glitteringcrab

[glitteringcrab]

It's complicated (or: Citadel thoughts)

Okay, I'm trying to construct a timeline of what happened with the Citadel (and, uh, try to tie it with my Evil Morty is a Clone of Morty Prime theory, although that's more of a cherry-on-top thing)

('tis a long post)

1. Our current Rick C-137 is supposed to be ~70 years old. When he was ~35 he had Beth (according to this, at least). A few years later (5? 8?) Rick Prime began visiting Ricks and offering them some sort of technology (presumably portal travel, since according to Rick Prime the only two Ricks who actually invented portal travel were Rick Prime and Rick C-137... However, it could be another technology, like time travel, or even more than one technological breakthroughs)

2. Rick Prime offers to Rick C-137... something. It's assumed that what Rick C-137 passed on was portal travel technology (in Rick C-137's fake backstory, it was interdimensional travel), but that's yet unconfirmed. It could be time travel technology. It could be companionship.

Whatever it was, it was based either on something Rick Prime discovered sooner than Rick C-137, or something they discovered simultaneously.

We are led to believe that the former is true, that Rick Prime took the leap into infinity (and madness) earlier than Rick C-137, and that their encounter "grounded" Rick C-137 in a way.

3. Rick C-137 "passes" on Rick Prime's offer, which apparently is a first for Rick Prime.

(and it's suspicious that in the crybaby backstory that Morty witnessed, we don't get to hear what was said. All memories are purely visual, and the same goes for every Rick whose memory Eyepatch Morty has scanned)

I once considered the possibility that they designed the Citadel together, but I cannot imagine Rick C-137 putting so much effort in something just to change his mind. I get the impression that, whatever relationship those two had, it was flimsy, chaotic and explosive. Not the sort to patiently design an entire city together.

4. Rick Prime takes extreme offence to the rejection. Whatever relationship those two originally had, it turned sour. Badly. Rick Prime kills Diane C-137 and Beth C-137 in retaliation.

5. After some mourning, Rick C-137 is either motivated enough to invent portal travel himself, OR to repair his own portal gun.

6. YEARS pass during this search. Some time in between, Rick C-137 meets Bird Person and joins his cause (and then they fight and go their separate ways).

7. After his breaking up with Bird Person, Rick C-137 resumes his search. And it's the first time we see a Morty appear!

We don't know Morty's age in this, but it appears the Rick who is being spied on has nearly the same age as our "current" Rick. Some time shenanigans might have taken place, BUT when our current Rick mentions having a grandson, Memory Younger Rick (unclear how young) recognizes there is a pattern of "creep Ricks" moving in with abandoned adult Beths...!

So, what, if spied Morty in the above flashback is, like, 10, this would mean Rick C-137 resumed the Prime Hunt when he wasss... 65~ish? Unclear, but he must have been old-ish to already be aware of the existence of Mortys.

8. In the spied Rick's garage, Rick C-137 finds a location that could be traced to Rick Prime:

9. And he begins trying to follow a trace of Prime-follower Ricks back to Rick Prime (what a weird phrase to say lol)

(interesting thing: who the heck are the people whose photos are pinned on the background? One of them looks kiiiiinda like Morty)

10. Eventually, Rick C-137 discovers this... network of Ricks, who I assume were Rick Prime followers, and begins hunting them down one by one.

I suppose he did it half-hoping one of them would be Rick Prime, half-hoping one of them would be able to lead him to Rick Prime.

11. It seems Rick Prime was leaving behind clues, building elaborate mazes and traps, I assume to give his followers and opportunity to reach him, but with no one ever actually succeeding.

12. Rick C-137 went on with his increasingly desperate Rick Prime hunt, to the point where he became infamous to other Ricks and they just tried to off him:

13. All those Ricks banded together in some sort of headquarters (which at first, appear to be the Citadel. The guy talking wears Council-of-Ricks-like clothes). Notice the suspicious absence of Mortys:

Also notice the red color motif, which is a Rick Prime thing.

Also notice the insignia on this dude's clothes is identical to the Rick Prime insignia we've seen up to now (one big, fat, narcissistic R surrounded by three tiny stars)?

