Rick and Morty theorieeeeeeeees

Haver of too much free time, Huge fan of Eyepatch Morty, Antishipper, link to header image: https://www.tumblr.com/gunnmorty/792848333158907904?source=share

[wannabedragon-yep-lumenemporium]

Today episode was triggering, there is no other way to put it. So I thought, if you are grieving as much as I am today, maybe this will help you a little bit.

I did this drawing almost 2 years ago,naming it "I'm out." I was listening to Dramamine, by Flawed Mangoes all the time, I was full of hope and nothing seemed impossible any more.

Believe me when I say that Evil Morty arc dragged me out of a dangerously crippling depression and gave me enough hope, focus and energy to finally realise that I was severely abused, that my life was actually in danger and that I had to remove myself from that situation. It was the final push I needed.

It was the first time I saw a fitting media representation of a scapegoat, successfully breaking free from narcissistic abuse, without all the mentally-deranged-super-villain bs that usually goes with these kind of characters. A representation that was speaking about my hopes, dreams, fears and grief, for the first time.

I could spend endless words trying to express how much this representation meant to me, and I couldn’t convey all of it.

I think now is a good moment to post this artwork because that’s how I will always remember this character: this is what, personally, I think would be a good representation of a scapegoat, finally beating their abusive system.

And about this episode, some reminder...

No, you are not invisible: even if your personal struggles find no accurate representation in media, your same difficulties are quietly shared by millions. You are not alone in this.

Achieving your independence and getting your cathartic revenge over your abusers doesn’t make you evil, doesn’t make you cocky, arrogant and you are not at risk of becoming a jerk because of it. You deserve your freedom, no matter what, everyone does.

No, you do not deserve to be beaten up by your abusers if you lash out at them or if you feel resentment towards them after they repeatedly push your limits: the only person you should apologies to, is yourself. This is called reactive abuse, and you should step away from it, for your own good. It doesn't make you a violent person or a mean one, your nervous system is simply in survival mode.

Is it fine to feel nostalgic about your abuser even if you it’s not good for you. Real life is not about a one-time jump towards the infinite, outside the CFC. Getting hoovered back doesn’t mean you are broken, faulty or that your whole odyssey to get free wasn’t real or worthy, it is just a normal phase, and it will help you to clear your mind.

This is a tv show and tv shows are made by people, sometimes smart and empathetic people, sometimes ignorant people, abusive people or simply incompetent people. You never know what you will get from them. But this doesn’t erase all the positive things you got from their stories. Those treasures are yours and only yours, because you managed to dig some precious lessons out of those stories: even if they can metaphorically kill one character, they cannot kill the idea you had of them and what they mean to you.

Be the Evil Morty you actually wanted to see.

(enjoy different vistas and some random filter spamming)

dawn on Venus

dawn on Forbodulon Prime

Parmesean dawn

dawn on Glorfingr 7

dawn on Venzenulon 7

Planet Squanch Vista

[glitteringcrab]

I'm not a victim of abuse and *I* was horrified by this episode.

[glitteringcrab]

It should probably deserve special mention that the ONE character that the show has repeatedly villainized is Jerry (via Prime Jerry who abandoned his own son, Boss Jerry who was a complete monster, and now this MIT Jerry who was completely unhinged): the only member of the family who has been consistently critical of Rick, while the rest of the time he is mainly depicted as pathetic and inferior.

I get that it's funny to portray the weak character as strong and evil, but Beth, who consistently gets drunk, eagerly wished to sacrifice Morty, hands her children drugs (as Space Beth), abandoned her children (as Space Beth) and sacrifices her children's well-being to win her father's favor is never truly portrayed negatively. Her neglect is mentioned but, like Rick's abuse, never properly addressed, and she is never condemned. S09E10 would have worked FINE if Beth was the unhinged, overbearing mother for once, aiming for her children to surprass her own and her father's success and in many ways following her father footsteps, but nope! Another Evil Jerry who dared to push Rick away.

The show has been buying its own bullishit for far longer than I realized.

[glitteringcrab]

CSA in Rick and Morty

And because I've seen (and participated in) debate about whether actual CSA is a theme of the show or not, allow me to add this to the pile. And I'm not going to use random speculation, but the creators' actual words and creations.

1. The origins of the show was Justin Roiland's "Doc and Marty". I googled around long enough until I found a description of it, so I didn't have to watch it.

It depicted "Marty" giving "Doc" a b***j**.

Dan Harmon was friends with Roiland and didn't mind this, apparently.

2. Kindly read this:

In case you're wondering what kind of relationship the showrunners have in their minds about Rick and Morty.

