#Mission impossible spoilers

[albaharu]

Finally the m:i movies gave me the bare minimun for shipping 2 gals (one trying to kill the other)

plus saving her life at the end

[fictionallemons]

Forehead touch.

That is all.

From the teaser trailer.

[mummifiedgoose]

Finally saw Dead Reckoning again and here's a fully self indulgent thought that only works in fantasy land where plot isn't important.

You know how it comes down to Grace or Ilsa? Someone Ethan cares about has to die, blah blah. No offense to my girl Grace but there is NO reason she should be in that situation. Yes I know she's got The Plot but like, Ethan met her like a few days ago and she's done nothing but betray him repeatedly since then. She is absolutely NOT on Ilsa's level when it comes to holding importance in Ethan's life.

You know who is though?

Benji. Through Fallout and Rogue Nation, Benji and Ilsa are CONSTANTLY compared, put in the same situations, put on the same level, they have about a thousand parallels between those movies. This would be the ultimate version of that. One last comparison, one last "who means more" that would result in a death that holds importance to the franchise. Not to say Ilsa's death isn't important, it absolutely is, but you know from the second this problem is presented to us she's the one who will die. If Grace dies it holds no meaning because like Ethan, we just fucking met her. Ilsa dying is a whole other story. Benji dying is a whole other, other story.

Additionally, with how Benji and Ilsa keep ending up in the same life threatening situation? They keep surviving together, they've survived Lane together, whoever dies here is going to feel incredibly guilty and lost (btw this is why we should have seen more of Benji mourning Ilsa beyond him sulking in the corner for two minutes).

And I PROMISE you. Had Benji been a woman? He would be counted as a love interest for Ethan. That's why Grace is put in this situation here, it's cause she's a pretty lady Ethan could potentially kiss not because there's any real emotional attachment. That and she has the key or whatever but ignore that. DO YOU SEE THE VISION????

[youronebraincell]

Me shipping a Hayley Atwell character with her antagonist Black Widow in 2015

Me shipping a Hayley Atwell character with her antagonist White Widow in 2023

[thefrakkintrinity15]

According to me, the reasons we have been deceived by Chris McQuarrie in Mission Impossible, Dead Reackoning Part. 1. WARNING SPOILERS!

[themrsw1z]

Gabriel waiting in a box in the train's luggage compartment, hoping that Paris hasn't betrayed him earlier than intended

[sylvermage]

I'm not the biggest Mission: Impossible fan, but Dead Reckoning Pt 1 has given me feelings about something (Benji, okay, it's Benji) and I need to talk about them.

Spoilers and ramblings under the cut.

So, while the Entity definitely fears Ethan and the rest of IMF for being the only people with enough braincells to want to KILL the Entity instead of use it (honourable mention to Degas; please join IMF, dude), it strikes me that right from the beginning, it's gone after Benji.

We start with the bomb. The Entity knew Benji would be the one to come looking for it. Why? Because Benji is usually Ethan's eyes (noticing the suspicious bag), and it's a pattern that when Ethan is in danger or out of reach, Benji takes to the field.

Of the team, Benji is most likely to be susceptible to the psychological prodding from the bomb's questions. He doesn't compartmentalize the way the others do; he brings his whole self to every mission, and that makes him a good agent; it's why he babbles when he's nervous, cries openly, complains about the sheer insanity of what they're attempting to do, and then walks straight into the fire without hesitation.

So right away, the Entity wants Benji to know that it knows him. And by doing so, it's letting US know that it knows who Ethan's lynchpin is.

Then it takes it a step further: it steals Benji's voice. Listen to the commands it's giving Ethan through the comms, they're disjointed, haphazard, but Ethan never stops to question it. Why? Because it's Benji's voice. Ethan has always given himself completely over to Benji's directions (Benji told him to jump off a mountain onto a speeding train, and Ethan's thought process isn't nope, find something else, it's how in the goddamn hell am I going to do this. Because if Benji says it's the only way, then that's good enough for Ethan.)

And this hurts Benji. You can see the panic in his face, because he knows Ethan will trust his voice, and he's completely helpless. The Entity has attacked him psychologically, it's undermining his greatest skill (working with tech), and now it's taunting him with the trust Ethan places in him. It's slowly rendering him powerless.

