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  ===Critical reception===
  "The Night Lands" received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 12 reviews of the episode and judged 83% of them to be positive with an average score of 8.5 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Moodier than the premiere and full of dark intrigue, 'The Night Lands' introduces viewers to exotic new locations in Westeros and delivers some pivotal character moments." Matt Fowler of IGN rated the episode 8 out of 10 and called it "a satisfying follow-up to the premiere filled with less-than-monumental happenings." He referred to the episode as "a great place-holder episode", comparing it to the first-season episode "The Kingsroad". In a review targeted at those who have read the source novels, The A.V. Club's Emily VanDerWerff gave it an A- and remarked: "This is a strong and confident episode of the show, and it takes us easily enough from the Red Wastes to Beyond the Wall to Melisandre and Stannis having sex on a giant exposition table, seemingly without breaking a sweat." She also commented positively on the themes of the episode, which she believed were the definition of good leadership and the negative side of patriarchy. In addition, the reviewer thought that the episode was indicative of the series turning from "a ridiculously entertaining show" to "something on the level of ''Breaking Bad'' or ''Mad Men''.
  On the other hand, WhatCulture's Patrick Koch was more critical of the episode. In his ranking of the first 40 ''Game of Thrones'' episodes (seasons 1-4), Koch placed "The Night Lands" at number 40, calling the Greyjoy plotline on Pyke "supremely non-interesting." Simon Abrams, writing for ''Slant Magazine'', gave the episode a mixed review compared to the premiere, referring to "The Night Lands" as "a bit of a let-down" and "not as thematically cogent as last week's episode." In his episode recap for ''Entertainment Weekly'', James Hibberd noted that the amount of sex in the first season of ''Game of Thrones'' was "probably the biggest point of debate among viewers" and observed that this episode "might have been the most sex-focused hour yet." Indeed, the episode was cut short by the Dubai-based broadcaster Etisalat during its initial airing due to concerns about nudity. According to ''The National'', previous episodes had been aired on Etisalat with "minimal editing."