| “ | Hey, Ice-T, remember me? "G-Get Schwifty"? |
| — Morty |
"Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie" is the eighth episode of the seventh season of Rick and Morty. It is the 69th episode of the series overall. It premiered on December 3, 2023.[1] It was written by Rob Schrab and directed by Lucas Gray. This episode is rated TV-MA-LSV.
Synopsis[]
Morty's math class takes a surprising new turn when he and his math teacher Mr. Goldenfold go on an adventure with Goldenfold's old student, Water-T to battle the Numbericons.
Plot[]
The episode starts the exact same way as the post credits scene in "Get Schwifty", with Ice-T returning to Alphebetrium and Magnesium-J, Hydrogen-F and Magma-Q ending his exile and turning from Ice-T into Water-T. Lithium-P then informs them that Numbericons are attacking their planet, and a giant calculator spaceship is seen shooting lasers at the inhabitants of Alphabetrium. A rock then falls on Magma-Q, who before dying, gives Water-T a "prophecy or some shit." Water-T summons two guns, and while Magnesium-J tries to talk Water-T out of it by saying there are too many Numbericons, Water-T responds by saying he better "crunch the numbers." A title card shows displaying "Water-T and the Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie." He is then seen killing several Numbericons, and poses enough of a threat to them to force them to retreat. After setting up a bracket shield that a Numbericon ship crashes into, he is picked up in the Glyph Jumper by Lithium-P. Water-T shows him the prophecy, and Lithium-P explains that it is the "I" of Harmony, which holds a secret power but can only be translated by mathematicians. Water-T declares that there are going to Earth, for he knows a mathematician there.
On Earth, Mr. Goldenfold gives Morty detention for listening to hip-hop during class and says that hip-hop will never be used for the good of mankind. Suddenly, Water-T, in his human form, appears to the two of them. Although Water-T claims that he doesn't remember who Morty is, despite the latter trying to remind him about their previous episode, he does remember Goldenfold as his former math teacher. The two are on frosty terms though, as Goldenfold resents Water-T for not giving him his homework after all these years. Still, Water-T asks Goldenfold to help him decipher the "I" of Harmony as the fate of Alphebetrium rests on the latter's knowledge of math. Suddenly, a squad of Numbericons attack the school, led by Sinstar-7, to kill Water-T. With no other options, Water-T takes Goldenfold back to Lithium-P's ship, with Goldenfold dragging Morty with him because the latter is still in detention. Sinistar-7 races after the Glyph Jumper into space, but Lithium-P uses a Hyphen-Drive to speed away from the former.
Sinistar-7 returns the main ship and reports her failure in killing Water-T to her father Emperor Dread Nought. Dread Nought tortures Sinistar-7 as punishment and orders his daughter to find Water-T and give him the "I" of Harmony.
Meanwhile, Mr. Goldenfold takes a better look at the "I" of Harmony and sees that it has the Pythagorean Theorem etched onto the object. Goldenfold says he will try and decipher the message, but in exchange, he wants Water-T's homework. Water-T harshly agrees and leaves, causing Morty to ask his teach if there is more to this feud than math. Goldenfold said there was a time that Water-T was coming around to loving math, as he used a 4/4 time signature beat to help keep the time of his songs and managed to become a successful artist. However, something happened later that caused them to have a falling out, but Goldenfold refuses to tell Morty what it was. Goldenfold manages to solve the Pythagorean Theorem and locates a planet called Planet-E10. According to Water-T and Lithium-P, this planet was rumored to be the birth place of numbers and letters, and they decide to fly to the planet to see if there is something they can find. Water-T calls Oxygen-S and asks for reinforcements in their journey. But, once the call is finished, Oxygen-S secretly laughs diabolically.
Water-T's group makes it to Planet-E10, with the "I" of Harmony glowing and letting them know that they are on the right path. Suddenly, Sinstar-7 attacks from behind and both ships crash in a swamp. Water-T rescues Sinistar-7 from drowning in the swamp, though this leads to an argument that Mr. Goldenfold breaks up. The group is surrounded by the natives of Planet-E10 called Googas, but they recognize the "I" of Harmony on Water-T and invite them to an Ewok party in their village. As they party, Sinistar-7 learns that the "I" of Harmony originated from a relic close to the village and informs Water-T about her findings. This leads to the two bickering again, causing Morty to comment that they are not so different. Using the Googas' scribble like bodies as an example, Morty tries to tell Water-T and Sinistar-7 are the same and their species do not need to be fighting. However, the two blow off Morty.
