Abhiroop Das
Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, Adult Swim’s ‘Rick and Morty‘ begins as a close-knit multiversal mystery, only to expand into a myriad of richly rendered sagas and storylines. By the end of season 7, Rick winds up his grand arc by defeating his arch nemesis, which is ironically himself. Then, season 8 ends with Rick becoming somewhat of a good father. Now, come season 9, every character feels a certain lull or a lack of easily approachable direction. All of this, however, is a part of Rick’s plan to keep the most thrilling moments of his life a secret from Morty, and for good reason. As season 9 episode 1 of this animated sci-fi comedy unfolds, we learn that Rick is collaborating with possibly the last person he should ever meet, and no one involved seems to be speaking in earnest. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Evil Morty is Most Likely Only Biding His Time for a Counterattack
While the season 9 premiere of ‘Rick and Morty’ ends with Evil Morty being arrested by the time cops, his final glare is hardly indicative of things being over. Instead, all of this merely appears to be a tiny hurdle in Evil Morty’s larger vendetta against our Rick and his grandson, regardless of who is in control. Though the time cops are a powerful force by themselves, we know that Evil Morty’s mind is at the very least equal to Rick’s when it comes to concocting devious strategies. As such, it might just be a matter of time before he resumes his offense, this time with his opponent’s guard entirely down. One detail that might play into all of this is the remains of the Collective, which are now neatly packed into a USB drive that only Evil Morty has access to.
Though the Collective is currently in a state of perpetual self-consumption, Evil Morty might just have the means to harness its abilities, and possibly even replicate them. For a character whose crux lies in breaking away from Prime Rick’s shadow and controlling his own destiny, Evil Morty gaining the power of consuming anything he touches is as thematically fitting as it is realistically scary. In such a scenario, the very concept of time manipulation may get subsumed by Evil Morty’s being, which makes dealing with him a near-impossible task. However, if there is one thing Rick is known for, it’s constantly outsmarting his enemies, and this time might not be so different.
Evil Morty Still Has the Mind and Tools to Rebuild the Omega Device if Needed
Rick’s victory over Evil Morty is made possible because of the destruction of the Omega Device, which has been held around as the ultimate bargaining chip thus far. As established in season 7, Evil Morty is perhaps the only one alive who can build the device from scratch, which gives him power over every possible iteration of an entity in the entire universe. It’s for this same reason, however, that simply destroying the machine cannot be called a complete victory. Even in prison, Evil Morty is fully capable of rebuilding the machine and resetting the status quo to what it was prior to the season. As such, for Rick and Morty to have a legitimate chance against the relentless big bad of the show, they have to come up with a plan that transcends the Central Finite Curve, that is, the effective domain of Evil Morty.
At the heart of Evil Morty’s entire plan to use, or rather befriend Rick by keeping the Omega Device up and running, an emotional component is gained by the end of this episode. Though much of Evil Morty’s arc is about making Prime Rick pay for his actions, a part of him cannot help but see C-137 Rick as the polar opposite. In light of that, it makes sense for Evil Morty to even crave Rick’s affection and approval on some level, even though he might never acknowledge it. At the very least, Evil Morty doesn’t make his hatred for Morty no secret, which only amplifies this three-way conflict. While Evil Morty is out of the picture, this is most likely a temporary pause on what is expected to be a season-wide game of chess.
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