Warning: This article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty season 6 episode 1, "Solaricks."
Rick and Morty’s season 6 premiere picked up right where Rick and Morty season 5 ended, with the episode strongly hinting at Evil Morty’s return. Confirming what producers Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland had promised, Rick and Morty season 6 started off with a lore-heavy episode that revealed a lot about Rick’s past and revisited some of the oldest Rick and Morty storylines. Having Rick’s portal-gun malfunctioning after the events of “Rickmurai Jack” served as a setup for Rick and Morty to travel to unwanted dimensions, but it also set up how other universes’ characters such as Evil Morty can return.
Breaking a recent Rick and Morty trend, Rick and Morty season 6, episode 1, “Solaricks,” was more than just an episodic adventure with no long-term implications for the show. Instead, Rick and Morty’s season 6 premiere was an immediate followup to the season 5 finale, and it offered answers to some of Rick and Morty’s biggest mysteries. For example, “Solaricks” casually revealed that the Morty audiences have been following since Rick and Morty’s pilot is the grandson of the same Rick who killed Rick C-137’s family. Such a reveal was only possible because Rick C-137’s portal gun reset did not quite work, and thus every person who was not in their original universe was brought back to where they belonged.
Earlier in the episode, Rick says that Evil Morty’s ultimate plan was “basically throw a tantrum to announce he was quitting Twitter” to which Morty answered, “Nobody quits Twitter”. While that could be just a throwaway joke, it hints that no one is ever really gone from a show like Rick and Morty and that Evil Morty could actually return in season 6. It would not be the first time Rick and Morty foreshadows something about its plot through a one-liner, and it would add to Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland's tease of a more plot-oriented Rick and Morty season 6. Not only that, but “Solaricks” also set up how Evil Morty can return. If Rick’s portal gun reset affected people who were outside the Central Finite Curve, then Evil Morty must have returned to his original universe – which is something the character would clearly not be happy with.
Rick & Morty Season 6 Episode 1's Jerry Plot s An Evil Morty Return
Through the interdimensional travel malfunction, Rick and Morty season 6, episode 1 revisited the “Wrong Jerry” storyline from Rick and Morty season 2. Rick had previously joked he brought the wrong Jerry back from the Jerryboree, which was now revealed to be true in “Solaricks.” That is the most recent example of how a Rick and Morty throwaway joke can later become a plotline. The swapped versions of Jerry returning to their original universes is also exactly what could have happened with Evil Morty if the portal-gun reset had an effect outside the Central Finite Curve, meaning that Evil Morty would then be back to his original universe inside the Finite Curve.
Whether Rick’s portal-gun resect affected Evil Morty is currently impossible to say, but “Solaricks” already planted all the seeds for the likely Evil Morty return. Even if Evil Morty does not return as the ultimate villain, a role that now seems to belong to Evil Ricky, the character could still have a role to play in Rick and Morty season 6. It remains to be seen how long it will take for the Evil Morty return set up to be paid off.
New episodes of Rick and Morty air Sundays on Adult Swim.