A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 6 has arrived, and while the Season 1 finale has a respectable 8.5/10 score on IMDb, it may have been higher if it weren’t for an unexpected review-bombing war with Breaking Bad fans.
For context, the Game of Thrones prequel series has been earning huge reviews with each new episode that dropped, with viewers enjoying the lighthearted tone and scaled down story from George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world.
At the time of writing, the lowest-rated episode on IMDb is the premiere, currently sitting at 8.2. Episodes 4 and 5 – which depicted the aftermath of Dunk finding out Egg’s true identity and the Trial of Seven – both have 9.6 right now.
They may have scored a perfect 10, but Breaking Bad die-hards refuse to let that happen. It’s resulted in a Targaryen-esque back-and-forth, with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms viewers clapping back.
Breaking Bad and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fans at war
Breaking Bad Season 5 Episode 14, ‘Ozymandias’, was the only TV episode on IMDb with a perfect 10/10 rating for years, but this has since dropped to 9.6 in light of the review-bombing struggle.
You see, a subsection of die-hard Breaking Bad fans have a reputation for review-bombing the episode of any show that gets close to matching the episode’s score. And this is exactly what happened with last week’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 5.
The episode had an early rating of 9.9, but this has since dropped to 9.6 thanks to a series of 1/10 scores – and the Breaking Bad fans are making themselves known.
In a 1/10 user review titled ‘Say my name’, they wrote, “Be careful what you wish for. What you did with ‘Ozymandias’ is now happening to you.
“When you can’t surpass a show through genuine quality, storytelling, and character depth, you try to close the gap through artificial means-through rating manipulation and temporary hype…
“Even at its absolute peak, Game of Thrones was driven by spectacle-massive battles, shocking twists, and visual grandeur. And yes, it achieved incredible popularity. But popularity alone doesn’t guarantee lasting greatness…
“Episodes like ‘Ozymandias’ didn’t just raise the bar-they became the bar. It wasn’t about shocking the audience; it was about delivering the inevitable outcome of years of choices.”
Another rather sarcastically commented, “Dunk continues his inspiring journey of being confused but tall, while Egg perfects the art of saying something vaguely clever and then walking away before it has consequences. Riveting stuff.”
“Don’t care that Breaking Bad fans started the war,” added a third. “‘Ozymandias’ has been 10/10 for 13 years. A Knight of the horrible generic medieval franchise will be forgotten in five minutes.”
The list goes on, but you get the picture. A subsection of the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fandom retaliated, managing to knock ‘Ozymandias’ off the #1 spot and bring its rating down to 9.6.
As said by one in a review titled ‘Winter has come’: “In the name of the father I serve you justice. I hate toxic people who drag masterpieces down for no other reason than jealousy.”
Another wrote, “Not because ‘Ozymandias’ from Breaking Bad isn’t a 10/10. It absolutely is. It’s brutal, devastating, and executed with terrifying precision… But this review isn’t about quality. It’s about fandom behavior.
“The second another episode of another show dares to sniff a 10.0 rating – like A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 5 – an army of Breaking Bad loyalists mobilizes like it’s a holy war.
“Suddenly, 1-star reviews rain down not because the episode is bad, but because ‘nothing is allowed to touch Ozymandias.’ That’s not appreciation. That’s insecurity.”
IMDb review-bombing continues after finale
Again, the list goes on and on, and in many ways, both sides have been successful in dragging each other down. But the war is far from over, as the Breaking Bad fandom are back to review-bomb the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms finale.
Since airing on Sunday, February 22, the episode has more than 31,000 user reviews, with countless 10s and ones being handed out, bringing its rating to 8.6 – on the lower end for the show.
One who falls into the latter category said, “Not enough methamphetamine. 1/10. It’s just not crystal clear.” Another commented, “I’m only here for revenge. Say my name.”
Many comments have made it clear that this is retaliation, including one person who wrote, “I genuinely like this show but seeing that people are review-bombing Breaking Bad made me review bomb this. Maybe I should do Game of Thrones too.”
Another chimed in, “Watching ‘The Morrow’ was an incredibly frustrating experience. The writing is amateur at best, and the plot feels like it’s being stretched out just to fill the runtime.
“There is no logic in the character’s actions, and the stakes feel completely manufactured. It is honestly embarrassing that people are trying to compare this mediocre show to legends like Breaking Bad.”
In short, the war is not over just yet, and it’s proving frustrating for the fans who aren’t getting involved in this back-and-forth.
Taking to Reddit, one pointed out the fact that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 6 allegedly started receiving bad reviews before it had even been released on HBO.
“Breaking Bad fans are so pathetic they are review-bombing an episode which isn’t even out yet,” they wrote.
Another replied, “Both sides are children with all of this, but Breaking Bad fans who started all of this are simple minded. They’re so insecure and threatened by a show about a teen knight and his egg-like squire.”
A third added, “The reaction seems to be in pretty high agreement that this whole thing is stupid.”
In a separate post, one quipped, “If I lived a thousand years, I’d still never have time for pointless nonsense like this.”
Another suggested, “Honestly, if Breaking Bad fans want to piss off GoT fans, they should rank the series finale of OG GoT 10/10.”
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