Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Ending Explained: Ethan Hunt’s fate, Post-Credit Scene, and more

Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and his team are going on their final outing in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. The movie begins with Ethan hearing a message from the President of the US (Angela Bassett’s Erika Sloane) and we also get to see a flashback of every single one of Ethan Hunt’s previous missions. 

The first adventure of Cruise’s Hunt was in 1996, and from then on, the missions have only gotten more complicated and unhinged. In Dead Reckoning, the mission for the team was to stop The Entity, an evolved self-aware AI that wants to detroy humanity with cyber attacks. 

Its code was lost in a Russian submarine, the Sevastopol, which sank in the seventh film. The Final Reckoning establishes clearly that getting its source code (the Podkova) is the key to ensuring the survival of humanity. So, do Ethan and his team succeed in their mission?

What’s Going on in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning?

The storyline of the two-part film can get a little confusing, but the gist is that the AI has enforced martial law in most countries in an effort to take down humanity. Its next targets are some countries with a nuclear arsenal. On the other hand, Ethan has hidden from everyone to ensure that Gabriel (Esai Morales) doesn’t get his hands on the Cruciform key. 

This key is the one that unlocks The Entity’s Podkova. The US President wants Ethan to surrender and give her the key because the US wants to be the international power that wields it. 

Luther’s Death Shocks Everyone

Ethan tries to target officials at the US Embassy in London with the help of Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg). Grace (Hayley Atwell), also helps him get out of a tight spot, but things go awry and they get captured by Gabriel. He wants the source code but The Entity wants Ethan. 

If he refuses, Luther will die as he is imprisoned with an explosive. Ethan tries to save him but fails. Luther realizes that there’s no saving him, but he can limit the explosion radius to just the tunnel space they are in. Gabriel intervenes and takes the algorithm Luther wrote to break the source code. 

Ethan gets out and finds himself face to face with the US military officials. They take him to the President and here the plan gets explained. 

What is the plan to save the World in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

With Benji, Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis), Grace, and Paris (Pom Klementieff) in tow, the team aims to get the Podkova. Ethan plans on using a US submarine to get the coordinates and dive into the Arctic and find the Sevastopol wreckage with the source code. Also, they want to get the “poisoned pill” (the algorithm that can break the source code). 

The final plan is to fuse the Podkova and the pill in an effort to wipe out the digital framework of the whole world. Erika disagrees in front of everyone but secretly gives Ethan access to a US submarine and a time limit of three days to get the job done. On board, Officer Neely (Hannah Waddingham) gives Ethan the information he needs to get to Sevastopol.

How does Ethan Escape After Getting the Podkova?

Here is where the crew comes in. Benji finds a SONUS spot (a listening base for troops) and sends them to Ethan via the Morse code through the radio. Ethan will have to reach there and the team will pull him out of the ice and place him in a decompression chamber. 

They ultimately do just that, although when they arrive on St. Matthew’s Island, they find that Russian troops are already there. After fighting them and getting the coordinates to Ethan, Grace heads to the location to get him. Ethan gets the Podkova, but not before almost losing his life. Thankfully, he wakes up in the decompression chamber. 

The Final Showdown in South Africa

The Entity informed Ethan that the showdown will happen in South Africa’s Doomsday Vault. This is where Gabriel also is as he is expecting them all. Kittridge (Henry Czerny) is also after Ethan and keeping an eye on him so that he doesn’t betray the US. 

Ethan plans on saving the world by imprisoning The Entity into the 5D drive so that it can’t grab access to the nuclear arsenals of various countries. Grace is tasked with the job of cutting the central power of the vault at just the right time- too late and it will detonate the nuclear weapons all over the world, but if she’s too early then The Entity won’t be locked in. 

At the vault's entrance, Ethan and his team confront Gabriel, who reveals that there’s a bomb at the center of it. Gabriel wants the Podkova from Ethan, but a fight breaks out, and he flees. Gabriel takes off in a small plane, but Ethan chases him and clings to the plane following him. 

What Happens to Ethan Hunt and the team?

Ethan Hunt doesn’t die. He manages to jump out of a plane crash and fuses the Podkova with the poisoned pill. But how did he do this? Ethan and Gabriel fight in the plan and there Ethan gets the pill from him. Gabriel tries to parachute down as the plane malfunctions but impales himself on the wing. 

Ethan finds a second parachute in the front seat and jumps while trying to fuse the Podkova and the pill. His parachute catches fire as the plane blows up behind him. Grace realizes that Ethan has made it, and she gets the drive out. The Entity is seen glowing inside. 

The team makes it to her after surviving the bomb at the vault and Ethan lands his parachute safely. He gives the burned Podkova and pill to Kittridge. He also makes amends with Briggs. At the end, Ethan and the team meet one last time in Trafalgar Square. Grace gives him the drive with The Entity and the team goes their separate ways. 

Are There any Post Credit Scenes for Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning?

No, there aren’t any post-credit scenes for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Also, this shouldn’t be surprising since the franchise isn’t known for this. Also, this movie is marking the end of the franchise. Apart from this, there are no tributes to the previous films in the credits. 

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is in theaters from May 23, 2025, in the US.