Neo Nine

In early seasons, Morty hated Rick. He totally wanted to kill him at some point, but ofc he wouldn't because:

He was kinda ashamed of this violent part of himself.

Rick is his granda, and if only because of the family bond, he still cares about him.

We're talkin' about Rick Sanchez, motherfucker, like Morty ever stood a chance (or at least that what Morty thought, since we now know that it is not impossible.)

Anyway, the point is Morty was seriously done with Rick's crap, but it's not like he had much choice. They're family, and on top of that, Morty did enjoy the adventures. So he just tolerated it.

Thing's went on like that for a while, Morty started standing up to Rick more and more, and often paid the price of Rick's ego (The Vat Of Acid is the best example) but they always had a strong bond, bla bla bla.

But let's not to forget how Rick constantly manipulated him. I still remember this lines:

"I just took over the family Morty- and if you tell your mom or your sister any of this I'll deny it, and they'll take my side because I'm a hero"

"You can die when I say so. I control you. I control the universe!"

Just adding to the whole "Rick is a god" thing. Morty is perfectly aware, better than anyone else in the family, that Rick is a bad person and had a lot of power over everyone. Up to this point he even handled abandonment quite well, Beth and Summer were the ones who seemed more affected by it.

Still, Morty admires Rick. He needs him. He wants to be around him. As Rick had his moments of real care and and saved Morty, not just for convenience, but genuine affection. Also they got along pretty well.

In "Rest and Ricklaxation" it's even said outright that Rick has an irrational attachment to Morty, and I'd say that Morty also has an irrational attachment to Rick! Because again, he knows who Rick really is. But after so many adventures and those tiny moments of kindness, he can't help but cling to him.

Over time, Morty got more of his own voice, going from being a simple sidekick to being a companion (but not totally equal), and for his part, Rick started to respect his grandson more too (even if the power dynamic hadn't totally shifted)

Then their relationship becomes straight-up codependent.

Let's not forget the crows! That episode wrecked Morty emotionally, and man, I get it! The whole thing about being replaced was nothing more than an empty threat, the crows a way to annoy him. Until it happened. Rick replaces him and dumps him. Then when Rick comes back it's not even for Morty, it's because the crows dumped him first. But Morty still chooses him. Why? because he has no one and nothing else.

Even when Morty has the chance to start a new life far away from Rick, he choose to stay. The truth is that chaos and adventures with Rick is all he's ever known. How do you walk away from the one thing you've built your identity around?

Then S6E2, "Rick: A Mort Well Lived" happens. Morty's most independent, self-aware part gets trapped in a video game... I always feel that like a loss, but I guess it was necessary in some kind of way????? Idk... Anyways, I really liked the direction they took with Morty's codependency and fear of abandonment. After Marta (Morty's fragment) choose to stay in the game, I feek like Morty become more dependent on Rick.

But it's not just Morty who changes, it's also Rick.

Before the crows leave him, he ends up learning a bit about empathy (I think that's what it was) and recognizes that what he and Morty have is toxic, blablabla. I won't expand on this because the analysis is focused on Morty, not Rick, but I want to emphasize the sentence he says in S6E10, "Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation"

"You called me boring! I've become dog shit to you"

Rick realizes he's lost control over Morty, and acts like the victim because he feels like one. Their bond is more damaged than ever because there is no balance between them. Things were tense since before the crows, add to that the revelation that Morty is not Rick's original grandson, and the Prime oobsession. Things keep spiraling... Still, by the end of the episode Rick brings Morty into the Prime hunt.

Now that I've already mentioned Prime we can go back to Morty, because after they finally found him and Rick got his unsatisfactory revenge, Morty was left marked by Evil Morty words:

"What happens if Rick actually kills this guy? You ever think about that? Maybe he'll kill himself next."

Next episode we see that Rick stopped having adventures for a while to start drinking too much, clearly depressed after the events of the previous episode. Again, this shakes up his bond with Morty.

Past all this, we finally get to one of the best episodes! The first one that really focuses on Morty's psychology: S7E10, Fear no Mort.

(SIDE NOTE: Before that! Something super important happens earlier: His breakup with Planetina (S5E3). Remember what he said to Beth?

"My whole life I've never fit in anywhere. Everything I have to say is always met with an eye roll, as if the act of hearing what I have to say is some exhausting chore. Nobody in this family thinks I can say or do anything right. I've been all over the universe, meet hundreds of people, and Planetina's the only one I've ever meet that makes me feel like I belong."

