The penultimate episode of the latest season of Rick and Morty starts with Rick, voiced by the show’s co-creator Justin Roiland (Solar Opposites), and Morty, also voiced by Roiland, bickering at a pop-up food store on an unknown planet. Two “Knights of the Sun” are impressed by Morty’s resolve to wait for his food, and he is offered the chance to succeed one of them. After some hesitation and outside influences suggesting they’ll seize the opportunity, Morty accepts. One of the knights then has Morty unintentionally stab him to succeed him. Morty is jetted off toward the sun with the other knight.
On the sun, Morty is introduced to the benefits of becoming a Knight of the Sun but is horrified when he discovers that the ritual required to join includes mutilating one’s genitals. Rick shows up and offers to take Morty away, and he assumes Rick will make him feel bad about his decision. The king of the Sun society then tells them that they cannot simply walk away. Morty defeats him in battle, and the king kills himself. Instead of taking the throne, Morty leaves with Rick hoping they will disappear. Instead of Rick shaming Morty, he reflects upon how bad Morty assumes he will be to him and promises to be more supportive of him. The Knights of the Sun track down Morty and refuse to leave him alone. That’s when Morty decides to disprove their theories surrounding how the universe operates using basic science. The Knights of the Sun disband.
The sun itself then suffers a siege without anyone there to protect it. Morty travels to a meeting with the heads of all the different planets with a passive Rick and accidentally starts Solar War I. After much bloodshed and violence, Morty turns to Rick and tells him to fix it. He still believes Rick is waiting for a moment to ridicule him and doesn’t understand why he is being so helpful. Rick explains that he is not being disingenuous and wants to help. They travel to the now heroin-addicted Knights of the Sun and convince them to join together and stop the war. Morty promises to cut off his penis to demonstrate the value of tradition. He is overcome with emotion, and Rick makes it all okay by offering to fake the action.
At the clinical ceremony, which will stop the current Solar War, Morty is forced to undergo a series of tests to ensure everything happening is real, causing all of his and Rick’s backup plans to become obsolete. Rick uses installed telepathy to tell Morty to run for it, and they both dive into the lava to fake their deaths. All believe that Morty sacrificed himself and that he and Rick are dead.
Rick’s sustained growth from previous episodes shone through and was the highlight of “A Rick in King Mortur’s Mort.” Their collaborative scenes had some genuine emotion, and Rick finally felt like a character hoping to help his grandson, becoming the figure we want him to ultimately be without losing his ability to be cruel, condescending, and hilarious. The rest of the events of the episode were quite ridiculous and entertaining, but it still felt like they came out of nowhere. The immediacy of the solar war and the procedure’s authentication spawn conveniently.
Rating 7.5/10