14. Rick C-137 kills all the Ricks gathered there, which... makes sense only up to a point.

From what we know of Rick Prime now, we can safely say there was exactly ZERO chance he was among those Ricks gathered there. So what would killing them achieve, exactly? Was Rick C-137 simply throwing a tantrum, destroying Rick Prime's fan club in a fit of pettiness? Was he retaliating, pre-emptively killing as many Ricks as he could before they had a chance to attack him (as they inevitably would)? Was he acting mindlessly? Was he simply wayyyy too drunk?

15. Anyway, it appears he recognizes the futility of his actions, because he eventually stops:

16. And what happens next is interesting, and is what prompted me to write this post.

The precursors of the council of Ricks show Rick C-137 the Citadel design...

...and Rick C-137 looks surprised. Shocked, even.

Like, why?!

Isn't that their current location (that red place Rick C-137 burnt down)? Didn't he know where he teleported himself to?

...Well, afterwards we see him passing by the Citadel-under-construction as he leaves this meeting:

He passes by it. So, no. This meeting did not take place in the Citadel. Rick C-137 was leaving another place (the red place he trashed). And is not happy about the Citadel being there. Even though it was his idea.

17. Okay, the Citadel wasn't the location of their meeting and Rick C-137 was obviously aware of his own location, but why seem surprised when they showed him the schematics? He's the one who designed the Citadel!

He remembers its schematics (and notice how the Citadel insignia is similar to the Rick Prime symbol, only the "stars" are now connected to the R? I read this as Rick C-137 impersonating Rick Prime when he made sure the Rick Prime Fan Club got the schematics). Why design it if the didn't want to make sure they got it?

And when the pre-council of Ricks offers him to lead (apparently), he trashes the table in distaste (at the time I assumed it was because he hates Ricks and wants nothing to do with the Citadel, but... well...).

18. We've already seen Rick C-137 go into complete black out when severely drunk, to the point where he not only performs cruel, poorly-thought out plans but also completely forgets his actions, which he later regrets:

(see also the whole Vindicators fiasco, where he presents his black-out self as a different person.)

19. My take on this is that Rick C-137 either came up with or designed the Citadel of Ricks idea when drunk drunk, and that it was a poorly thought-out, morally dubious plan (and might I say, it's interesting that we have no confirmation yet about what the Citadel was for, exactly). He drunkenly executed his plan, sent the schematics to the Rick Prime Fan Club, and then drank some more. (Interesting note: in Rick's crybaby backstory there is no flashback of him actually designing the Citadel. Just him looking at the end design. Was it to conserve storytelling time, or was it a hint that he was blackout drunk and had no memory of the designing process?)

Once sober he seems to realize (and regret) the consequences of his actions, but it's too late by then. The Citadel is under construction.

20. Given that:

Eyepatch Morty said "[they] built a wall around infinity" (they! Plural! Ricks! He blames Rick C-137 for building the Citadel, but he recognizes that the Central Finite Curve was a collective effort of many Ricks)

it appears once the Citadel is down the Central Finite Curve is more easily breach-able

it was possible, with modifications, to use the Citadel's dimensional drive to bring down the Curve

...the conclusion we reach is that the Citadel was used to build the Central Finite Curve in an attempt to trap Rick Prime... But given Rick C-137's distaste towards his own plan, it seems that this is not the whole picture.

I mean, the Central Finite Curve does not seem that bad... by itself... Only when combined with the abusive Rick-Morty dynamic did it become a horrible prison for countless Mortys.

21. After leaving that unsettling meeting, Rick C-137 crashes on the Prime dimension (so he has known where Prime's original reality was, at least for a while...!)

And he begins bonding with Morty Prime, his enemy's grandson.

It's also unclear why he decided to squat in the Prime dimension. Did he really hope Rick Prime would return home?

Or was it an action of possessiveness, of stealing, of sullying everything of Rick Prime's? (in a "you took my family, I'm taking yours" fashion?) Was it a taunt?

22. And when we next see the Citadel, it's full of Mortys.

A stark difference from the previous Rick Prime Fan Club Headquarters.

...

A) Hadn't all those Rick Prime fans at the Rick Prime Fanclub Headquarters known about the brainwaves thing back then?

I mean, we know that occasionally some "creepy Rick" would move in with an abandoned adult Beth, yet it seems that the brainwaves thing was not widespread knowledge.

Who told everyone?

