 The episode was well received by critics . Time 's reviewer James Poniewozik called " You Win or You Die " the " most thrilling and thematically rich hour to date , " AOL TV 's Maureen Ryan found it an excellent outing that " saw the stakes raised in satisfying and suspenseful ways , " and HitFix 's Alan Sepinwall called it a terrific episode and commended how " it turned the spotlight on the characters who are villains in Ned Stark 's version of the story . " 
