#evil morty theory

[jolly-lo]

Okay, I wanna play with theory about Evil Morty's origin too.

It's definitely implied that Morty didn't put mind controlling tech in his own mind himself. He was shown creating some stuff in his room, but there was no scalpels or med kits ready, nothing that could possibly imply that he was going to fuck around with his own brains. So, with almost one hundred percent certainty we can say that it was something one of his previous Ricks did.

And I fucking BET that Puppet Master Rick (the one who installed tech in Morty's brain) was Evil Morty's first Rick (either assigned if Morty is a clone or blood related if he isn't, which is irrelevant to the theory), the same guy Morty referred to as 'super weird' if we accept that Rick's scale in season 1 is a real thing.

I bet they started as a regular Rick and Morty, just this Rick got his megaseeds early on and experimented. Probably figured out how to use them in mind controlling devices, since they obviously have a huge impact on human brains in both railing them up and slowing them down. Then he set the first implant into Morty, and for some time this probably was just a running cruel joke, to stop Morty's body or make it move again. Nothing big, just a first step to the abyss.

But then things got out of hand. As we know, Ricks are fast to fall for a new vice, and such power over others is a strong one. Most likely he got the whole family under control (if it was his blood related Morty) or extended the control on other people/aliens/Ricks (if it was a clone Morty and they didn't settle at some random Smith house). Both cases lead to him gaining more power through mind controlling people around him, and eventually it would drive him insane. As Rick C-137 stated about hiveminds, no human brain can keep itself together while controlling millions of people, and it's common for Ricks to try to hack the system for their advantage but also failing by overstepping their abilities. Not too surprising if our Puppet Master Rick tried to play the game on Unity level but completely lost it, and maybe that was the moment when Morty got his chance to act.

I doubt that Evil Morty could kill his Rick, at least by his own hands at given moment and state. It was too dangerous to even try, since the consequences of a failure might've been incredibly vile. Maybe he even tried to get out without a murder attempt once or twice, got punished, and figured that he has to built a patience, become calm and calculating in order to go through this whole situation and come out of it alive and free.

My best guess is that he arranged an accident involving a portal gun, since we know that Morty is able to fuck with portal guns settings and hack them, but what also is really important, Citadel Guard Ricks appear when a portal gun owned by a Rick who got it from the Citadel gets damaged. So, they may refer to this case as the case when they saw this technology before and that's how Morty got [back] in the system of Mortys adoption and also found out that his Rick was a 'weird one', because this tech isn't something widely used among other Ricks (guard Ricks were familiar with the concept but still surprised to see it, which indicates it's oddity).

Also being mind manipulated by his very first Rick and being able to escape anyways can explain Evil Morty's ability to stand up to other Ricks, even if he's scared shitless of them. He's aware of their potential, he knows the extremes, but also knows them at their lowest, they just can't scare him further. There is nothing they can take away from him that wasn't taken away before in the most violating manner by the person he was supposed to trust.

I've seen this technology before

...Have we... really considered the implications of this?

The first possibility is that the creators of Rick and Morty kinda made certain things up as they went along (which makes sense) and this was simply Evil Morty's introduction: he's clever, he's ruthless, he can perform mind control. Cool. Spooky.

The second possibility, if Evil Morty's whole arc is planned from the very beginning and he's always been intended to be an overarching villain/antihero (honestly, it feels this way) is that in some point in the past there was either (at least one) Villain Of The Week (let's call him Random Puppetmaster Villain) or a Rick (let's call him Puppetmaster Rick) who would puppeteer people to promote his own agenda.

The Citadel Ricks examining Evil Rick had evidently no clue who could have been puppeteering Evil Rick. This can be read in two ways:

A) Random Puppetmaster Villain/Puppetmaster Rick is still at large, never been caught. The Citadel Ricks have no idea where to even begin looking. Evil Morty would likely know who it is.

