Rick and Morty season 6 spoilers for 'Rick: A Mort Well Lived follow'.
Rick and Morty did the absolute most last week in the season-six premiere. Not only did we learn who the real Big Bad is behind Rick's entire crusade, we also found out that a long-standing fan theory from season two is actually very much true.
The premiere was a lot – in the best way possible – so it makes sense that the following episode would switch things up with a classic standalone adventure. Except, once you dive a bit deeper, 'Rick: A Mort Well Lived' is anything but a standalone story, after all.
The story begins midway, which is par for the course in this hectic and often squanch show.
After some initial confusion, we discover that Morty's consciousness has been divided across five billion computer game characters in a virtual reality arcade machine. Rick has dived in to rescue Morty by trying to convince the entire population that they are actually small fragments taken from the oft-horny mind of a fourteen-year-old boy.
The problem is, these five billions Mortys all have different personalities of their own because they represent different facets of the original Morty. That makes it hard for Rick to rescue them all individually, so he transforms himself into a cult-like leader who heads up "Grandsonism", thereby aiming to convert the Mortys to his way of thinking through quasi-religious means.
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Meanwhile, Summer lives out her best Die Hard fantasy in the real world where she protects Rick and Morty from Jar Jar Binks-style gangsters, because, Rick and Morty.
Through Rick's influence, the Morty NPCs gradually come to accept that they're actually "grandsons", which leads to a life of video games and masturbation. It's an enviable life, that's for sure, but not everyone is on board still, even by the end of the episode.
To free Morty from this VR prison, he must transport as many Mortys as possible to the edge of the game via his spaceship. But after many years in VR time, Rick eventually decides to go ahead with the 92% "ready to vamoose", leaving 8% of Morty behind to die.
"You're all my grandson," says Rick, but that doesn't mean he has enough time to save them all because of the danger that's very slowly hurtling towards them – Inception-style – in the real world.
When Marta, the most influential Morty, realises this, she ends up causing a holy war that destroys almost everything within this world, which is very much real to all of the NPCs involved.
But it's not really Marta's fault. The problem here is Rick, who seems incapable of telling Morty that he loves him still. Is that because this Morty isn't his "original" Morty? Perhaps in part, but there's definitely a connection there regardless, so it seems that this is more to do with Rick's own effed-up approach to love than anything else.
So eventually, after all the other Mortys agree to Rick's spacebound journey, Marta stays behind and lives out the end of her days in virtual reality. Real-world Morty is ultimately freed by Rick's actions, rejoining Summer in the now blood-splattered arcade, but there's a price to be paid.
For all intents and purposes, a part of Morty died with Marta, and crucially, it's the part that's most sceptical about Rick. So what does that mean for the show moving forward?
Across the past five seasons, Morty has grown increasingly bitter and resentful about the shitty way his grandfather treats him. Given how much the show has shirked canon before, this is arguably the strongest through-line from day one to now. But by killing off Marta, there's a risk that her death could undo all that much-needed character development.
Thankfully though, it doesn't look like the writers are heading in that direction. While this episode doesn't specifically acknowledge the ramifications of Marta's demise just yet, it's possible that Morty will now see his grandfather more favourably again in future episodes.
And although that might sound like a step back, it's entirely possible that Morty will eventually find out what really happened, setting the stage for a painful betrayal, and perhaps even the emergence of a new Evil Morty? This would certainly align with the show's newfound love of all things canon.
Or, instead, Rick and Morty might just revert back to the ways of old and relegate this episode to the box marked "standalone adventure" in the Smiths' messy garage.
Yippee-ki-yay that, motherf**ker.
Rick and Morty season 4 airs Sundays on Adult Swim in the US, and airs in the UK on E4 and All 4 at 4am every Monday.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
