All His Angels

All His Angels is the 44th episode of *Vikings* and the fifteenth installment of its fourth season. Directed by Ciarán Donnelly from a script by series creator Michael Hirst, it first aired on December 28, 2016. The episode centers on the death of Ragnar Lothbrok, the show’s protagonist, and earned widespread praise, with Travis Fimmel’s performance singled out for particular acclaim. It later received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) at the 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The cast includes Travis Fimmel, Katheryn Winnick, John Kavanagh, Moe Dunford, Alex Høgh, David Lindström, Jordan Patrick Smith, and Linus Roache. Archive footage features Clive Standen, Gustaf Skarsgård, Alexander Ludwig, and Alyssa Sutherland. In the plot, Ecbert visits Ragnar in his cell and tells him a ship has been arranged to take his son Ivar home that day. Ragnar asks to speak with Ivar alone, and Ecbert sends guards to fetch him. Ragnar explains that he will be handed over to King Aelle, who will kill him. Ivar vows that he and his brothers will avenge their father, but Ragnar insists they must target Ecbert instead. Later, in Ecbert’s bedroom, he and Princess Judith confess their love. Ecbert admits regret over condemning his friend Ragnar to death; Judith says he has no choice, but Ecbert wonders aloud if that is true, comparing himself to Pontius Pilate. In the courtyard, Ragnar gives Athelstan’s cross to his son Alfred and tells Ecbert that Athelstan ultimately chose Christ. Ragnar is then placed in a cage on a carriage and taken away. That night, Ecbert dons Athelstan’s priestly robes and leaves the court. On the road, Ragnar speaks with the blind driver, who says he can “see” him—a line that recalls the Seer’s prophecy that Ragnar would die on the day a blind man sees him. Realizing he has defied the prophecy (since his execution will occur no earlier than the following day), Ragnar sees the Seer in the driver’s place. He tells the Seer that he, not the gods, guided his own fate, and that the Seer’s prophecies are dangerous. The Seer admits he has only ever groped for meaning and may have been wrong. Ecbert, disguised as a priest, follows the procession. Ragnar arrives in Northumbria and is tortured by Aelle for days.