"Hey! What are you doing? !
"A sequel. " "I. .
. don't understand" "Yeah, me neither. We pretty much nailed it the first time.
" Hello Internet, welcome to-- *BZZZT* Hey boys. . .
want to play some volleyball? "Gross! Does all inter-dimensional TV have to rely on juvenile violence?
" "Well, Summer, maybe people that create things aren't concerned with your delicate sensibilities. " *Farting noises* (Gravity falls theme song) (Film Theory Intro) Hello Internet, welcome to FILM THEORY! (Matpat & Rick): "GGRAAAAASSSS" "Tastes bad-aaah.
" Since the beginning of this channel THE SINGLE most requested series you've asked me to cover has been Gravity Falls. At the time, I'd never heard of it, but based on your recommendations Steph and I started watching it and instantly we had found ourselves a new favorite show. Hilarious characters, fantastic story lines, hidden codes, and secret conspiracies, all while brother and sister Dipper and Mabel Pines solve mysteries around Gravity Falls, Oregon?
It was like a dream come true! But from a theory perspective we had come too late. By the time this channel started, the biggest mystery of the series had been solved and confirmed.
The final few episodes were just about to air. And sure, I had some thoughts about how Weirdmageddon came to an abrupt close and how it didn't really end the series since you can't erase memories and then have them magically come back without the main antagonist Bill Cipher also somehow still being alive. But with the show wrapped there just wasn't a whole lot to say.
All I had left was. . .
a hole. . .
in my life a hole aching for another smart animated series. Well, that's not a hundred percent true; I was left with a hole in my life and a "GRAPPLING HOOK! " Enter Rick and Morty; it had everything I had loved about Gravity Falls It was smart, the characters were endearing There was even a sense of underlying mystery to be solved The only difference was that it was just a *bit* more mature.
"I'm gonna need you to take these seeds into the bathroom, and I'm gonna need you to put 'em WAAAY up inside your butthole, Morty. " "In my butt? " Or should I say immature?
At the time, I didn't suspect that there could ever be a deeper reason why these two series resonated with me so strongly. I never suspected that the mastermind behind Gravity Falls just so happened to be good friends with Rick and Morty's creator Justin Roiland. And I absolutely would never have expected that the two had created shows that not only shared the same universe, or more accurately, MULTIVERSE, but had made it so that Rick and Morty is the secret sequel to Gravity Falls You heard that right, Rick and Morty is the unofficial season three of Gravity Falls; a story directly connected to and happening around and after Weirdmageddon.
So, pull out your journals and prepare to get schwifty as we nerd out over the biggest mystery these two amazing shows could have thrown our way. Now, the idea that the two shows are connected in some way has been around for a while. In episode ten of season one of Rick and Morty, "Close Encounters of the Rick Kind", there's a teeny tiny easter egg that started people speculating.
As Rick tries to escape getting captured by the Council of Ricks - which is a governing body of different versions of himself collected across other parallel realities, duh - he creates numerous portals to throw off his pursuers, each leading to a different universe. And you can watch this episode a hundred times and still miss the Gravity Falls connection. Through one of those portals flies a pen, a notebook, and a coffee cup with a question mark on it.
The question mark is immediately a dead giveaway that this is connected to Gravity Falls in some way, considering it's the logo for that show's main setting, the Mystery Shack™, but we can do it one better. We can trace to the exact moment that these items fly through the portal in the first place. In the Gravity Falls episode "Society of the Blind Eye", we see Mabel and Dipper's great uncle Stan working to rebuild a transdimensional portal in his secret basement laboratory.
When he fires it up, the suction of the portal causes him to lose three items. A pen, a notebook, and, you guessed it, a coffee cup with the signature question mark on it. -- the exact three items that we see fly though Rick's portal.
So, very early in "Rick and Mortynight's Run", you have yourselves proof positive that these two shows share a universe. Or should I say one of an infinite number of possible universes? SCREW THE MUMBO JUMBO!
Let's just say it plain and simple: They're connected and very intentionally so. But here's the thing: this is where most websites quote unquote "Proving" this theory STOP. One easter egg.
Done. Confirmed. Way to dig deep there, guys.
Watch out, we got some heavy lore researchers over here. [mocking imitation] "Heavy. Lore.