B) Rick C-137 said that if you create a matrix of Mortys and put them in agonizing pain, it creates a pattern that can hide Ricks not only from the government, but from other Ricks. (Note that it appears Evil Morty did not know that last specific detail: he said that Mortys were only used to hide Ricks from the government, not from other Ricks!)

He said that he fiddled with a concept like this once, on paper, and that five Mortys and a jumper cable would yield adequate results.

Yes. Totally on paper.

C) And why was Rick and Morty DNA necessary to bring down a wall that was designed specifically to separate universes where "Rick is the smartest man in the universe"?

D) And why did Rick C-137 claim that the Morty Market, as presented by Eyepatch Morty, wasn't "the whole truth" and was "complicated" (as if there was a misunderstood, positive aspect to the Morty Market) and yet refused to elaborate further?

E) And which Morty is this one, whose DNA is being taken without his knowledge???

Is it a nobody Morty chosen completely at random, or a specific Morty chosen among the infinite Mortys for a very specific reason?

F) Why, oh why were the Cult Mortys so quick to title Morty Prime as "the one true Morty" right after he introduced himself as "Morty from earth dimension C-137"???

G) If the spectrum of all Ricks is real, what on earth is our Rick C-137 doing up there right next to "super weird Rick" and "Evil Rick"? What are his crimes? Up till now we haven't seen him do anything worse than the average Rick, quite the opposite really.

There are still puzzles pieces missing, but I don't like the picture that is being painted.

I can think of two scenarios, which can complement each other.

Scenario 1: The purpose of the Citadel was not simply to wall in the universe where Rick Prime was, but to cancel out as many Ricks as possible if one were to scan the multiverse for Rick brainwaves (well, we do know Rick Prime operates alone. No chance he'd have a grandson around). This "function" of Mortys' brainwaves was advertised and the use of Mortys was deliberately promoted to the Ricks arriving in the Citadel. The Morty Market was not a naturally occurring conclusion of Ricks' discovering Mortys' complementary brainwaves; it was a designed, pre-determined goal in-built with the Citadel's very reason of existence.

Or, well, something sorta along this lines, because the above scenario doesn't really explain why Morty DNA was necessary to bring down the Curve. And given that there are infinite Ricks, it seems kinda doomed to fail no matter how many Ricks you cloak (but, well, following the timeline presented above, it appears that Rick was drunk when he designed the Citadel. He even criticized his own craftmanship at S3E1, where he says that "it's a bad idea to have [the Citadel] designed [with an area for teleporting the whole Citadel with only buttons and dials]").

There is also the "hundred years" thing to consider, which unnerves me a lot now.

Scenario 2: A specific phrase told by an angry, bitter old man. A very chilling phrase, so extreme in its magnitude that it sorta passes right under our radars...

...but which I now find unsettling in how easily, thoughtlessly came out of Rick's mouth. Almost like he already knew the world would know when he tries to hurt Morty.

Why would he say that? Why would he even think that?

...Rick, what have you done?

#scenario 3: Rick C-137 designed the Citadel but changed his mind and didn't send the schematics anywhere #Rick Prime is the one who actually sent them as a taunt to show how much he DOESN'T care #scenario 4: I'm overanalyzing this and the above are completely unconnected #it's complicated #citadel of ricks #rick c-137 #rick prime fan club #rick and morty

[glitteringcrab]

Extremely valid criticism. And even if the scene isn’t supposed to be funny it’s still framed in a dark comedy way due to the fact that, well… the show itself is a comedy and it’s done shocking scenes for a laugh before. I mean, the sexual predator is a freaking jellybean man.

But I will say that the serious effect this scene has on Morty is at least acknowledged within the episode itself. And it does fit in with Rick and Morty’s underlying theme of trauma and abuse. But yeah, tonally it comes out of nowhere and it’s both a blessing and a curse that it is never addressed again.

Apparently Morty’s rage and propensity for violence in later episodes IS supposed to be a manifestation of his PTSD from situations like these, but we don’t even know if he remembers these traumatizing moments because of Morty’s Mind Blowers. Which, now that I think about it, is sort of a smart way for the writers to avoid acknowledging it again while also drawing parallels to how a traumatized person’s brain can often block out memories that are too painful to process.

Controversial side note… Is it just me or does the jellybean have Rick drool and a very familiar unibrow crease? And what a coincidence that he’s light blue like the color scheme of a certain other character! There, now you can’t unsee it. Or you can and I’m crazy. That’s fine.