In Morty's words (and as we have seen throughout the series) there's no one, not even his own family, who doesn't treat Morty like he's an idiot. Everyone just seems tired of dealing with him. Morty always noticed it, cause he's not dumb like people thinks he is. It's not until he feels he's finally formed a real, honest, loving and (in his eyes) healthy connection that he confronts, in this case, his mom for trying to break them up.

The part “Planetina's the only one I've ever met that makes me feel like I belong” reflects more than just teenage love. It's coming from someone who has been ignored, treated as annoying and irrelevant by his classmates, teachers, his family, and also, of course, Rick too.

Honestly, I think that after the breakup, Morty became even more emotionally vulnerable. Like, it made him cling to Rick even more because, as awful as Rick can be, he's still the only one who actually spends time with Morty, that listens to him (even if it's while complaining), and shown Morty that he matters to someone, even if it's just so Rick can use him.

When Morty breaks up with Planetina because she killed innocent people, his idealized, perfect vision of his girlfriend finally shatters. The problem isn't that Planetina killed people (Rick has already done that, even Morty killed before), the real issue is that there is no way to sustain this unrealistic vision Morty had for her anymore. She was supposed to be his safe space, something outside the caos. But after that, there's no way he can keep pretending she's who he thought she was.

This leaves a mark. And in the end, Morty goes to adventures with Rick as usual.

At this point, after so many adventures and failed relationships, Morty has internalized so much Rick's worldview. Since the pilot, Rick's been planting the idea that it should be just the two of them, going on adventures together forever and ever. Rick and Morty a 100 years, an emotional trap disguised as a fun promise of adventures from which Morty cannot escape, not only because circumstances have molded him to adapt Rick's vision of the world, love, his own worth and morality, but also because a big part of his identity revolves around Rick).

With all that said, we can finally talk about Fear No Mort!

First off, when they "come out" of the hole, Morty notices Rick staring into it looking genuinely sad, so he admits he's afraid of being responsible for his sadness.

"Hey Rick, you just looked real sad, which I’m afraid of. You know, of being responsible for your sadness.”

Then, once they're back to, Morty imagines basically an entire life with Rick by his side. At this point Morty can no longer project himself, even in his imagination, without him! And then it hits him: Rick was never really there in the first place. That's when Morty finally figures out what he's truly afraid of:

"I know what I'm afraid of! I'm afraid that you'd never say that [that he is irreplaceable] in real life. I'm afraid that if I jumped into a hole, you wouldn't even bother jumping in after me. You'd just stand there and watch. This entire thing has been about me! You're not even in the hole, are you?!"

THIS MOMENT. THIS IS THE EXACT MOMENT WHERE IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT MORTY IS EMOTIONALLY DEPENDENT ON RICK. His fear of rejection doesn't compare to his fear of meaning nothing to Rick, and the fact that his entire life now revolves around him.

The fear of relying on Rick.

So! Morty's no longer the same scared kid of early seasons who got dragged into adventures against his will, and slowly started resenting his grandpa to such extent that (in some moments) he thought about killing him. Not because he truly wanted to, deep down, but because the anger and frustration took over.

Now after everything that has been though (being replaced, literally losing the most rebellious part of himself, and suffering from a broken heart) Morty's now fully Rick Sanchez's grandson. Someone who enjoys adventures, no longer hesitate to kill people (his whole moral compass is another topic on its own), and who is totally unable to let go of his grandpa because is all he has, but also the only thing he wants too, since there's nothing better out there or on earth waiting for him.

Morty isn't trying to escape Rick anymore, he just wants to be loved by him.

The issue is that Morty reached a point where he needs Rick to feel like somebody. Right now he's emotionally dependent on Rick in an extreme way. It wasn't always like this, Morty used to care about him (or at least respect him), but he also kinda hated him. Thanks to all his arc and now that Rick's been slowly changing in recents seasons, Morty can live with this, even with his doubts and with the conscious fear that Rick doesn't love him or might leave him again, he's so hurt at this point that he'll take whatever Rick gives.

So yeah, we've gone from a Morty who was aware Rick was hurting him and still called him out, to one's who's fully resigned to this life.

(I bring back the scene where he had the opportunity to leave his life with Rick behind when Evil Morty offered him a way out of the Central Finite Curve. Rick admits that's the best option cause he has no plan, and we see the exact moment when Morty resigns and decides to stay with Rick, DESPITE what happened with the crows).

And you know why? Because Rick is changing too. Slowly, painfully, but it's happening. And Morty doesn't love Rick because he's good.

He loves him because that's the most he can expect from love.

To conclude:

Before, Morty had normal concerns. He wanted to go to school, be with Jessica (I miss her), and form a life like any other teeanger. Rick was something he tolerated because he was his grandpa, but clearly not the center of his life.

