Editor’s note: The second-round polls have closed. Check back on Thursday morning to vote in the Elite Eight!
Down goes Lando. After Round 1 of The Ringer’s Ultimate Traitor Bracket, several prominent schemers are headed to Cancún following upset defeats. The baron administrator of Cloud City, a 5-seed, fell to the 12-seeded Tom Wambsgans of Succession. You could argue that Lando’s placement in the bracket was harsh to begin with, given his later redemption, but then why is LeBron James through to the next round? (I kid; LeBron’s matchup against Dennis Nedry of Jurassic Park has the potential to be very interesting.) Elsewhere, 11-seeds Mark Zuckerberg and Jon Rahm took down 6-seeds Colin Sullivan and Alec Trevelyan, respectively, while 10-seed Brett Favre absolutely trounced 7-seed Bob Dylan, who got in due to his controversial transformation into an electric guitar player. I guess that guy who yelled “Judas!” at him at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival was being a tad dramatic.
But upsets weren’t the only story to come out of the first round; several backstabbers fully justified their high seeding. Brutus captured a whopping 95 percent of the vote against Gossip Girl’s Dan Humphrey, which feels extra high even by the Roman senator’s illustrious standards. He, along with Shakespeare cousins Macbeth and Iago, made an early statement. Macbeth convincingly knocked off Bill Belichick, which looked a bit precarious at the start, while Iago now faces Game of Thrones’ Littlefinger in a matchup of master manipulators.
On the sports side of things, recent news cycles appear to have aided Lane Kiffin and Nico Harrison. Kiffin, who just over a month ago left Ole Miss midseason for SEC rival LSU, swept aside another SEC mainstay in Nick Saban. And Harrison, the disgraced former Dallas Mavericks general manager who (this will probably never get old) traded away prime Luka Doncic, bested Gladiator’s Commodus. Clearly, Mavs fans are still upset. Those two now respectively face Saruman and Anakin Skywalker, two titans of fantasy and science fiction—spicy!
A few last tidbits before we get into Round 2:
- No. 3 seed Peter Pettigrew defeated the lowly Robert Irsay by only 8 percentage points on the website. Is Wormtail vulnerable?
- Coco’s Ernesto de la Cruz actually lost the website poll to Pat Riley by a single vote but ultimately triumphed thanks to Instagram. The instantly recognizable image of the sombrero-clad skeleton (unlike the antiquated words we use here) may have saved him in the end.
- Other matchups to watch in Round 2: Stringer Bell vs. Scar and Mark Zuckerberg vs. Walder Frey. Could be cinema!
OK, that’s enough chitchat for now. Let’s vote!
As a reminder, you can vote here on the website and on Instagram until 6 p.m. ET. —Aric Jenkins
More From Traitors Week
The Backstabbers Region
(1) Brutus vs. (8) Luís Figo
Brutus
What do you say when someone betrays you? “Et tu, Brute?” right? Well, meet Brute. Stabbed Julius Caesar, his friend and mentor, to death in the Roman Senate. Was probably trying to save Roman democracy from the rise of a tyrant; may have slightly miscalculated, as his actions led directly to the fall of the republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. Good job, good effort. Literally messed up so hard at work that a thousand years later, Dante put him at the center of the ninth circle of hell. —Brian Phillips
Luís Figo
For anyone unfamiliar with Spanish soccer, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the Yankees and Red Sox of La Liga: These powerhouses hate each other, and players tend to pledge lifelong allegiance to one of them. So when Portuguese winger Luís Figo had the gall to move from Barcelona to Real Madrid, it was tantamount to war. As in, upon making his infamous return to Camp Nou, Barca fans held banners calling Figo “Judas” and even threw a pig’s head onto the pitch. Basically:
(5) Littlefinger, Game of Thrones vs. (4) Iago, Othello
Littlefinger
For many on this list, their reputation as a traitor came as a result of a single act of betrayal. And then there’s Lord Petyr Baelish, whose traitorous acts are too many to list in so few words. Littlefinger is a deceitful man who lies, manipulates, and backstabs his way to becoming one of the most influential figures in all of Westeros. Betrayal is merely a tool for him in his attempted ascent to power, and though Littlefinger is ultimately bested in the game of thrones, few played it better than the cunning master manipulator. —Daniel Chin
