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  ===Critical response===
  While the majority of the critics gave "Lord Snow" a positive review, many suggested that it suffered from having to introduce many new characters and locations. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 10 reviews of the episode and judged 80% of them to be positive with an average score of 8.75 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "'Lord Snow' is an intriguing and heavy transitional episode with standout performances from Bean and Gillen, though it would be better served with more focus on character change and development." Myles McNutt wrote at Cultural Learnings that it was "perhaps the most narratively uninteresting episode of the first six," although he highlighted that it was "hardly a bad episode of television, filled as it is with satisfying sequences that capture many themes key to the series," and added that many issues introduced in this episode had a payoff in future installments. ''Entertainment Weekly'' James Hibberd also thought that it was his least favorite episode of the first six, due to too much character development. However, Alan Sepinwall from HitFix, liked the "more rambling quality of 'Lord Snow,' and while admitting it is heavy on exposition he felt it worked "because the stories are being told with such passion." IGN's Matt Fowler wrote that "Lord Snow" was "dense and filled with tons of exposition and backstory, which may or may not have interested those new to this story - but I found myself hanging on every precious word." Alan Sepinwall wrote a positive review of the episode for HitFix, saying "Arya's fencing lesson is a wonderful scene, carried by the joy of Maisie Williams' performance and the playful, Inigo Montoya-ish quality of her new teacher Syrio, but it's also such a small, simple thing that you wouldn't ordinarily expect it to be the note that an episode of dramatic television goes out on" and continued "I liked the looser, more rambling quality of "Lord Snow," an episode largely about transitions, fish out of water, and old ghosts.
  Some of the scenes were highly praised by reviewers. The closing scene with Arya taking her first lesson from the Braavosi Syrio Forel was highlighted. Maureen Ryan from AOL TV stated that it was her favorite scene of the series so far, and James Hibberd remarked upon the quality of all the child actors of the show and stated that Maisie Williams owned her role in this episode. Other scenes that were noted by the critics were the father-daughter dialogue with Eddard Stark and Arya, King Robert remembering with the members of his Kingsguard their first killings, and Eddard attending his first session of the Small Council.