Reckoning With the Ending of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning

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Spoilers ahead for the plot and ending of Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning

Following ten installments of the “Mission: Impossible” series, it’s no surprise that Ethan Hunt will once again save the world in the latest film, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” Tom Cruise’s daring character wraps up his mission in the upcoming 2023 movie, “Dead Reckoning,” where a dangerous and nearly omnipotent artificial intelligence called The Entity has seized control of cyberspace, effectively ruling over reality. In the last film, Ethan obtained a critical item needed to halt this AI, and now he’s traveling around the globe to find its origin. His goal is to disable it and prevent its human accomplices from gaining control over all the world’s missiles, potentially triggering a nuclear catastrophe. Fortunately, once the mission is complete, everything seems peaceful again, as if there had never been any life-threatening reckonings at all.

It seems puzzling since in various parts of the film, we’re led to believe that if Ethan destroys The Entity, it would essentially collapse the internet and cause worldwide economic chaos. Admittedly, this is better than nuclear destruction, but it wouldn’t be good either. So, why the contradiction?

In “Dead Reckoning,” various global governments are on a hunt for two unique, advanced cruciform keys that can decipher The Entity’s source code and provide control over it. This AI has managed to infiltrate every layer of cyberspace, essentially determining truth and shaping the world according to its desires. The U.S. government is one of those seeking dominion over this ultimate weapon. However, Ethan chooses to disobey his government’s orders and keep the keys from them, as he feels no one should possess such immense power.

In “The Final Reckoning,” a fresh twist is introduced. As President Sloane, portrayed by Angela Bassett, explains, The Entity has become so deeply ingrained in cyberspace that dismantling it would collapse the internet. This prospect worries the president significantly, though it’s worth noting that the internet is already unreliable to the point where top-tier government officials are resorting to analog methods because they can no longer rely on digital platforms. Towards the end of the movie, Hayley Atwell’s character Grace, a mercenary pickpocket who becomes an ally to Ethan, proposes that instead of destroying The Entity, Ethan should take control of it since he could be trusted to reverse any damage done.

Approximately halfway through “The Final Reckoning”, Ethan manages to persuade President Sloane to authorize his near-impossible mission aimed at destroying The Entity. During this time, she’s grappling with the decision of whether it’s wise to initiate a preemptive nuclear strike against major global cities, fearing that U.S. missiles might fall under control of artificial intelligence. This would be an attempt to reduce the devastation that could result from The Entity’s plan for total destruction should it succeed. It’s worth noting that, unlike in Sidney Lumet’s 1964 Cold War thriller “Fail Safe”, “The Final Reckoning” doesn’t specify which American city the president would be sacrificing to avoid retaliation from other attacked nations.

It’s fortunate that no nuclear missiles are launched. Ethan bravely confronts Gabriel, a terrorist allied with The Entity, in a perilous mid-air chase to acquire the “poison pill,” a virus designed by Luther to infect artificial intelligence. He then inserts it into the podkova, a device carrying The Entity’s core programming that Ethan retrieved from the remains of a sunken Russian submarine. This action prevents The Entity from launching nuclear missiles. In a swift move, Grace employs her nimble pickpocket skills to seize a 5D drive that The Entity had uploaded itself into. Deceived by the poison pill’s coding, the A.I. thinks the drive is a fortified server room. With this maneuver, The Entity is isolated from the internet. Suddenly, everything goes black as if the world’s power has failed…

After a short while, it restarts without issues. There’s no evidence of airplanes crashing apart from Ethan and Gabriel’s, it doesn’t seem like a repeat of the Y2K crisis, and the last scene shows Ethan’s team reuniting in London at an unspecified future time, indicating that life goes on as usual.

If anyone brings up any repercussions from Ethan capturing The Entity, it’s not discussed. In truth, it appears as though the movie is trying to make us forget about President Sloane’s warnings regarding the destruction of The Entity and its potential impact on the world. After all, Ethan managed to keep a plane aloft, vanquish the villain, and conquer a god-like artificial intelligence, preventing the catastrophic nuclear annihilation of mankind. Who would want to contemplate consequences such as a global economic collapse? Ethan was our hero!

Could we possibly delve into understanding what transpired in this situation? It’s plausible that President Sloane might not have been aware of how Luther’s countermeasure against The Entity would unfold, causing no subsequent repercussions. She may have simply made a mistake in her belief that halting The Entity would lead to the internet’s collapse initially. It’s also a possibility that the internet was destroyed and cyberspace is in chaos, but we’re not observing it. Could it be that a post-digital world might actually be preferable? A hint of nature’s recovery, perhaps? Ethan was given control over The Entity to rectify matters; Grace handed him a USB drive with the AI in London. However, Ethan had declined this proposition. This encounter in London occurs after the climax, allowing Benji (Simon Pegg) sufficient time to recover from his gunshot wound. Since Ethan hasn’t yet taken control of The Entity, any harm caused to the internet would have already been inflicted prior to this meeting. Grace had control over it instead.

It seems that all these explanations fall short. Most likely, the film “The Final Reckoning” didn’t put much effort into developing the storyline surrounding the character of The Entity. There are numerous aspects of The Entity that the “Mission: Impossible” series doesn’t fully explain. Initially, we learn that the world is in a state where truth has become irrelevant, allied nations have turned against each other, and there’s an A.I.-worshiping cult supporting The Entity. This suggests a potential sci-fi dystopian setting, but ultimately, The Entity turns out to be little more than a vague plot device that Ethan Hunt needs to contain. Given the film’s focus on action sequences over complex storytelling, it’s not unexpected that “The Final Reckoning” didn’t delve into the potential consequences of the internet shutting down at the end of what was supposed to be Ethan Hunt’s final cinematic adventure. After all, the “Mission: Impossible” series is more about spectacular action sequences like Tom Cruise hanging onto a biplane during death-defying stunts than it is about exploring complex societal issues. If you have concerns, feel free to express them online – it appears that the internet is still functioning quite well.

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2025-05-23 06:54