But seriously what is green drool supposed to represent in this show? Sickness? Abuse? Depravity? All of the above?

#I cannot unsee it

[glitteringcrab]

Rick in s1 being annoyed that the citadel thinks he killed all those Ricks is so funny now like yeah who would blame the guy who went on a revenge kick and killed countless versions of himself wow so unfair this is kangaroo court

[glitteringcrab]

#rick and morty #morty prime #morty smith #rick sanchez #rick c 137 #this is good art

[glitteringcrab]

#Evil Morty #Eyepatch Morty #Rick and Morty

[glitteringcrab]

Rick Prime Theories

Gonna dump some theories relating to our latest Rick and Morty arc villain here.

Time Crystals

(First pointed out in this other post.)

Beginning as early as season 1, C-137 is seen using crystallised xanthenite (also called "time crystals") throughout the series. The context he uses them in varies, but the overlapping connection appears to be that Rick uses time crystals to access alternate timelines.

Despite saying that he hates the concept of time travel, Rick still uses time crystals and ends up messing with time in the process. Not to go back in time, but to see alternate timelines or split timelines.

Examples include C-137 using time crystals to:

Access interdimensional cable.

Detecting that a dimension's timeline has split.

Trying to shoot an alternate timeline version of himself.

Leave phone messages for alternate timeline versions of himself.

Merging split timelines back into one (the time collars in the season 1 finale).

Merging Morty back together after he split himself multiple times from reloading "save points" he created using the remote Rick invented. Note that every time Morty "reloaded," he reappeared in a cloud of pink smoke.

Time crystals are always pink.

(Note: Depending on colour perception, some shots look more purple than pink, but for the sake of avoiding another "the dress was blue not gold" situation, I'll just be using the word pink for this discussion.)

According to time cops, time crystals are illegal to obtain, but that hasn't stopped Rick nor (it seems) other characters from using them to mess with time.

The Bovians dunk Jessica in a pink substance that crystalises her and turns her into "a time god," suspended in animation and able to witness eternity in the Narnia world. While it isn't named in the episode, it looks like the pink crystal was xanthenite (meaning, xanthenite is the pink liquid, and crystallised xanthenite is a time crystal).

(Side note: Not sure why the writers chose the name xanthenite. Xanthe is the name of a a water-nymph in Greek myth, but I couldn't find an obvious connection. If anyone knows, feel free to comment.)

Prime could possibly be using xanthenite to:

a) Keep himself ageless, suspended in time in a sense, but still able to walk around. This would explain why he doesn't look older than he looked 40 years ago in flashbacks.

b) Split himself but somehow keep all split versions of himself within one timeline. This would explain how he's able to exist in multiple places at once.

There's also similarities between Prime's dialogue when he offers portal travel to C-137 and Jessica's explanation to Morty of what happened to her while she was in the crystal:

Prime: "You think it's cool being the smartest man on Earth, but once we give you this technology, you become the smartest thing in every conceivable universe. The Infinite Rick. A god."

Jessica: "I had nothing but time. Endless time. At first, it was madness. Then enlightenment. Then madness again. But perhaps it was a gift. I could see the life of time. And as I watched the life of time in all its fleeting, terrible light, I wondered, had I lived? Was I just the object in another's story? Was that all I ever was? Could I be more? I had nothing but time and still no answer. Time without purpose is a prison. I have glimpsed into the mind of eternity. Perhaps the mind of God. And found nothing but silence. I think we should just be friends."

Both talk about endlessness (infinity and eternity) and have god comparisons. Both also end in a rejection (C-137 rejecting Prime's offer to help him achieve portal travel, and Jessica rejecting dating Morty).

Prime is possibly using time crystals to become "the Infinite Rick."

The Colour Pink

Related to the previous time crystal theory, Prime's attack on C-137's family involves a weapon with a pink explosion. This gives Prime a connection with the colour, which plants the an association between him and time alteration (as time crystals are the same colour).

The device C-137 uses to track down Prime's lair has a pink light:

Plus, Prime wears a jacket with a pink stripe along it. This jacket is unique to this version of Rick.

Prime is associated with time alteration through visual shorthand.

The Central Finite Curve

(Based on this previous post.)

