“Rick and Morty” season 7 has been filled with devastating full circle moments for the show, and this finale’s no exception. Whereas “Unmortricken” ended with a twist on the ending to season 1’s “Rick Potion #9,” this episode ends with a twist on season 1’s “M. Night Shaym-Aliens!” The 2013 episode was all about Rick and Morty being trapped inside multiple layers of simulations, but the twist was that the Morty we’ve been following never existed. Rick was alone in the simulation the entire time (well, along with Jerry), talking to a version of Morty who was only there to trick Rick into giving the aliens the formula for portal travel.
In that episode, the Morty twist was a mild betrayal. It was clever, but it’s not like Rick was particularly devastated by it. He’d already figured it out before the aliens revealed it, and Rick got the last laugh in the end. “Fear No Mort” switches the twist around, however, and it makes for a much darker revelation. Morty relies on Rick far more than Rick relies on Morty, at least from a pure survival perspective, so the reveal that Morty’s trapped in the situation hits a lot harder than it did for Rick.
On the bright side, the episode’s final moments provide some hope for the duo. Although Morty’s Diane hallucination indicates that Morty would be genuinely upset by Rick finding happiness again and no longer needing him, Morty beating that level of the simulation implies he’s moved past that fear, at least to an extent. Rick returning to the attitude of his younger self is still a far-away, nearly-impossible goal, but it’s a little more believable now than it used to be.