arolock

(in fact, spoilers even if you have watched it)

except for @arolock who figured out this terrifying truth more than a year ago

HERE WE HAVE LIVE FOOTAGE OF A FRESHLY SNATCHED RICK BEING MIND CONTROLLED* BY RICK PRIME INTO ABANDONING HIS FAMILY

*...puppeteered?

For anyone who doesn't know what we're screaming about, last year, after S7 ending, I tried to figure out the whole Prime and C-137 history and came to formulate a funny theory that maybe Prime was collecting other Ricks into a hivemind, offering them not only a portal gun, but also a possibility to become 'the smartest man in the universe', by, obviously, joining forces. Which in reality was a trap created by Prime to subdue other, lesser Ricks, gain more knowledge and, as an end goal, eventually become Infinite Rick, probably by subduing every Rick in the multiverce.

These converted Ricks later became his cover-up, hence the multiplicity of Prime across the multiverce. All these 'clones' and 'decoys' Rick later grabs and brings to test, are actually Prime's hivemind bodies.

All theory is here:

It's also interesting that his miserable Matrix version looks more like Primes, and when he's in the Hole version where he's relatively happy, he looks like Rick C-137 with his hair having this distinct light stream.

Like, yep, that's our Morty's evil origin lmao

But the main differrnce is that Morty Prime still didn't get rid of Rick, even if he could, but he did grow up enough to "punish" Rick by tricking him into Matrix and it didn't have consequences.

It could go into a loop of Matrixes (as Morty and Summer suspect at the end of the episode) and mutual hate, but Morty wanted to pay back and Rick knew it's time to take it and step back because he knew he was in the wrong here. Rick didn't go over the top with his usual pettiness, he either lets it slide or game recognises game, and he didn't want to risk to push Morty over the edge.