Prime: "You think it's cool being the smartest man on Earth, but once we give you this technology, you become the smartest thing in every conceivable universe."

Note that he uses the word "we" in this talk with C-137. Who is he referring to? The Citadel?

For some reason, in Rick's backstory (the version that he shows to Morty in season 6), Rick went looking for (whom we can assume are) the initial founders of the Citadel of Ricks. We can assume this because the red string wall has the R logo that the Council of Ricks wear as badges.

So the timeline appears to be:

The concept of the Citadel is created, and Prime was one of the idea guys (if not the leader).

Prime offers portal travel to C-137, who rejects it. Prime then kills kid!Beth and Diane.

C-137 goes on a revenge quest to track down Prime by hunting down every member of (the precursor of) the Citadel of Ricks.

C-137 gives up trying to find Prime and decides to help the other Ricks (who later become the Council members) build the Citadel.

This leads to the creation of the Central Finite Curve, created through a machine built underneath the Citadel.

C-137 crashes his ship in Beth and Jerry's garage (hoping to find Prime there), causing Morty and Rick to meet.

Prime does not appear to be associated with the Citadel by the series' start, so at some stage, he abandoned the concept of building it.

This also means that Prime was not directly involved with the creation of the Curve.

The Central Finite Curve

The Central Finite Curve is a portion of the multiverse where Rick became a scientist smart enough to invent interdimensional travel.

It walls off the rest of the multiverse, making it no longer possible to travel beyond it.

Until Evil Morty creates the dimension rift to escape of out it.

This directly leads to to Solaricks episode, where Rick is able to meet Prime.

So potentially:

a) The Council of Ricks built the Curve to keep Prime out (so that C-137 would never be able to resume his revenge quest--which led to many Ricks being killed in the crossfire). Or,

b) The Curve was built to fence Prime in, preventing him from being able to escape any further than dimensions where a Rick exists.

The Central Finite Curve was possibly created to keep Prime trapped in or locked out.

[glitteringcrab]

rick and morty - exquisite corpse (season 3 promo)

[glitteringcrab]

Rick Prime & the Central Finite Curve (part 2)

Okay yes I realized there is could be more evidence that Rick Prime had been outside the Curve.

Apart from the (obvious in hindsight) Rick C-137 visibly going through the Curve, that is:

When Rick C-137 inputs the black goo in his search algorithm, this happens.

Look closely.

It's easy to ignore during the first watch, but when the projection of the search results first pops up, it takes the form of the Curve...

...which Rick promptly shoos away (and I did think was a weird gesture at the time)...

...and a different projection replaces it:

...which I had originally assumed was a representation of the galaxy of the specific universe Rick Prime was hiding in...

...but which also bears similarities to the inter-dimensional nebulas Eyepatch Morty saw outside the Curve:

If this interpretation is correct, it would mean Rick Prime and his decoys had been waltzing around in several extra-Curve universes. Probably wrecking havoc.

#rick and morty #rick prime #central finite curve

[glitteringcrab]

The Rick Experiment

WHAT.

IF.

The "Rick Experiment" is a meta thing.

As in, the whole show being an exploration of Rick's character, the creators seeking an answer to a question; a trial in progress with us viewers as the judge:

"Can a person with Rick's failings be redeemed?"

#rick and morty #rick c-137 #the rick experiment

[glitteringcrab]

I might be reading too much into this, but I wonder if the animators did this on purpose to show Rick being more careful with Morty. I mean, the goggles could've just turned on automatically, lol. But Rick gently turns them on for Morty like a regular grandfather.

[glitteringcrab]

Deus Ex Machina

Season 2, Episode 3: "Auto-erotic assimilation"

Okay, we all remember this thing, right?

Or maybe you remember what it looked like when ALL of its parts were in use:

And the yellow liquid Rick poured on the poor creature (and drank himself) before using the machine was supposedly to synchronize (and kill) all versions of himself according to the creators' commentary (if it isn't something they simply made up on the spot during the recording).

Season 6, Episode 7: "Full Meta JackRick"

Morty puts on his meta goggles and... uh...

UM... WHAT????

