While Netflix’s Altered Carbon is a show that is very much out of this world, there is one aspect of season 2 that exists IRL. The Protectorate on Altered Carbon is really the show’s version of the United Nations — but with a frightening twist.
The Protectorate, officially known as the United Nations Interstellar Protectorate, is a sovereign interstellar colonial empire. The successor of the international governing body we know as the U.N., it’s become the official government of Sol, the solar system, governing Earth and the rest of the planets.
To some, though, the Protectorate is seen as an evil intergalactic empire. This includes Altered Carbon’s space-traveling supersoldier and chameleon Takeshi Kovacs, now played by Anthony Mackie after taking over for Joel Kinnaman in season 2, which is set 30 years after the first season. He’s still trying to stop Protectorate from making immortality available only to the rich elite, known as “Meths,” the top 1% of the 1%. But, he’s also trying to solve the mystery of who is killing off the people of his home planet, Harlan’s World.
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While the U.N. is known as a peace-keeping organization, fans shouldn’t feel as safe in the Protectorate’s hands. They have enlisted Praetorians, gun-toting imperial fighters to weed out any defectors — and Takeshi and the rest of the rebel-fighting Envoys certainly fall under that umbrella.
“They are these badass warriors who can't be killed,” Melissa R. Stubbs, Altered Carbon’s stunt coordinator, told Refinery29 of the Envoy. “So they're coming after our team.”
Altered Carbon season 2 is streaming now.
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