[3] The first season of the series opened generally favourable reviews with praise for the show's visuals, sets, costumes and the performance of the main cast, with a positive consensus on Shabana Azmi's portrayal of Ësan Dawlat and criticism for poor VFX in a few scenes.

Babur then travels to Hindustan, defeats Ibrahim Khan Lodi in the Battle of Panipat, and establishes the Mughal Dynasty.

[8] Bhavani Iyer was initially tapped to write the screenplay for the digital adaptation on the show, with A. M. Turaz penning the dialogue.

[18] Saraswati Datar of The News Minute welcomed the series by writing that "The Empire is an ambitious and sincere attempt to tackle a brand-new genre in the Indian OTT space, and it prompted me to go find out more about Babur than what textbooks had taught us.

"[19] Lehren's Bharathi Pradhan praised the performances of actors Shabana Azmi, Rahul Dev, Drashti Dhami, Kunal Kapoor and Dino Morea and added "when Babur's sister, well played by Drashti (Dhami), adds her bit to the tome titled ‘Baburnama,’ you know history is always part fiction.

"[20] In a similar review, Shubham Kulkarni of Koimoi wrote "The Empire is a huge step in creating extravagant shows for the Indian OTT.

From the intricately crafted sets, to the beautifully designed costumes, the show leaves you in awe but what it gains in aesthetics, it loses out in VFX."

Additionally, Sharma criticised the length of the series but praised the performance of the cast by writing that "The Empire’s eight episodes feel a little too long, especially in places where there is song-and-dance.

But they desperately need to get their act together in terms of writing and casting.”[5] Vibha Maru of India Today praised the performance of the lead cast, saying that “Kunal Kapoor and Shabana Azmi rule this historical drama”.

[24] Shefali Deshpande of The Quint wrote that "The Empire is an engaging story of family & the casualty that is war, The first thing that hits you is the breathtaking visuals.

The grievance officer appointed under Information Technology (Guidelines for intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 received complaints against the web series., but he rejected those claims.