Snake Planet

Lore & Background

The snake planet is home to sentient snakes who have built a technological society, including a Snake Pentagon and Snake MIT. The snakes are initially divided by a race war, but Morty's attempt to atone for killing a snake astronaut by buying another snake from a pet store and sending her to the planet causes the snakes to discover she is not from their world. This leads to various snakes appearing in growing numbers to alternately attack or protect the Smiths. Rick explains that Morty's actions caused the snakes to unite and invent time travel. Rick and Morty travel to the Snake Pentagon to resolve the war, but the snakes' time machine is incomplete. A future Rick and Morty (who sports a black eye) appear with a snake-language book full of instructions on time travel, while also insulting their past selves. Current Rick and Morty travel to 1985 and leave the book at Snake MIT. Later, the large amount of time travel alerts the Time Cops from "A Rickle in Time". They travel back in time and kill the first primitive snake to use tools, thus preventing snake civilization and causing the snakes to disappear. In the post-credits scene, the current Rick and Morty finish both the book and the devices so they can travel back to the snake planet, while waiting for their past selves to arrive, Rick reminds Morty to stay in the car next time, then punches him in the eye.

In Their Own Story

While setting up Christmas lights, Jerry falls off the roof. Before he hits the ground, Rick zaps Jerry with a ray that renders him lighter than air for 10 hours, then makes his shoes heavier than air, thus making Jerry neutrally buoyant and enabling him to jump higher than usual. Rick and Morty depart for an adventure, but their ship breaks down in space. While repairing it outside the ship, Morty is bitten by a snake astronaut which he then kills. Morty tries to atone for the snake's death by buying another snake from a pet store and sending her to the race war-ridden snake planet; however, the snakes quickly discover that she is not from their world. Soon, various snakes appear in growing numbers to alternately attack or protect the Smiths. Rick explains that Morty's actions caused the snakes to unite and invent time travel. Rick and Morty travel to the Snake Pentagon to resolve the war, but the snakes' time machine is incomplete. A future Rick and Morty (who sports a black eye) appear with a snake-language book full of instructions on time travel, while also insulting their past selves. Current Rick and Morty travel to 1985 and leave the book at Snake MIT. Meanwhile, Jerry loses one of his shoes, causing him to float away helplessly. Reasoning that he will either survive unassisted or have Rick blamed if he dies, he rejects Rick and Beth's attempts to help him. With minutes left on the ray as he is high above ground, Jerry prepares to fall to his death when a jet flies by, to which he attaches himself. The plane crashes after colliding with a flying snake, but Jerry survives. Back on present-day Earth, the large amount of time travel alerts the Time Cops from "A Rickle in Time". They travel back in time and kill the first primitive snake to use tools, thus preventing snake civilization and causing the snakes to disappear. Jerry reveals himself to be on the roof, claiming he was there the whole time, and turns on the Christmas lights before falling off and breaking his leg, which Rick heals to 50% capacity, leaving the rest of the healing up to Jerry. Rick and Morty are rudely reminded by their future selves to make the time travel notes while they celebrate the holidays instead. In the post-credits scene, the current Rick and Morty finish both the book and the devices so they can travel back to the snake planet, while waiting for their past selves to arrive, Rick reminds Morty to stay in the car next time, then punches him in the eye.

Reader's Guide

The snake planet is a world inhabited by sentient snakes who have developed a technological society, including a Snake Pentagon and Snake MIT. The snakes are initially divided by a race war. The planet is visited by Rick and Morty after Morty kills a snake astronaut in space. Morty tries to atone by buying another snake from a pet store and sending her to the planet, but this causes the snakes to unite and invent time travel. The snakes' time machine is incomplete when Rick and Morty first arrive at the Snake Pentagon. A future Rick and Morty (who sports a black eye) appear with a snake-language book full of instructions on time travel. Current Rick and Morty travel to 1985 and leave the book at Snake MIT. Later, the Time Cops from "A Rickle in Time" travel back in time and kill the first primitive snake to use tools, thus preventing snake civilization and causing the snakes to disappear. In the post-credits scene, the current Rick and Morty finish both the book and the devices so they can travel back to the snake planet, while waiting for their past selves to arrive.

Did You Know?

• The episode was broadcast on December 15, 2019.
• It was seen by 1.32 million household viewers in the United States.
• The episode received a 0.75 rating among the 18–49 adult demographic.
• Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A grade, calling it 'the best episode of the season (so far)'.
• Joe Matar of Den of Geek gave the episode a 5 out of 5.