Julie Mao (TV)

This page is about the TV character. For the books incarnation, see Julie Mao (Books).

Books character	TV character

Juliette "Julie" Andromeda Mao was the oldest daughter of Jules-Pierre Mao, the CEO of one of the most powerful corporate conglomerates in the Sol system. Rebellious and headstrong by nature, Julie defied her father and denied any involvement with his corporatist ideals. After running away from earth she is known to have traveled the belt.

Julie helped rescue Belters during an unspecified accident and as a result the treatment would require her to take medication for the rest of her life as well as rendering her infertile. After her encounter with the protomolecule, she was infected and ultimately died of it.

Biography

Background

Julie was born on Earth to a billionaire, Jules-Pierre Mao. Eventually, she became a talented pilot. She used to race with her ship the Razorback. She used the name Lionel Polanski, a code name given by the OPA in case the intercept mission of the Anubis failed. She was trained and talented in hand to hand combat. She was reportedly good at archery.

Julie rebelled against her family and eventually ran away off Earth, arriving on Ceres soon thereafter. There, she joined the Outer Planets Alliance. Having been facing pressure from her industrialist father to return home, Julie hired a data broker to hack into his computers. She discovered a classified project in development that could shift the balance of power in the Sol system. She uncovered its origins to be on Phoebe and that the mysterious substance, later revealed to be the protomolecule, was being transported to Eros aboard the Anubis. The data broker eventually manages to find out the Anubis’s flight path.

Later, Julie approaches Anderson Dawes, Ceres’ liaison for the Outer Planets Alliance, with the secret project information and plans to steal it. Fred Johnson, the de facto leader of Outer Planets Alliance official, sends a ship, the Scopuli, to intercept the secret project being transported on the Anubis. The Scopuli encounters the Anubis mid-flight. The ship turns out to be far more dangerous than anyone anticipated – a state of the art war ship with stealth technology. The trained soldiers aboard the Anubis take over the Scopuli. Aboard the Anubis, Julie is recognized and thrown into a locker. When the bioweapon contaminates the crew and their prisoners, her cell becomes an ad hoc quarantine.

After having escaped the Anubis, Julie ventures off to Eros. There, she discovers she’s been infected and barricades herself in a flophouse. Using the codename Lionel Polanski, she tries to contact Anderson Dawes and the Outer Planets Alliance. Eventually, Julie is overcome by the infection and dies, being assimilated by the protomolecule. Julie's consciousness, however, fights back against the protomolecule, altering the alien's pathogen behavior.

Throughout the series

In "Dulcinea", a distress signal originating from the Scopuli attracts the Canterbury. While a small crew led by James Holden goes to investigate the Scopuli and offer rescue, the Anubis, hidden via stealth technology, destroys the Canterbury.

In "The Big Empty", with the Martian warship Donnager closing in on them, James Holden reveals evidence that a MCRN ship blew up the Canterbury. Prejudices, old and new, drive the system to the brink of war. Meanwhile, Julie escapes the Anubis and ventures off to Eros.

In "Rock Bottom", it is revealed by Fred Johnson that Scopuli’s sole survivor, Julie – code name Lionel Polanski – might be able to reveal who truly destroyed the Canterbury. Consequently, Holden, Naomi, Alex, and Amos decide to stick together until they get answers.

In "Salvage", out in space, Holden and his crew find the Anubis at the coordinates provided by Julie (Lionel Polanski). They realize the Anubis was the stealth ship that blew up the Canterbury, and is filled with a dangerous substance that must have killed the crew. The crew traces the Anubis’ shuttle to Eros, where they meet Miller and escape UN Undersecretary Errinwright’s team of assassins. Later on, Julie's corpse is uncovered by Miller, Holden, and his crew.

In "Critical Mass", it is revealed that by carrying the infection to Eros, Julie unwittingly completed what Dresden began: the controlled experimental infection of the entire station. Dresden follows the trail to Julie's room at the Blue Falcon where he draws samples of the contagion to inject the populace with.

In "Leviathan Wakes", Miller sees a vision of Julie when she appears to ask him whether he had become the "ass" or the "boot", a reference to the story he just told Holden about Sematimba. He later hallucinates her again as Amos opens the hatch to the Rocinante to retrieve Miller and Holden.

In "Static", in Diogo's quarters, as Miller decides to embrace his Belter side and shave the sides of his head, Julie appears in the mirror seemingly pleased with the former Star Helix detective.

In "Home", on Eros, Miller encounters a version of Julie Mao merged with the protomolecule. The Julie-protomolecule hybrid is revealed to be in control of Eros’ trajectory, and her subconscious has sent it hurtling towards Earth, where the impact could kill everyone on the planet. Miller provides comfort to the disoriented Julie and convinces her to guide Eros towards Venus instead. Miller dies alongside Julie, saving billions of lives and humanity as we know it.

Appearances

Season 1

Season 2

"Safe"
"Doors & Corners"
"Static"
"Godspeed"
"Home" (consciousness only; body recreated by the protomolecule)

Trivia

She is the only known consciousness which managed to fight back and alter the protomolecule's behavior in its encounter in the Sol system.
According to her dating profile, Julie is 22, pansexual ⚤⚢, and vegan.