Highlights
- Space Beth is a clone of Beth Smith who left her old life behind to embark on a life of adventure in space and fight against corrupt governments and leaders.
- It is revealed that Rick cloned Beth and swapped the labels on their tanks, making it impossible to know which one is the real Beth.
- As of now, the true identity of the real Beth remains a mystery, but viewers should embrace Space Beth as the Smith family has.
Rick and Morty is no stranger to multiple versions of one character. There's the Citadel of Ricks, where a whole society of Ricks across the multiverse once lived and governed. And then there are the versions of Morty's friends and family who were turned into Cronenbergs.
The show is no stranger to clones, either. The entire premise of "Mortyplicity" (season 5, episode 2) is the many Smith families trying to figure out which of them is real and hunting down the clone families before they are hunted themselves. But a possible clone who has stuck around since her introduction and became the sixth member of the family is Space Beth.
Rick And Morty Creator Reveals His Ideal Ending For The Show
When Rick and Morty finally reaches the end of the line, creator Dan Harmon knows how to end it, but what will fans think of his idea?
In Rick and Morty, Space Beth is a character that brings the same deadpan, pessimistic attitude as Rick, in the form of his only daughter, Beth. After initially wanting to kill her father, she has since embraced her place in the family, stopping by when she can and saving the universe in her spare time.
Who Is Space Beth?
Space Beth is a version of Beth Smith who decided to leave her old life behind and embark on a life of adventure in space. Like her father, she led teams in battles to rebel against corrupt governments and leaders. Upon her return to Earth, Space Beth was in the middle of her "hero phase," as Rick puts it. She was freeing enslaved colonies and helping them overthrow their captors, while also fighting against the powerhouse Gromflomites in their conquest to take over the galaxy. Because of Space Beth's persistence, she is among the "most wanted criminals" in the universe.
Space Beth wasn't always around, though. In the episode "The ABC's of Beth" (season 3, episode 9), Beth realized she is more like Rick than she had ever thought. She's got his smarts, pessimism (which they'd both call realism), cynicism, and a desire to be more. This realization prompts Beth to ask Rick if she is evil, to which Rick tells her she's worse: smart.
Beth thinks she is wasting her potential and asks Rick what she should do. He tells her to take off, but logically, she doesn't think she should abandon her family. But Rick tells her he can make a clone of her, explaining:
I can make a clone of you, a perfect instance of you, with all your memories. An exact copy in every way. It'll love and provide for the kids, do your job, and consume broadcast-network reality TV on the same allegedly ironic level as you. You could be gone a day, a week, or the rest of your life with zero consequences. The moment you decide to come back, I flip a switch, and the clone's job is done. It feels no pain, it regrets nothing, and has zero chance of going 'Blade Runner.'
Beth makes a decision, but viewers have no idea what it is. Rather, they left hanging on Beth's line, "I know what I want to do." It's almost a whole season before it's revealed what her choice was, but that just complicates things even more.
When Does Space Beth First Appear in Rick and Morty?
Space Beth | |
|---|---|
Voice Credit | Sarah Chalke |
First Appearance | "Starmort Rickturn of the Jerri" (season 4, episode 10) |
Total Number of Episode Appearances | 12 |
Created By | Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland |
Fans had to wait an entire season to know what Beth's decision was regarding cloning herself. The episode "Starmort Rickturn of the Jerri" (season 4, episode 10) opens by introducing Space Beth fighting against the Gromflomites. After the fight, she's being patched up by her team's medic, expressing to him that she's real and the clone is back on Earth looking after her family. But the medic finds a proximity-triggered device implanted in her neck, causing her to question whether or not she's the clone.
Space Beth returns to Earth, seeking to get a straight answer from Rick before killing him. But she ends up teaming with the entire Smith family as they battle the Gromflomites trying to take over Earth. After they win, both Space Beth and the Beth who stayed behind decide they don't want to know who the clone is. Ultimately, they decide to embrace their unique roles in each other's lives.
As the series goes on, Space Beth pops up from time to time, becoming a fairly active character in the Smith family dynamic. From helping them fight interstellar threats to just hanging out with the kids, Morty and Summer refer to her as "Space Mom." She and the other Beth even have a brief love affair, which forces them both to contemplate the fine line between narcissism and self-love in their own minds.
Who is the Real Beth Smith?
While the two Beths were oblivious to who was real, Rick must know which one was the clone, since he's the one who made them, right? Wrong. Rick decided to mind-blow himself, and has no memory of which of his daughters is a clone. With no one else interested in learning the truth, Rick puts the vial containing the memory into the projector, and it picks up from where viewers were left hanging in "The ABC's of Beth." In the episode, Beth tells Rick:
I know what I want to do. I want you to decide. For once in my life, I want you to decide, Dad. Do you want me to stay here and be part of your life, or do you want me to leave?
This is a complex question for Rick. On one hand, he wants his daughter to stick around because he loves her. On the other hand, he wants her to be able to explore what she's capable of beyond a normal life. In either case, he wants Beth to be happy. So, he decides to go through with it and clones her. But when he's about ready to bring them both back to life, he swaps the labels on their tanks, making it impossible to know which of them is the real Beth. Maybe he does this so that he doesn't knowingly put the real Beth in the wrong situation, in which she may regret either staying or leaving. In this way, that guilt is lifted from him, as he becomes ignorant of the predicament.
As of now, it's still a mystery who the real Beth Smith is, and it'll most likely remain that way for the rest of Rick and Morty. But viewers should embrace Space Beth as the Smith family has: the cool space mom who pops in from time to time.
