Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning Plot Ending Explained

If I had to sum up Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning in one sentence, it would be: Tom Cruise truly risked his life for the action. Ethan Hunt’s desperate struggle to save the world makes this feel like a “Tom Cruise version of Die Hard.” The situations in the film are extreme, but so are the stunts performed by the actor himself—this is my impression after watching Mission Impossible 8.

The Mission: Impossible series, which began as a spy thriller, has evolved in this installment into a full-on showdown between humans and artificial intelligence. Rather than classic espionage—sneaking into enemy territory, stealing information, or dismantling traps—this film is a pure action movie, 100%. Instead of relying on the series’ signature high-tech gadgets, the actors themselves take on the action with their own bodies.

Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning part2 2025

Genre: Spy, Action, Thriller, Suspense, Science Fiction
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen
Original Work: Bruce Geller – TV Series “Mission: Impossible”
Producers: Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie
Executive Producers: Chris Brock, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Tommy Gormley, Don Granger, Susan E. Novick
Main Cast: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames
Music: Max Aruj, Alfie Godfrey
Filming Period: March 23, 2022 – November 2024
Production Companies: TC Productions, Skydance Media
Distributor (U.S.): Paramount Pictures
Distributor (South Korea): Lotte Entertainment
Release Dates: May 21, 2025 (United Kingdom) | May 23, 2025 (United States)
Running Time: 169 minutes (2 hours, 49 minutes, 22 seconds)
OTT Streaming: To be announced

Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning plot Ending explained

Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning Cast

Ethan Hunt – Tom Cruise: Legendary IMF agent, renowned for his leadership, improvisational genius, and ability to accomplish impossible missions.

Benji Dunn – Simon Pegg: IMF hacker and technical expert, known for his witty personality and brilliant computer skills.

Grace – Hayley Atwell: New IMF recruit with exceptional disguise and thieving skills, quick adaptability, and courage.

Luther Stickell – Ving Rhames: Veteran IMF hacker, calm and deeply trusted, the team’s steadfast backbone.

Alanna Mitsopolis / White Widow – Vanessa Kirby: International black market broker, sharp negotiator with cold judgment and charisma.

Jasper Briggs – Shea Whigham: CIA agent, a relentless and tough veteran dedicated to his mission.

Paris – Pom Klementieff: Ruthless assassin, possessing swift and lethal combat abilities.

Gabriel – Esai Morales: Ethan’s formidable adversary from the past, a meticulous strategist and cold-blooded villain.

Denlinger – Cary Elwes: Senior U.S. intelligence official, influential and resourceful.

Eugene Kittridge – Henry Czerny: Former IMF director, a veteran with complex political calculations and experience.

Zola Mitsopolis – Mariela Garriga: White Widow’s right hand, quick-thinking and decisive ally.

Mission Impossible Series Overview

Mission: Impossible (1996)

Rotten Tomatoes: 66%

Naver Rating: ~8.3

Synopsis: The first story follows IMF agent Ethan Hunt as he assembles a team to clear his name after being framed, taking on an impossible mission.

Budget: $80 million

Worldwide Box Office: ~$458 million

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

Rotten Tomatoes: 56%

Naver Rating: ~7.7

Synopsis: Ethan Hunt faces a new conspiracy involving a deadly virus, introducing new high-octane action.

Budget: $120 million

Worldwide Box Office: ~$546 million

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Rotten Tomatoes: 71%

Naver Rating: ~8.2

Synopsis: Ethan Hunt battles a powerful arms dealer to save his fiancée and colleagues.

Budget: $150 million

Worldwide Box Office: ~$398 million

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)

Rotten Tomatoes: 93%

Naver Rating: ~8.6

Synopsis: The IMF faces dissolution after being framed for a terrorist attack, forcing Ethan’s team to operate off the grid.

Budget: $145 million

Worldwide Box Office: ~$695 million

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

Naver Rating: ~8.7

Synopsis: The IMF faces off against the Syndicate, a shadowy organization threatening global security.

Budget: $150 million

Worldwide Box Office: ~$711 million

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes: 97%

Naver Rating: ~8.9

Synopsis: Ethan Hunt and his team race around the globe to prevent nuclear catastrophe.

Budget: $178 million

Worldwide Box Office: ~$824 million

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%

Naver Rating: ~8.5

Synopsis: Ethan Hunt and his team confront the Entity, a rogue AI threatening humanity.

