Conspiracy
After the events of the adventure where Rick and Morty search for the purple cube (resulting in the death of their assistant Chachi), Morty reminds Rick that he was promised a dragon. When Rick tries to remove it, Morty explains how he agreed to help with the adventure in exchange for one. Irritated by his constant demands, Rick sprays Morty with gas, which inadvertently knocks them both out and causes the space cruiser to spin out of control as it heads back to Earth. After the crash, Rick wakes up in the hospital and Beth repeats Rick’s promise to Morty.
At home, the wizard summons a dragon named Balthromaw and writes a blood oath contract that Morty signs, binding him to the dragon forever.
After Morty accepts his dragon, Jerry pulls Rick aside and asks about the talking cat he found in the house; Before leaving, Rick mentions that he has no idea. Jerry accepts this and asks the cat several times why he can talk, but the cat tells Jerry not to worry about it; go with the flow and don’t ask too many questions. And that they are going to Florida.
After Morty flies around with Balthromaw for a while, they land for a break. While Morty pretends that what they have is an equal partnership, Balthromaw just wants to lounge around, which turns Morty off all around.
The dragon retreats to a newly dug cave beneath the Smith family’s backyard; while Rick watches TV with Summer, they both notice and mock how down Morty is with the dragon. After Rick is nearly killed by a sleeping dragon’s flame breath, he goes to kill it; after ambushing Balthromaw, Rick takes a close look at the treasure he’s guarding and is amazed by some of the contents. He decides not to kill Balthromaw and they leave, wreaking havoc in a nearby zoo. Rick and Balthromaw enjoy each other’s company and perform the “Soul Bond” ritual, binding their souls together.
As this happens, both Morty and Summer witness it, causing Morty to explode in anger. This breach of contract summons the Wizard and declares Balthromaw a dragon whore for teaming up with several riders, whips the dragon (which Rick can sense through their bond) and carries the dragon away to condemn him. Rick, Morty and Summer then travel to the dragon world to rescue Balthromaw and break their soul bond.
Meanwhile, Jerry and the cat were having a good time with a bunch of party goers playing beach volleyball until one discovered some cat poop barely covered in sand. The cat quickly blames it on Jerry, so the partygoers kick Jerry out and the cat goes with the partygoers to a nearby yacht. After the cat is later thrown from the ship, it swims back to Jerry.
While trying to free the dragon, Rick, Morty, and Summer discover that the bond is permanent and cannot be changed; the four are then forced to flee for cover. While lying low, they and Balthromaw encounter several other outcast/whore dragons including Debrah, Michael, and Shadow Jacker. Eventually, they join forces through a massive soul-linking ritual and are able to fly back to the wizard’s lair; the combined energy of the Smiths and the Slut Dragons kills the wizard and frees Balthromaw, Rick, Morty and the other dragons. With the wizard dead, the bond between Balthromaw and Rick is broken.
Upon returning home, Rick immediately leaves with the excuse that he needs to pick up Jerry from the airport with a talking cat and cuts off relations with the dragon. And Morty eventually dismisses Balthromaw as well and sends him away in disgust.
After traveling for a while, Rick stops in the desert so they can stretch their legs and catch a cat in an energy box. Rick tells the confused cat that he will perform a mind scan on her to find out why she can talk, despite repeated claims that she is from outer space. Rick summons the cat to lie and looks through his vision goggles to discover the history. Subsequently, Rick is horrified by what he sees and looks away in horror. Seeing Rick act this way, Jerry wanted to see for himself, but Rick tried in vain to stop him. Jerry ends up throwing up repeatedly in the sand before crawling backwards away from the cat. Cat wants to make things right, but Rick drives her into the desert; how these try to plead with them; Rick and Jerry yell at each other for the cat to go away.
“He was at my house…where I have pictures of my parents!”
— Jerry
Rick offers to erase Jerry’s memories, Jerry refuses because he believes someone needs to remember. Despite this, Rick erases Jerry’s memory anyway to spare him mental anguish and torture.
A post-credits scene shows Balthromaw carrying his booty down the street, scaring off a motorist who tried to proposition him. The cat soon arrives and the two decide to stick together and become the friends the humans rejected.
