Warning: Spoilers for Rick and Morty season 6, episode 10.The Robot Rick twist in Rick and Morty season 6's finale resoundingly refutes Evil Morty’s season 5 argument that Rick is inherently incapable of being nice to Morty. Genius scientist and perpetual nihilist Rick Sanchez has a long history of being incredibly mean to his grandson, Morty Smith. While it’s always been clear their relationship is atypical, season 5 delivered some hard truths about the titular Rick and Morty characters straight from Evil Morty himself.
Evil Morty annihilated the Central Finite Curve in Rick and Morty's season 5 ending, but he also came close to permanently annihilating the relationship between Rick and Morty. Season 5, episode 10, "Rickmurai Jack," revealed Mortys are literally "bred for forgiveness" and callously used by Ricks as needed. It was further evidence that corroborated claims made by both Evil Rick and Evil Morty that Ricks are simply unable to care about their Mortys. Although Rick and Morty season 6 mostly reverted to the status quo, the finale’s Robot Rick twist did bring closure to Evil Morty's cunning season 5 monologue.
How Robot Rick Proved Evil Morty Was Wrong
Rick and Morty season 6’s finale begins with a suspiciously agreeable Rick doing uncharacteristically nice things for Morty and the rest of the Smith family, even Jerry. A "perfectly vertical" lightsaber mishap leads to the reveal that Rick built a Robot Rick to distract Morty while he continues hunting for the Rick who killed his wife. Building a robot of himself might normally seem like a very Rick thing to do, but it’s notable that Rick also mentions he programmed Robot Rick to be “22% more thoughtful” and generally nicer to Morty.
It's true there’s a functional utility in building a Robot Rick that is more agreeable and likable for Morty. However, the fact that Rick built a nicer Robot Rick speaks volumes given the circumstances. Rick is consumed by a relentless quest for vengeance, and he’s also aware that Morty has shown an increasing lack of reverence for his grandpa’s shenanigans in season 6. After all that, and even perhaps because of that, Rick goes out of his way to do something genuinely nice for Morty.
Rick & Morty Is Right To Make Rick's Character Development Complicated
Rick's character development has always been fertile territory for deeper analysis, and deservedly so. It’s arguably the defining example of Rick and Morty’s broader, deeper themes, and it’s quite apt that Rick’s complex relationship with Morty is commonly used to contextualize Rick’s growth (or lack thereof). Only Rick Sanchez could take the linear act of building a nice robot for his grandson and mutate it into something with multiple, disparate branches of meanings and outcomes.
One thing that certainly isn’t linear is character development, and Rick and Morty understands that. Evil Morty wasn’t completely wrong when he said Rick can only be mean to Morty. People generally don’t change; they are who they are. If that’s true, Rick and Morty’s Robot Rick twist in season 6 means Evil Morty was right, but Rick can change. Or, just maybe, there’s always been a single, still-smoldering layer of warmth deeply buried beneath the many other layers that make up Rick Sanchez.