Warning! SPOILERS for Rick and Morty, season 6 episode 2.
Even though Adult Swim’s Evil Morty (Justin Roiland) reached his penultimate goal at the end of Rick and Morty season 5, one voice-acting trick from the latest episode may reveal his secret origins. Rick and Morty season 6 debuted at the beginning of September 2022, returning to the titular characters shortly after the ground-breaking events of the season 5 finale. Even though Evil Morty reached an unknown part of the multiverse, the ramifications of his presence are still felt at the start of the new season.
Rick and Morty’s Evil Morty was an enigma for much of his time on-screen, with his true motives often left to conjecture. But at the end of season 5, he revealed his plans to escape the Central Finite Curve, ridding himself of all universes where Rick (Justin Roiland) is the smartest man in the universe. Evil Morty’s success and return to the greater multiverse, as well as his manipulations throughout his time on Rick and Morty, often highlighted the dysfunctional relationship between Rick and his grandson, a slow-burn theme that was developed to great effect in the final two episodes of Rick and Morty season 5.
Although much of Evil Morty’s past is a mystery, Rick and Morty season 6, episode 2 might have revealed Evil Morty’s origin through a subtle choice by his voice actor. Roiland, while playing the facet of Morty’s consciousness called Marta, allowed her voice to age along with her perspective by the end of the episode. At this point, she sounded suspiciously close to Evil Morty, both physically and ideologically, as she doubted that Rick truly loved Morty and posited that Rick hated his grandson. Since Marta elected to stay behind and not rejoin Morty’s consciousness, it is possible that she later possessed or merged with another version of Morty, leading to the formation of the Evil Morty who later makes such an impact on the show. This would tie the events of season 6 solidly into the canon of Rick and Morty at large, and further justify Evil Morty’s worldview.
Rick and Morty's Season 6 Order Would Make An Evil Morty Trick Even Better
While this theory may seem superfluous given the events of season 5 of Rick and Morty, delving into Evil Morty’s origins the season after his seeming departure allows for a stronger thread between seasons. Exploring Evil Morty’s backstory after his plan has already come to fruition would make for a clever narrative twist utilizing the show's structure while still keeping the Rick and Morty season 5 finale as canon. Revealing that the show is exploring the past when audiences tend to assume television episodes portray events in linear, chronological order is a method that seems on par with Rick and Morty’s reputation for clever twists and surprising pathos. This is especially true since episodes crossing multiple realities have already been shown to have a flexible relationship with time, making it more than possible for Rick to be the genesis of his nemesis, another element that seems more than fitting for the smartest man alive.
This occurring in only episode 2 of Rick and Morty season 6 gives the show plenty of time to further develop Evil Morty as one of its greatest villains. Even if Roiland and Dan Harmon elect to disregard Marta as a potential origin for Evil Morty, leaving her alive suggests she may have a part to play in future episodes. Regardless, the potential for future dramatic irony created by Rick’s choices in “Rick: A Mort Well Lived” is sure to have interesting narrative import throughout the season.