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  ===Critical reception===
  The episode received universal acclaim from both critics and viewers, with critics calling it the best episode of the series. It received a 100% rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes from 35 reviews with an overall rating of 9.7 out of 10 and the critics' consensus reading "Following several episodes of setup, 'Hardhome' blends a sharp script with spectacular blockbuster action to offer viewers a powerful, game-changing payoff."
  ''The Atlantic'' named "Hardhome" one of the best television episodes of 2015. Erik Kain of ''Forbes'' called this "one of the best, most exciting episodes I've seen in the entire show's run, let alone this season," citing "High action and a series of pretty crazy revelations." Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode 10/10, labeling it a "masterpiece". He praised the Tyrion/Daenerys scenes but predominantly the final sequence, which he described as "edge-of-your-seat exciting" and also "quite terrifying". This made "Hardhome" the first episode in season 5 to receive a 10/10 rating from IGN. Matt Fowler also named it the best episode of the entire series. Both Myles McNutt and Erik Adams of ''The A.V. Club'' gave the episode the website's highest grade, "A". They called it "a welcome reminder that the show is still unpredictable," with McNutt citing it as his favorite episode of the series thus far. Bridle Roman of SFX gave the episode a perfect five stars, and highlighted the character of Karsi, played by Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, as a great addition and "her death hits hard" even if "we have only seen her for a few scenes". The episode received praise even from some of its usual critics: Madeline Davies of ''Jezebel'' wrote, "I feel like I haven't said this in a long time, but last night's ''Game of Thrones'' was ...cool?" Davies cited the quality of the battle scene and unifying theme of hope in desperate situations as the episode's key strengths, specifically that the abused and tormented Sansa learns that her brothers may still be alive and that though Jon faces "the seemingly impossible task of defeating a constantly growing army of White Walkers, he at least possesses a sword that can kill them." Kirsten Acuna of ''Business Insider'' reports that this is the single most popular episode to date as rated by fans, noting that the "tremendous reaction is in complete juxtaposition with reactions to an episode that aired two weeks ago," which received one of the series' lowest fan ratings. Acuna credits this response to the quality of the battle scene, which featured "a fighting army of the walking dead which would easily give the AMC series of the same name a run for its money."