Rick and Morty Season 7 has bucked a major trend with the series as it featured its very first episode without a single appearance from Rick! Rick and Morty has been going through a lot of changes this season especially as each episode have shown that the series is finding new directions to evolve in to stay fresh despite how many seasons there are. This includes several one-off adventures focusing on the many side characters, or fleshing out more of the canon that fans had wanted to see. But the newest episode actually does both despite seeming like yet another wacky episodic story.ย
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Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 8, “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” not only is a self-contained adventure paying off a joke cliffhanger from way back in the second season, but also fleshes out more of the backstories behind Mr. Goldenfold and Ice-T. But with the new adventure that sees Morty tagging along with the duo as Water-T faced off against the Numbericons, this was the first episode of the season (and of the series, really) without a single appearance from Rick.ย
Why Rick Was Absent From Rick and Morty
While there have been plenty of Rick and Morty episodes without appearances from Morty, it has not really been the same situation for Rick. Rick Sanchez has been such a pivotal part of the series’ world, that it previously seemed impossible to not feature him at all. But this has changed with the newest episode that sees Morty being the only member of the main cast represented with the rest of the episode being dedicated to Mr. Goldenfold and the fight between Alphabetrium and the Numbericons.ย
After defeating his nemesis earlier in the season, Rick’s role has notably been downplayed as Morty or Summer played the proactive part in bringing him into their respective stories. But without him at all, it’s certainly an interesting experiment to see if Rick and Morty’s extended cast is full of enough personality to hold an episode of their own. This could be a trend we see play out in future seasons of the series as it gets closer to its planned 100 episodes.ย
What did you think of a Rick and Morty episode without Rick? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!
