diff --git a/src/services/supabaseSyncService.ts b/src/services/supabaseSyncService.ts
index b998c137a..fa0d0e70f 100644
--- a/src/services/supabaseSyncService.ts
+++ b/src/services/supabaseSyncService.ts
@@ -1363,7 +1363,10 @@ class SupabaseSyncService {
 
       const local = await storageService.getWatchProgress(row.content_id, type, episodeId);
       const remoteLastWatched = this.normalizeEpochMs(row.last_watched);
-      if (local && Number(local.lastUpdated || 0) >= remoteLastWatched) {
+      // Always pull remote data if local is a placeholder (currentTime=1,duration=1)
+      // to recover from corruption by watched-items sync
+      const isPlaceholder = local && local.currentTime === 1 && local.duration === 1;
+      if (local && !isPlaceholder && Number(local.lastUpdated || 0) >= remoteLastWatched) {
         continue;
       }
 
diff --git a/src/services/watchedService.ts b/src/services/watchedService.ts
index e83e0bf55..5a09cb5e4 100644
--- a/src/services/watchedService.ts
+++ b/src/services/watchedService.ts
@@ -765,6 +765,12 @@ class WatchedService {
     ): Promise<void> {
         try {
             if (watched) {
+                // If existing progress has real playback data, don't overwrite with placeholder
+                const existing = await storageService.getWatchProgress(id, type, episodeId);
+                if (existing && existing.currentTime > 1 && existing.duration > 1) {
+                    return;
+                }
+
                 // Create a "completed" progress entry (100% watched)
                 const progress = {
                     currentTime: 1, // Minimal values to indicate completion
@@ -775,7 +781,8 @@ class WatchedService {
                 };
                 await storageService.setWatchProgress(id, type, progress, episodeId, {
                     forceWrite: true,
-                    forceNotify: true
+                    forceNotify: true,
+                    preserveTimestamp: true,
                 });
 
                 // Also set the legacy watched flag for movies