#will this particular machine be used again??? #and if it will WHY WOULD IT SOLVE ANYTHING??? #or does the “deus ex machina” refer to the Omega Device??? #I'M SCARED #Rick and Morty #suicide tw #Omega Device

[glitteringcrab]

Rick in earlier seasons vs Rick in season 7

Rick in season 1:

Rick in season 7:

Rick in season 3:

Rick in season 7:

Rick in season 3:

Rick in season 7:

Rick in season 4:

Rick in season 7:

Rick in season 4:

Rick in season 7:

Rick in season 6:

Rick in season 7:

[glitteringcrab]

If I somehow miss interaction between Jessica and Evil Morty Idc

[glitteringcrab]

I LOVED your post!!! I hadn't thought of Evil Morty's line as being seen as a product or tool that shouldn't need maintenance (that's so freaking sad...)

I suspect that what OP is focusing on is that Evil Morty is not "more evil" than a regular Morty. That any Morty who had lived his life could have become him.

And while I completely agree with you that our Morty would never commit the sort of genocide Evil Morty has committed (provided his quality of life remains the same of course, because the clone Mortys also got memories of living in a loving family, but the new life turned the tables), I get the impression that due to Rick's constant disregard of human life he is a lot closer to it than we think, and that's without taking into account all the times he has gone crazy and started a murder rampage in the name dying old with his crush or drinking wine with his crush....

...because in "That's Amorte", MORTY is the one who suggests using clones (!!!) to solve the spaghetti shortage.

MORTY literally is the one who proposed what is essentially another version of the Morty enslavement in the Citadel.

(and he has his hands behind his back, Evil Morty style...!)

Evil Morty just being a normal Morty who finally snapped is SO much more gripping to me rather than "Oh yeah, uh he was just evil from the start whatever." No he was one Morty who snapped. Who had enough. Literally any Morty could become Evil Morty at any time when they finally had enough

#wtf Morty #“and people call ME Evil Morty”

[glitteringcrab]

tired of people saying that evil morty is just a morty who snapped, and he doesn't have some good villian origin story. like !! yes he does !! he's implied to be a product of and is canonly a witness of the morty industry.

tw for human trafficking mentions under the more

which, because people in this fandom kind of sugarcoat that or don't see it for what it is, is human trafficking. evil morty isn't just some morty who got tired of a rick, hes a human trafficking victim who was likely passed between more ricks than he can remember. he's witnessed so many deaths and so much systemic morty torture that he's desensitized. the way he scanned all of those rick's brains mimicked the fucking dead morty disposal line.

so, no, evil morty isn't just "some morty who got sick of a rick," he literally apologizes for being such a high maintenence morty to make his rick shut up. that isn't something a regular grandson says that's something a grandson who has been trafficked and used by vile versions of his grandpa in such amounts that his life is unrecognizable without it.

for the love of fuck, r&m fans, please understand complex characters with complex trauma

#rick and morty #evil morty #eyepatch morty

[glitteringcrab]

I gotta say, it's really telling of the Morty situation in the Citadel that Rick C-137 was accused of "murdering twenty seven Ricks"...

...even though Evil Morty also kidnapped their respective Mortys (in front of witnesses)...

...and at least 900 Mortys in total (I'm counting 15 rows x 30 columns in this side of the matrix. Assuming we can see the half of the Morty Dome at best, there are twice as many Mortys as that kidnapped in total... and that's not counting the ~50 ones waiting in storage along with Morty Prime)...!

Rick C-137 was accused ONLY OF MURDERING TWENTY SEVEN RICKS.

NO ONE. BOTHERED. WITH THE HUNDREDS OF DISAPPEARED MORTYS.

On a different note, it seems like Evil Morty really "only" kidnapped those twenty seven Ricks:

'cause when Turtleneck Rick is disposed of and the supply line of Ricks moves forward, no new (previously out of line of sight) Ricks appear at the end of it. It seems that this is it, this is the whole thing.

#rick and morty #citadel of ricks

[glitteringcrab]

I gotta say, I LOVE the idea that Evil Morty arranged for an accident with Puppetmaster Rick's portal gun for multitude reasons:

It negates the moral loss of Evil Morty consciously deciding to prolong his own torture just so he could trap Puppetmaster Rick in a fate worse than death in the name of vengeance (instead of just killing him first chance he got in the name of safety and freedom). Evil Morty did not design some elaborate machine to trap or kill Puppetmaster Rick, he simply did the equivalent of calling the police! That's what a child would do, really.

