This Dark Rick And Morty Theory Would Explain A Major Plot Hole

"Rick and Morty" fans are nothing if not patient. Between Seasons 3 and 4, audiences endured a two-year gap between episodes. Season 4 was then bisected into two parts, with roughly a six-month break in the middle. Finally, Season 5 premiered one year later in June 2021. Luckily for fans, there's plenty more "Rick and Morty" on the horizon, with the gonzo sci-fi series having received a 70-episode order in 2018 (via Entertainment Weekly).

With all that time to mull over past episodes, "Rick and Morty" is understandably fertile ground for obsession and theorizing. This is the show, you'll recall, that spawned the great Szechuan sauce fiasco of 2017, not to mention an ever-growing number of Easter eggs and dimensions. With infinite universes, after all, come infinite "Rick and Morty" fan theories ... many of which are as dark as the series itself. Here's one theory that would explain the exclusion of a crucial character.

Even though "Rick and Morty" is ostensibly about the grandfather and grandson duo, Rick is the real central enigma. Over the course of its five seasons, "Rick and Morty" has been especially parsimonious in doling out personal information about Rick's backstory. What's clear from the jump, however, is that Rick is a widower. After a Season 3 ruse regarding the origins of Diane Sanchez's death, her backstory was validated in the Season 5 finale, confirming that she and Beth were in fact killed. Even as viewers learned more information about Diane's fate, the facts of which shifted in the hands of Rick's unreliable narration, one fact became glaringly clear to savvy Redditors: Diane never appears in any of the infinite alternate universes that Rick and Morty visit. 

Redditor u/man_bro420 posits that this is because Rick "can't cope with the death of Diane." u/Beezel_Pepperstack responds with an even more heartbreaking theory: "It's very possible that Rick avoids those dimensions intentionally." Wubba lubba dub dub indeed.

Interestingly, although Rick seems to distance himself from alternate Dianes, he clings to the universes in which Beth survives. In Season 5 Episode 8, "Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort," Rick meets a younger version of himself, who says, "You're one of those creeps who moves in with abandoned adult Beths? You live with a version of our dead daughter."

As "Rick and Morty" unfolds, the writers will in all likelihood continue to delve into Rick's psyche, perhaps revealing new insight into which universes he frequents, or doesn't. It's also entirely possible that "Rick and Morty" will flip the script yet again, invalidating any backstories we've come to regard as canon.