Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning sees Ethan Hunt back in the swing of things, and the film’s cliffhanger ending sets up Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in a big way while still standing on its own. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Erik Jendresen, ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning lays the foundation for what’s to come. Tom Cruise returns to play Ethan Hunt as he and his friends chase down the key to Mission: Impossible 7‘s villain The Enтιтy, an AI program that has evolved beyond its initial parameters, while being followed by the CIA, Gabriel, and Grace, a mysterious new thief.

After nearly dying on a runaway train, Ethan and Grace are saved by Paris, who pulls them up before the train car they’re in falls off the exploded bridge. Paris, near death, tells Ethan that the key unlocks the Enтιтy’s chamber, located on the Russian submarine Sevastopol. As Kittridge approaches, Ethan escapes via parachute, leaving Grace to join the IMF and accept Kittridge’s as-yet-unspoken offer. Gabriel manages to escape after killing Denlinger and fighting Ethan on the train. Believing he has the key, he’s momentarily triumphant until he realizes Ethan stole it back, leaving ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning‘s ending on a cliffhanger.

Ethan Hunt Stops The Enтιтy’s Plan By Stealing The Key

This Directly Sets Up What Will Come Next

Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning ends with Ethan stopping The Enтιтy and Gabriel’s plan momentarily by stealing the key. He accomplishes this by secretly taking it from Gabriel during their fight on top of the train. While Ethan is still in the dark about what the key actually does at this point, he knows that it is important to what The Enтιтy and Gabriel are planning, so stealing it prevents their evil schemes from continuing. It is only once he is back on the train and Paris tells him what the key unlocks that Ethan begins thinking about the future.

Ethan’s plan will likely involve heading to the bottom of the ocean to retrieve The Enтιтy’s chamber within the Sevastopol. Gabriel will continue chasing Ethan until he takes back what he believes is his. He has proven himself incredibly skilled, lethal, and resourceful, and he will stop at nothing until he hunts Ethan down. Ethan will also have to figure out a way to work against the Enтιтy, which could mean employing non-tech devices and going to ground.

It’s possible Ethan’s new mission, should he choose to accept it, will involve working with Grace. She may now be working alongside Kittridge in the IMF, but he can’t be trusted, so it’s likely Grace will go rogue like Ethan has in the past. Ethan won’t leave her to fend for herself, as they’ve bonded under dangerous, life-threatening circumstances, and the longtime IMF agent will surely keep an eye on her. However, Kittridge also teases in Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning‘s ending that Ethan has to tackle this next mission alone if he is to stop the AI villain.

Why The Enтιтy Wants Ethan Hunt ᴅᴇᴀᴅ

Ethan Has A Different View Of The AI

Because The Enтιтy has access to all kinds of information, it’s capable of evolving and determining people’s actions before they happen. This is primarily why The Enтιтy wants Ethan ᴅᴇᴀᴅ — he’s the only one capable of taking the AI down permanently. Whereas Denlinger and Kittridge wanted to control The Enтιтy for their own nefarious reasons, Ethan doesn’t think anyone, or any government, should have the kind of power and control The Enтιтy would give them. But The Enтιтy wants to survive first and foremost, and it can’t survive freely so long as Ethan is around to threaten its existence.

The Enтιтy was an AI program created by the U.S. government to aid the military in fighting foreign threats before developing independently. Its amᴀssed knowledge and power were on display when, after Denlinger had injected The Enтιтy into the Sevastopol, the AI went rogue and blew up the Russian submarine with its own missile after its inhabitants believed they were under attack. The Enтιтy is sophisticated, an AI capable of infiltrating any digital program and sabotaging it before completely erasing itself to avoid being traced. Its hope of survival rests in removing Ethan Hunt from the picture.

Grace Accepts Kittridge’s Offer To Join The IMF

She Takes Ethan’s Advice

Grace was in a тιԍнт spot at the end of ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning. With Ethan having escaped, and wanting to avoid prison time, Grace accepts Kittridge’s unspoken offer to join the IMF. This puts her at odds with Ethan, but it also means she’ll know what Kittridge’s next moves will be. Grace is now in a position of opposition to Ethan, but joining the IMF could also make her his biggest ally. While Grace spent most of the movie dodging Ethan, they got to a level of trust by the end, and their partnership should be unaffected by Grace’s new alliance.