Budget: $291 million

Worldwide Box Office: ~$571 million

Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes: 80–93% (critics/audience)

Naver Rating: ~8.7

Synopsis: The epic conclusion to the series, focusing on the final battle over the Entity’s source code and Ethan Hunt’s ultimate mission.

Budget: $400 million (one of the highest ever for a film)

Worldwide Box Office: ~$31 million (early numbers)

Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning plot

About two months after the events of Mission: Impossible 7, Ethan Hunt receives a message from former CIA Director Erika Sloane, who has now become President of the United States. The message appears on a Daewoo Electronics Videovision TV, showing a virtual reality filled with the Entity, along with scenes depicting events that occurred between the seventh film and the main story.

While Ethan Hunt, who obtained the “key” in the previous film, is in hiding and gathering information, the Entity has completely taken over the digital world and begun to actively intervene in the real world. With its perfect ability to manipulate information, it spreads fake news and manipulates public opinion, plunging the world into chaos and a post-truth era. It even organizes an apocalyptic cult that worships itself, and its followers have infiltrated government agencies and military organizations worldwide. Through hacking, the Entity gradually seizes control of nuclear weapons from nuclear-armed countries, including North Korea and Israel, plotting humanity’s end. Countries declare martial law to maintain order, but protests against martial law erupt, throwing the world into turmoil. The only person who knows the Entity’s whereabouts is Gabriel, but his location is unknown, and his former subordinate Paris is now imprisoned in Austria and remains silent about what she knows. Since Ethan holds the key, his help is needed, so he is ordered to return. At the same time, Ethan’s plan to destroy the Entity is deemed unacceptable, as it could lead to the destruction of the cyber world.

The message self-destructs after five seconds, and Ethan leaves his location and heads somewhere. He emerges in Trafalgar Square, London, where protests demanding the lifting of martial law are underway. Ethan pushes through the crowd to meet Benji Dunn, and together they head to an abandoned tunnel at the edge of the subway line. At the end of the tunnel is a temporary base, where Luther is making something with a soldering iron. The reunited trio jokes about wishing for a minibar or table football and discusses how to find Gabriel.

The scene then shifts to an Austrian prison. Paris, who was stabbed in the abdomen by Gabriel in the seventh film, is set to be extradited to the United States after treatment. Jasper Briggs and Theo Degas are escorting her with a prison guard. Suddenly, the guard attacks Briggs, and a brawl breaks out between the guards, Briggs, and Degas. Paris, mistaking the attack for an assassination attempt by the Entity, grabs a gun and fights the guards, almost shooting the unconscious Briggs. However, a guard fighting Briggs stops her—he is actually Ethan in disguise. Ethan removes his mask and tries to mediate between the gun-wielding Degas and Paris. Benji, who had been knocked out earlier, also reveals himself and joins the mediation. Degas and Paris refuse to lower their weapons first, but Ethan persuades them that this distrust is exactly what the Entity wants. When Paris refuses to back down, Ethan gives Degas a desperate look, and when Degas lowers his gun, Paris finally does as well. Paris demands that Ethan let her kill Gabriel for revenge, and she and Degas join Ethan’s team.

After escaping through the complex indoor corridors, Gabriel, who was fleeing, runs into Paris, a member of Ethan’s team. As soon as Paris spots him, she shoots, but misses. Ethan’s team is closing in from both sides. Gabriel tries to escape through a door that requires electronic authentication, but the authentication fails and the door doesn’t open. He barely manages to escape through another nearby door, slamming the bars shut to block pursuit. Having lost Gabriel, Ethan’s team is disappointed, but beyond the electronically locked door that Gabriel failed to open, they spot something covered by a tent in the middle of a large chamber. Then, as if inviting them in, the electronic door automatically opens. When they approach and lift the cover, they find the coffin-shaped device Gabriel used to communicate with the Entity. It was the Entity that blocked Gabriel’s escape and let Ethan’s team in. Thanks to Paris’s explanation, Ethan realizes what the device is. Despite his teammates’ objections, he enters the device to confront the Entity.

As soon as the coffin closes, the Entity restrains Ethan with internal devices and begins communicating with him. The Entity shows Ethan a future where nuclear missiles are launched and the world is destroyed, forcing Ethan to choose between simply accepting the apocalypse or living under the Entity’s rule. The Entity periodically shocks Ethan with electricity to pressure him.