Now, that changed completely. He doesn't really have those desires anymore, now, what he wants is to go on adventure. He wants to keep exploring the universe with Rick, because its the only he has left and also, it's become the only thing he's truly passionate about. I'm not saying that he cannot fall in love again and be a regular teenager someday, but his priorities have shifted.

He genuinely enjoys those adventures, but specially enjoys being with Rick. He respects him, admires him, challenges him, understands him... and even with all the pain, he wants to stay by his side. For a 100 years.

Wow! this got way out of hand. It all started when I was like "Man, I miss when Morty used to stood up to Rick". Then the new episode dropped, and hey, turns out current Morty is confronting Rick again! I know they had arguments before, but that was mostly because their bond was super tense, almost broken. And in those fights, Rick always played the victim and Morty ended up feeling bad, like he was the one in the wrong. But now, in the first episode we get a clearly parallel between Morty and Evil Morty (that's a different topic I could go on about- I'll just say I think it perfectly shows why Morty would never become Evil Morty: because he loves Rick). And in the most recent one, beat the crap out of Rick for being an asshole, totally deserved.

Their behavior in this episode really made me think, it’s like Rick and Morty’s personalities are kinda... swapping places. Morty’s turning more into Rick (stronger, more assertive) and Rick’s becoming a bit more like Morty (more human, more vulnerable) But neither of them has stopped being who they are at the core.

Also, I gotta say, I love how their relationship is way more balanced now! Rick actually treats Morty with a bit more respect, and Morty’s pretty much on the same level as Rick when they go on adventures. They finally see each other as equals and treat each other like actual family (a super dysfunctional one, sure, but one that’s trying to get better). Honestly, it’s been a really nice shift. And that’s what surprises me the most.

I’ve been a fan since the beginning, and I NEVER thought they’d canonically turn their relationship into something this wholesome, because this show’s always been about tearing down traditional stuff: love, good vs evil, heroes, family, all that. But now? They’re actually giving us this slow redemption arc. Not just for Rick and Morty, but for the whole Smith family, piecing themselves back together from all the damage. Ooobviously Rick and Morty’s relationship isn’t perfect, but compared to how it all started? It’s honestly too wholesome sometimes. I used to think it’d stay toxic and abusive forever!

I just really hope that with Rick changing now, they don’t forget about Morty’s growth. Just because Rick’s evolving doesn’t mean Morty’s wounds magically disappeared. He faced his fears down in the hole, but that doesn’t mean he’s over them, he’s just living with the trauma now. (Even the line at the end of the new episode makes it super clear Morty’s still scared, or so I think.) But I'm sure they won't ignore it. We’re still seeing Rick fall into that self-pity mode, and Morty is aware of it.

I’m genuinely excited to see where they take things from here!!!

I'm going to break down my opinion into points:

A) EVIL MORTY'S CHARACTERIZATION

There are two stances about Evil Morty's characterization in this episode: those who defend it and those who consider it out of character.

I think both are right to some extent.

Many interpreted the new dynamic as Evil Morty enjoying having power over Rick, being the one who could make decisions and set boundaries he never could before, where he could finally release, in some way, the resentment he had been accumulating for years. And that's where the implication comes in that he not only enjoyed being in charge for once but also the connection they were forming, even if he refuses to admit it.

That's fine, because there's no a single way to feel about your aggressor or to deal with it; you can hate them and at the same time crave their presence and/or validation, that's normal.

The problem with Evil Morty is that this internal struggle didn't exist until now.

Years were spent building his character as someone distant, cold, one of the few who could mess with Rick because he understood him on a level no one else could and that's why he got away with it. But now just because he had a few adventures with him and seeing how "good" he is, not only tolerates but actually likes him.

I'm not saying it's impossible; my problem is with how it was done. The fact that it happened off-screen completely ruined his character because it appeared out of nowhere.

You can give me a thousand justifications for why Evil Morty ended up sympathizing with Rick. That doesn't change the fact that, as a fandom, these ideas are used to justify the biggest and most important change in a character's attitude, personality, and perception that wasn't even show. It was too abrupt. And if that many people feels that Evil Morty was out of character then something is clearly wrong with the execution of the idea.

No one had ever said "this doesn't feel like something he would do" until now, so the coherence with who he was and his motivation was lost.

B) THE MORTYS

Many fans justify the rivalry that forms between Evil Morty and Morty as a good twist because it was "predictable that they would team up", but I don't understand the point of this. Throughout the episodes, there was a kind of truce between them; it was something that had been building, and that's why many of us expected it to happen.