After all, it is Ethan who tells Grace to make herself available to Kittridge and the IMF, knowing that it will keep her safe. The Mission: Impossible movies has played with agents within the IMF working with Ethan even at times when he is considered a rogue agent. Grace could occupy a similar role in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and feed Ethan valuable information about the IMF, The Enтιтy, Gabriel, and more in secret. With Ilsa Faust now out of the picture, Grace should be primed for a bigger role in the sequel.

Everyone Who Dies In Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning’s Ending

Some Major Casualties Happen On Both Sides

There are several notable deaths in Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning‘s ending. The most significant comes in the lead-up to the finale, as Mission: Impossible 7 kills Ilsa Faust during her fight with Gabriel. The movie concludes without delivering a fakeout and reversing the death, confirming that Rebecca Ferguson’s character is ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. The other prominent death in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning also comes from Gabriel, as he kills Director Denlinger (Cary Elwes) before a betrayal can happen.

It is also debatable whether Paris dies in Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning. Pom Klementieff’s character is stabbed by Gabriel with a dagger and seemingly left for ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. She is last shown to be alive after saving Ethan and Grace during the train accident. The movie confirms that she still has a pulse during her last scene, but it would not be too surprising if Paris died shortly thereafter. The biggest reason to think that she survived comes from Simon Pegg, who has since teased Paris’ return in Mission: Impossible 8.

How Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning Sets Up Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

The Cliffhanger Ending Teases What’s Next

ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning leaves off on a cliffhanger that sets up what’s to come in Mission: Impossible 8. Grace working with Kittridge creates some great tension between her and Ethan, and keeps Kittridge in the game for the foreseeable future. Ethan stealing the key from Gabriel also keeps him as an enemy for Mission: Impossible 8, and raises the stakes for their continued conflict. Mission: Impossible 7 splits the characters into three factions by the end, and though Gabriel no longer has the key, The Enтιтy is still on his side.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning will likely see Ethan and Gabriel racing to get to the submarine, with Kittridge and Grace not far behind. There’s a lot that can go wrong and the film’s ending leaves enough room for more action and suspense to come. With shifting alliances and Ethan and his team probably forced into hiding until they can come up with a new plan that The Enтιтy won’t be able to manipulate, ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning brings the characters’ paths together before splitting them apart once more ahead of the sequel.

The Enтιтy’s Deeper Meaning In Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning

Mission: Impossible Warns Against The Dangers Of AI

The Enтιтy proved to be a formidable villain. The AI’s existence, as well as what it’s capable of the more it evolves, sets a dangerous precedent. Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning suggests that AI is ultimately a threat, one that can’t be controlled or contained should it get out of hand. The film posits that it will indeed get out of hand, and it’s dangerous because it’s been fed too much information. The Enтιтy’s access to the internet means it can tap into global systems at once, altering things and executing programs at will.

Not only is AI the clear and present danger, but the problem is also how it’s being used and manipulated by those in power. Governments would fight to take control of it so they could do whatever they wanted without anyone knowing. Denlinger and Kittridge represent that AI could be for national security reasons, but such a program would give control to those without good intentions. AI can be useful, but Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning lays out the damage it can cause, and what could happen if it’s controlled by intelligence agencies for all the wrong reasons.

How The ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning Ending Was Received

The “Part One” Didn’t Negate The Strong Ending

Mission: Impossible as a franchise has been a critical darling since Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol reinvigorated the series in truly spectacular fashion, with each film since earning over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning is the second highest-rated film in the franchise critically, sitting at 96% as well as a 94% audience score. Despite the fantastic scores, the film itself saw a downturn at the box office, which might mean that the franchise has hit its peak in terms of audience interest and earning potential.

There is always a risk that the ending of a “Part One” of a movie series could make the entire film feel incomplete by the end, but Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning does a great job of feeling satisfying even when ending on a cliffhanger, and audiences responded in kind as the series continues to be beloved by viewers. The film’s ending is a strong foundation for what looks to be Tom Cruise’s last time playing Ethan Hunt, and the end of the franchise as a whole. With Mission: Impossible taking every stunt to the extreme, the final film is sure to be spectacular.