It then shows him a certain place: a facility called the Doomsday Vault in southern Africa. The Entity demands that Ethan let it into that facility. It also reveals that it already knows Ethan’s plan, and even if Ethan manages to retrieve the Entity’s source code, “Podkova,” from the Sevastopol and tries to destroy the Entity with Luther’s Poison Pill, the Podkova is designed to self-destruct with a massive explosion if tampered with from outside, meaning only Ethan’s team would die in vain. The Entity also reveals that Gabriel, who just escaped, is heading for Luther. After finishing the conversation with the Entity, Ethan immediately checks with his teammates to confirm reality, hurriedly writes instructions for Benji, entrusts his teammates to Benji, and rushes out alone to save Luther.

At that moment, Gabriel has already arrived at Luther’s hideout. Gabriel kills the nurse caring for Luther and takes the Poison Pill from around Luther’s neck. Luther, waking up, finds a nuclear bomb next to him. Gabriel, locking the door from outside, tells Luther to tell Ethan he’s waiting and leaves. Meanwhile, Ethan is running at full speed to reach Luther, recalling the moment Luther handed him a device while lying in bed. When Ethan finally arrives, he finds Luther trapped and trying to disarm the nuclear bomb. There are only about four minutes left before detonation. Luther tells Ethan that the bomb is powerful enough to destroy a city like London. While disarming the nuclear part is possible, the detonator cannot be stopped, so Ethan must choose between saving Luther or the citizens of London.

Luther says this is his mission and recalls the IMF creed: “We live and die in the shadows, for our loved ones and for people whose faces and names we’ll never know.” He decides to sacrifice himself, saying he’ll likely end here with the tunnel’s collapse. Ethan desperately tries to open the door, but it’s locked and broken. After saying goodbye to Luther, who has resigned himself after disarming the bomb, Ethan barely escapes as the tunnel collapses. Luther calmly meets his end, cursing Gabriel for messing with the wrong genius. Covered in dust, Ethan trudges away and surrenders to approaching CIA vehicles, holding up the key. Briggs receives the key from Ethan, arrests him, and gives him a strange look.

Ethan, now in custody, is transported somewhere by helicopter, talking with Briggs during the flight. Degas, Briggs’s subordinate, is also with them. Ethan suggests they need to act unpredictably to outsmart the Entity and proposes working together, but Briggs refuses. Ethan reveals that “Briggs” is an alias and that his real name is Jim Phelps. Ethan apologizes, but Briggs says what he did wasn’t just for revenge or to restore his father’s honor, rejecting the apology. He adds that there will be judgment between the two of them when everything is over. The helicopter arrives at a nuclear bunker in Virginia, where Kittridge is waiting for Ethan. Ethan follows Kittridge into the base.

With President Erika and key officials gathered, a briefing begins, reviewing events from previous films. The officials, after reviewing Ethan’s record, ask Kittridge why he brought someone like him here. Kittridge replies that, like it or not, Ethan is their last hope. Ethan explains the situation and asks Erika to trust him one last time and help him.

His request is for support from the USS George H. W. Bush and other assets to reach the Bering Sea, where the Sevastopol is sunk. The officials are unconvinced, and meanwhile, the UK’s nuclear control is seized by the Entity in real time. Erika warns Ethan that if the situation isn’t resolved within 72 hours and she is forced to launch nuclear weapons herself, all responsibility will fall on him. She writes something in a letter, seals it with wax, hands it to her aide, and orders Ethan to be detained.

However, instead of being taken to prison, Ethan is brought outside to where Marine One is waiting. Erika, pretending to detain Ethan for appearances, has actually decided to trust and support him. The soldiers tell Ethan he has 72 hours as ordered by the President and hand him Erika’s letter, wishing him luck before sending him off. Ethan boards Marine One and heads for the USS George H. W. Bush in the North Pacific. Kittridge, realizing Ethan has been released, takes Briggs with him, knowing where Ethan will appear.

Upon arriving at the George H. W. Bush, Ethan meets Admiral Neely and gives her Erika’s letter. Neely shows Ethan the contents of the letter and asks what this day means. Ethan says he doesn’t know. He explains his plan to the admiral, who is incredulous at its audacity: to board a US submarine operating near Russia, receive the Sevastopol’s coordinates from his team, and retrieve the Podkova from inside the Sevastopol.

