Chrisjen Avasarala

**Chrisjen Avasarala** was a high-ranking member of the United Nations government of Earth during the 23rd century. She was masterful at politics and manipulation, maneuvering people as though they were pieces in a game where only she knew the rules and the goals.

## History

Chrisjen Avasarala was born into a long-standing political dynasty, long involved in the international politics of Earth dating as far back as the early days of colonization of the Sol system. During a period of unrest, Martian separatists assassinated her father. Much later, her own son was killed in a conflict with Belter revolutionaries.

By 2281 CE, Avasaral had ascended to the role of Deputy Undersecretary of Executive Administration -- making her one of the highest ranking people within the UN government under Secretary-General Esteban Sorrento-Gillis.

In this role, partially guided by her very personal and ongoing grief over the death of her son, she investigated illegal Belter smuggling operations. In 2292 CE, after torturing Heikki Sabong, she came to believe the MCR was feeding weapons and stealth technology into the Belt in order to destabilize the region and loosen Earth's control over the asteroid belt. These suspicions made James Holden's public announcement that Mars was responsible for the destruction of the *Canterbury* particularly interesting to her. She manipulated her friend Ambassador Franklin DeGraaf for more information -- only to ruin his career and learn that Mars was, in fact, innocent. She realized that the attack on the *Canterbury* was perpetrated by someone who intended to begin an interplanetary war.

She immediately began to suspect Fred Johnson and the Outer Planets Alliance, although she quickly determined that James Holden was likely not part of the plot. Further investigation, however, revealed that the stealth ships that destroyed the Canterbury were built on Earth, and the conspiracy behind the plot had DeGraaf killed. After Undersecretary Sadavir Errinwright assured her the ships were privately commissioned, she realized he was part of the conspiracy alongside Jules-Pierre Mao. She leaked information regarding Mao's involvement, as tensions ignited into open conflict between Earth and Mars.

These tensions were put aside, however, when Eros began plummeting towards Earth. It was Avasarala who convinced the United Nations Security Council to hand off control of nuclear missiles to Fred Johnson, in order to protect Earth from the protomolecule-controlled asteroid. When the asteroid ultimately collided with Venus, Dr. Michael Iturbi convinced Avasarala that the incident had extraterrestrial origins and that she should assign him to the *Arboghast* to investigate.

Avasaral saw the Ganymede Incident as an opportunity to end violence between Earth and Mars, convincing a delegation from Mars to meet for a peace summit on Earth. Here, Bobbie Draper was deposed -- but she let slip something about fighting someone without a vacuum suit. Avasarala realized the Martian delegate was hiding something, and scapegoating Bobbie and the rest of her unit. While she struggled to get more information out of Bobbie, she also tried to persuade Errinwright to atone for his sins. As this was ongoing, Mao invited Avasaral to meet him on his spaceship the *Guanshiyin*. Cortyar Ghazi warned Avasarala it was a trap, but she agreed to the meeting all the same -- bringing Cortyar and Bobbie along for security. Cortyar proved correct, and soon the trio were cornered by Mao's associates, ready to fight for their lives.

With Bobbie's help, Avasarala managed to escape the *Guanshiyin* aboard the *Razorback*. The two were rescued and brought aboard the *Rocinante*, where she learned of the crew's mission to find Mei Meng on Io. She agreed to support their mission, but also used their ship to send information proving Errinwright's guilt to Secretary-General Sorrento-Gillis, via Anna Volovodov, and to Admiral Michael Souther via Ensign Sinopoli.

After the ensuing scandal which involved both Errinwright's arrest and Sorrento-Gillis' resignation, Avasarala found herself the new Secretary-General until an election. In this role, she desperately sought peace and unity between Earths, Mars, and the Belt in order to investigate the Ring Gate that the protomolecule had constructed. Following the Slow Zone Incident, and the opening of the various other Rings, Avasarala found herself in competition against Nancy Gao in the election for Secretary-General. She lost the election.

## Appearances

### The Expanse

* Season 1
	+ "Dulcinea"
	+ "The Big Empty"
	+ "Remember the Cant"
	+ "CQB"
	+ "Rock Bottom"
	+ "Windmills"
	+ "Salvage"
	+ "Leviathan Wakes"
* Season 2
	+ "Safe"
	+ "Static"
	+ "Godspeed"
	+ "Home"
	+ "Paradigm Shift"
	+ "The Seventh Man"
	+ "The Weeping Somnambulist"
	+ "Cascade"
	+ "Here There Be Dragons"
	+ "The Monster and the Rocket"
	+ "Caliban's War"
* Season 3
	+ "Fight or Flight"
	+ "IFF"
	+ "Assured Destruction"
	+ "Reload"
	+ "Triple Point"
	+ "Immolation"
	+ "Delta-V"
	+ "Intransigence"
	+ "Abaddon's Gate"
* Season 4
	+ Every episode

For canon information, please visit the Expanse Wiki.