For the longest time, I believed their plan was to simulatenously show both the abuser's twisted point of view and the victim's gradual breakthrough (ha). I found this dark but truly creative, the narrative realistic and acceptable.

...But how can you have that if the plan is for the show to "go on forever"?

3. Gosh. Threatened to tell Beth what?

4. Why on earth would loving Morty be considered "sick"?

5. Am I to believe that the writers, one of which was accused for sexually harassing minors, had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING special in mind when they wrote this scene?

...When in real life, a boy strapping other boys down naked and torturing them by repeatedly poking them until it drew blood (and calling that "beautiful") would be a prime suspect for having gone through CSA?

Where did Eyepatch Morty get the idea for this kind of torture? Realistically?

If you try to tell me the writers "didn't think about that" or that I'm supposed to "don't think about it" I'm going to laugh.

(I remember reading a quote that [paraphrasing] pedophiles often imagine their victims both innocent/pure and yet lusting after the pdfile/behaving innapropriately... While in reality any child behaving inappropriately has most likely than not experienced CSA, and therefore is not innocent any more, just traumatized; but the pedophiles don't want to think about that)

6. At this point, I wouldn't believe Eyepatch Morty hasn't experienced CSA even if the writers came out and outright denied it...

...Not any more than I believed this Rick and Morty writer who defended Mr Jellybean, calling him a "misunderstood addict"...!

No, if they deny it I'll assume they chickened out and feared backlash over including something like this in their story.

Which would be fine if they CUT OFF THE INCEST JOKES.

They should either do that, or actually tackle it seriously, by holding accountability over the perpetrator and healing the victim!

Instead of any of that, the writers felt it was appropriate to depict Eyepatch Morty, the single character actually challenging the Rick-is-awesome narrative and the one realistically most likely to have gone through CSA in the worst possible way, into saying these lines:

And Rick C-137 to proudly declare himself irresistible afterwards.

And they want Eyepatch Morty to be the true villain of the show. Great. And for it to go on forever.

Maybe there is some argument that could be made about Eyepatch Morty being so brainwashed that he thinks this is appropriate or expected of him, or that by "choosing" to utter those words himself he tries to "take control" of it (and therefore later his trauma could potentially be properly addressed). I don't know. I haven't experienced SA (thank God).

But I strongly doubt it.

Think of what Daisy did in THE scene in "Girl, Interrupted". Daisy tried to put on a strong facade and claim that she was free and loved (not much unlike Eyepatch Morty trying to convince himself he has control of the situation). Then another character mocked that and claimed that Daisy liked being SAed, like the show made EYEPATCH MORTY happily say all by himself. We know what happened next.

And watch this documentary about Clark Fredericks. It's long, but it's worth it. You watching it might save someone's life one day. And it won't really leave any room for debate about whether this is a laughing matter or not.

Besides, if they wanted to take this EXTREMELY DARK "the child is so brainwashed he pretends he wants it to get affection" route they should DEFINITELY not EVER call him a "villain".

I'm done with this show.

[glitteringcrab]

I don't know where the story goes as far as Eyepatch Morty is concerned, but I know that I cannot follow.

When the series started, he had already hit rock bottom; his soul was eroded, his morality withered away, his compassion torn apart. After S05E10 it was clear he was an extremely traumatized and neglected child, and I looked forward to his healing, redemption and catharsis.

But the show runners have stated that they are "teeing him up as the true bonnafide villain of the show" and after S09E01, it seems they are dead set on following that path.

I don't want to watch Eyepatch Morty kidnap and torture the Smith family as payback for beating him up.

I don't want to watch EM reach the idiotic conclusion that "if only Morty Prime wasn't alive, Rick C-137 would want to stay with me forever" and begin trying to murder Morty Prime.

And I DEFINITELY don't want to watch Eyepatch Morty lose what is left of his soul by becoming an ultra "villain" who performs the puppeteering surgery on Rick C-137 so he can get a hug, and then tries to force Rick C-137 into killing Morty Prime when the latter comes in Rick's aid. Like, FFFF.

I don't want to watch him spiral even lower around the trash that is Rick C-137, crawl into hellish lows as a way to deal with his trauma. I don't want to watch him commit every wrong in the universe until someone finally notices he's hurting and steps up, and that being presented as some sort of achievement or breakthrough on their part, instead of the barest of minimums...

...if that even ever happens, given that the showrunners' other statement of Rick and Morty, a show centered on abuse, going on forever.

...And I can't stand watching him happily making incest "jokes" about himself and his abuser... even though in real life a boy torturing others by strapping them naked would be a prime suspect for having gone through CSA. They made an underage character who in real life would most likely than not be a survivor of CSA happily say incest jokes about himself and his abuser.

I'm done.