The next day, Water-T wakes up to find Sinistar-7 and the "I" of Harmony missing, realizing that she went off on her own. Morty tries to get Mr. Goldenfold to come with Water-T and asks what really happened to cause their falling out. Goldenfold reveals that he was invited to the Governor's house for the 1991 Grammy Awards, back when the President was a State Governor, due to being a friend of Water-T. However, Water-T did not recognize Goldenfold or math in his acceptance speech, costing Goldenfold a new math wing for Harry Herpson High School. While sad to hear that, Morty convinces Goldenfold to help Water-T.
Water-T stops Sinistar-7 at the relic, causing a brief fight that leads into a sex session. Doing so however causes the "I" of Harmony to show them the true origins of their races. Before they can explore more of this revelation, Lord Dread Nought and his forces land on Planet-E10 and capture everyone except for Sinistar-7. Oxygen-S reveals that he has been working for Dread Nought the entire team, and reveals that his true identity is Eight. As Mr. Goldenfold and Water-T bicker, Morty comes to his teacher's defense as he calls out the latter for snubbing math at the Grammys. However, Water-T explains why he did not thank math: he was called out by Magma-Q for using math for his album and got accused of caring about himself. Dread Nought has Eight use the "I" of Harmony on the pedestal, but the latter absorbs the power and transforms into Infinity. Infinity vaporizes Dread Nought and takes control of the Numericons, having his forces return to Alphebetrium and destroy the world. Water-T expresses disappointment that Sinistar-7 is following Infinity, but she coldly comments that numbers and letters were never going to be together.
Water-T briefly turns back into Ice-T to free himself and the others. Thanks to the Googas repairing their ship using Sinistar-7's ship, they are able to fly back to Alphebetrium in the Glyph Jumper Extreme so they can stop Infinity.
Infinity destroys the brackets shield around Alphebetrium and has the Numericons attack the planet. However, it becomes clear that Infinity has become mad with power and starts killing his own men and young Alphebetrium. This horrifies Sinistar-7 and she demands that Infinity stops this mindless attack, but he shoots her ship down. The Glyph Jumper Extreme arrives to save Sinistar-7, who admits she was wrong in following Infinity and tells Water-T that the latter was also responsible in killing Magma-Q (the rock that killed him earlier turned out to be poisoned by Infinity). Water-T realizes that Morty was right all along, and tells Sinistar-7 that it is time for letter and numbers to unite. Using the power of hip-hop, they rally both races together to fight against Infinity, and the ghost of Magma-Q comes to help his son by turning Water-T into Magma-T. Magma-T reveals that he grabbed the "I" of Harmony before they left Planet-E10 and, as he and Sinistar-7 make out, the object turns into a large golden gun. Magma-T shoots Infinity in the dick, like he threatened to do earlier, and the latter explodes. With the battle over, Magma-T and Sinistar-7 consummate their new relationship as a new era for letters and numbers begins.
Sometime later back at Harry Herpson High School, Morty is gleefully doing his math homework having gained a new respect for math and gives it to Mr. Goldenfold. Magma-T who's also in the class gives Mr. Goldenfold his long overdue homework assignment. Despite giving a bad grade, Goldenfold is more than happy to finally receive it.
In the Post Credit Scene, rapper Ice Cube, who's revealed to be an alien called a Geomitron meets with Magma-T and Sinistar-7 to help save his home planet from an unknown force. The duo agree to help Ice Cube leading to a new movie called "Magma-T & Ice Cube in: Challenge of the Geomitrons."
