The season one finale of the show “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” faced an unexpected online controversy even before its official airing. The sixth and final episode, titled “The Morrow,” premiered on HBO Max. However, by February 22, the episode had already received over 20,000 ratings on IMDb, with thousands giving it a score of 1/10.
What made this situation unique was that the episode had not been released yet. Many of the low ratings seemed to be a coordinated effort by fans of “Breaking Bad,” who claimed it was a form of retaliation. According to comments on IMDb, some supporters of the fantasy spinoff had allegedly downvoted “Ozymandias,” a highly acclaimed episode of “Breaking Bad,” in a previous review-bombing incident.
Numerous 1/10 reviews specifically mentioned “Ozymandias” and its main character, Walter White, also known as Heisenberg. One user pointed out the back-and-forth rating adjustments between the two shows, stating that fans of “Game of Thrones” had initially lowered the rating of “Breaking Bad’s” final episode, “Felina,” from a 10 to a lower score, which led to a cycle of rating adjustments between the two series.
In response, fans of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” began posting 10/10 ratings as a countermeasure. Some users urged for fair evaluations of both shows, emphasizing the need to end the fan rivalry peacefully.
As of the latest data, “The Morrow” had an IMDb rating of 8.0 with around 4,000 1/10 reviews, and “Ozymandias” had dropped from a perfect 10 to 9.7 over time.
The online rivalry seemed to intensify after the release of the fifth episode of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” titled “In the Name of the Mother,” which initially received a perfect 10/10 rating before being heavily downvoted to 9.7.
The clash between fans of the two shows highlighted how digital fandoms can quickly mobilize across platforms for rating battles. Whether this digital feud will calm down remains uncertain, as two highly acclaimed episodes have become unexpected casualties in this non-screen, rating-based conflict.