Iago
The villain of Shakespeare’s Othello. Gets passed over for a promotion, decides to dedicate his life to a brutal, secret, and elaborate vengeance campaign against his boss. Relatable. Pretends to be passionately loyal while scheming in private, like Marco Rubio if he were smart. Lies. Cheats. Manipulates everyone around him. A virtuoso of treason, capable of destroying true love with nothing but a handkerchief. Gets a lot of people killed. When caught, refuses to explain his motives, proving that he’d be a high seed in a pettiness bracket as well. —Phillips
(6) Stringer Bell, The Wire vs. (3) Scar, The Lion King
Stringer Bell
“Think I give a fuck? I’ll be chalking you off one night.” That’s Detective Frank Barlow’s warning to Stringer Bell in the series premiere of The Wire after Stringer has, against all odds, helped D’Angelo Barksdale beat a murder rap. Stringer Bell goes on to betray D’Angelo, the rest of the Barksdale crew, and everyone else in western Baltimore before karma catches up with him by the end of Season 3. He goes out so bad that the chalk was all that was left of him. —Justin Charity
Scar
When it comes to betrayal, fratricide is a classic. So classic that The Lion King is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. But Hamlet didn’t have adolescent Simba’s sad little Disney eyes, nor Jonathan Taylor Thomas’s trembling little voice when Scar—a trusted male authority figure!—told Simba that his father’s death was his fault. That if it weren’t for him, Mufasa would still be alive. That he should run away and never return. Lying to his nephew for personal gain. How could you, Scar? How could you? A traitor of the highest degree. —Jodi Walker
(7) Fernand Mondego, The Count of Monte Cristo vs. (2) Fredo Corleone, The Godfather Part II
Fernand Mondego
All-time dirty mack. Sent the homie to prison for a decade and a half so he could steal his girl. Dastardly. Thought he got away with it, too. Then he talked all that shit and got beat down in a duel. Proceeded to transform into a worldless mouth breather. The rest is history. —Lex Pryor
Fredo Corleone
He thought he was smart, that he knew things. Blabbing about your escapades in Cuba after you just told your kingpin little brother that you’ve never been there before isn’t exactly the prudent move. The faux smooch Michael gives him is the moment that’s seared into our minds with this backstabbing, but the image I can’t look away from is Fredo, in that Havana bar, heedlessly giving up the whole act. He ain’t the brightest bulb. —Pryor
The Sellouts Region
(1) Judas, the New Testament vs. (8) Roger Clemens
Judas
If Jesus Christ Superstar is to be believed, Judas was the most anguished traitor of all time. He slimed out Jesus for an infuriatingly paltry sum, and in an annoyingly cutesy way. The butterfly effect of his betrayal is immeasurable: For one, I blame him for every bitchy tweet from JD Vance. His name is synonymous with betrayal, and by this measure, he’s peerless. —Charity
Roger Clemens
This bracket wouldn’t be complete without featuring either Roger Clemens or Johnny Damon. Clemens is the obvious choice. It’s not just that he left the Red Sox and won the World Series with their most hated rival, it’s that he burned bridges with Boston in the most enduring way possible. After spending 13 years with the Sox, he spurned the team’s fans upon signing with the Blue Jays after the 1996 season. He then turned in the best stretch of his career before forcing a trade to the Yankees. And he became one of the faces of MLB’s steroid era, as he was indicted by a federal grand jury on six felony counts in 2010. Our Ringer boss, Bill Simmons, famously wrote a column for ESPN’s Page 2: “Is Clemens the Antichrist?” Now, he faces Judas in the second round. —Ben Glicksman
(5) Ernesto de la Cruz, Coco vs. (4) Carter Burke, Aliens
Ernesto de la Cruz
As with any good character, there’s an inherent truth at Ernesto’s core when his villainy is ultimately revealed, which is that all musicians would absolutely kill their close friends in exchange for a few gigs and some good press. This is kind of what some people think happened to Avril Lavigne. —Nora Princiotti
