For three years, adherents of the sprawling QAnon conspiracy theory awaited a so-called Great Awakening, scouring anonymous web postings from a shadowy “Q” figure and parsing statements by former US President Donald Trump, whom they believed to be their champion.

On Wednesday, they grappled with a harsh reality check: Trump had left office with no mass arrests or other victories against the supposed cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophile cannibal elites, especially Democrats, he was ostensibly fighting.

Instead, Democratic President Joseph Biden was calmly sworn into office, leaving legions of QAnon faithful struggling to make sense of what had transpired.

In one Telegram channel with more than 18,400 members, QAnon believers were split between those still urging others to “trust the plan” and those saying they felt betrayed.“It’s obvious now we’ve been had. No plan, no Q, nothing,” wrote one user.

Some messages referenced theories that a coup was going to take place before the end of Inauguration Day. Others moved the goalposts again, saying that Trump would be sworn into office on March 4.

“Does anybody have any idea what we should be waiting for next or what the next move could be?” asked another user, who said they wanted to have a “big win”.

Jared Holt, a disinformation researcher at the Atlantic Council, said he had never before seen disillusionment in the QAnon communities. “It’s the whole ‘trust the plan’ thing. Q believers have just allowed themselves to be strung from failed promise to failed promise.”