【Esther Moser】

UPDATED(Thursday Aug. 31,Esther Moser 2017 11:00 a.m. ET) to include statement from Rick and Mortyco-creator Dan Harmon

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It's the Game of Thronestwist ending no one could've predicted.

The bloodiest brutality from last night's finale didn't take place on HBO. It happened on an entirely different network several hours after "The Wolf and the Dragon" aired.

Following one of the darkest episodes of the popular Adult Swim animated comedy show, Rick and Morty,the screen faded to black. Then an in memoriamarose from the darkness to mourn the loss of "The Writing on Game of Thrones," with a time of death back in 2016.

SEE ALSO: 'Rick and Morty' went super Freudian in 'Pickle Rick' and it was perfection

Savage.

The takedown was so real, in fact, that we imagine Olenna Tyrell rolled over in her grave just to clap. Because Adult Swim just effectively got the mic drop final words in this Battle for Late Night Sunday Ratings while Game of Thronesis Airing.

In yet another twist, though (honestly, this whole saga was arguably better than the entire season of Game of Thrones), the officialRick and Mortysocial media account said they were innocent of the crime:

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A follow-up tweet even lambasted the media (hello there), demanding that it "stop writing think pieces about it, you maniacs. We are pro Ice and Fire." I mean, they might as well have stripped us and Adult Swim naked, walked us down the streets, and rang a bell while shouting, "Shame! Shame! Shame!"

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Aside from the official show's response, co-creator Justin Roiland also took to Twitter to restate his indifference and ignorance of the whole kerfuffle:

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Fellow Rick and Mortyco-creator Dan Harmon shared a salty statement a few days later via his Instagram account in which he also disavowed the gag.

View this post on Instagram

But Rick and Mortyhas referenced Game of Thronesa couple times before. All of them were pretty tame and favorable, especially considering the show's otherwise cynical attitude toward just about everything else:

We reached out to Adult Swim, who confirmed that their team wrote the bump that displayed right after the episode ended.

The late night programming block on Cartoon Network is known for its off-beat, random, yet often salient as hell marketing. So calling the integrity of HBO's cultural phenomenon into question isn't out of character for Adult Swim, as yet another savage truth bomb.

Because, tbh, we couldn’t agree more with their critical assessment of the writing on Game of Thrones in Season 7. Last night's episode even received the worst critical ratings of any Game of Thronesfinale ever, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

And to be just as brutally honest as Adult Swim, Game of Thronesfans should actually check out Season 3 of Rick and Mortyif they want a taste of truly masterful TV writing. Unlike Game of Thrones,the recent episodes of Rick and Mortyhave garnered some of the show's highest critical praise yet.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

We ourselves have written about how the (heavily delayed and highly anticipated) Season 3 of Rick and Mortyhas accomplished some of its best writing to date. So it might be that the show's creators are a little peeved that this small joke from Adult Swim is getting all the attention rather than the actual episode they slaved over.

But pro tip: if you're hungry for more brutally nihilistic TV with an expansive universe and plethora of fan theories now that Game of Thronesis over, then look no further.

We know some time just freed up on your Sunday nights. So we suggest you tune into Rick and Mortyon Cartoon Network on Sept. 11 at 11:30 ET instead.

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Topics Game Of Thrones