Editor's Note: The following contains major spoilers for 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One'
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is not just a clever title, as a handful of major characters in the film meet their end. The first of two chapters in IMF Agent Ethan Hunt's (Tom Cruise) latest adventure is surprisingly light on fatalities. Yes, there's a good amount of various nameless goons who become canon fodder for Hunt and his team. Still, only two characters of note are killed off during the IMF's hunt for the terrifying Artificially Intelligent villain, The Entity. Just when it looks like a third character is about to share their fate, a few seemingly throwaway lines indicate that we'll see this character return in the inevitable Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two.
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Ilsa Faust Meets a Tragic End in 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One'
By far, the most significant and heartbreaking death in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) - Ethan's close ally from the past few films who is slain in a duel with The Entity's top lieutenant. Ethan and audiences everywhere first met Ilsa Faust in the franchise's fifth installment, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. Though she was initially introduced as an operative of the shadowy Syndicate terrorist organization, it would eventually be revealed that Ilsa was an undercover MI6 agent working to dismantle the organization from the inside. Once they realize they have a common enemy, Ilsa and Ethan form an alliance and eventually take down the Syndicate and their leader, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). Ilsa Faust's memorable debut not only made her an instant fan-favorite among long-time fans of the franchise, but also functioned as a fantastic star vehicle for actor Rebecca Ferguson.
With the sixth film in the franchise being a direct sequel to Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, it makes perfect sense why Ilsa Faust would return for Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Despite being in prison, Solomon Lane and his genocidal associates are back causing trouble again, leading Ilsa and Ethan to unite once more. The two agents of the IMF and MI6 are once again successful in stopping Solomon's plan and sending him back to prison, while also taking down Lane's henchman, August Walker (Henry Cavill). Though the films do play around with a tepid "will they won't they" type of relationship, the bond Ethan and Ilsa share is essentially platonic and not one rooted in romance.
When we first reunite with Ilsa in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, we learn she no longer works with MI6 and has become a freelance vigilante instead. When she comes into possession of one-half of the key that can unlock the power of The Entity, she becomes public enemy number one for the world's superpowers and promptly gets a significant bounty placed on her courtesy of IMF leader Kittridge (Henry Czerny). Since she has saved his life more than once, Ethan feels indebted to Ilsa and steps into rescue her, helping her escape further persecution by faking her death.
However, when Ethan arrives in Venice, Ilsa can't help but get involved. She arrives in Italy to help her friend but doesn't realize that this mission will be her last. During a tense confrontation with Gabriel (Esai Morales), The Entity's fierce servant with a history with both Ethan and Ilsa, the assassin tells Ethan that either Ilsa or the naive thief Grace (Hayley Atwell) will die tonight. While rescuing Grace, that prophecy comes true when Ilsa gets into a knife fight with Gabriel. The duel concludes with Grace getting a knife plunged through her heart, killing her for real this time. That now makes two women close to Ethan than Gabriel has murdered, and the IMF hero is now stuck between a desire to do good and a hungering thirst for vengeance.
Denlinger is the Second Major Character to be Slain by Gabriel
In Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Park One's epic climax on the Orient Express, we learn that Secretary Denlinger (Cary Elwes) has betrayed the U.S. Government from the inside. During a meeting with Gabriel and his associate Paris (Pom Klementieff), Denlinger reveals that he was the one who gave the Russian's access to The Entity's advanced capabilities, though he also admits that the AI overperformed and ultimately gained a mind of its own. He hopes to make a bargain with Gabriel by sharing the location of the submarine that hosts the AI's mainframe and what the key really does.
However, it looks like Denlinger overlays his own hand as well, as Gabriel quickly slits the throat of the U.S. official, likely wanting to protect the location of the AI he has grown to revere. Though Gabriel isn't done, as he then makes a move to slay Paris, telling his associate that The Entity told him to kill her after Ethan Hunt spared Paris in combat. Does Gabriel succeed in killing his former ally? Well...
Paris May Survive Her Wounds She Sustained in 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One'
Despite getting a gnarly stab in the abdomen courtesy of Gabriel, Paris is still able to make her way to the back of the Orient Express. Despite hunting Ethan with the intent to kill for the majority of the film, Paris decides to repay Ethan for sparing her in Venice and saves his and Grace's lives. The physically demanding task causes Paris to significantly slow down, giving Ethan some more information on The Entity's location before slipping into unconsciousness.
It looks like a definitive end for the redeemed assassin until CIA Agents Briggs (Shea Whigham) and Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis) arrive on the scene. Degas checks Paris' pulse, and low and behold, he finds one, presumably getting her and Grace immediate medical attention. If that isn't a direct tease that Paris survived her injuries and return to fight the good fight in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two, then we don't know what is.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is in theaters now.
