When it comes to Rick and Morty, which is created by Adult Swim, there are a lot of parallels that become hard for us to keep a track of. The squid, the origin of Morty that the current Rick has, and many more. But out of all of them, the most debated thing is whether Space Beth is the original Beth or the clone. It has honestly become one of the most talked-about mysteries in the entire show, and honestly, we believe the creators absolutely intend it that way.
Instead of giving us one neat answer, it leans into the uncertainty and lets the question simmer, because we all know that both the Beths wake up with the same memories, the same emotional baggage, and the same sense of who they are, so the split between them isn’t about identity anymore. It’s more than that, as it now centers on the different choices they made from that moment on. At this point, everyone avoids giving a clear confirmation, and that ambiguity becomes part of Beth’s story’s narrative.
Rick’s Decision Makes Everything Even Messier
What really makes it even more complicated is Rick’s judgment and entire involvement. What audiences and fans call ‘In true Rick fashion,’ we see the aftermath in season 4 episode 10 ‘Star Mort Rick Turn of the Jerri,’ admitting he erased the part of his memory that reveals which Beth is the clone and which Beth is real.
He didn’t want to take responsibility for the consequences of choosing one path for his daughter over another, so he literally wiped the answer out of existence, which shows us another layer of Rick that even though he is the smartest man in the multiverse, he too chose to be ignorant by not having any idea of what he did. There is no hidden twist, no secret reveal waiting in a future episode, just Rick making sure that the truth can’t be found even by him.
What’s even more disturbing is that it was Rick who pitched the idea of Beth leaving everything behind. He put the idea of making an exact clone of Beth in season 3 episode 9, ‘The ABCs of Beth,’ that the moment she feels like coming back to her family, Rick will ‘flip a switch and the clone’s job is done.’ That’s why Space Beth functions almost like a sci-fi version of Schrödinger’s cat.
Rick designed the situation so that either Beth could be considered the “real” one, depending on how their lives unfolded. One Beth takes off into the galaxy and becomes a rebellious outlaw, technically stepping into his ‘real’ father’s shoes by fighting the Gromflomites, and at the same time, we also see the other Beth staying at home, growing as a parent, and facing her insecurities.
Neither route is treated as superior, nor it’s a simply two versions of the same person evolving in different directions. The show cares more about what each Beth becomes than where each one started, which honestly gives us the rest of the room to decide which one is real, how it can be real, and how it all became more absurd and ambiguous when we see both the Beths falling for each other.
We also see a drastic change in the storyline as it shifts the conversation away from biology and towards the idea of real identity. In the Rick and Morty universe, who you are is shaped by your choices, not by the label “original” or “clone.” Space Beth isn’t defined by whether she came first or was made by her own Father.
The Smiths Don’t Care, So Why Should Anyone Else?
The same goes for the Earth Beth, who isn’t diminished by the possibility that she might be a copy. They both develop into full, complex individuals who stand on their own, taking care of things that they themselves chose at the end of the day.
What makes it even funnier is how the family reacts once both Beths reconnect with everyone. They simply… move on, as Summer, Morty, and even Jerry accept the situation without obsessing over the technical details. They see both Beths as part of the family, where no hierarchy is needed, nor does the situation change.
But out of everyone and everything, especially how it unfolded, the only person who still seems bothered is Rick himself, and everyone enjoys watching him suffer through the uncertainty because he is the reason it happens in the first place. In the end, the show makes it clear as of now that the question doesn’t need an answer; the mystery itself is the point.
And who knows, maybe one random day when Rick and Morty go on a classic adventure, we discover who is the real Beth and who is the cloned one, and when that happens, properly things will stay the same, or maybe they will be at each other’s necks to prove their superiority.
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