Despite the risk of a possible unprecedented battle between US and Russian aircraft carriers, Neely accepts Ethan’s reckless plan, gives him her necklace, and sends two Osprey transports to take him to the target area. Upon arrival, they find the Russian Kuznetsov-class carrier much closer than expected, risking a military clash between the US and Russia, and the aircraft is low on fuel. Russian fighter jets threaten Ethan’s Osprey with missiles. The pilots insist on turning back, forcing Ethan to make a quick decision. Without a word, he jumps into the sea alone. The Osprey returns, and Ethan, left alone at sea, is soon approached by three divers who stun him with electric shocks and take him somewhere.

Ethan wakes up aboard the Ohio-class submarine he was targeting. The captain, having believed the message and come to the location, had his special forces bring Ethan aboard while keeping the sub’s location secret. Ethan warms up to prevent hypothermia and meets Colonel Bledsoe, handing over Neely’s necklace to gain trust. He explains his plan: to surface to periscope depth for 15 minutes every two hours to receive the Sevastopol’s exact coordinates from his team. While this is a burden for a submarine whose location must remain secret, Bledsoe agrees, saying Ethan has come to poke the bear.

Meanwhile, Benji, Grace, Paris, and Degas head to St. Matthew Island in the Bering Sea as per Ethan’s plan. Benji explains that someone here used to work for the CIA as they knock on the door of a house in the snow. Contrary to expectations, an Inuit-looking woman opens the door and invites them in, where a man greets them. The couple are William Donloe, the CIA analyst from the first film, and his wife Tapeesa. Normally, the team would have hidden their identities and claimed to be a British geological research team, but Benji, excited to meet the legendary coder who built the CIA’s “Black Vault” security system, blurts out the truth. Donloe says he already knows about the Entity and, having been ignored and sent here after proposing security improvements, wishes he could help. Suddenly, a group of soldiers in white uniforms appears behind him—Russian special forces, who anticipated Ethan’s team’s arrival.

The Russian commander, drinking coffee, tells the team to relax. Meanwhile, on the Ohio-class submarine, Ethan and Colonel Bledsoe discuss their mission to locate all Russian submarines, showing Ethan the positions they’ve found so far. Ethan’s team’s St. Matthew Island base also has a Russian sub docked nearby, indicating the main Russian Belgorod-class sub is likely close by as well. At the island base, the team discusses the Sevastopol’s location. However, after the US government sent personnel in 2012 for “maintenance,” all records and equipment were taken, and there’s no reader for the backup disk containing the coordinates. Commander Kolchov orders Donloe and the team to build a reader within an hour to find the Sevastopol’s location, promising to leave if they succeed. Benji protests, but Kolchov insists. Kolchov smiles when asked if they’ll need the key even if they find the Sevastopol, revealing that Russia, as the builder, has a spare key identical to Ethan’s.

While building the reader in the attic, Donloe secretly tells Benji that even with the reader, they can’t find the Sevastopol’s location. When the government team came for “maintenance” in 2012, it felt more like a cover-up, and Donloe memorized the Sevastopol’s coordinates. They don’t need the reader; they just need to get the coordinates to Ethan’s sub without the Russians noticing.

At that moment, the sled dogs outside are barking for food. Donloe uses this as an excuse, asking the commander to let his wife feed them. Kolchov agrees, and Donloe attaches a note with the Sevastopol’s coordinates to Tapeesa’s watch, instructing her on what to do. Tapeesa, Grace (as helper), and a guard go to feed the dogs. At the storage, Tapeesa signals Grace to take out the guard. Grace hesitates, so Tapeesa attacks the guard with a shovel. The guard, not knocked out, becomes hostile. Tapeesa and Grace struggle to subdue him, and the guard fires his gun into the air. Hearing the shot, the rest of the house realizes something is wrong, and a fight breaks out. Paris and Degas each take on a soldier, and Benji fights Kolchov, both ending up knocked out under a bookshelf. Fuel spilled from the stove ignites the house, and as smoke spreads, Donloe continues sending Morse code to Ethan with the coordinates, finally succeeding. Kolchov, waking before Benji, says Russia will have intercepted the Morse code, orders his men to withdraw. Freed by Paris and Degas, Benji and the team escape the burning house.