I feel like this theory has some basis plot-wise, given that with Rick Prime dead and the Intergalactic Federation gone we're sorta running out of overarching villains.

B) Random Puppetmaster Villain/Puppetmaster Rick is dead, his villain lair destroyed, all his mooks defeated. The Citadel Ricks are like "wtf, what's this up now?" as all possible leads are long gone. They have no idea who could possibly be using the same technology now.

This theory has some basis if we consider the fact that Evil Morty does not appear particularly scared--just angry. His motivation to leave was because he was sick of being trapped with Ricks, not because he was worried a past enemy might hunt him down. I guess one possibility doesn't rule out the other (you can be scared and angry at the same time) but Evil Morty seems to be the living incarnation of the toxicity of the Rick-Morty dynamic; nudging that on the side with a generic being-a-victim-to-a-villain backstory feels very disappointing.

I guess in theory both possibilities could be true; Puppetmaster might have been defeated, Evil Morty might, along everyone else, think the dude (or dudette) is dead, but that person could have escaped.

There is also the possibility that Puppetmaster and Evil Morty parted in good-ish terms with each other, so one has no reason to fear the other.

C) Evil Rick was the Puppetmaster. I feel this is unlikely, same as I feel it is unlikely that Evil Rick was ever physically abusive with Evil Morty, despite Evil Morty's reaction to his yells. If he was in habit of hitting Evil Morty (or worse), I doubt Evil Morty would have worked up the courage to get in his face over something as mundane as a shitty (literally lol) adventure. (Other Ricks might have been though, which would explain Evil Morty's reaction).

IN ANY CASE

Evil Morty had the... good fortune (?) to interact with this person in the past. In the same way Morty Prime is used to disarming neutrino bombs drunkenly assembled by Rick C-137, Evil Morty was experienced enough to successfully perform brain surgery on Evil Rick. This is supported by Evil Morty's large range of brain-related abilities, and I'm not referring to the manipulation:

1. Performing brain surgery on at least two Ricks. It wasn't a one-time thing. He did it with Evil Rick, and he did it again when he was running for president:

Look at the Rick in the picture: he doesn't have the eye bags nor mouth scar that Evil Rick had, and Evil Morty is wearing his Candidate Suit.

It's unclear if Evil Morty set his assistant up for a failed assassination attempt to gain votes through sympathy, or if someone had really been keeping tabs of him... But whichever is true, I can totally see any people in the know being afraid to speak up: any of the Ricks accompanying Evil Morty might in reality be puppeteered by Evil Morty. Some of the guards that shot the District Ricks might have been Evil Morty. The Ricks that approved of him participating in the campaign run might have been Evil Morty. Good luck speaking to anyone; you risk basically confessing to Evil Morty.

2. Scanning Rick C-137's entire brain (when he finished this in the Citadel, he did it with no visible apparatus, I might add).

3. Scanning dead Ricks' entire brains. You'd think that the death would deteriorate the memories, but nope. Evil Morty was good to go.

4. Being able to instantly scan another person's brain and find out what they're planning:

5. Creating small devices that can instantly hijack robotic brains and enslave them to his own will:

6. Downloading specific data from another person more-or-less on the spot:

I mean, that wasn't even Evil Morty's tablet! He threw it away after he was done, and it seems that he had hastily wrecked Rick Prime's control room to hook him up with some cables so he could get what he wants.

(Interesting that he didn't bother downloading Rick Prime's insta-healing ability though; one with think that it'd be quite a catch, but Evil Morty apparently does not want to be able to live forever)

I mean, we've seen the Galactic Federation going into a lot of trouble to get Rick C-137's interdimensional travel secret, and those weird little dudes that specialized on simulations going to equally lot of trouble just to get Rick C-137's concentrated dark matter recipe.

They'd all wish they had the same abilities Evil Morty has, it'd all be over in a jiffy.

SO.