If Citadel Ricks were willing to sentence Rick C-137 in the Machine of Unspeakable Doom just because they thought he killed a bunch of Ricks, it's pretty much guaranteed that Puppetmaster Rick got the same fate (which he more than deserved). And I gotta say, it's interesting that the Machine of Unspeakable Doom was introduced to us in the same episode that Eyepatch Morty did...

This in turn would mean that, if Puppetmaster Rick was teleported out of the Machine of Unspeakable Doom and back in his original dimension when portal travelers were reset, then he'd be deathly scared... not of Evil Morty, but of the Citadel. He wouldn't know why he was suddenly teleported to freedom, but he'd be terrified of Citadel Ricks capturing him again and sending him back in the MUD. So he'd be laying really low and avoid visiting the Citadel. He may not even know the Citadel is no more! (So, going forward, let's keep an eye out in future episodes for any Rick our protagonists will meet who has no idea of what has happened to the Citadel.)

If Evil Morty is monitoring Puppetmaster Rick from afar, this would explain why he does not seem too worried about being tracked down: Puppetmaster Rick is currently cowering in a hole somewhere, scared to attract attention to himself. However, simultaneously, he may be stealthily scanning the multiverse for Evil Morty's brain signature, or he may be honing his brain control technology, or he may be tampering his own portal fluid to make it independent from the Citadel's teleportation system, etc...

I've seen this technology before

...Have we... really considered the implications of this?

The first possibility is that the creators of Rick and Morty kinda made certain things up as they went along (which makes sense) and this was simply Evil Morty's introduction: he's clever, he's ruthless, he can perform mind control. Cool. Spooky.

The second possibility, if Evil Morty's whole arc is planned from the very beginning and he's always been intended to be an overarching villain/antihero (honestly, it feels this way) is that in some point in the past there was either (at least one) Villain Of The Week (let's call him Random Puppetmaster Villain) or a Rick (let's call him Puppetmaster Rick) who would puppeteer people to promote his own agenda.

The Citadel Ricks examining Evil Rick had evidently no clue who could have been puppeteering Evil Rick. This can be read in two ways:

A) Random Puppetmaster Villain/Puppetmaster Rick is still at large, never been caught. The Citadel Ricks have no idea where to even begin looking. Evil Morty would likely know who it is.

I feel like this theory has some basis plot-wise, given that with Rick Prime dead and the Intergalactic Federation gone we're sorta running out of overarching villains.

B) Random Puppetmaster Villain/Puppetmaster Rick is dead, his villain lair destroyed, all his mooks defeated. The Citadel Ricks are like "wtf, what's this up now?" as all possible leads are long gone. They have no idea who could possibly be using the same technology now.

This theory has some basis if we consider the fact that Evil Morty does not appear particularly scared--just angry. His motivation to leave was because he was sick of being trapped with Ricks, not because he was worried a past enemy might hunt him down. I guess one possibility doesn't rule out the other (you can be scared and angry at the same time) but Evil Morty seems to be the living incarnation of the toxicity of the Rick-Morty dynamic; nudging that on the side with a generic being-a-victim-to-a-villain backstory feels very disappointing.

I guess in theory both possibilities could be true; Puppetmaster might have been defeated, Evil Morty might, along everyone else, think the dude (or dudette) is dead, but that person could have escaped.

There is also the possibility that Puppetmaster and Evil Morty parted in good-ish terms with each other, so one has no reason to fear the other.

C) Evil Rick was the Puppetmaster. I feel this is unlikely, same as I feel it is unlikely that Evil Rick was ever physically abusive with Evil Morty, despite Evil Morty's reaction to his yells. If he was in habit of hitting Evil Morty (or worse), I doubt Evil Morty would have worked up the courage to get in his face over something as mundane as a shitty (literally lol) adventure. (Other Ricks might have been though, which would explain Evil Morty's reaction).

IN ANY CASE

Evil Morty had the... good fortune (?) to interact with this person in the past. In the same way Morty Prime is used to disarming neutrino bombs drunkenly assembled by Rick C-137, Evil Morty was experienced enough to successfully perform brain surgery on Evil Rick. This is supported by Evil Morty's large range of brain-related abilities, and I'm not referring to the manipulation:

1. Performing brain surgery on at least two Ricks. It wasn't a one-time thing. He did it with Evil Rick, and he did it again when he was running for president:

Look at the Rick in the picture: he doesn't have the eye bags nor mouth scar that Evil Rick had, and Evil Morty is wearing his Candidate Suit.

