WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty's Season 4 episode, "The Old Man and the Seat."
After Thanos wiped out half the universe in Avengers: Infinity War, he retired to Planet 0259-S, which became known as the Garden. It was the place the Mad Titan wanted to spend the rest of his life in peace, away from galactic conquest.
Infinity War showed Thanos limping in his farmer's hut and sitting down to overlook the lush hillside, with the call of loons in the background and the warm sun beating down on his face. It was a happy ending for the villain following his genocidal actions. In Rick and Morty's Season 4 episode "The Old Man and The Seat," we see Rick Sanchez in a similar situation, except he's using his getaway to take a major dump, literally.
The episode kicks off once more with Morty's family having breakfast, Rick taking shots at them and then wanting to head out on his usual experiments. However, he indicates his latest quest isn't an adventure after all, it's a solo mission "to go poop." And that's not a metaphor. He jumps in his iconic space ship and jets off across the cosmos, landing on a gorgeous planet that's a carbon copy of Thanos' retirement home.
He wades through tall grass while inhaling the air, mimicking scenes from Endgame in which we saw Thanos farming and tending to his crops. Except Rick isn't there for to cultivate the agriculture. He goes through the thick forest and straight to a toilet seat on a short platform. This is his Garden, where he can get the peace and quiet he doesn't have back on Earth. And much like the Mad Titan, once the universe is course-corrected (in Rick's case, weekly), he comes here to clear his mind and his bowels. It's his place of rest where he grapples with his identity and the creeping existential dread he doesn't think humanity will ever grasp.
As the contemplative Rick enjoys the breathtaking sunset, not to mention the gentle breeze and the glistening stream nearby, he relieves himself and wears a smile exactly like Thanos' in the final shot of Infinity War. In Rick's case, he's purging his system rather than reality, but he views this as getting rid of all his connections to mankind for the day, since we all know the disdain he has for these inferior beings -- something he holds in common with Thanos. The loon calls and it's understood that the show is taking a jab at Thanos' planet where the same sound could be heard to remind us that wildlife exists in this paradise.
Seeing both godlike individuals in their domain makes it clear that it's a good thing these two never crossed paths. Had Rick and Thanos ever teamed up it would have been disastrous. And just like the Avengers eventually intruded on Thanos' property, Rick also has an unwanted visitor. He spots a suspiciously broken tree branch a few feet away and after analysis in his underground lab, an angry Rick realizes that his toilet has been used by someone else. He does a toilet scan and tracks down the perp, deciding, like the Mad Titan, that someone has to pay for upsetting order and needs to be wiped from existence.
New episodes of Rick and Morty air Sundays at 11:30 p.m. on Adult Swim.