Characters[]
Major characters[]
- Morty Smith
- Ice-T/Water-T/Magma-T
- Mr. Goldenfold
- Lithium-P
- Sinistar-7
- Magma-Q
- Oxygen-S/8/Infinity
- Numbericons
- Alphabetrians
Minor characters[]
- Magnesium-J
- Hydrogen-F
- Emperor Dread Nought
- Decimal Point
- Ice Cube
- The President
- Marvin D
- Jessica (cameo)
- Grace Smith (cameo)
- Principal Vagina (cameo)
- Googas
Deaths[]
Locations[]
- Parmesan dimension
- Alphabetrium
- Earth
- Harry Herpson High School
- Governor Curtis' mansion
- Grammy Awards Show
- E-10
- Numbericonia (Mentioned by Oxygen-S.)
Episode notes[]
Trivia[]
- This episode premiered a day after the 10th anniversary of the series.
- This is the first episode of the series to not feature Rick in any way, or even mention him.
- Likewise, this is the first episode to focus on Mr. Goldenfold.
- In addition, Jerry, Summer, and Beth also do not appear in this episode.
- This is the fifth episode of Rick and Morty to be rated TV-MA from the FCC, the first four being "Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate", "Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender", "Bethic Twinstinct", and "Unmortricken".
- In this episode, when a rock falls on Magma-Q, he gives Water-T the "I" of Harmony. However, in the same scene in "Get Schwifty", he does not do this, instead claiming he never should have turned his son into ice.
- It is possible that this is due to it being a different dimension, with the story happening with slight differences.
- Ice-T's father was named "Helium-Q" in The Art of Rick and Morty, but this episode decanonizes that by naming him Magma-Q. His voice actor is also changed to the actual Ice-T.
- Lithium-P was also named "Sulfur-P" in the book but this episode decanonizes the name as well.
- This is the fourth episode that does not include the classic intro. The first three were "Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate", "The Ricklantis Mixup" and "Rickmurai Jack".
- In celebration of Season 7, Pocket Mortys' weekly updates coincided with new episodes, including new avatars for players to collect. With the release of this episode came Mr. Goldenfold as an avatar, plus Lithium P Morty and Water T Morty to catch.
- This episode is currently the lowest rated Rick and Morty episode on IMDb with a score of 4.5.
- The cold open of the episode was previewed early at the Rick and Morty 10th Anniversary panel at San Diego Comic Con on July 21, 2023.
Errors[]
- When Water-T takes on Ice-T's form, a second "I" of Harmony appears on his neck.
Series continuity[]
- This episode is the follow-up to the post-credits scene of the Season 2 episode "Get Schwifty" which depicted the trailer for a movie called Water-T and the Rise of the Numbericons.
- It's revealed that Ice-T took several seasons to return to Alphabetrium.
- Magma-Q and Magnesium-J’s voices are redubbed by Ice-T and David Herman respectively instead of Justin Roiland.
- Morty is no longer a Kuato from the previous episode "Wet Kuat Amortican Summer".
Cultural references[]
- The episode's title is a reference to the general naming scheme of Rise of the ..., which occurs in many media such as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Rise of the Guardians, and Rise of the Planet of Apes to name a few.
- The sound Ice Cube makes in the post-credits scene is a reference to the famous (and almost identical sounding) transform sound effect popularised by the original 1980s Transformers TV show.
- The typography of the title card also seems to be a parody of the 1986 Transformers: The Movie using an almost identical font and stylised gradient to the Transformers movie title.
- There are several references to Star Wars in this episode.
- The primitive symbols take on the role of Ewoks, with them providing them shelter in the treetops, and Mr. Goldenfold even directly compares them.
- Magma-Q returns just like a Force ghost, which Water-T points out.
- Emperor Dread Nought is a reference to Emperor Palpatine.
- The Decimal Point is a reference to Salacious Crumb.
- The scene in the recording booth where the engineer, Marvin D calls Chuck D, is a reference to the movie Back to the Future where Marvin Berry calls Chuck Berry to demonstrate "that sound you were looking for", the song Johnny B Goode.
- Morty calls the symbols "primitive googas" which is a reference to Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon's short Googas.
- Numbericons is a play on Decepticons from Transformers. The Decepticon insignia was also previously shown on the fridge in the short Googas.
- The "I" of Harmony seems to be a pun on the Eye of Harmony, the power source of the Time Lords in Doctor Who.
- Sinistar-7 is a parody of the Marvel Comics character, Gamora.
Transcript[]
View a full transcript of this episode here.
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