The final episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season one has become the centre of an unexpected online ratings battle even before its official release. The episode titled The Morrow premiered to controversy as thousands of low scores appeared on IMDb hours before audiences could watch it.
The sudden surge of 1 out of 10 ratings did not come from disappointed viewers but from Breaking Bad fans who openly admitted to review bombing the episode. Many described the move as retaliation after the Breaking Bad finale Ozymandias lost its long-held perfect rating earlier this month following similar fan-driven downvoting.
The Morrow stars Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell and airs on HBO Max internationally and on JioHotstar in India. Despite not being available to stream at the time the ratings appeared the episode had already crossed tens of thousands of reviews with a significant portion being the lowest possible score. Several comments referenced Heisenberg and Breaking Bad directly making the intent behind the ratings clear.
As the backlash grew fans of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms stepped in to counter the attack by submitting 10 out of 10 ratings in an attempt to stabilise the score. While some defended the response others urged both fandoms to end the ratings war arguing that two critically acclaimed television episodes were being unfairly affected. Calls for fair and honest reviews began circulating across IMDb threads and social media platforms.
At the time of reporting The Morrow holds a weighted IMDb rating of around 8 while Ozymandias has dropped from its historic perfect score to approximately 9 point 7. The ongoing back and forth highlights how online fan culture can directly influence public perception even before viewers have a chance to judge an episode for themselves.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is created by Ira Parker and is adapted from George RR Martin’s novellas. Set in the Game of Thrones universe the series follows Dunk a wandering hedge knight and his young companion Egg who is secretly Prince Aegon Targaryen. The show has been widely praised for its storytelling performances and faithful adaptation of Martin’s work despite now being caught in an unexpected fandom rivalry.