When Dan Harmon and the creative team promised Season 7 of Rick and Morty would hold many surprises, they were not joking. Very few could have predicted Rick C-137 killing Rick Prime before the finale, or the fact that Morty would help boost Rick's morale and give him purpose again. But that's just the very nature of the show: to break expectations at each and every turn.
Source:https://www.cbr.com/rick-and-morty-rise-of-the-numbericons-no-rick/