[glitteringcrab]

LESS THAN 12 HOURS

please don't be Freaky Mortys Theory all over again please don't be Freaky Mortys Theory all over again please don't be Freaky Mortys Theory all over again please don't be Freaky Mortys Theory all over again please don't be Freaky Mortys Theory all over again please don't be Freaky Mortys Theory all over again please don't be Freaky Mortys Theory all over again please don't be Freaky Mortys Theory all over again

[glitteringcrab]

At what point in the evil Morty storyline did you get your particular view of it? Given how the writers were playing it by vibes and kind of formed it as it went.

We don't actually know whether the writers have been playing it by the vibes or not! It's possible, although I remember reading an interview where Dan Harmon and Roiland claimed they basically designed the whole plot in a single day or something. Unfortunately I don't know how to find that again to see the actual wording. Of course, even if they did decide on all the main points beforehand, it still leaves a lot of wriggle room, ways to space out or delay the plot etc.

If the writers HAVE been playing it completely by the ear, then all my theories are obviously completely meaningless lol.

To get to your actual question.

I first began viewing Eyepatch Morty differently when S07E05 aired and we got a glimpse of his backstory. I interpreted this glimpse as him being a clone Morty who got discarded and neglected multiple times. Many other fans have had the same theory, since much earlier.

(Tw for gore)

Then I was thinking of a fanfic plot, in which Eyepatch Morty had been kidnapped by an alien government that wanted to extract the Omega Device schematics from him, using a brainalyzer. Eyepatch Morty was tied down but kept taking control of the brainalyzers (like Rick C-137 did) and then of the whole mothership, its weapons, defense systems etc, resulting in more and more soldiers getting killed each time and each brainalyzer fried, although he never managed to actually escape, all the equipment he destroyed and soldiers he killed kept getting replaced, and he began to tire. This went on for a while until his interrogator figured out he was using an implant behind his right eye to hack into their systems and gouged it out to remove the implant.

And then I was like WAIT A MINUTE and wrote this theory lol.

And it all got downhill for me from there lol. I've dedicated an unhealthy amount of time in writing theories on Eyepatch Morty's backstory.

[glitteringcrab]

Aughhhh is this going to be true

Eyepatch Morty baby have you been crying your eyes out and going for days without sleep

[glitteringcrab]

As time passes, a more concise theory of what really happened in S09E01 has began to take form in my head, but I'm reluctant to word it before we get a confirmation that some kind of simulation has been going on for an unspecified amount of time, set up either by an unknown perpetrator or "a Rick".

Mainly I'm confused that the simulation apparently is still on (note: I haven't watched any actual episodes since S09E02 yet, for the sake of my mental health which is apparently able to be affected by a TV show lol; but I do watch the previews, and Jerry getting a job interview? SUS)

...although there are a couple of possible explanations for the simulation still ongoing (e.g. the person controlling it got distracted or is preoccupied with a different target or plain up abandoned it and it's now running on autopilot, OR the current aim is to completely break Rick C-137 apart... or even simply to keep him distracted).

At this point, I wouldn't believe Eyepatch Morty fought Rick C-137 in the bunker dimension even if, after the simulation is over and therefore everything we are shown is "real", we were shown physical proof of EM's golden spaceship, butler robot and AI override thingy having been in the bunker dimension.

[glitteringcrab]

Point no 1: This interview of Chris Parnel, the Voice Actor Of Jerry

INTERESTING WORD CHOICE.

Point No 2: One of the following episodes: "A Ricker Runs Through It", "Rickuiem Mort A Dream" and "Field of dreams" were initially named "SeRicknity (2019)"

The plot of "Serenity" was not just a movie about a fisherman killing his ex's ex. It was about being a game, a simulation created by the woman's son, who wanted his real life stepfather dead because he was abusive; and I had initially had high hopes of it being an Eyepatch Morty episode. I had even felt the title was too on the nose for this plot. The title was changed.

(cough simulation cough)

Point No 3: The plot of the actual movie "Field of Dreams" is about, among others, a man reconnecting with the memory of his father.

HMMMM

Point No 4:

HMMMMMMMMMMM

Point No 5: over here

Point 6: (here)

Point No 7: (you can watch over here)

....!!! A Morty with his own portal gun.

And without a Rick.

How.

Interesting.

A portal gun gifted by another, toooooooootally unable to be controlled by the person who gifted it.

...I know how *I* would connect those dots and LOVE the picture that gets drawn.

This doesn't mean it's the same picture the showrunners have drawn.

But I can still hope.

(I'm calling it now: beneath the sunglasses, the Morty's eyes are red-rimmed and with heavy eyebags.)

