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  === Critical reception ===
  The episode received high praise from critics and audiences alike, with the fight between Prince Oberyn and the Mountain being hailed as the episode's highlight. On Rotten Tomatoes it obtained a 97% score, based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With one of the most gruesome scenes to date, 'The Mountain and the Viper' delivers a tense, twisty final scene well worth the wait."
  Writing for ''The A.V. Club'', Emily VanDerWerff gave the episode an A- and praised the staging of the final fight by director Alex Graves. Erik Adams, also writing for the ''A.V. Club'' gave the episode an A. Terri Schwartz, writing for Zap2it.com, wrote the episode was "one of the strongest ''Game of Thrones'' episodes to date, and that's just the type of episode that the death of Oberyn Martell deserves."