What I'm concluding when taking all the above into consideration is that Evil Morty was at some point paired with a Rick who specialized in brain control. Evil Morty got to observe the surgeries, assist in the surgeries...

...and have a surgery done to him.

Because he might be able to perform brain surgery on an incapacitated Rick, but I doubt he'd be able to do it to himself in his bedroom.

He had no trouble hooking his own cables with the eyepatch, even though the cables were sticking out of his freaking eye. He knew how to connect them. He knew how to make the eyepatch work. He knew what he was doing. This was all familiar to him.

And given that once he became fed up with Evil Rick he acted with no hesitation, it's clear that he had already considered this technique as a possible way out, and up to then had been simply deciding against it.

Now.

Best case scenario. BEST CASE:

Evil Morty was simply one of the Puppetmaster's experiments. (No hard feelings.) After all, Evil Morty had no transmitter in his skull. He had to hook up one externally. This means that Puppetmaster never considered him a partner; Evil Morty was never given free reign to puppet others. He was one of the people being puppeteered.

It's unclear whether Evil Morty has a receiver of his own still stuck somewhere in his brain (I mean, if Puppetmaster's transmitter is destroyed, I guess that Evil Morty would stop receiving orders and he'd be free) although even if that's the case, I'm sure once he became president and got access to more superior tech he'd make sure to fix this possible contingency.

The cables sticking out of his freaking eye kinda point out to Puppetmaster connecting Evil Morty to a machine while immobile (especially if Evil Morty was the initial experiment, needed updates, maintenance, etc) or having him wear a mook mask or helmet of some sort. Those cables are not really easy to use otherwise. Or maybe there was a receiver once in his skull, was later removed (e.g. once Puppetmaster was defeated) but the cables hooking up the removed receiver to his brain have remained.

Worst case scenario:

Evil Morty was not simply an experiment, but one of the people regularly puppeteered. Theoretically possible, although given that Ricks don't think highly of Mortys, and that Mortys usually do what they're told (a clone Morty with nowhere else to go even more so), I'm not really sure what kind of things Puppetmaster thought Evil Morty would be useful for and thought that the best way to get obeyed was literal brain control.

In any case, this wasn't just "a body modification" nor "just an implant", in the same way that Morty Prime can turn into a boat or breathe in space. This is a lot, A LOT more intrusive.

In conclusion:

Possible villain still at large.

Someone hug Evil Morty ASAP.

[miami-lolz]

Rick and Morty Finale Theory’s/Predictions

inspired by posts by @fear-no-mort please check them out!!

The Freaky Morty Theory

The Freaky Morty Theory is that at some point either during or after episode 5, Evil Morty switched places with Morty Prime. There are some actual bases for this, and users have been collecting a decent amount of possible evidence for this reveal!

- Morty acting almost pre-season 4, like a Morty that hasn’t properly interacted with a Rick in a while

-Flinching significantly more then usual. In a flashback it implies Evil Mortys Rick was abusive which checks out

-the smug look. Don’t get me wrong Morty also has a chronic resting bitch face and smug I told you so look, but it has been a lot more prominent in the last couple of episodes

There’s a lot more to this but the basis is somehow they switched, and the season finale would be the time for the reveal.

If you are interested, @sadiecoocoo and @glitteringcrab have much more in-depth stuff about it!

personally, I want this theory to be true. It opens a lot of doors and would be a fantastic cliffhanger and segway to a more Morty-oriented episode or season.

Ricks Deepest Fears

His Fear Of Morty

Ok, so there are a lot of ways this can go. But here's in my opinion the most likely avenue;

Rick would absolutely never admit it, but part of Morty scares him. We see it on his face during the Purge episode, and more frequently during the last few seasons. But I think the reason he dogs on Morty and tries to keep his confidence low is because Rick knows how dangerous he can be when motivated enough. Morty is more aware than most and Rick picks up on that. He is scared one day Morty will grow up to be like him, bitter and angry. He sees it in him now and can't blame anyone else. Now with everything with Prime, I think Rick fears Morty will grow up not just like him, but like Rick Prime specifically. He'll get angry and lash out, do something drastic in revenge for all the ways Rick has wronged Morty throughout the years. Morty will realize what he's capable of and leave, and Rick couldn't really blame him.

