All the Morty deaths and Rick rebirths: ‘Rick and Morty’ S4E1

Wubba lubba dub dub! Following an absolutely grueling two-year hiatus, Rick and Morty returned on Nov. 10th with its long-awaited season four premiere. Fans of the Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon show finally get to dive deeper into the show’s ever expanding multiversal mythology. 

Rick and Morty fans, who have come to expect complex meta-commentary, were pleased the show’s just as Rick and Morty as ever. In its wildly dystopian and brutal style, “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat” confronts the new season with a self-referential nod to the utter ridiculousness of the simpler Rick and Morty of years prior. 

Before we get too deep into things, we’re going to leave you with a spoiler warning for the episode. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. 

Rick takes Morty along (after – ugh – having to ask permission) to gather death crystals on a distant planet. Morty sees how he’ll die in one of the crystals: in comfortable old age with his beloved Jessica. In order to make sure this future comes to pass, Morty accidentally causes Rick’s death.

As this is Rick and Morty, the death doesn’t last too long. Operation Phoenix kicks in, allowing Rick to have his consciousness uploaded into a clone in another universe. This sends Rick into a cycle of dying and rebirth, taking him on the journey to some of the more horrible parts of the multiverse. (Somehow non-fascist wasp universe is more disgusting than the fascist universes. Close call, but still.)

While Rick goes through this multiversal journey, Morty becomes obsessed with securing the original future that he saw in the death crystal. Of course, he’s become so obsessed with it that his future changes from the original peaceful death he envisioned.

This is all just a commentary on desire for “classic” Rick and Morty adventures versus new ones. Within that commentary, we got to see some pretty hilarious ways to die along the way.

Isn’t that just classic Rick and Morty, in the end? 

Rick’s multiversal rebirth journey

Morty refuses to listen to Hologram Rick’s instructions on cloning his grandfather in their universe. Rick is reborn on a Nazi earth with Nazi Rick and Nazi Morty nearby. He watches as Nazi Morty kills Nazi Rick, calling him “too political” and proclaims he wants to have “classic Rick and Morty adventures, like in the old days.” 

Rick is able to kill Nazi Morty, but the effort also kills him as well. How? Rick is ejected into the cold, unforgiving vacuum of space during the confrontation. Rick’s a tough mofo, but that would definitely do it.

The next time Operation Phoenix brings Rick back, he’s a shrimp person. (Just go with it. You know Rick and Morty.) The shrimp people that populate the new reality are also fascists. Rick meets his end fairly quickly.

If you thought fascist shrimp people were the nadir, say hello to fascist teddy bears. What takes the cake, however, is the fourth reality that Rick finds himself in. Thankfully, no fascists are running around. Well, at least that we and Rick know of. There are wasp people though. Let’s just say we never need to think about how they eat ever again.

Original flavor Rick returns after Morty goes full-on Akira and accidentally fuses himself with living dark matter. Hologram Rick, Wasp Rick, and Regular Rick team up to un-Akira Morty. 

All the ways Morty is predicted to die

While Rick’s rebirths are definitely more fleshed out in S4E1, Morty’s own Dead Zone-esque visions courtesy of the death crystal move quickly, gruesomely, and hilariously. Anyone remember the song “Dumb Ways to Die”? It’d be appropriate for this list, which we’ve painstakingly assembled from custom death crystal stills.

• Morty cuts the wrong wire on a time bomb. 
• A car hits a barrel of toxic waste that dissolves Morty’s skin.
• Morty eats fishman food.
• Morty eats poison berries off a tree and his head explodes.
• Old Morty dies from a drug overdose as a young woman performs CPR.
• Morty is burned alive while gripping a fence, like in Terminator 2.
• Morty and Rick die in the trash compactor from Star Wars.
• A middle-aged Morty dies of a heart attack while on the toilet smoking a cigarette.

• A wizard throws daggers at Morty, who’s tied to a giant wooden target. 
• Morty trips down a flight of stairs.
• Morty is hit by a truck while crossing the street looking at his phone.
• A flock of multicolored alien birds eat Morty.
• A bearded Rick in suspenders plunges a pitchfork into Morty’s chest.
• While reaching for a book on the top shelf, Morty falls to his death.
• A naked Morty walks on an alien beach and gets giant welts on his face.
• Elevator doors close and decapitate Morty.
• While driving in a tiny orange sedan, a long piece of metal flies off the back of a truck and stabs Morty through the windshield.

• A man in a horned metal mask electrocutes Morty in an electric chair.
• The school bully smashes Morty’s head and his eyeballs ooze out.
• Morty jumps from the “Enter” button to the “@” button on a giant keyboard – and fails.
• The bully decapitates Morty by pinning his neck down with a trash can and jumping on top of it.
• The bully smashes Morty across the face with a fire extinguisher.
• The bully sticks an extremely sharp object down Morty’s throat.
• The bully sneaks up behind Morty in the shower and bashes his face into the shower head.