Shortly before these events, Ethan was preparing to dive to the Sevastopol, trusting his team. The captain informs Ethan that they have not yet received the coordinates signal from the team, and that the next surfacing will be their last opportunity to receive it. Suddenly, as Ethan is running on a treadmill wearing a mask, a special forces crew member approaches him with a knife and attacks. This crew member turns out to be one of the Entity’s followers, as mentioned at the very beginning. With some difficulty and help from Kodiak, Ethan manages to subdue the follower.

The submarine carrying Ethan successfully receives the coordinates signal sent by Donloe, but at the same time, they are being pursued by the Russian Belgorod-class submarine. Russia, having sent personnel to the St. Matthew base to uncover the Sevastopol’s location, is also tracking Ethan’s submarine. The Belgorod is so close behind that it barely registers on radar. Ethan requests to be dropped off near the Sevastopol’s location, planning to turn starboard and disembark at that point. The captain warns that even if Ethan retrieves the Podkova, he will likely die from hypothermia and decompression sickness without a decompression chamber, but Ethan replies that he never planned to use the captain’s decompression chamber and will trust his team.

Arriving near the Sevastopol’s coordinates, Ethan dons Kodiak’s diving suit and prepares to exit the submarine, with Kodiak reminding him to take care of the suit. Another crew member gives Ethan an ultra-high-frequency transmitter that his team will use to track his location. With their encouragement, Ethan exits the submarine, but is immediately struck by the Belgorod, nearly colliding with its propellers before narrowly escaping.

Meanwhile, Tapeesa and Grace, having successfully subdued their guard, ride a dog sled through the snow toward the coordinates, carrying a decompression device. After traveling for some distance, Tapeesa teaches Grace how to drive the sled and hands her a gun, telling her to use it if they are attacked by a polar bear, since she needs to get some sleep. Tapeesa then naps in the sled while Grace drives the team toward their destination.

After leaving the submarine, Ethan continues diving and finally discovers the Sevastopol. He uses flares to illuminate the area, opens the hatch, and enters the wreck. Inside, he finds the bodies of the Sevastopol’s crew. As he explores further, Ethan connects a small nuclear power unit to the ship’s power supply, restoring electricity. Suddenly, the Sevastopol lurches violently. The change in internal air pressure and structure causes the sunken vessel to roll along the seabed. Each time it stops, Ethan moves deeper, eventually reaching the heart of the Sevastopol, where the Entity’s source code is located. Using the key, he unlocks the compartment and retrieves the Podkova device containing the source code.

However, the Sevastopol begins to roll more frequently and violently, and there is a deep underwater cliff nearby. Ethan tries to retrace his path out, but the route is blocked by torpedoes that have spilled into the passage. Forced to use the narrow torpedo tube, Ethan finds one tube blocked by a torpedo ready to fire, but the other is empty, though too tight for him to pass through with all his gear. He cuts away his diving equipment, pushes his necessary tools through first, and squeezes through the tube holding the Podkova. As he is nearly out, the Sevastopol plunges off the cliff.

Ethan escapes the falling wreck but finds his oxygen tank caught on the submarine’s tail. He abandons his remaining gear, clutching only the Podkova and the transmitter, and swims to the surface. As predicted, he suffers severe cramps and hypothermia from the rapid ascent and loses consciousness just below the ice. Grace, having tracked his signal, finds him, revives him with artificial respiration in a makeshift decompression chamber, and saves his life. When Ethan regains consciousness, he is relieved that the mission succeeded. Grace asks if the ruined world can be restored by using the Entity itself. Ethan replies, “Who could be trusted with such power?” Grace says she would trust Ethan, but he insists that even he should not have that power and that the Entity must simply be destroyed.

Meanwhile, in Virginia, President Erika and her officials are discussing how to respond to the Entity. DEFCON 3 has become DEFCON 2, and all nuclear powers except the U.S. and Russia have lost control of their arsenals to the Entity. The officials urge Erika to launch a preemptive strike against the other nuclear powers while the U.S. still has control, planning to destroy cities like Islamabad, Pyongyang, and Tel Aviv, and even to launch a nuclear strike on a comparable American city as a “gesture” to prevent future political fallout. They debate which U.S. city to sacrifice, considering population, geography, military, and economic significance, and discuss the casualties from the blast and fallout. Erika refuses, choosing instead to wait for Ethan.

