Rick and Morty Season 5 finale release date, trailer, and plot for Episode 9
Is our dynamic duo “breaking up”?
The biggest surprise from Rick and Morty’s Season 5 episode "Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort" had nothing to do with the fact that we finally saw what happened at the Battle of Blood Ridge on Glapflap's third moon. Instead, the shocking moment came with the promo confirming the show would be on hiatus for several weeks leading up to the season finale.
When will that finale arrive? Here’s everything you need to know about the Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 9, from release date to plot details.
When is the Rick and Morty Season 5 finale release date?
In the promo that aired after Season 5 Episode 5, it was confirmed that the super-sized Season 5 finale would air on September 5 at 11 p.m. on Adult Swim.
Is there a Rick and Morty Season 5 finale trailer?
There is! Right after Episode 8 concluded, Adult Swim aired a promo. Morty returns through a green portal from some kind of solo adventure without Rick knowing. (He’s got one of Rick’s rifles strapped to his back.) Rick marked the fuel canister on the Portal Gun, so Morty refills it with some lime soda. They get into a fight after Rick confronts him, and the end result is that Rick will seemingly “replace” Morty with somebody determined by a very insulting prize wheel.
Options include Half a Paul Giamatti and a Bag of Meat, or will it be Sentient Shit? “Who is Rick without Morty?” the voice-over ominously asks. “Find out on the one-hour season finale.” Now that’s pretty ominous, isn’t it?
What is the Rick and Morty Season 5 finale episode title?
Don’t be fooled by the chaotic order in which these titles were revealed.
Trick question! The promo refers to it as a “one-hour season finale,” but a video posted to Twitter in May 2021 revealing all of the episode titles for Season 5 lists separate titles for Episodes 9 and 10. Unless something weird is going on and Episode 10 is some kind of epilogue, then Episode 9 is called “Forgetting Sarick Mortshall” and Episode 10 is called “Rickmurai Jack.”
It’s possible, even likely, that Adult Swim is airing the episodes back-to-back as a two-parter and calling it an hourlong season finale when in reality they’re separate episodes with an overarching plot. This would be a first for Rick and Morty, but plenty of other sci-fi shows, most notably Doctor Who, do two-parters with some regularity.
What do the Rick and Morty Season 5 finale episode titles mean?
The episode titles are obvious riffs on Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Samurai Jack.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a hilariously irreverent romantic comedy in which Jason Segel’s hapless but lovable musician gets dumped by famous actress Sarah Marshall (played by Kristen Bell). Then, while on a trip to Hawaii to recuperate, he bumps into Sarah with her new lover. Shenanigans ensue. (Could this episode be about Morty finally getting over Jessica? Or maybe Rick getting over one of his many interdimensional exes?)
Samurai Jack is a beloved animated series from visionary Genndy Tartakovsky that follows the titular hero, a warrior lost in time. He battles his way through a dark future so he may return to the past and undo the destruction wrought by the evil wizard Aku. Adult Swim also previously released an animated short that put Rick and Morty into a samurai setting. Could the Season 5 finale make that video canon?
What is the Rick and Morty Season 5 finale plot?
The beginning of the promo is likely the episode’s cold open, so Rick replacing Morty is probably the main plot hook at first. Rick and Morty often plays fast and loose with how closely episode titles reflect the story, but it’s fun to analyze nonetheless.
Episode 9 could essentially be a “Morty and Rick break up” episode where Rick takes someone else on an adventure. Kyle 2.0 would be a fun option. The first Kyle was a ghost-looking scientist who existed within Zeep Xanflorp’s Miniverse, who in turn lives inside the Microverse battery that powers Rick’s car. Sadly, Kyle 1.0 killed himself during “The Ricks Must Be Crazy” when he realized that he existed on a microcosmic level solely to be exploited by a person who was also being exploited.
Morty and Kyle 1.0 in “The Ricks Must Be Crazy.”
Here’s a theory: Rick recruits a new Kyle from inside his battery to become his Morty replacement, but while on an adventure, they bump into Morty in some fashion. Then they get in a huge fight and, before they get back together, Rick or Morty could be stranded in time and/or space with no way home. (That is, assuming Episode 10 is anything like Samurai Jack.)
It would also make a lot of fans go wild if Evil Morty finally emerged as a legitimate threat, and he’s the one that wreaks some kind of havoc that leads to a cliffhanger Season 5 ending. But again, this is all pure speculation that could be totally off-base. The only way to know for sure will be to tune in.
How to watch the Rick and Morty Season 5 finale
The simplest way to watch the Rick and Morty Season 5 finale is to do so live on Adult Swim via cable TV on September 5 at 11 p.m., so check your local listings. If you don’t have cable, your next best option is to get the login information from somebody that does.
Android, iOS, Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV all have the Adult Swim app through which you can watch a live stream when new episodes air. You can also use the apps to watch new episodes on-demand the next day. Similarly, you can go right to Adult Swim’s official website and log in using your cable provider credentials to watch on-demand or live.
If you don’t have those options and must watch the episodes ASAP, you can always purchase them from places like iTunes or Amazon. Your last option — based on the contracts we know between some bigger media companies — would be to wait until sometime between January 30 and February 6, 2022 when Season 5 is released on Hulu and HBO Max.
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