The Truth About The Code In Rick And Morty's Story Train

For those who aren't major fans of Dan Harmon, his "Story Circle" is somewhat legendary, and was even riffed on during an episode of The Simpsons. Harmon's structure incorporates eight different steps that take a character from their comfort zone to a pivotal change. It begins with a protagonist in a comfort zone, before they realize they want something and enter an unfamiliar situation to get it. They adapt out of said comfort zone and get what they wanted, but pay a heavy price for it. After returning to a familiar situation, they are now changed. Harmon's circle is a modification of the Hero's Journey, which involves a 12-step process by which the protagonist begins in an ordinary world before embarking on a quest, undergoing several physical or internal tests and trials, and eventually being changed. Harmon's Story Circle is a condensed and slightly modified version of the Hero's Journey. It drops steps like the hero meeting a mentor, and re-arranges others, such as the hero's return journey and a final confrontation revealing that the protagonist's battle is bigger than them.

"Never Ricking Morty" doesn't follow the patterns of either story structure exactly. But through the combined efforts of several fans, including Redditors u/basicWhiteGuy42 and u/beastofbalthazar, viewers now know that a numerical sequence spotted on the Story Train's engine control panel can be attributed to parts of both structures (via Inverse). Not only does it point directly to a set of scrambled steps for both narrative structures, but serves as a blueprint for the order in which Rick and Morty navigate the actual train cars. 

The sequence in question is 02376319 — eight steps, just like the Story Circle but featuring numbers you'd also find in the Hero's Journey.