His fear of Rick Prime

This one is probably what's gonna happen. Since Rick definitely didnt get closure from killing Prime, this could be his chance. To get over his fear of Rick Prime, of what he represents and what he is capable of. This episode might be his chance to a means to an end.

His fear of losing everyone else

Another huge one would be his fear of the Smith family dying the same way his family did. Rick has kind of detached himself but it’s no secret that he cares. He’s especially fond of the version of the Smiths he lives with now. Even admitting Summer reminds him of Diane. To lose them would absolutely devastate him. Maybe this episode will be him trying to finally heal from his fear of losing everything all over again and being alone.

Mortys Deepest Fears

His fear that Rick will kill him too.

Now I know how this sounds, but I thought, that would be interesting to see if one of Morty's fears is that Rick C-137 tries to kill him. Now I know that sounds out of character since WE know Rick would never but think about it, it’s not said but almost implied he probably could have fixed the prime universe from being Cronenberg but chose not to because it wasn’t his family, it was Primes. And I think Morty is smart enough to figure that out once he found out Prime was really his Rick.

He also compared Morty to his biological Rick multiple times, then basically beat his biological Rick to death with Morty to practically witness it. Now obviously Morty doesn’t blame Rick for hating Rick Prime and frankly Morty doesn’t seem to like Rick Prime either. But subconsciously I wonder if he thinks he’s the last strand, that Rick will one day finish what he started. it’s pretty clear C-137 would absolutely never actually kill him, but could you imagine him finding out Morty fears him

His fear of being alone

Morty has become detached in the past few seasons, and you can’t really blame him. His own Jerry seemed to get frustrated when he offered to get him a “new” Beth and Summer. Like they were toys he could just swap out. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. He does. He defends Summer and his parents. His love is like a dog, it’s unconditional so no matter what he still loves Rick even after everything he put him through. So he was angry and upset when he left. Even afterwards, when Summer brought up”The Crow Thing” Morty got visibly upset. He even tried to manipulate Rick to come back. If a representation of that comes up, this could be a chance for him to give faith to Rick and his family that he won’t be left behind.

[mortricken]

imo evil morty is a clone. i feel like he's had multiple ricks before, especially considering the language he uses in the opening of unmortricken. i dont think evil rick was his first rick. i may be wrong but it feels correct to me yk?

[thoughts-and-gayers]

here's how the freaky mortys theory can still win. (aka, what i'm calling the friendly mortys theory.)

(carrying over a lot of connections made by @trucknoisettes and @glitteringcrab)

so, its no secret that evil morty tends to play up his 'mortyness' when he needs to appear innocent. most recently seen in unmortricken, where he pretends to be morty prime and the first words out of his mouth are "aw jeez".

its also no secret that morty's been ping-ponging a bit between s1/2 personality and s5/6 personality.

i posit that the moments where he's seen acting more like the cliche morty is the moments where its actually evil morty overcompensating, and the moments where he actually acts like morty prime are, yknow, morty prime.

this would, of course, require that they be swapping places off-screen throughout season 7.

or, and this is where i get full tinfoil-hat, theyve been doing it even longer than that.

while rick was off having his anime crow arc in season 5, morty was doing... something. the show doesnt really dwell on it, except mention that morty was on the citadel at some point. its entirely possible that morty got to talking with people on the citadel, maybe even making some friends. maybe one of those friends just so happened to be the president.

evil morty didnt have a clear reason to invite our rick and morty to dinner before he destroyed the citadel. i doubt that he had a soft spot for rick c-137, but maybe, just maybe, he had a soft spot for morty prime. the morty who stood up to his rick and had been complaining about being left by him only a few days ago.