Carter Burke
Paul Reiser plays the perfect corporate stooge. You know the type: a self-professed nice guy who’s just doing his job. Which in this case means secretly trying to smuggle alien specimens to Earth to hand over to Weyland-Yutani’s biological weapons division. At the cost of hundreds of lives, of course. “I was just following the corporate manifest, but at the premiere my sister punched me in the stomach,” Reiser once said. “I thought, ‘This doesn’t bode well for the public.’” —Alan Siegel
(6) LeBron James vs. (3) Dennis Nedry, Jurassic Park
LeBron James
Would The Decision in the summer of 2010 have inspired so many burning effigies in Cleveland had it not been for LeBron’s infamous one-liner? “I’m taking my talents to South Beach” struck the exact tone of a demigod forsaking his loyal and disenfranchised followers. Somehow, LeBron turned what was ostensibly a Boys & Girls Club of America fundraiser into a villain origin story. He’d make up for his sins against the city six years later with the championship he’d long promised, but not before molding the shape of signing and commitment announcements in his image. —Danny Chau
Dennis Nedry
The disgruntled employee is always a suspect, and Nedry is an OG of the form. Sure, you may have daydreamed about putting eggs in your worst boss’s car, but disabling the dinosaur fences? There’s a sympathetic read on Nedry, underpaid, undervalued, and ultimately pressured into one of cinema’s most cataclysmic cases of corporate espionage. Still, you really can’t mess around with those fences, man. —Princiotti
(10) Brett Favre vs. (2) Cypher, The Matrix
Brett Favre
Brett Favre has done a lot of traitorous and treacherous things in his life, but we’re here to discuss his on-field betrayal: playing for the Minnesota Vikings. Favre spent 16 years of his NFL career as a Green Bay Packer, winning three MVP awards, one Super Bowl, and the hearts and minds of Wisconsinites. Then, in 2009, he turned tail and signed with the archrival Vikings (after one season with the Jets) and nearly led them to a Super Bowl berth. Many Packers fans have forgiven Favre for his disloyalty—his jersey was even retired at Lambeau Field in 2015—but no one has forgotten. —Megan Schuster
Cypher
Look, life after the Machine War isn’t easy. The sky is scorched, the grub is gross, and dance parties aside, there’s a distinct lack of creature comforts. I understand the desire to forget one’s troubles, and maybe Morpheus bears some blame for freeing Cypher’s mind when he was over the age limit (just like the Jedi do for training a too-old Anakin). But missing the taste of steak and having an unrequited crush on Trinity are no excuses for selling out humanity and murdering Dozer, Apoc, and Switch in cold blood. Goddamn you, Cypher! —Ben Lindbergh
The Turncoats Region
(1) Benedict Arnold vs. (8) Big Pussy, The Sopranos
Benedict Arnold
What more needs to be said? An entire nation turned my guy’s name into a synonym. All Benedict needed to do was stay loyal for another year or so, and he would have gone down as a national hero. There’d be towns and monuments and federal buildings named after him—the man who won Saratoga and convinced the French to join! Instead, he couldn’t handle getting passed over for a promotion a couple of times. Grow up, buddy; it happens to the best of us. —Jenkins
Big Pussy
Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero is not the first rat depicted on The Sopranos nor the last, but he is likely the character that springs to mind when you think of “Sopranos FBI informant.” After getting popped for dealing heroin, Sal agrees to sell Tony out to the federal government. As Tony drifts in and out of a fever dream in the Season 2 finale, he finally admits to himself that his best friend is a snitch. By the episode’s end, Tony, Silvio, and Paulie have disposed of their friend somewhere in the Mid-Atlantic. But Tony does grant Sal one thing not afforded to so many other rats on the show: As Pussy becomes aware that he’s about to die, he asks if he can sit down. Tony instead pulls out his gun and starts shooting, ensuring his lifelong friend goes out as a stand-up guy—literally. In a sense, that makes Big Pussy something else relative to other Sopranos turncoats: the most dignified. —Justin Sayles