It's unclear if Evil Morty set his assistant up for a failed assassination attempt to gain votes through sympathy, or if someone had really been keeping tabs of him... But whichever is true, I can totally see any people in the know being afraid to speak up: any of the Ricks accompanying Evil Morty might in reality be puppeteered by Evil Morty. Some of the guards that shot the District Ricks might have been Evil Morty. The Ricks that approved of him participating in the campaign run might have been Evil Morty. Good luck speaking to anyone; you risk basically confessing to Evil Morty.

2. Scanning Rick C-137's entire brain (when he finished this in the Citadel, he did it with no visible apparatus, I might add).

3. Scanning dead Ricks' entire brains. You'd think that the death would deteriorate the memories, but nope. Evil Morty was good to go.

4. Being able to instantly scan another person's brain and find out what they're planning:

5. Creating small devices that can instantly hijack robotic brains and enslave them to his own will:

6. Downloading specific data from another person more-or-less on the spot:

I mean, that wasn't even Evil Morty's tablet! He threw it away after he was done, and it seems that he had hastily wrecked Rick Prime's control room to hook him up with some cables so he could get what he wants.

(Interesting that he didn't bother downloading Rick Prime's insta-healing ability though; one with think that it'd be quite a catch, but Evil Morty apparently does not want to be able to live forever)

I mean, we've seen the Galactic Federation going into a lot of trouble to get Rick C-137's interdimensional travel secret, and those weird little dudes that specialized on simulations going to equally lot of trouble just to get Rick C-137's concentrated dark matter recipe.

They'd all wish they had the same abilities Evil Morty has, it'd all be over in a jiffy.

SO.

What I'm concluding when taking all the above into consideration is that Evil Morty was at some point paired with a Rick who specialized in brain control. Evil Morty got to observe the surgeries, assist in the surgeries...

...and have a surgery done to him.

Because he might be able to perform brain surgery on an incapacitated Rick, but I doubt he'd be able to do it to himself in his bedroom.

He had no trouble hooking his own cables with the eyepatch, even though the cables were sticking out of his freaking eye. He knew how to connect them. He knew how to make the eyepatch work. He knew what he was doing. This was all familiar to him.

And given that once he became fed up with Evil Rick he acted with no hesitation, it's clear that he had already considered this technique as a possible way out, and up to then had been simply deciding against it.

Now.

Best case scenario. BEST CASE:

Evil Morty was simply one of the Puppetmaster's experiments. (No hard feelings.) After all, Evil Morty had no transmitter in his skull. He had to hook up one externally. This means that Puppetmaster never considered him a partner; Evil Morty was never given free reign to puppet others. He was one of the people being puppeteered.

It's unclear whether Evil Morty has a receiver of his own still stuck somewhere in his brain (I mean, if Puppetmaster's transmitter is destroyed, I guess that Evil Morty would stop receiving orders and he'd be free) although even if that's the case, I'm sure once he became president and got access to more superior tech he'd make sure to fix this possible contingency.

The cables sticking out of his freaking eye kinda point out to Puppetmaster connecting Evil Morty to a machine while immobile (especially if Evil Morty was the initial experiment, needed updates, maintenance, etc) or having him wear a mook mask or helmet of some sort. Those cables are not really easy to use otherwise. Or maybe there was a receiver once in his skull, was later removed (e.g. once Puppetmaster was defeated) but the cables hooking up the removed receiver to his brain have remained.

Worst case scenario:

Evil Morty was not simply an experiment, but one of the people regularly puppeteered. Theoretically possible, although given that Ricks don't think highly of Mortys, and that Mortys usually do what they're told (a clone Morty with nowhere else to go even more so), I'm not really sure what kind of things Puppetmaster thought Evil Morty would be useful for and thought that the best way to get obeyed was literal brain control.

In any case, this wasn't just "a body modification" nor "just an implant", in the same way that Morty Prime can turn into a boat or breathe in space. This is a lot, A LOT more intrusive.

In conclusion:

Possible villain still at large.

Someone hug Evil Morty ASAP.

#evil morty #I've seen this technology before #rick and morty #eyepatch morty #maybe i can use that someday #puppetmaster rick #super weird rick #machine of unspeakable doom