Researchers. Only. .
. o-only the hardest hitting investigative journalism here, guys. But, you know what?
Don't leave an underpaid, freelance blogger to do a theorist's job, my friends, because there is so, SO much more to this theory. For instance, in the episode "Big Trouble in Little Sanchez", the B-story has Jerry and Beth going to marriage counseling on the planet Nuptia-4. As the two begin their therapy, in the background on the monitor is an odd depiction of some sort of weird pyramid with a tall hat and a single eyeball.
The iconic design of Gravity Falls' greatest villain: Bill Cipher And when I say Gravity Falls' greatest villain. . .
for all you Rick and Morty fans who've never seen the show lemme give you some context. BILL: You deserve a prize! Here!
Have a head that's always screaming! Matpat: This guy is so powerful and SO evil. .
. he burned his entire original dimension killing off everyone in it, including his family, friends, and parents. So, for the good people of Nuptia-4 to be analyzing Bill Cipher in some way.
. . it's both fascinating and potentially troubling for the entire Rick and Morty universe.
To have a threat like that lurking around in the background, it could spell disaster for everyone that we know and love in this world. Multi-worlds. Multiverse.
Just assume that it's always a multiverse. But to truly see how these connections flesh out, you've got to be really hardcore. You've got to be ready for some deep lore, off platform codebreaking.
YOU'VE GOT TO -dramatic pause- read a book. In the Gravity Falls book, the canon copy of the show's Journal #3, which is the most important item from that series, which they published in full and released, the connection between these two franchises is not only unavoidable, but also starts to have implications for both show's stories, explaining why all of this is so much more than just a series of fun easter eggs. So, Journal #3 documents Stanford Pines's research into the odd things happening around Gravity Falls, Oregon, but it also tells of his time spent exploring other dimensions and the creatures he uncovers during his journeys, and yet, the text that you see on every page is only half the story.
This book is a puzzle-solver's dream, because on practically every single page of the journal is a coded message and the codes vary throughout the book; *Caesar Ciphers, where you substitute the original letter for the third letter that came before it. *(@matpat learn to spell) Atbash Ciphers, where you decode the text by reversing the letters. Vigenère Ciphers, where each letter shift depends on some hidden key word.
And there's more. There is so much more in this thing and what you'll find is that certain codes are related to certain characters leaving notes throughout the journal. For instance, Ford, the author of the journal, has a specific symbol code.
Every time you decipher one of these pages you can know that it's him talking. And wouldn't you know it, but Bill Cipher, old pyramid head over here, also has his own set of codes in the book. Specifically, substituting symbols for letters.
Most of the time, he's threatening the characters. For instance, on the page about Ford himself, Bill's message translates to: "BIRTHDAY JUNE FIFTEENTH DEATHDAY SOONER THAN YOU THINK" Greeeeat. So, an all powerful god creature with a murder complex and propensity for stove pipe hats is not only reading my diary, but adding cute little notes in the margins about my impending doom.
And just because this feels like the appropriate time to mention it, remember this was a show that ran on a Disney channel and while all the codes and messages are fun and interesting and contain little easter egg references to the main series, there's one in particular that stands out. Ford recounts that for 30 years he traveled the multiverse to determine how to defeat Bill, engaging in many different daring adventures, but in the process, he becomes an outlaw across multiple different dimensions, stealing supplies for his quantum destabilizer, the weapon that he planned would defeat Bill once and for all. He even shows us a copy of his wanted poster in the journal, but here's the thing: in the corner of that wanted poster is a another code from Bill Cipher.
A code that, when translated, says, "RICK WAS HERE" Wait, what? Rick who? In the entire Gravity Falls series, there is no character named Rick, but could it be referring to "Rick" Rick?
"Rick Sanchez" Rick? "Rick and Morty" Rick? "Lovable Genius Drnk" Rick?
"The Ultimate SzeChuan Sauce Fan" Rick? But for that to be the case, that would mean that Bill Cipher somehow knew about Rick, that there's some connection with the journal and Stanford and Rick Sanchez, and Rick and Morty and this unified theory of odd. So spurred on by this random phrase, I kept digging through the book and what I found was shocking.