Even though the line of self-harming was removed from the final product (and personally, I don't mind, but that's another discussion), we know Benji has his demons. He's had a bomb vest strapped to him, and he's nearly been hung (which is a TERRIBLE way to die) and both situations rendered him totally helpless.

But I think it's interesting that the Entity never asked him what it was he most feared, because we already know, we've already been shown what it is: Benji fears being a liability.

Specifically, a liability to Ethan.

And although I'm hoping against hope that they WON'T kill off Benji, because he's my favourite and because I think the MI world would be so much darker without him, I can think of no better way to push Ethan into despair than to put Benji in a situation where he has to sacrifice himself for Ethan. Because Benji is the only one that Ethan has repeatedly promised, with words, 'I will not let anything happen to you'. He couldn't even make that promise to Grace, because he's not sure anymore that he can keep it. But he HAS made that promise, repeatedly, to Benji. And Benji knows better than anyone how far Ethan will go to protect someone, how far Ethan has pushed to protect HIM specifically. He has sat there with a ticking timer among innocents completely aware that Ethan is not going to walk away, because abandoning his friends and partners (abandoning Benji) doesn't even appear on Ethan's radar. And that's a lot of weight to carry.

Of course Benji is afraid to die; he's stared death in the face many times. But he's more afraid of being a liability to Ethan. Of being the thing that leads Ethan to fail.

And the Entity is SHOWING him this, it's showing US this. And it scares the hell out of me. Because the one thing that could break Benji, is the one thing I can think of that would break Ethan. Forcing Benji to choose between death and Ethan's failure…and Ethan being forced to watch him make that choice.

Killing Benji before Ilsa might have struck a stronger blow against Ethan; the only reason to hold off is to make it even more painful. Show Ethan he can't keep his promises to protect those closest to him, put the doubt in his mind…then make it a reality. Destroy the one person he's always promised to protect, right in front of him.

And even if they don't kill him off (plzdon'tilovehim), even if they find a third option, the amount of damage being in that situation would do to both Ethan and Benji would be catastrophic.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have made myself sad, so I'll just be over here, writhing in agony until 2024.

[queen-ilsa-faust]

I made myself sad 😭

[ilsafausthunt]

Dead Reckoning Part One spoilers:

They really did that to Ilsa 😔 And the movie just continued on like nothing had happened and she was never really that important. But she has been for the past 2 movies!! She’s part of the IMF team and the perfect foil for Ethan. Their moments at the beginning were great, but there were far too few. Why build up this beautiful relationship just to end it like that??

Highly disappointed and sad. That dampened my enjoyment of the rest of the movie. It makes no sense story and character wise, and I hope they rectify things in Part Two. But my gut tells me she’s really dead. They already had the fake out death at the beginning and I don’t know if they’d do that again.

[twelverriver]

Death in Venice

[iinsawdious]

i've thinking about how the entity used benji's voice and decieved ethan, luring him into a trap and killing ilsa. something about that is sticking with me.

losing your voice due to deceit, and the thing wearing your skin, bearing your voice is leading your loved ones awry... there's something about a simulacrum of you. there's something about something stealing your identity and parading around while you're helpless, while you can't get through.

there's just something about that that's a kind of horror.

[antisocialshipper]

dead reckoning spoilers

you haven’t known the epic highs (tom cruise in a shirt and waistcoat) and lows (loml ilsa faust dying) of high school football (mission impossible dead reckoning part one)

[frenchpuppycormier]

Mission Impossible SPOILER AHEAD

THIS. 100% THIS. What utter bullshit and a complete copout.

[queen-of-torches]

It's "He had completely erased his accent. It was like talking to a stranger." Saturday! :)

[kessilover]

There's better be some Ethan x Ilsa fix-it fanfics because I cannot accept what they did to them in this movie.

I am emotionally invested in them for the past 5 years. It can't end like this.

[andrewknightley]

Fast X (Part I) + Mission Impossible : Dead Reckoning (Part I) Car chases on the Spanish Steps (Rome)