‘Rick and Morty’ Likes Incest Even More Than ‘House of the Dragon’

Last night on House of the Dragon, an uncle had sex with his niece. And yet this HBO drama was the second-most incest-heavy show to premiere on Sunday night. Occupying the No. 1 slot was none other than Rick and Morty with an episode that’s making fans wonder: what’s with all the incest?

“Final DeSmithation” is another Rick (Justin Roiland) and Jerry (Chris Parnell) adventure. When Jerry gets a fortune predicting that he will sleep with his mom, these two familial rivals go on a mission to uncover the secret power behind fortune cookies. So far, so — well, not normal. But Rick battling cookie-powered soldiers using his arsenal of Inspector Gadget weapons is pretty much on par when it comes to this show. What’s less expected is Rick and Morty‘s long history with incest jokes.

You see, Season 6 has already had an episode that revolved around potentially having sex with a family member. “Bethic Twinstinct” saw Beth (Sarah Chalke) fall in love with Space Beth. It could be argued that this was more of a story of learning to love yourself as well as an exploration into what it would really be like to live in a universe with multiple versions of you. But that same episode revealed that Space Beth has been officially accepted as a member of the Smith family and is treated like a cool aunt. Beth and Space Beth may be the same person, but they’ve also had different life-changing experiences, which makes their relationship more akin to sisters. That’s another dash of weirdness to throw on top of the Beth, Space Beth, and Jerry throuple.

Then there’s Naruto. In “Rickdependence Spray”, Morty’s (Roiland) sperm impregnated Summer’s (Spencer Grammer) egg. As the show has now mentioned several times, there is a giant incest baby floating around space at any given time.

Incest has also been mentioned repeatedly in passing. In Season 3’s “The Ricklantis Mixup”, one of the Goonies-style Mortys sacrifices a harmonica so that he can wish that “incest porn had a more mainstream appeal.” Sexualizing family members even happened all the way back in Season 1. In “Lawnmower Dog”, the second episode this show ever aired, Rick and Morty travel into the subconscious of Morty’s math teacher. Morty is briefly attracted to a scantily clad woman before realizing it’s a manifestation of Goldenfold’s perverted attraction to Summer.

There’s also the not-quite-incestual-but-pretty-close tightrope walk this show has balanced on for years. Rick and Morty started with Rick telling his grandson to shove a seed up his butt. Since then, Rick has demanded that Morty strip naked to best a group of scheming aliens, hooked up with an old hive mind flame alongside his grandchildren, and gone on a full-blown sex romp with his granddaughter as his wingwoman. Most families try to separate their sex lives and their family lives. When it comes to the Smith household, that line is very thin.

It’s also one that fans have noticed. The r/rickandmorty discussion thread for “Final DeSmithation” is packed with people pointing out these jokes. At least one TikTok user, tobyonfilm, has joked that series creator Dan Harmon has a thing for incest episodes.

When you really think about it, it’s not an especially surprising trend. Because adult animation typically relies on shock humor, Adult Swim has had a more relaxed relationship with this taboo than other networks. Dark comedy allows creators to explore the most disturbing parts of modern society, and hooking up with your parents or sibling will forever be a universal source of cringe. But it is funny that the Targaryens have nothing on the Smith family.