While recounting his adventures, Ford mentions that he quote, "Traveled with bandits, learned to speak 13 languages," and even got caught in a fistfight with a talking couch [he means chair]. End quote. That caught my attention, because in "Rick and Morty", we've seen that dimension.
Again, in the episode "Close Rickcounters with the Rick Kind", we see the furniture dimension, a world like our own, but where the couches and chairs are alive and people are the things that are used to be sat upon. So, if Ford got in a fight with a talking couch somewhere in the multiverse, it probably would have been here. But, the references keep going.
Earlier in Journal #3, there is two pages filled with creature silhouettes, as Ford draws out the strange things he's encountered and can't explain. And while most of them show up in episodes of Gravity Falls, there's also a handful that are directly from the adventures of Rick. Hidden among those silhouettes is a Zigerion, the con artist aliens from "M.
Night Shaym-Aliens! "; there's also the giant silhouette of Cthulhu - and not just any Cthulhu, but one that looks oddly similar to the one appearing in the opening sequence of every episode of Rick and Morty, and let's not forget, there's also a plumbus. Just a regular old plumbus, complete with proper Fleeb rubbing.
I mean, everyone has a Plumbus in their home, so it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. But it's HERE! All here in Ford's book, showing us that he's come across all these things from Rick and Morty.
But what does this all mean? Well, remember how Ford said that he ran with a team of bandits? And how his Wanted poster said "RICK WAS HERE"?
This all seems to imply that Ford was a fourth known member of Rick's gang of international outlaws, along with Birdperson, and Squanchy, and that Ford's quest to piece together the Quantum Destabilizer by stealing items from across the Multiverse is part of the reason why Rick and his gang are wanted men! I mean just like Rick, Ford also eventually hides amongst his family for cover. It's also why Bill Cipher would be the one to leave that message.
Bill must know of Rick because he has a history with Stanford, and was following the comings and goings of a group of people trying to piece together a weapon that was meant to KILL him. And if all of this wasn't mindblowing enough, we also know that most of Rick and Morty is happening AFTER Gravity Falls' Weirdmageddon series finale. AND that Bill Cipher is still a threat!
Journal #3 ends with Stanford writing about the events depicted in the final episodes of the series: defeating Bill, travelling the world with his estranged brother, but Bill is STILL leaving threatening notes in the background. Meaning that he, too, survived and is probably eager to have his revenge. HOLY poopybutthole, Rick and Morty fans, that would be why he was being analysed in Nuptia-4.
It also means that there is a very real, very canon possibility of Rick and Ford crossing paths again; joining up one last time to fight the returning threat of Bill Cipher. And if you think that none of this would happen, that they're still just easter eggs, the ties between the shows are just getting stronger and more frequent. In the SzeChuan-drenched April Fool's launch of Rick and Morty season three, we not only see Dipper and Mabel versions of Morty in the background of the Council of Ricks, but we also see a physical copy of Journal #3 in Morty's hands.
In practically the same frame as you see Mabel and Dipper in the background, you can see the reinforced edges of a maroon journal. And the hints just keep showing up. During Rick and Morty's season two break, you can check out the galactic federation prison where Rick was being detained on the official Rickstaverse Instagram.
Just like a "Where's Waldo? ", if you scout those pages, you'll find -- [DRAMATIC PAUSE FOR EFFECT] -- a plumbus. Just a regular old plumbus.
But near his personal effects, you can actually see the Stan mug, pen, and pad lying on the table. So obviously canonically the evidence is there, and a crossover SHOULD happen. But a lot of times rights issues and things like that make it impossible.
But at the very least, as Rick and Morty season three continues, Hopefully there are at least a few more easter eggs to chew on. And if nothing else, simply knowing that two of the greatest scientific minds in fiction were off having adventures together is a pretty darn incredible thing for all of us fans of both series. And thaaaat's the way the news goes!
*buuurps* [Gross, MatPat] But hey, remember, that's just a theory! A FILM -- ! *BOOM B*ITCH* [MatPat's dead cALL THE POLICE] *Bill laughing manically as himself and Blendin Blandin* *jumpscare* [told you] *ominous music plays* And now it's connected to the Simpsons, which is also confirmed to be connected to Futurama, through that Slurm reference in their joint intros.
. . So, SO much connectiooon.
. . That's all I got.
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