(12) Tom Wambsgans, Succession vs. (4) Kevin Durant
Tom Wambsgans
“You’re marrying a man fathoms beneath you,” Logan Roy told his daughter, Shiv, about her fiancé, Tom Wambsgans, in Season 1 of Succession, “because you don’t want to risk being betrayed.” Well, ah, whoops! Tom spent most of Succession’s four seasons on his knees, literally and figuratively, but when the music ended, he was the one still standing. Did he outsmart his in-laws? Not exactly. Out-grovel them? Yes, sir! The softest man in the room ultimately wielded life’s sharpest tool: shamelessness. And by selling out the Roys, Tom proved himself worthy of the fucked-up family. Maybe Logan would’ve been proud. —Katie Baker
Kevin Durant
Durant’s neighbors in Oklahoma City used to bring him Skittles on the regular. KD was their golden boy, the perfect young star for a Thunder franchise just starting to figure out its footing in the NBA market. He was the face of an upstart that became a yearly powerhouse that consistently fell just short of its goals. But on Independence Day 2016, Durant instantly became the patron saint of taking the easy way out when he signed with the Golden State Warriors to form one of the greatest teams of all time. He sought basketball nirvana, or at least greater success within the game; for a brief period, he found it. All it cost was a lifetime of online harassment from strangers claiming he ruined basketball forever. Fair trade, all things considered. —Chau
(11) Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Network vs. (3) Walder Frey, Game of Thrones
Mark Zuckerberg
“Punk. Prophet. Genius. Billionaire. Traitor,” proclaims the packaging of an old Social Network two-disc DVD set, atop the face of Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, saving the second worst for last. It’s one thing to see Zuck’s character string along the supercilious Winklevoss twins as he launches Facebook. It’s quite another to watch him throw Eduardo Saverin, his “only friend,” headfirst into the shallow end of the equity pool. “You were the business head of the company, and you made a bad business deal,” snarks Eisenzuck, cruelly converting his cofounder into a mere rounding error. —Baker
Walder Frey
The “Late” Walder Frey might be the biggest scumbag in Game of Thrones, which is saying something. He’s a slob, he collects young wives, and, oh, he traitorously serves the Stark family up to the Lannisters. Alas, after the Red Wedding, Frey gets his comeuppance at the hands of Arya Stark. But not before he helps orchestrate the most shocking betrayal in recent pop culture history. —Siegel
(7) Lane Kiffin vs. (2) Saruman, The Lord of the Rings
Lane Kiffin
One of the reasons Lane Kiffin is in Baton Rouge today is that his Ole Miss teams won three of their six meetings against LSU during his tenure in Oxford. Alas, he’s now behind enemy lines after leaving Miss in the middle of the season, just as the Rebels were poised to compete for a national championship. Accordingly, Kiffin is Public Enemy No. 1 on at least three SEC campuses: Ole Miss, Tennessee (where he escaped fan riots after coaching there for only a 7-6 season in 2009), and Mississippi State. Not that more aren’t lined up to hate him in the future. —Joel Anderson
Saruman
No disrespect to Christopher Lee, but I never trusted him. Guy is a separatist. What kind of government informant fixes their mouth to tell a fellow wizard, “Your love of the halflings’ leaf has clearly slowed your mind”? So when Saruman starts letting his eyes dart off camera and gets all ominous and leans back in his dark-hued throne, the final reveal isn’t much of a surprise. But the subsequent throwdown? Sensational. Hall of Fame fracas. Just two geezers, beating the shit out of each other. What more could you ask for? —Pryor
The Defectors Region
(1) Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars vs. (8) Nico Harrison
Anakin Skywalker