obviously morty hadn't known EM's actual plan. he probably didnt know too much about EM at all. but there's no way that EM, the character who just wants to be alone, would invite a total stranger along with him out of the cfc.

but no. morty declined.

what if the second seat wasnt a toilet. what if he had built a second seat in order to take morty with him, but lied to protect his reputation.

so imagine, our morty, morty prime is reeling from everything that happened. and as horrified as he is, maybe he also understands. just a little bit.

and evil morty, he built his base, he's finally left alone, but maybe he's also a bit lonely. after all, the robot butler also clearly was programmed for conversation.

so, maybe partway through season 6, evil morty talks to morty prime. they make up. they agree to switch places on occasion. after all, morty needs a break from all the bullshit sometimes, and EM is probably curious what morty's family, and indeed rick c-137, is actually like.

and so when evil morty comes to that base where rick and morty are, morty obviously isnt going to act like they know each other. so he overcompensates just like EM can, but in the other direction.

like, come on, can you really believe that morty prime would act like that with no provocation? he may have a violent side, but it doesnt just come out of nowhere. and yes, the blood vortex was horrifying, but clearly EM isnt here to attack either of them right now.

now, if he was, say, exaggerating his dislike of EM so rick wouldnt get suspicious, then this makes a lot more sense. morty's not really a good liar! in fact, they could even be swapped right then! this seems more like what EM would say in this situation, doesnt it?

now, while i was reading @trucknoisettes unmortricken analysis, i was wondering why morty would jump from being openly hostile to EM to agreeing to temporary mind control, but if the hostility was all an act? if he already had some precedent for trusting EM? well, a whole lotta things start making sense.

so, to summarize this wild speculation:

- evil morty and morty prime have been friends since after season 5 episode 9

- at some point in season 6, evil morty made up with morty off-screen.

- after making up, the two of them started switching places on occasion throughout season 6 and 7

- morty prime's hostility to evil morty in 7.5 was an act

and perhaps ive taken a few too many liberties, but yknow. i'm here to have fun and ship evil morty x morty not make perfect sense.

[garndiddlious]

if it makes you freaky morty truthers feel any better, in the poster morty has “blood” on his cut shirt, and we see them in a similar pose in the actual episode (it’s also in the last episode but whatever) with no blood on him. if you need a refresher, evil morty is the one who actual got shot and actually has that shirt and injury, not prime Morty.

[mortysbiggestfan]

If you think about it Evil Morty coming back in season 7 would be kinda tragic

In s6e1 we see everybody getting teleported back to their original reality.This makes it safe to assume that if the team wanted to bring evil morty back right now they’d have to make him also fall victim to this.I mean there’s little chance he’d willingly come back otherwise.

Now IMAGINE his rage when he finds himself back in the central finite curve AND finds out the rift’s been closed-we’re not only talking about years of work and sacrifice down the drain but also about him literally being stuck again LMAO

[borbzaby]

Anybody else think that our Rick is either going to end up being Rick Prime or is going to have to use The Omega Device to wipe himself out across all realities?

but hey. That’s just a theory.

[sadiecoocoo]

I’ve seen a lot of ppl talking abt the freaky Morty theory, and I’ve noticed some ppl saying that it might just be a thing that both mortys consented to… and I just gotta say, if Rick finds out abt that… he’s gonna completely lose his shit and spiral into the worst place possible… and I kinda wanna see it happen

Okay but like, I can just imagine Morty stealing Rick’s portal gun and showing up at EMorty’s mansion and being like “yo, wanna do something really fucked up so I can get a vacation?” And then he just goes with it, he just causes silent chaos that is yet to be discovered by the rest of the family (which is kinda depressing but we won’t get into that yet)!

