Rick and Morty has found its footing again, and with Season 8 Episode 3, ‘The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly’ set to bring back the Citadel, it’s one you won’t want to miss when it lands on Adult Swim.
Season 7 of the hit animated series proved divisive, not least due to co-creator Justin Roiland’s firing, leading to the introduction of new voice actors Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden as Rick and Morty, respectively.
While the transition was technically smooth, many fans felt the show lacked its usual spark, leading to Season 7 receiving the lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores in the series’ history, with 77% from the critics and 51% from audiences at home.
However, the first two episodes of Rick and Morty Season 8 have been a return to form, bringing back Birdperson, Space Beth, and a whole lot of existential chaos. But with Episode 3 promising to bring back the Citadel, this is definitely one to add to the watchlist.
Rick and Morty Season 8 Episode 3 release date & time
‘The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly’ will debut on Adult Swim on Sunday, June 8, 2025 at 11pm ET/PT.
As is often the case, Season 8 Episode 3 is only around 22 minutes long, meaning with adverts it will take up a half-hour segment.
How to watch it
Since Adult Swim is a Cartoon Network programming block, the simplest way to watch new Rick and Morty episodes is with a cable subscription.
However, there are some ways to watch the show without cable. Adult Swim is available on several TV platforms, including DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV.
Or, if you can wait, Rick and Morty Season 8 will be available to watch on streaming – but not until September 1, 2025, when all episodes will land on HBO Max at once.
How to watch for free
There are a couple of ways to watch the new episode for free. Firstly, you could try a free trial of one of the streaming services that offers Adult Swim.
Hulu + Live TV typically offers new users a three-day free trial, DirecTV offers five days, and Fubo offers seven days, although these can vary, so be sure you keep an eye out for new deals.
There is another way, but again you’ll have to wait to avoid spoilers. You see, Channel 4 is the UK distributor for Rick and Morty, and so long as you have a VPN, you can sign up to the network’s on-demand platform and stream content for free (with ads).
The only caveat is that its release schedule is a week behind the US. As such, Season 8 Episode 3 airs on E4 on Sunday, June 15, 2025, at 9pm BST.
If you opt for this way, all you’ll need to do is wait for the episode to finish at 9.30pm BST, when it will be uploaded to Channel 4 on-demand, then set your VPN to a UK location, and hit the play button.
Full release schedule
If you’re wondering when to expect the rest of Rick and Morty Season 8, check out the full US release schedule below:
- Episode 1 – May 25
- Episode 2 – June 1
- Episode 3 – June 8
- Episode 4 – June 15
- Episode 5 – June 22
- Episode 6 – June 29
- Episode 7 – July 6
- Episode 8 –July 13
- Episode 9 – July 20
- Episode 10 – July 27
Episode titles & descriptions
As always, there are 10 episodes in this latest run and each title contains some sort of Rick and Morty themed pun. Check out the Season 8 titles and the descriptions that have been released so far:
- Episode 1 – ’Summer of All Fears’
- “Rick left the kids in a matrix. Not chill, broh.”
- Episode 2 – ’Valkyrick’
- “Space Beth calls her dad for a ride, broh.”
- Episode 3 – ’The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly’
- “Some guys wanna rebuild the citadel, broh; seems like a bad idea, broh; yeehaw stuff, broh.”
- Episode 4 – ‘The Last Temptation of Jerry’
- Episode 5 – ’Cryo Mort a River’
- Episode 6 – ‘The Curicksous Case of Bethjamin Button’
- Episode 7 – ’Ricker Than Fiction’
- Episode 8 – Nomortland’
- Episode 9 – ’Morty Daddy’
- Episode 10 – ’Hot Rick’
What’s it about?
Adult SwimWhen you combine the promo clip and the description, it’s clear that Season 8 Episode 3 is set to explore the Citadel, with Rick revealing to Morty that many of their clones ended up as “biotrash.”
The clip starts with them flying into a wasteland where they see a series of Ricks and Mortys wandering around.
“I thought everyone got sucked back to their reality of origin,” says Morty, referring to Season 5 when the Citadel was destroyed after Evil Morty was made president.
Rick replies, “Exactly. The Citadel was basically a factory farm for spare bodies. That portal reset sent them all back.”
In the description, it says, “Some guys wanna rebuild the Citadel,” which could pave the way for the introduction of a new villainous threat.
Either way, the upcoming episode is set to be a juicy lore-building adventure rather than a chaotic aside. Let’s go!
You can also read more about why Rick and Morty got new voice actors and find other new TV shows to stream this month.