It was said that it was said that Anakin would destroy the Sith, not join them; bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness. And sure, he arguably got around to doing some destroying and balancing, eventually. (At least until, somehow, Palpatine returned.) But he sure took a roundabout route. Anakin killed his wife and dueled his brother, and no possible point of view—or allowances for his harsh upbringing—could justify what he did to those younglings. Mace Windu and Palpatine accused each other of being traitors, but the biggest traitor was standing right next to them. —Lindbergh
Nico Harrison
There are varying degrees of treachery permissible in the NBA, but disgraced former Dallas Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison blew past the outer limits in February 2025. Trading beloved franchise savior Luka Doncic to (of course) the Los Angeles Lakers under the cover of darkness—without fielding any other offers from the rest of the league!—will go down as one of the worst front office decisions in professional sports history. —Chau
(5) Henry Hill, Goodfellas vs. (4) Macbeth, Macbeth
Henry Hill
The lesson comes early and with a $20 bill. “Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut,” Jimmy Conway says to a young, freshly arrested Henry Hill as he slips an Andrew Jackson in his shirt pocket. For the first two acts of Goodfellas, there’s no reason for Henry not to stay quiet. But as the walls close in and the helicopters grow louder, Henry’s left with a choice: self-preservation or protecting murderers who happen to be old friends. He chooses the former and agrees to give his testimony. The enduring image is the final shot of Martin Scorsese’s classic, as Henry picks up a newspaper in his bathrobe in front of his new, nondescript, suburban home and rants about noodles in ketchup. It’s proof that there are fates worse than death—and consequences for not living by your code. —Sayles
Macbeth
NBD, just the protagonist of the greatest examination of the psychology of betrayal ever written. Murders the king he’s sworn to protect while the king is a guest in his house. Treasonously seizes the throne. Then has his best friend killed because of some loose talk he heard from witches. Tries to kill his best friend’s young son. Kills a lot of people. It’s bad luck to say “Macbeth” near a stage; his very name is a betrayal of theater itself. Crushing remorse means he can’t even enjoy being king. Never listen to witches. —Phillips
(11) Jon Rahm vs. (3) Peter Pettigrew, Harry Potter
Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm in February 2022: “I wanted to take this time to say that this is my official, my one and only time to talk about this, where I am officially declaring my fealty to the PGA Tour.”
Jon Rahm in June 2022: “To be honest, part of the format is not really appealing to me. Shotgun three days, to me, is not a golf tournament. … I’ve never really played the game of golf for monetary reasons. I play for the love of the game.”
Jon Rahm in August 2023: “I laugh when people rumor me with LIV Golf.”
Jon Rahm in December 2023:
I mean, come on. —Andrew Gruttadaro
Peter Pettigrew
[Hits blunt.] Whoa, I just realized something: Peter Pettigrew is a rat. Indeed, ol’ Wormtail lived up to his name by snitching on the Potters’ location in Godric's Hollow. Some Secret Keeper he was. Betrayed his best friends not even out of any specific personal gain but just the vague suspicion he’d be safer that way. Sirius Black would never. Book readers know that years later, Scabbers couldn’t even finish the job on Harry, and Voldemort choked him out for the perceived disloyalty. Fitting. —Jenkins
(7) Dr. Mann, Interstellar vs. (2) Cain, the Old Testament
Dr. Mann
“He’s the best of us.” So says professor John Brand about Dr. Mann, the NASA scientist who heroically leads a group of astronauts on a one-way mission to find a new home for humanity in the cosmos. Well, about that: Upon learning the planet is uninhabitable, Dr. Mann sends back falsified data to ensure he’s saved. In other words, Dr. Mann was literally willing to doom our species because he didn’t want to die alone. He’s the worst of us. —Surrey
Cain
A pioneer in treachery, obviously. You cannot brutally betray your own brother—or murder anyone, really—without paying homage to the OG. Several millennia of copycats and also-rans have yet to improve on the grim eloquence of: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” —Charity
