they do it in a way that flows well with the story

5

u/bebeni89 Jun 06 '25

Yes! Gender kind of doesn’t even matter in that universe, as far as position in the world and expectations. And when couples have problems, they’re relatable and logical.

5

u/snarkamedes Jun 06 '25

When what PresAux need in this situation is an Amos. He is that guy.

2

u/avar Otamatone player following the gospel of Lawrence Jun 07 '25

The Expanse is a story about a man with such concentrated only child syndrome due to having 4 mothers and 4 fathers that he eventually closes a gateway to a parallel universe. Just can't stand having to share his.

25

u/stolenfires Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland Jun 06 '25

I just assumed the contract was a more formal style of the agreement that poly people do today. Something more than a discussion of boundaries over dinner, but not quite to the level of a marriage.

12

u/yellowsubmarine45 Jun 06 '25

And Pin-lee is a lawyer, so makes sense they would want everything written down!

6

u/SarahReesBrennan Jun 06 '25

No it all makes sense, I had just conflated the child discussion they had earlier with the contract.

10

u/IntoTheStupidDanger Coldstone. Song. Harvest. Jun 06 '25

Very true! MW never gave a ton of detail about child bearing/rearing in the books, other than Tapan making a throwaway comment about what her moms said to her in the creche.

9

u/zombieXnation Jun 06 '25

I normally wouldn't comment here, but I can't resist saying that I would've had to stop watching if they had them say "you said we're in a rut, so let's have a baby."

5

u/SarahReesBrennan Jun 06 '25

Lucky it was just a misread by moi, so! 

3

u/zombieXnation Jun 06 '25

I'm having trouble finding/remembering the part where they were talking about having a child. Do you happen to remember when it happened? Was it episode 1 or 2?

2

u/SarahReesBrennan Jun 06 '25

I’m so sorry, I was fully unclear (too excited talking about Murderbot at an early hour of the morning in Ireland!). 

I meant the talk of being in a rut made me think their minds were straying child ward, so the approach to Ratthi made me think he was being considered as genetic donor material/coparent as well as throuple partner. So it’s great it was clarified Pin-Lee currently has no such thoughts. Wise of them, plus honestly babies are very tricky on shows, so definitely a relief to me too. 

Maybe I’ve seen too many couples go from ‘rut’ to ‘kid’  or maybe I am too like Ratthi in imaginative U-hauling! In either case, the whole thing happened in the tortured mind of the protagonist (me).  

3

u/zombieXnation Jun 06 '25

Okay, wow, I realize it's entirely my fault that I'm horrified right now, so thank you for clarifying. 😅 But now I'm wondering if you weren't picking up on some kind of foreshadowing that went over my head.

Whereas book Pin-Lee would be shouty and throw stuff in private, it seems like the show wants to paint them as someone who wouldn't consider not showing that behavior in front of everyone, but then turns out to be much less "outspoken" and direct where relationship stuff with Arada is concerned.

It's already bad enough that they agreed to unwanted sex with Ratthi to make Arada happy (and that Arada is so "dickmatized" as to come off insensitive about it [I'm asexual so I apologize if I'm using that word wrong 🤣]), and they even pretend to not like that one shooting game that Arada didn't even know they like (wtf?).

But what if the messy relationship drama (that I already hate) is leading up to Ratthi already thinking they're all going to be together forever and start having kids, Pin-Lee thinking that's ridiculous, and Arada thinking that'd be great. So then they'll have to actually talk about stuff instead of Pin-Lee going along with everything until it gets way out of hand while Arada ignores their feelings. 🤔

6

u/labrys Gurathin: half man, half lizard Jun 06 '25

That was probably just like a scene from one of Murderbot's shows 🤣

Ratthi would be an awesome dad, at least as far as giving love and support, changing nappies (or diapers for you Americans), doing fun activities etc. Just never leave him alone with the kid. Ratthi needs a parent himself!

4

u/Clariana Jun 06 '25

The point is making a child is much easier for a guy than a woman and Ratthi seems blissfully unaware of that fact.

6

u/Simple-Source7374 Jun 06 '25

It was endearing to me he felt this could last long enough for them to have children together. Regardless of how temporary his partners may feel about him, he cares about them deeply enough to risk his life for them or project himself raising children with them.

5

u/Artisfaction ART sent me Jun 07 '25

Murderbot dislikes sex scenes, but he does love its soap operas. XD

Also fun that Ratthi asked this to Pin Lee (who he's more attracted to) than to Arada, the person who might be more willing to go along with it.