A breakdown of Ethan Hunt's final Mission
That's it. Ethan Hunt's final mission has come to a close. The Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning ending may be definitive in some respects but, in others, there was plenty of dense exposition and plotting that may have passed you by.
In truth, you may still have plenty of questions about how The Final Reckoning's third act went down, especially given the rush of set-pieces, twists and turns that populated the screen in its final hour as the clock ticked down towards armageddon.
To help you make sense of what you've just seen, we have a guide - should you choose to accept it - to the ending of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. That includes a recap of the major story beats in its climactic struggle between Ethan, Gabriel, and The Entity, surprise character reveals, and - finally - going through each major pressing point beat by beat.
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Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning ending recap
From The Final Reckoning's first moments, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), Gabriel (Esai Morales), and AI superweapon The Entity are on a collision course.
That all culminates in a daring plan from Hunt and his IMF team (including Hayley Atwell's pickpocket Grace, Pom Klementieff's straight-talking Paris, Greg Tarzan Davis' agent Degas, and Simon Pegg's trusty ally Benji) to the Entity's source code from inside the sonarsphere at the bottom of the sunken Sevastapol submarine. From there, they will be able to connect it to the (sadly deceased) Luther's poison pill - which is currently held by Gabriel.
This being Mission: Impossible, of course, it's not quite so simple. To obtain the coordinates to the submarine, Grace, Paris, Benji, and Degas travel to St. Matthew Island and obtain the location from former CIA coding legend Bill Donloe.
After a fight with the Russians, Donloe eventually sends the coordinates to Ethan on the USS Ohio as the team gets ready to rescue the legendary IMF agent from the next step on the mission: heading down into the submarine to collect the source code.
After achieving his objective, Ethan escapes the submarine but must leave his suit behind after it obstructs his exit strategy. Tom Cruise's action hero swims to the surface in the Bering Sea but ultimately succumbs to the pressure. He is quickly rescued by Grace and nursed back to health inside the decompression chamber.
Meanwhile, the Entity continues to take control over the world's major nuclear powers. The likes of North Korea, Israel, France, and Pakistan quickly fall, with Russia, China, and the U.K. not far behind - leaving the U.S. (and Angela Bassett's President Sloane) as the lone nuclear power standing between the end of days and the Entity.
Now, the plan gets more straightforward - at least in concept. Ethan must deliver the source code to Gabriel outside the Doomsday Vault in South Africa, but - as ever - he has an ace up his sleeve: a 5D data drive designed by Luther that will trap the Entity once the poison pill enters the source code. The catch? The "digital toxin" has to be connected at the exact right time - within 100 milliseconds - to avert nuclear armageddon and capture the 'genie' inside its own bottle.
As we near DEFCON 1, the President is given several world targets to nuke to cripple their arsenals - including one US location as a twisted gesture of goodwill.
Gabriel arrives outside the vault and demands the Source Code. Jim Phelps and his CIA team, including Kittridge, get the jump on them, but Gabriel's forces get the one up and he flees.
Leaving a nuclear bomb behind, Gabriel escapes on his biplane and Ethan chases him in a backup by clinging on to the landing gear.
One person needs to stay behind to handle the bomb, but Bill, his wife, and Degas stay behind.
A wounded Benji is taken into the Vault by Grace and Paris, the latter of which operates on his collapsed lung while Grace hacks the server.
Instead of ordering a strike, the President wants their missiles taken offline. A bodyguard - presumably a Children of the Atom cult member - tries to assassinate the POTUS after she refuses to send nukes. General Sidney kills the bodyguard, but is fatally wounded in the process.
Ethan gets on Gabriel's plane and, after a struggle, breaks Gabriel's arm and takes the Entity's poison pill software. Gabriel tries to escape with his parachute but collides with the plane and dies.
The bomb detonation is partially averted thanks to a triple cut from Bill, his wife, and Degas and they run behind the server room to avoid the reduced blast radius.
Ethan's parachute catches fire as he attempts to put the poison pill in the podkova and stop the Entity, but he manages to do it and the AI is trapped in the 5D drive. The world's power is briefly switched off before restarting.
Ethan survives with an emergency parachute. The poison pill also contains a goodbye from Luther, who offers up a message of hope: "One such future is built on kindness, trust, and mutual understanding - should we choose to accept." Ethan is picked up by Phelps - who offers a reconciliatory handshake - and Kittridge.
The gang (Benji, Paris, Degas, and Grace) reunite briefly in London with Ethan. Ethan is given the Entity by Grace as they all disappear into the crowd, their mission over.
What happens to Ethan?
Like many, I feared the worst with the deluge of Endgame-style marketing, the Final Reckoning title change, and the movie's continued use of flashbacks to previous M:I films.
I needn't have worried: Ethan Hunt lives to fight another day in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. He defeats Gabriel in a mid-air dogfight, and puts the poison pill in the Entity's podkova, allowing it to be trapped in Luther's ingenious 5D data drive.
