"The Door" received universal acclaim from critics, who found the episode to be emotional with effective action sequences involving the White Walkers and Hodor, in addition to providing "important answers regarding [the show]'s mythos." The adaptation of the Kingsmoot as well as Daenerys's farewell to Jorah were also listed as high points of the episode. Hodor's origin story was presented to the series co-creators by George R. R. Martin. In the United States, the episode achieved a viewership of 7.89 million in its initial broadcast. For the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards, Jack Bender was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, among the episode's five nominations.