The Citadel In Rick & Morty Fully Explained

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty season 8, episode 3.

The Citadel is a significant part of Rick and Morty lore that makes a long-anticipated comeback in season 8, episode 3. A couple of seasons back, the Citadel was destroyed and the surviving Ricks and Mortys were left without a home. In Rick and Morty season 8, episode 3, “The Rick, The Mort, & The Ugly,” we finally get to see where those survivors ended up. They’ve been strewn across a lawless wasteland, where they’re struggling to get by. The episode is a great parody of western movies, touching on the familiar themes of violence, redemption, and justice.

Rick and Morty season 8’s trailer already teased that the Citadel would finally start to rebuild, and we see the beginning of that storyline in “The Rick, The Mort, & The Ugly.” The remnants of the Citadel have been taken over by a Southern crime boss variant of Rick dubbed “Boss Hogg Rick,” but there could be a very different power dynamic soon. This is the latest development in the Citadel’s long and storied history. It’s a big piece of Rick and Morty’s overarching canon, and it’s been through a lot over the years.

The Citadel Is A City Only Inhabited By Ricks & Mortys From Different Realities & Dimensions

It Exists In A Pocket Dimension

The Citadel is a trans-dimensional city-state inhabited exclusively by Ricks and Mortys from across infinite universes. It exists in a pocket dimension that isn’t tied to any particular reality. It can be reached from any dimension on the Central Finite Curve, but you have to fly to very specific coordinates to access it. For most Ricks and Mortys, the Citadel is a meeting point, a leisure center, and an intergalactic safe house protecting them from the law. But it also serves as a permanent residence for many Ricks and Mortys who have nowhere else to go.

For most Ricks and Mortys, the Citadel is a meeting point, a leisure center, and an intergalactic safe house protecting them from the law.

In season 3, episode 7, “The Ricklantis Mixup,” we got an in-depth look at the inner workings of the Citadel. It has all the same societal and institutional problems we have on Earth: inequality, prejudice, corruption, and a deeply divided class system. The workers don’t get paid enough, the streets are rampant with crime, the cops gleefully accept bribes and turn a blind eye to injustice, and the politicians only serve their own self-interests. The episode’s examination of the Citadel’s internal society is almost as poignant and eye-opening as The Wire’s deconstruction of the city of Baltimore.

The Citadel’s Original Purpose In Rick & Morty Explained

The Council Of Ricks Needed A Base Of Operations

In several universes, Rick has been a part of rebellions against the Galactic Federation, as well as a handful of other powerful organizations like terrorist cells and dictatorships, so every version of Rick has a target on his back. To protect themselves from these enemies, a few thousand Ricks teamed up to form a council. When Rick C-137 started killing off members of this council on his hunt for Rick Prime, he struck a deal with them that involved helping with the design and construction of a base of operations for the council. This base became the Citadel.

Rick and Morty’s Council of Ricks is a parody of Marvel Comics’ Council of Reeds.

The Citadel is said to have existed for at least 15 years, which predates the birth of our Morty. But since there are Ricks and Mortys of different ages, it’s possible that some of the other Mortys existed when the Citadel was created. The Citadel is protected by an army made up of mostly Ricks and some Mortys, with an elite SEAL Team Ricks handling the toughest security tasks. Not every Rick is on board with the idea of the council — or the idea of government in general — and those Ricks have been dubbed “anti-Rick” activists.

The Citadel’s Government & Rulers

The Council Of Ricks Ceded Control To President Morty

Evil Morty on the campaign trail in Rick and Morty

The Citadel’s government has switched hands between a few different rulers, each with their own agendas. Initially, the Citadel was controlled entirely by the Council of Ricks as a democracy with due process. After the Citadel was partially destroyed during a skirmish with the Galactic Federation, a secretive Shadow Council assumed control. Then, when Evil Morty was elected president, he turned it into a ruthless dictatorship. As soon as Evil Morty won the election, his first order of business was to consolidate power by executing all dissenting Ricks from the Shadow Council and ejecting their bodies into space.

Evil Morty’s Plans With The Citadel Explained

Evil Morty Wanted To Finally Escape Rick’s Toxic Influence

Evil Morty was initially introduced alongside Evil Rick, but it was revealed that Evil Rick was just a puppet being controlled by Evil Morty. Evil Morty is cunning, amoral, and has intelligence to rival that of a Rick. After Evil Rick was defeated, Evil Morty disguised himself among the crowd of Mortys liberated from Evil Rick’s lair to escape. In “The Ricklantis Mixup,” after a Morty was elected president, that Morty was revealed to be Evil Morty — and he had big plans for the Citadel.

Homesteader Rick and Arcade Morty behind a purple-lit bar in Rick and Morty season 8

Rick & Morty Season 8 Episode 3′ Post-Credits Scene Pays Off One Of The Most Underrated Rick Clone Moments

The Rick clones were a huge part of “The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly”, but the post-credits scene hilariously paid off one of the episode’s best gags.

President Morty began his reign by slaughtering the Shadow Council, so there would be no one in his cabinet who would disagree with him or block his questionable orders. Evil Morty’s grand plan in taking control of the Citadel was to destroy it. At the end of season 5, he brought down the Central Finite Curve and set off a chain reaction that killed most of the Ricks and Mortys in the Citadel and ultimately blew it up, allowing him to finally free himself of Rick’s toxic influence.

How Many Times The Citadel Has Been Destroyed & Why

The Citadel Has Been Destroyed Twice

The Citadel is destroyed in Rick and Morty

Throughout Rick and Morty’s run, the Citadel has been destroyed on two separate occasions. In the season 3 premiere, “The Rickshank Rickdemption,” Rick destroyed the Citadel as part of his elaborate scheme to escape from the Galactic Federation’s custody. When SEAL Team Ricks learned that Rick C-137 had been arrested, they set out to assassinate him in prison. Rick killed two birds with one stone by teleporting the entire Citadel into the same airspace as the Federation prison where he was incarcerated, destroying it on-screen for the first time.

Rick killed two birds with one stone by teleporting the entire Citadel into the same airspace as the Federation prison where he was incarcerated, destroying it on-screen for the first time.

By the time “The Ricklantis Mixup” rolled around later in the season, the Citadel had been rebuilt and Evil Morty was elected to be its president. In the season 5 finale, “Rickmurai Jack,” the Citadel was destroyed once again. President Morty blew up the Citadel when he brought down the Central Finite Curve in order to reach a reality where Rick isn’t the smartest man in the universe. Now that the Citadel is being rebuilt once more in Rick and Morty season 8, it’s only a matter of time before it’s destroyed again.