Summary
- Rick and Morty S7E5 Unmortricken has shaken the show's fandom by killing off Rick Prime.
- Without his archnemesis, Rick C-137 seems to have no purpose and fans are worried that the show is over.
- However, co-creator Dan Harmon is putting those doubts to rest.
- The writer told Variety that the show is far from over and has plenty of canonical material to go on.
- Rick's arc has reached its highest point of self-destruction, but that just puts him at the beginning of a new journey.
Unmortricken has easily become one of the most discussed Rick and Morty episodes of not only the new seventh season, but the entire Adult Swim animated sitcom. After four 'adventure of the week' episodes that were in no way connected to the previous seasons, the fifth seemed to have it all and more.
Two of the show's biggest villains, Evil Morty and Rick Prime, shared a screen for the first time ever, and Evil Morty served as an unlikely and reluctant ally to Rick C-137, helping him trap and kill Rick Prime.
In fact. Rick Sanchez murdered his archnemesis with his bare hands. In the middle of a season.
Naturally, this shocking development raised many questions in the show's fandom. Now that the white whale Rick has been chasing for years is gone, what's next for the genius scientist and his adopted grandson? Is this the end of the beloved show?
Dan Harmon says not to worry
Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon has put fans' doubts to rest, saying in an interview with Variety that there's plenty more material for new adventures than just Rick Prime's arc.
'This show, the least of its concerns is wearing out its canonical credit card,' Harmon said. 'If the show was going to be destroyed, it would have been destroyed by any of the other Godzilla-sized problems that have happened to it, including pandemics, writers' strikes, and other things.'
Rick Prime's death was about self-destruction, and that journey is far from over
In choosing to kill Rick Prime, Rick C-137 allowed Evil Morty to obtain a powerful weapon, the Omega Device, which can destroy all variants of a being in all parallel universes. In doing so, Rick deliberately relinquished control of his own arc.
'[Rick] basically gave a leash that's around his neck to someone that isn't him, because he's more invested consciously in the destruction of himself,' Harmon explained. 'I think that's both tragic and also, writers and drunks like me consider that kind of noble and interesting — the commitment to self-destruction.'
But that's far from the end of the story, according to the writer.
'I think there's still a conclusion to a story here,' he said. 'The narcissist will tell you that destroying yourself, it doesn't solve a problem.'
Rick C-137 starts over
In a broad sense, Unmortified has become the point in the show where Rick and Morty have changed roles and their arcs have been rebooted, so to speak. Now Evil Morty holds all the cards, and Rick C-137 has lost his sense of purpose and understanding of his place in his own universe.
'This is how far we've come with Rick's journey,' Harmon said. 'He is now the one who is existentially isolated. He is the one that doesn't feel like he fits in the universe around him. Which puts him on the same level as a 14-year-old boy learning there's multiple universes 10 show-years earlier.'
And that certainly feels like the trigger for a multi-season story.
Source: Variety.