Rick and Morty Trying: to understand Mortyplicity

 

Many shows and films are created in such a way that as the storyline progresses we get invested in the characters and make an emotional attachment with them but then where Rick and Morty come which literally screws this concept. Especially episode "Mortyplicity" does it. It has crazy sci-fi and a chaotic plot. It doesn't give us much time to connect with one perspective. One minute you are viewing the perspective of one decoy family then the next minute another decoy family kills that family and your perspective changes. This cycle repeats so much that if I could count perspective shifts it would be more than 50 times over 20 minutes. It doesn't give a damn about the audience. Rick and Morty is such a universe where its character may be doing some crazy adventure at the time you are reading this. Maybe Morty is pregnant right now or the smith family is traveling through an interdimensional toilet or Rick and Morty may be inside doughnut cooking up something or their 3-dimensional world is extended up to the 32nd dimension. Nobody knows what is happening right now. We only see what Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon show us. They probably have an interdimensional cable, who knows.

Coming to "Mortyplicity", When Squids started killing decoys, Decoys started checking their decoys and learning that they are making decoys. That's making them seek out and run into other decoys, Making them realize they're decoys, Making them start to kill other decoys, Asimov cascade which is explained by Rick in the episode. Again, what is the Asimov cascade? Asimov cascade is a phrase that Rick himself made up in the universe. It refers to the decoys realizing they are decoys, resulting in a cascade of decoys killing other decoys. The idea of the Asimov cascade appears to be playing off the concept of Asimov's robot laws which is stated by Issac Asimov an American writer and professor especially known for sci-fi works.

Here’s a quick refresher of Asimov’s Laws. Scientific American recounted them in a 2017 article about why they probably wouldn’t ultimately protect humans:

• A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

• A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

• A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

Knowing the rule above it explains what is going in the episode or how things are plotted. But it doesn't tell us anything when the question changes from what to why. This means why Rick created decoys? Rick explains that squid people are trying to hunt him down, and since the Space Beth incident, he has created various decoy families in various places around the country to protect themselves from any possible killers attempting to murder the family. 

 

There is this guy Mr. Always wanted to be haunted who wear a target cloth and wants others to hunt him. He has two scenes in the episode one at the beginning which acts as a key to trigger the Asimov cascade and one at the end which brings the whole mess down. There is nothing much explained about this character in the episode. I think he is one of those Rick's friends or enemies from another dimension or planet.

Although this episode was too chaotic and difficult to understand it was one of those substantial episodes of Rick and Morty. What was your thought regarding this episode and if you know more about "Mortyplicity" please comment down below?