Besides, I don't like those who justify this twist as "this is Evil Morty's more Morty-like side"

Why, if there are countless universes, if there are so many possibilities, if destiny doesn't exist and Rick and Morty's bond across the multiverse is an illusion, an artificial creation, why should someone like Evil Morty fall into the trap of "needing Rick"? You're already doing that to the protagonist, don't do the same to someone who defined himself as independent from the start.

And with that thought, I move directly to the next point.

C) WHY MANY PEOPLE HATE IT (ME INCLUDED)

It's simple, taking this abrupt turn with such a relevant character destroyed his concept by not taking the time to develop it.

Even if the reason behind this is revealed in the next episodes it doesn't erase how badly they left him. I'm sure this episode is meant to start Morty's arc, but this arc has come at the expense of one of the most relevant characters in the series.

And I swear, I didn't care that they kicked his ass, I don't think he was nerfed, as Rick said all of this is a consequence of his own ego. The problem is that I keep seeing the series fall into the same shit: reducing Morty to his attachment to Rick.

In the Citadel episode, Morty gave a speech:

"We're Mortys. We're not defined by our relationship to Rick. Our destiny is our own!"

And Evil Morty was the proof of this.

But now this episode imply that he wanted to become Rick's new Morty???? to make Morty jealous just for the sake of it??? sorry but if you put it that way it doesn't make sense. He never care about this before and doing it this way turned out as a strange obsession, a crush as they said, because although his feelings are a logic turn, they exaggerated his behaviour to such an extent that he ended up being reduced to the typical villain

What happened to the criticism that the series itself did, at given how ironic it is to call him evil?

Like, I understand wanting to give him flaws, but hating Rick was never one of them.

D) HOW COULD IT BE BETTER?

I'm still complaining so instead of just whining like a little bitch I'm going to tell you how I THINK they could make it better...

Do you know Lapis Lazuli? yeah the one from Steven Universe, THAT'S a good example of a victim missing a toxic relationship.

That's my solution, you're welcome.

CONCLUSION!!!

What made Evil Morty so special was being the only sheep who escaped the flock. The exception.

The idea that he still feels the need for a connection with Rick is great, but they didn't know how to make it (waste of potential as usual in this show)

I think the problem is that they keep forgetting an important factor:

The Rage of Morty.

Using a character like Evil Morty (created to shatter the illusion that Mortys are nothing without Rick) to illustrate the narrative that Morty is emotionally dependent on his grandfather is what leads to discontent, because it ignores the fact that however "good and healthy" Rick and his dynamic with Morty may have become, this resentment and repressed violence that Morty harbors against him has been building since the BEGINNING OF THE SERIES.

Morty's origin always seemed peculiar to me. He was originally made as a punching bag for Rick and that was it. It wasn't until someone on the team said "the joke is gonna get boring and repetitive" that they gave him a bit more agency. Why? Well, as Lazzo said: Morty is the deepest character because he has to deal with the most.

Forgetting this reduces him to a punching bag again, regardless of the stage of evolution of the dynamic or what kind of Morty we're talking about.

Evil Morty isn't only known for his intelligence or ability to face danger; Prime Morty and Arcade Morty have shown us that this is a trait other versions have too. Evil Morty stands out because he's resentment put into action.

Off topic but I need to be honest fot a second... This is a thought I've had for quite a time now, but it's not supported by any kind of argument, just what I feel so don't take it seriously.

I feel they’re trying to sell us a redemption that Rick doesn’t deserve yet.

For example, in the past there was this little problem where Rick was portrayed as too cool because he was the smartest and always right, and that's why many fans admired him for his "superiority", because no matter what, Rick always won and there were no real consequences. "NOTHING IS REAL SO NOTHING MATTERS!!!"

I don't think that's the case now, but things still revolve around him. He's always the center of everything. But the show is called Rick AND MORTY for a reason, and like... just because he goes to therapy does that mean everyone have to like him? after everything he's done??

This bothers me especially with Evil Morty because he knew the truth about the Citadel, he was aware that the Ricks clone and sell Mortys as if they were objects and not people. He's so traumatized and felt so desperate that he went to the extreme of losing his compassion and morals just to free himself!!

That's why I think resentment should be the central theme. I don't want Morty to hate Rick, but resentment is a logic consequence that's need a resolution before establishing Rick as a better person and keep falling into one-side of emotional dependency (one-sided? yes!! because morty is always the one who feel jealous)

oh but what do I know.

ok that's all I'm tired. Ty for reading!! You're free to have your own opinion. I accept any counterargument or anything, ANYTHING!!! I just really want to talk about this with other fans.