Having secured the Podkova, Ethan, Benji, Grace, Paris, Degas, Donloe, and Tapeesa board a plane to South Africa, believing Gabriel will appear at the Doomsday Vault to seize control of the Entity. Ethan is reunited with Donloe for the first time in years and tries to apologize for Donloe’s demotion after the events of the first film. Donloe, however, thanks Ethan, saying that being sent away allowed him to meet his beloved wife and that Ethan gave him a new life. He returns the symbolic dagger from their past encounter to Ethan.

Benji then explains Luther’s plan to trap the Entity using a multi-petabyte 5D optical drive. The plan is to let Gabriel insert the Poison Pill into the Podkova to seize control of the Entity, lure the Entity into the Doomsday Vault, and then, just before the Entity launches all the world’s nuclear missiles, disconnect the drive from the server, trapping the Entity inside. Donloe compares the plan to “Aladdin,” with the Entity as the genie and the optical drive as the lamp. The challenge is that Grace, the expert pickpocket, must disconnect the drive within 100 milliseconds—the blink of an eye—after the light turns green, or risk failure. The team heads to the Doomsday Vault on the outskirts of the Congo.

Arriving, they find the vault unguarded, as everyone has left to be with their loved ones in the face of the apocalypse. Inside, Gabriel awaits, declaring this is the final reckoning. He reveals a nuclear bomb more powerful than the one used on Luther and says he will escape in a waiting plane after getting what he wants. Kittridge and Briggs suddenly storm the scene, subduing Gabriel’s men, but one of Gabriel’s henchmen activates the bomb’s timer. Kittridge, unaware of Ethan’s plan, tries to stop him, and while he is distracted by a speech, Gabriel’s men silently take out the American agents. Gabriel tells Kittridge that what he lacks is time, then signals his men to open fire on Ethan’s team. Amid the chaos, Gabriel escapes with the Poison Pill. Ethan urges Paris to shoot Gabriel, but she is out of bullets. Benji promises to try to disarm the bomb and tells Ethan to pursue Gabriel, but Benji is revealed to be wounded.

Ethan chases Gabriel by car, but his vehicle is overturned by Gabriel’s men before he can leave the cave. Undeterred, he continues the pursuit.

Inside the vault, the remaining team members defeat Gabriel’s henchmen and begin disarming the bomb. Kittridge and Briggs retreat. As with Luther’s bomb, they can disarm the nuclear device but cannot stop the detonator, so someone must stay behind to sacrifice themselves. Tapeesa signals to Donloe that they should volunteer, and Degas joins them, saying he would be of no use inside the vault. The three of them stay to disarm the bomb, while Benji, Paris, and Grace enter the vault to execute the plan to trap the Entity. Donloe discovers that if they cut three specific wires simultaneously, they can short-circuit the detonator and buy about ten seconds to escape, though it’s a risky move.

Inside the vault, Benji, suffering from tension pneumothorax after being shot, struggles to breathe. He asks if either Paris or Grace has medical knowledge, but Grace does not, and Paris says she only knows how to kill, not heal. Paris performs emergency surgery, stabilizing Benji temporarily, but he warns that he could pass out at any time. Paris monitors Benji’s condition, Benji gives instructions, and Grace follows his lead. Once the setup is complete, they wait for Ethan to insert the Poison Pill into the Podkova. Benji tells Grace that when Ethan succeeds, a green light will appear, and she must cut the wire and remove the drive within 100 milliseconds.

Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning Ending (spoiler)

At this moment, the Entity seizes control of Russia’s nuclear arsenal, and the U.S. goes to DEFCON 1. The officials urge Erika to act, and as she prepares to launch, she closes the cover over the button and declares, “I refuse to accept the reality created by the Entity.” She orders a total shutdown of America’s nuclear facilities to prevent the Entity’s access. As she tries to issue the command by phone, a bodyguard points a gun at her. General Sidney intervenes, taking a bullet for Erika and shooting the assailant before dying. In the chaos, the Entity finally seizes control of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Ethan catches up to Gabriel just as he and his henchman are taking off in a biplane. Gabriel spots Ethan and mocks him as he flies away. Gabriel’s henchman tries to hit Ethan with the plane, but Ethan clings to the underside. He climbs onto the plane, defeats the henchman, and takes the controls, pursuing Gabriel. Gabriel attacks Ethan’s plane, damaging its rudder. The two engage in an aerial dogfight, with Ethan eventually boarding Gabriel’s plane. Gabriel tries to shake Ethan off with acrobatic maneuvers, but Ethan holds on and eventually overpowers Gabriel, breaking his arm and knocking him out. As Ethan is about to throw Gabriel out, Gabriel regains consciousness and desperately tries to hang on, but loses his grip and falls to his death.

