tortured by Aelle for days. He refuses to beg for mercy or repent his actions, remembering the happiness of his earlier years. Eventually, Aelle prepares a pit of snakes and gives Ragnar a final chance to repent his sins. Ragnar boldly recites a boastful poem about looking forward to Valhalla and the future triumphs of his sons. He is promptly dropped into the pit and killed by the snakes. Ecbert observes the execution, seemingly relieved by Ragnar's unbroken spirit. In Kattegat, Ivar returns to discover that his mother, Aslaug, was killed by Lagertha. Across the fjord, a longship carrying a black cloaked figure (André Eriksen), missing his right eye, approaches. Production "All His Angels" is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season, directed by Ciarán Donnelly and written by showrunner Michael Hirst. It is the 44th episode overall. Writing Hirst told IGN he had always intended to kill off Ragnar at some point, with the original plan being the departure of Fimmel's character in the first-season finale. Hirst and Fimmel recalled having an argument about the delivery of Ragnar's last speech. Fimmel initially felt uneasy about it, but he was convinced of its importance and impact on Ragnar's sons: "me and Michael spoke about how the kids will find out what he said. It’s all for them, he doesn’t believe it". Filming Principal photography for the episode took place at Ashford Studios and on location in Ireland in mid-winter 2015–2016. Regarding Ragnar's final scene, Michael Hirst told Entertainment Weekly "it was shot in the deepest winter, in the harshest conditions, with Travis absolutely suspended in this cage, above a muddy field, in torrential freezing rain." Music The musical score of "All His Angels" was composed by Trevor Morris. Additionally, Norwegian musician Einar Selvik, who had been working with Morris on the music of Vikings since season two, provided the ancient Norse instruments and vocals. The soundtrack album for season four features two original tracks from the episode: "Dreams of the Past" and "Death of a Legend", the latter featuring Selvik's vocals. For "All His Angels", Selvik wrote and produced a song to accompany Ragnar's final moments, "Snake Pit Poetry". It features vocals by Icelandic singer Hilda Örvarsdóttir and it was released in an extended play on October 20, 2017, together with a second version solely performed by Selvik. Reception Critical reception "All His Angels" was met with positive reviews from