Fan feud erupts as ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ finale downvoted before release

The season one finale of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” found itself at the centre of an unexpected online storm even before it officially aired.

The sixth and final episode, titled “The Morrow”, debuted on HBO Max. However, by Sunday (February 22), the episode had already amassed over 20,000 ratings on IMDb — thousands of which were 1/10 scores.

What made the situation unusual was that the episode had not yet been released.

Many of the low ratings appeared to be part of a coordinated effort by fans of “Breaking Bad”, who claimed the move was retaliation. According to posts left on IMDb, some supporters of the fantasy spinoff had allegedly downvoted “Ozymandias”, widely regarded as one of television’s greatest episodes, in a previous round of review-bombing.

Several 1/10 reviews explicitly referenced “Ozymandias”, the penultimate episode of “Breaking Bad’s” fifth season, and its protagonist Walter White — also known as Heisenberg.

One user wrote: “Fans of ‘Game of Thrones’ were the ones who lowered the rating of the final episode of ‘Breaking Bad’, ‘Felina’, which was a 10, and they brought it down. And then they say to us, ‘toxic.’ Then we went and lowered the rating of ‘The Night of the Seven Kingdoms’. And after that, you came back and dropped ‘Ozymandias’ from 10 to 9.8. In the end, you’re the ones who started it. What a joke!”

In response, fans of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms began” posting 10/10 ratings in what appeared to be a digital counteroffensive. “We have to continue protecting our realm,” one reviewer wrote, urging supporters to defend the series’ rating.

Others called for calm, arguing that both episodes deserved fair evaluation. “Let’s rate ‘Ozymandias’ the 10 it fairly deserves and rate ‘The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ episodes the 9 or 10 they deserve,” another user posted, pleading for an end to the fan war.

At the time of writing, “The Morrow” held a weighted rating of 8.0 on IMDb, with roughly 4,000 1/10 reviews. “Ozymandias,” which had maintained a perfect 10 rating for over 12 years, has now dipped to 9.7.

How the rivalry began

The online clash appears to have escalated after the release of “In the Name of the Mother,” the fifth episode of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”. The episode initially achieved a rare 10/10 rating before thousands of low scores brought it down to 9.7.

Fans of the fantasy series accused “Breaking Bad” supporters of orchestrating the downvotes. In retaliation, some targeted “Ozymandias,” triggering a cycle of reciprocal rating drops.

While online rating battles are not new, the scale and speed of the latest clash highlight how digital fandoms can mobilise rapidly across platforms.

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Whether the digital feud subsides remains to be seen. For now, two of television’s most celebrated episodes have become unlikely casualties in a battle fought not on screen, but in star ratings.