Ever since Rick and Morty’s Season 2 finale, fans of the animated sci-fi series have been desperate to know more about Rick Sanchez’s glory days as a resistance fighter against the Galactic Federation. We’ve heard intriguing terms like “The Battle of Blood Ridge” and seen pictures of a young Rick onstage with Bird Person and Squanchy, but never with any real context.
Until now.
In Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 8, “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort,” Rick goes into the dying mind of Bird Person in an attempt to save his friend. In the process, we finally get some answers to some of the show’s biggest questions.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 8.
We always assumed that Blood Ridge was the setting of an epic showdown between Rick and the Federation. We also assumed that it went terribly. In this new episode, a younger version of Rick even refers to it as his “Vietnam.” But when Rick is forced to revisit the Battle of Blood Ridge while chasing Bird Person through his own mind, we learn it was very different than expected.
This was indeed a battle between the resistance and the Federation set on a red-soaked desert planet, but it turns out Rick and Bird Person won the fight. The bad part comes immediately afterward.
Rick reveals that nothing matters because he has access to infinite dimensions. When Bird Person asks why Rick joined the battle if nothing matters, Rick says it was to earn his friend’s respect. This doesn’t impress Bird Person, who flies away.
Of course, Rick and Bird Person eventually reunite, which leads to Bird Person meeting Tammy at Rick and Summer’s house party in Season 1. But it seems clear their friendship was never the same after the Battle of Blood Ridge.
Earlier in the same episode, we learn that Rick originally met Bird Person at an intergalactic music festival. With Squanchy, they formed a band on the spot called the Flesh Curtains and played what was likely a pretty epic (or terrible) show.
Unfortunately, Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 8 never actually shows us what happened. Instead, we only get a fakeout before the real Rick drives a military jeep across the stage, instantly killing everyone in Bird Person’s memory of that night.
If all this sounds confusing then just watch the episode, because it actually works surprisingly well. But if you’re hoping to see the Flesh Curtains play a few songs, you’ll probably have to wait for Season 6.
Rick and Morty return for an hour-long Season 5 finale on September 5.