(RUN AWAY TOGETHER PLEASEEEEEEEEE)

Edit: upon further introspection, I suspect Rick won't let ANYONE get close to this Morty at the end of the episode

[glitteringcrab]

[glitteringcrab]

ARE YOU. FOR REAL?

Yeah, you were only WATCHING INTENTLY

[glitteringcrab]

Whether S09E01 was fake or not, I think we can safely expect two things from Eyepatch Morty the next time we see him (because I do think a fight really took place in the bunker dimension, just... not like that)...

A) Eyepatch Morty will have an improved forcefield. It will no longer be blue. He'll make it yellow

and

B) Eyepatch Morty's new spaceship ('cause this one got destroyed) will have only a single seat...

[glitteringcrab]

Oh oh oh oh if S09E01 IS a simulation and Eyepatch Morty never went to time prison, then this

unexpected resolution might have been Eyepatch Morty seeing the stalemate and taking over Reese the Robot or freeing it from its hackers.

Now, I DON'T think this phrase (strange as it was) could be Eyepatch Morty speaking, not in a billion years, not after S09E01. I think this is Reese speaking.

And why did he collapse? He was fine before. "Fine". Well. Up and running, at least.

And then, everything gets nice and tidy... after Reese has collapsed and theoretically no longer controlling anything.

Even the characters didn't know what that was.

Rick had told Morty "Stop trying to override his programming with love", and to be fair, why would that work? It was pretty clear Reese was unable to bypass his own programming (and Rickbot had been unable to do that, too), plus it wasn't like Reese reacted to something loving Morty said.

There's also the prisoner level full of anhialated prisoners. One would think the hog hackers freed them (or they were never securely locked but free to roam this level), but it's strange they killed each other instead of teaming up to break out?? Or if there was some AI furniture in the prison level, why would it turn against the prisoners insread of the residents?

Whatever happened definitely was recent because one of them was still alive even though he was injured.

...And said prisoner grabbed Morty Prime immediately and yelled "revenge" (which is of course a completely normal thing to yell at the grandson of the guy who imprisoned you, but... also a completely normal thing to yell if a yellow-shirted boy just teleported there and murdered all of you before teleporting away and then re-entering through the door.)

The prisoners' deaths could of course simply be an anticlimatic gag because they ran out of screentime and couldn't dedicate enough time to show them turn against each other over something inane.

[glitteringcrab]

AND OF AAAAAAAALL THE INSANE IMPLANTS WE WERE SHOWN EYEPATCH MORTY TO HAVE IN S09E01

HE DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING RELATED TO THE PRIME GOO WE HAD LITERALLY SEEN HIM OBSERVE AND GRAB A SAMPLE OF

I had legit expected him to be able to disintegrate into golden goo and re-integrate himself to safety the next time we saw him

Or at the very least conjure objects out of golden goo out of thin air

[harpoonsnotspoons]

i know the intro is kind of long i didnt know what to put there.

[fraiiss]

Here come the cats

Run little rats

[mjlor-chan]

a little to late

[glitteringcrab]

Gratitude

Eyepatch Morty just saved Morty Prime's life by mind-controlling a robot army. He's too tired to do much else.

...Just let him sleep.

Rick is trying his hardest not to hug him (because he knows EM wouldn't like it) and he's basically failing

Eyepatch Morty can tell Rick is being really gentle with him so he isn't scared

but he can't tell much of what else is going on

I had this in the drafts for a long time now. I'm not much of an artist, but after how horrible S09E01 was, I needed to finish it.

I don't know what the writers are planning, but I DO know I cannot stand watching children getting beaten by their family being presented as something victorious, and I DO know I cannot stand watching abused children happily making CSA "jokes" about themselves and their abuser.

So. Here it is.

Based on the several occasions when Eyepatch Morty respected Morty Prime's rejection without trying to exact revenge, took Morty Prime screaming for his death without trying to extract revenge, came back to take him with him for the Prime Fight, and thanked him for assisting him in the Prime Fight.

Also based on the several occasions when Rick C-137 respected Eyepatch Morty as an equal, expressed positive sentiments towards him, asked his opinion, granted him peace of mind by returning his portal gun immediately, encouraged Morty Prime to leave with him, as well as trusting him in his own home.

And based on the several occasions when Eyepatch Morty displayed what could only be hard-earned understanding that "we both know that if there's a truth in the universe, it's that Ricks don't care about Mortys", "[Ricks] literally all say [I'm not responsible for every fucked up Rick out there]. They all have that excuse. None of them have to be responsible, they're all victims of themselves", "How's it feel? Better? No? Exactly the same? Yeah, it always does" and "using this weapon Doesn't. Get you. Left. Alone."