I wanna see that happen tho. I want someone to find out, the entire family to panic, screaming at EMorty to give them back Morty, and then he’d just calmly call Morty and tell him that the jig is up. And then Morty would just walk through a portal and be like “hey, what’s up, I had a rlly great vacation :)” and then he high fives EMorty and then EMorty just flips off the family and leaves… can this please happen? Cuz it would be way too funny and still mentally scar a lot of ppl!

cuz like, Rick is gonna be going through it when he finds out, he’s gonna wonder if Morty hates him or something and he’s gonna be terrified that Morty would run away again…

I don’t even know what point I was trying to make here, I just want Morty and EMorty to create some chaos very calmly and then pretend everything is normal afterwards

[smartestmammalintheuniverse]

In the Kuato episode, the man that leads Summer to the kidnappers, mirrors some of Morty and Summer’s crushes/love interests

For Summer

For Morty

[glitteringcrab]

Yeaaaaaaaaaah, that's Evil Morty all right, @trucknoisettes's theory is correct, at least concerning the moment they switched, regardless of how they did it.

Check.

This (slowed down gif).

Out.

Need me to go slower?

No? Need me to isolate the frame?

Someone has a forcefield on.

Someone's cover is about to get blown away if he doesn't hastily retreat behind the cut primebot.

(At least, I hope he's worried about his cover getting blown away instead of his forcefield finally fizzling out by the last blow, because him being worried about getting shot again would mean his forcefield has a limit... of what... 7 shots? 8-10, if we count the laser as stronger than a regular bullet?)

Anyway, all this would in turn mean...

(Mind you, this is the first frame of him right after he shoots the hostile primebot.)

THE LIAR.

[miami-lolz]

WE MIGHT BE GETTING MORE EVIL MORTY IN THE LATER SEASONS LETS GOOO

[graybluejay]

I keep wondering to myself, did Prime learn how to STAY young or did he figure out a way to BECOME young?

Did he leave his universe because he found a clue to become immortal? What is the difference between other Ricks and Prime? What made him become the “Rickest Rick”?

Well, if he somehow learned how to STAY young, something must’ve happened that made him wayyyyy ahead of other Ricks. (Almost) all the Ricks in the Citadel and Prime’s universe share the same timeline. Then, what made him leave his family early than others? And why did he think it was a good idea to “team up” with Ricks? What did he find out that made him take action?

It is more believable if he figured out a way to BECOME young. If so, he probably made himself young in the future and time-traveled to the past to “team up” with Ricks. If he did time-travel back, he probably managed to deal with the time paradox thingy. Maybe he somehow figured out a way to re-set the multiverse except himself. Maybe he saw something in the future and wanted to change it.

If the theory above us true, then he might not be that bad. Maybe he thought that killing one Rick’s family wasn't that much of a deal since he saw way worse things in the past. And C-137 most likely wasn’t one of the smartest Ricks in the future since he probably would’ve chosen his family over science if Prime didn’t intercept.

Woah, I got carried on wayyyyyyy too much... Lol. It was fun imagining this.

I’m sorry for not posting for a long time! I was busy with schoolwork and my major. My final term ends in a few days, so I’ll try to post more frequently after. Thank you! :D

[laziestfox]

I hope Mortys progression in the show is similar to evil Morty's. But only in terms of confidence and capability. It would be so freaking cool if Morty prime can get to a higher level in fighting capacity. The more seasons go by the better he seems to get at helping rick. Even in this fight he was miles above of where he started off at in season 1. Imagine how sweet it would be in season 12 or something if he starts taking over in fights, staying calm, and outwitting his opponants.

[fear-no-mort]

just found out about freaky morty theory Holy fuck

[sadiecoocoo]

We’re gonna look rlly stupid if the freaky Morty theory just isn’t a thing at all… like we’re all over analyzing every move that Morty makes, trying to see what seems wrong abt him… what if he’s just in a silly goofy mood tho? What if we’re the crazy ones?

