The Rick and Morty season 5 finale finally explained what the Central Finite Curve is, but there’s a lot about how it works and who created it that still hasn’t been revealed. The Central Finite Curve has been mentioned off and on throughout the series, but always in passing, and never with any indication that it was more than just one of the show’s many random sci-fi buzz phrases. However, at the end of Rick and Morty season 5, the Central Finite Curve ends up being one of the most important concepts in the entire series.

As explained in “Rickmurai Jack,” the Central Finite Curve is a curated subset of all the infinite realities of the multiverse. The shared trait among them all is that Rick is the smartest person in each of them. Evil Morty explains the Curve origins, describing it as a mechanism the Ricks created in order to maintain their dominance and avoid any realities in which they weren’t the best, strongest, and most dominant. At the end of the Rick and Morty season 5 finale, Evil Morty blasts a portal through the Central Finite Curve and escapes into the true multiverse beyond.

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Despite the extensive explanation of the Curve, there are a lot of questions the Rick and Morty season 5 finale leaves unanswered. Because Evil Morty has to scan Rick C-137’s brain to figure out how to break the Central Finite Curve, it’s implied that he’s the Rick who first came up with the idea. The Curve may have been his primary contribution to the construction of the Citadel as well. After all, the Citadel wouldn’t be able to maintain absolute power in the multiverse if it couldn’t first ensure that no other non-Rick force was capable of challenging it.

Why did Rick C-137 create the Central Finite Curve? Most likely, it was a tool to help him hunt down the Rick who killed Diane and Beth. By setting his portal gun to the only universes where a Rick is the smartest person, C-137 would have been able to narrow down his hunt significantly. That still doesn’t explain exactly how the Curve or the formula behind it really work, however.

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Theoretically, there are still infinite realities within the Central Finite Curve – infinite variations on universes in which Rick is the strongest person. It’s clear that the Rick’s of the Citadel have turned the Curve into a well-oiled machine. Yet, if they’re the ones cultivating it, why couldn’t Evil Morty scan one of their brains? It would seem that the green portal fluid used by all the Ricks only opens doors to realities within the Central Finite Curve, which is why Evil Morty’s portals are yellow once he escapes. Now that the main Morty knows about the Curve and all that lies beyond it, there could be even bigger reveals and dangers coming in Rick and Morty season 6.

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Rick Stevenson
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Rick Stevenson is a writer, editor and performer based in Brooklyn, NY. He’s written on TV, film and games for over six years, in addition to assorted stints in bookselling, carpentry, and TV production. Rick studied writing at the College of William & Mary and Oxford University, and can report with some authority that they are both old. He lives and dies for Avatar: The Last Airbender.

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