Despite his parachute being engulfed in flames during freefall, an emergency parachute activates and he is collected by Phelps and Kittridge. He is then given the Entity by Grace in London and the IMF team go their separate ways.
So, what next for Ethan? The Final Reckoning leaves that decidedly ambiguous, but it's clear that Ethan now has the Entity and is trusted to keep that power - and the world - safe. While it's never shown on-screen, that should mean the wave of misinformation and anger around the world has subsided as, too, has the threat of nuclear warfare. Maybe, just maybe, Ethan can now put his feet up and retire.
Who dies in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning?
Several named characters die in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. Most notably, Ving Rhames' Luther is killed under the streets of London by a bomb planted by Gabriel and his men. The hacker once known as Phineas Freak has to partially disarm the bomb so it reverts from a nuclear blast into one in a more localized area - killing him instantly.
Nick Offerman's General Sidney is killed by a bullet from an Entity spy in a US base meeting room, while Gabriel dies in what is surely going to be one of cinema's gnarliest deaths this year - via serious head trauma from his plane's tail as he tries to escape. Ouch.
If we're being pedantic, we could also say Ethan 'dies' in the Bering Sea before being brought back to life by Grace. This isn't the first time he's been resuscitated in the series, either. Most famously, Michelle Monaghan's Julia had to revive him in Mission: Impossible 3.
What was the Entity and Gabriel's plan?
This is where it gets a little murkier. The Final Reckoning and its predecessor Dead Reckoning aren't always clear on the specifics of what the Entity can and can't do. But by the time of Final Reckoning, the picture is a little clearer: Gabriel has failed Entity and is deemed an "outcast." So, he aims to control the Entity (and its all-powerful control over the media, 'cyberspace', the world's governments, and its people) for his own devices.
The Entity, meanwhile, wants to wipe humanity off the face of the planet by starting nuclear war between several nations. It almost does so, too, thanks to gaining control of eight of the world's nine nuclear arsenals. The assembled group of US military and intelligence assisting President Sloane suggests the Entity can be destroyed - but it would destroy cyberspace (and the world as we know it). In short, the Entity has become the defacto puppetmaster over Earth, and wants to go one further by ridding the world of its population. It will even 'survive' in the Doomsday Vault, a collection of 1 billion GB of the world's most important, critical data.
Thankfully, Ethan and company save the day. Which brings us to...
What happens to The Entity?
The Entity is defeated in The Final Reckoning, but it is still around. Thanks to quick hands from Grace - it's all in the timing for the pickpocket - she is able to capture the AI inside the data drive within 100 milliseconds of Ethan putting the poison pill in its source code.
Grace then gives Ethan the Entity, but it is not revealed if he destroys the AI or holds on to it for its own safe keeping. The main thing is that it's no longer in control of the world's systems.
Who is Jim Phelps?
One of the more unexpected twists in The Final Reckoning was the reveal that Shea Whigham's Briggs is actually Jim Phelps Jr., the son of Jon Voight's Jim Phelps from the first Mission: Impossible.
Ethan and Briggs' father have a storied history, which involves Phelps betraying his fellow IMF agents after becoming disillusioned with his place in the spy game - and wanting to net a handsome financial payment for his services to arms dealer Max. The character of Jim Phelps was also the lead in the 1960s Mission: Impossible TV series created by Bruce Geller.
While Briggs believes that Ethan framed his father, he eventually recognizes him as a good man.
What took place on May 22, 1996?
Ethan has friends in high places, it seems. That even extends to President Sloane, who manages to get him onto a US aircraft carrier headed up by Hannah Waddingham's Admiral Neely thanks to a message that reads simply: May 22, 1996.
While specific details of that date aren't mentioned on screen, both Sloane and Neely lost someone close to them on a mission that day. The date, then, is shorthand for the President's regrets - and a way to communicate that Ethan can be trusted in such a high-stakes, high-pressure situation that could involve the loss of billions.
Fun fact: May 22, 1996 was also the release date for the very first Mission: Impossible, meaning it's also a nice nod to the series' past.
Is there a Final Reckoning post-credits scene?
Given how The Final Reckoning ends, you might be forgiven for sticking around and expecting a post-credits scene to tease the direction the franchise will take next.
Sorry to disappoint, but there isn't a Final Reckoning post-credits scene. Once the credits roll, you're free to head out of the theater.
Will Tom Cruise return for more Mission: Impossible movies?
Ethan Hunt is alive and kicking by the end of The Final Reckoning. Does that mean a ninth Mission: Impossible is on the way?
Tom Cruise, as ever, is keeping things close to his chest. But he did have this to say about whether The Final Reckoning is the final Mission: Impossible movie during an appearance at Cannes.
"I'd rather just people see it and enjoy and we've had an amazing time doing it and it's been a lot of fun and I just want you all to enjoy it," Cruise said. "Enjoy this and know everything is the culmination has come to this moment right now."
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