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'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One' Ending Explained and Predictions for Part Two

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Published Jul 12, 2023

The topic of discussion at hand today is the ending of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One. Should you choose to accept reading this, then you understand the ramifications that may present itself—spoiler alerts. Below, we'll go into the Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One ending explained if you had some questions after its conclusion.

So here’s the deal with Part One… Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the IMF team are dealing with a new weapon called The Entity that is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Not only does The Entity threaten all of humanity, but it apparently it also controls the future and fate of the world. Ethan Hunt is sent out on a mission in the beginning of the film that reunites him with Lisa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), and has him on a mission to retrieve half of a key that apparently is the key to something that's still not quite understood yet.

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What follows is a series of twists and turns, ups and downs, and a global adventure that sort of gets solved, but still doesn’t. While Dead Reckoning Part One can technically be seen if you haven’t watched the previous six films in the series, there are references to its predecessors such as a flashback scene, and characters from the past (Lisa for example), so it might help to get all caught up (even if you just saw Dead Reckoning without watching the others).

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Alright. Let’s explore the ending of Dead Reckoning Part One and how it sets up for part two.

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"Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One" Ending Explained

Paramount Pictures

What is always approaching but never arrives? Why tomorrow that is—and a new Mission Impossible—except that actually does arrive. In Part One, we learn that The Entity is connected to a man from Ethan Hunt's past named Gabriel, and in short, The Entity is wreaking havoc and out to get Ethan Hunt with the strategy of going after everything he loves. We already know Lisa ends up dead, essentially sacrificing her life for Grace (Hayley Atwell), and we also know that Grace is given three options: prison, death, or the choice to be a part of the IMF team—which is a choice that has had to be made by everyone at some point.

Towards the end of the film, Ethan is still trying to figure out exactly what the mystery behind the key is, when Paris cryptically reveals Sevastopol is revealed as the destination that the key unlocks before passing out (apparently she still has a pulse). Whatever this key does, it's the beginning of what will more than likely be explained in Part Two, and unless we missed something, Ethan has full possession of it.

Theories for "Dead Reckoning Part Two"

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Part One ends with us being told that the entire world is counting on Ethan Hunt, so here are our thoughts and theories for Part Two.

Ethan did exactly what Luther told him to do. He had to get off the train alive and without killing Gabriel. Both were done.
From what we know, Ethan is currently in possession of the key. That means we’ll be finding out more information about The Entity in the next movie. A wild guess—The Entity is connected to more of Ethan’s past in the same way that Gabriel is.
The words “rogue” and “ghosts” were used quite a bit through the film, so another wild guess is that The Entity aligns with some elements of what happened in Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation. It's a bit of a crazy theory, but "rogue" and "ghosts" were used way too much for us to not think that there's something there.
Obviously there's an attraction between Grace and Ethan, and we think Grace will beat the odds of "everybody close to Ethan experiencing death."
Could the key to figuring out The Entity lie within Ethan himself? Is The Entity actually an evil version of Ethan? Will he have to battle himself? Are we crazy?
In line with the Rogue and Ghost: Protocol theories, there has to be somebody else from Ethan's past that's going to pop back up in the next film, but who?

Looks like we're going to have to go back and rewatch the entire Mission Impossible series again to try to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Or maybe we'll just give up and wait until 2025 when Part Two comes out. Either way go see the Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One sometime this weekend.