Due to the acrobatics, Ethan’s plane catches fire. Gabriel had a parachute, but Ethan finds one in the front cockpit, grabs both the Podkova and Poison Pill, and jumps out. As he deploys his parachute, the burning plane passes close by, setting his parachute on fire. Ethan manages to combine the Podkova and Poison Pill mid-fall and disappears into the mist.

Inside the vault, Grace anxiously waits for the green light. When it appears, she immediately cuts the wire and removes the optical drive within the blink of an eye. The world’s power goes out and then is restored. In the darkness, the drive glows yellow, signaling the mission’s success, and the team, covered in dust, looks on in relief.

Ethan, having safely landed with a backup parachute, activates the Poison Pill’s voice message, which confirms his success and reminds him that he has once again saved countless lives. The message assures him that fate and destiny, as spoken of by Gabriel and the Entity, do not exist. After the message, the device self-destructs, destroying both the Podkova and Poison Pill. Ethan waves to distant African villagers.

In America, power is restored to the nuclear bunker, and Erika receives a phone call. Her relieved expression tells the officials that Ethan succeeded. Admiral Neely and Colonel Bledsoe receive the president’s telegram to stand down from wartime status, and Neely, seeing the date “May 22, 1996,” on the telegram, crumples it in relief. Bledsoe orders the crew to stand down, and everyone celebrates.

Returning to the White House, Erika is reunited with her son and finally relaxes, hugging him.

Kittridge and Briggs arrive by helicopter to retrieve Ethan. Ethan hands Kittridge the destroyed Podkova, and Kittridge, exasperated, takes it back to the helicopter. Briggs approaches Ethan with a gun, but then lowers it and offers a handshake. They make peace, and Ethan boards the helicopter to return.

The scene shifts back to London’s Trafalgar Square, now peaceful. Ethan, Grace, Benji, and Paris gather and exchange glances. Grace gives Ethan a small box containing the optical drive with the Entity trapped inside, glowing yellow. Ethan looks at his team, who smile and nod before disappearing into the crowd. Ethan closes the box, puts it in his pocket, and vanishes into the crowd as the film ends.

Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning Ending eaplained

Since Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is the concluding film of the series, it contains all the plot threads set up in the previous installments. The movie can be broadly divided into three parts: the early buildup, the midsection featuring the submarine sequence, and the final airplane action scene.

Early on, the identity of the “Rabbit’s Foot,” which was left unresolved in the second Mission: Impossible film, is revealed, explaining why Ethan must confront the Entity. The first part is quite lengthy and features nostalgic appearances from beloved characters from the earlier Mission: Impossible films.

(The Rabbit’s Foot, as seen in Mission: Impossible III, was an AI data cylinder disguised as a biochemical weapon, representing the Entity before it became weaponized.)

The highlight of the film, the submarine escape sequence, lasts about 20 minutes and bursts with the signature tension of Mission: Impossible. Unlike previous films that relied on special equipment, this time the tension is real and captured through actual physical stunts. Remarkably, there are only a few lines of dialogue during this entire 20-minute sequence.

After Ethan successfully completes his mission at the Sevastopol, he faces off against the final villain Gabriel in a duel using a small airplane, as seen in the trailer. You might wonder why the action involves a small plane instead of high-tech gear, but it’s because the analog airplane cannot be controlled by the AI Entity. As a side note, this scene was filmed with Tom Cruise hanging from a single wire, and he actually struggled to survive during the shoot.

Tom Cruise, who started the Mission: Impossible series at age 33, is now 62 years old in 2025 and has successfully completed nearly 30 years of this epic journey with the eighth and final installment. This alone makes the film worth watching. It’s a miracle that the stunt king has finished the series alive.

Squid Game season 1, 2, 3 plot & filming locations & Cast Insta