Im gonna die laughing if there’s jsut nothing related to the freaky Morty theory in cannon, like the shows just gonna be like “nope you guys r all crazy, Morty is perfectly fine <3”

I rlly want this theory to be true cuz there’s so much to do with it, but it just seems so insane it’s probably just a mass hysteria or something lmao

[cass-rambles]

Hiii guys, after my last .. uh theory thingy I'm back to ramble more. (About mostly Morty Prime this time). Because I'm very normal about R&M I promise. :D

Anyways! (Major spoilers for season 7 ahead!!!)

I've been thinking about season 7 again, as well as the earlier seasons, and I've got a few ideas/possibilities/plot bunnies of what the writers of Rick and Morty might do for Morty.

The thing is, season 7 had somewhat really juggled Morty's character back and forth between its development and regression for Unmortricken, giving more light to the rest of the Smith family and Rick. I don't mean to phrase this negatively, but compared to earlier seasons, Morty seems to more of just being there, not taking into mind the episodes w Rick Prime and episode 10 of the latest season.

And this brings me to my point: What will they do with Morty's character and development now?

Let's take all things into consideration:

Rick Prime is gone/dead (hopefully permamently but it could be an interesting throwback)

Rick C-137 can be now actively allowed to heal

There is nothing (particularly) endangering their whole family

Evil Morty returned to his paradise island and there doesn't seem to be a strong/certain reason for him to return to the Central Curve

So the new arc, by technicality, should consist of Morty's and Rick's healing, right? Right???

That's what I thought of at first, but there's a good chance it's not as clear as it may appear.

For example, let's talk about the last episode of season 7. Throughout all of it we have the dissection of Rick's and Morty's fears, even as far as having an accurate Diane in it. It portrays how many fears and worries Morty Prime has accumulated through the seasons, including, of course, not being accepted, his fear of being replaced (THANKS RICK <3🙄) and many more. My point here is, that his trauma runs deep, it's hard-rooted into his character and almost unmovable. The most fucked up thing about it in the ep, is that Morty receiveing positive attention from Rick, is what made him realize that he's the only one in the hole. Because he doesn't believe Rick would consciously describe him as an irreplacable person in his life.

Which brings me to one of my key-thought-out-problems. Can Morty Prime even heal properly, at least around his family?

Chances are: it might be a HUGE FUCKING ISSUE.

(To be fair here, I'm not an entirely objective theorizer, even though I'm trying to stay as neutral as I can, please take my ideas with a grain of salt.)

Morty Prime actively thinks that all healthy affection he receives from Rick isn't actually received from Rick (most likely paranoia from the Rickbot arc) or that he's in a scenario in which his family isn't real. His counsciousness has already started to agree and intertwine into his approach all of the things and actions that have previously hurt the teen. (For example, if his family lashes out at him, he's being ridiculed or hurt by them to some degree, then it must mean they're real. It is an objective truth.) And it makes me think that Morty may need to be away from his family to be able to acknowledge each of his traumatic experiences in order to attempt moving on from them.

I think that Morty in order to heal, will have to learn that he doesn't have to focus on others all the time and can learn how to depend on himself, because he lacks trust even in his own thoughts. And so far, Morty has barely digested his trauma, more of "shelving" it away for later or having occasional meltdowns once he's under too much pressure. He always seems to be stuck in survival mode in some way, meaning that his brain prioritizes keeping him alive, rather then caring for the damage.

So by those thoughts, it is a possibility that Rick's healing and Morty's healing, cannot partake side by side, and therefore may result in Morty leaving his family to achieve healthy progress.

Either way, this is all just speculating and my ideas, but I hope it helped some people in their own theories. (My inbox is VERY open to rambling about R&M in ANY WAY.)

(Side idea for my enjoyment: Morty leaving his family can play into the theory that Morty Prime may actively search out Evil Morty to understand how he can achieve a process and goal in which he doesn't "cling" to his family and Rick.)