10 Rick And Morty Fan Theories That Change Everything
6. Rick Is Not The Original Rick C-137
There is another side to this theory, however. Say Rick did leave Morty to get eaten by aliens on this mysterious planet, there is more than one way to deal with the consequences, and it is something that we have even seen Rick do throughout the series before.
In Rick Potion #9, the titular duo end up messing up the entire world, turning everyone into Cronenbergs. The solution Rick finds is to locate another reality where their counterparts have recently died, slipping into their place and burying the evidence with the Smiths being none the wiser.
After Morty's death, instead of simply getting a replacement, Rick decided to search the multiverse for a reality in which that Rick was out of the picture. One that had, say, left his family 20 years ago and died since, allowing our Rick to simply slip into Earth C-137 and claim he is returning after all this time.
Granted, this seems less realistic than simply replacing Morty based on Rick's character, but we have seen tiny glimpses of emotion from the smartest man in the universe before.