Contains spoilers for “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning”

Looper’s review of “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” was somewhat divided, yet the film shines with its impressive stunts, delivering an exciting close to the story cherished by longtime fans. While it’s uncertain if more “Mission: Impossible” movies will follow, this one indeed feels conclusive. Not only does the title include “final,” but it also depicts Ethan Hunt’s (Tom Cruise) most significant mission yet, trying to prevent a rogue AI known as the Entity from launching nuclear missiles aimed at wiping out humanity. With the world’s fate at stake, regretfully, not everyone survives to witness the outcome.

Death is a recurring theme in the “Mission: Impossible” series. The prior film, “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning,” saw the demise of Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). She sacrifices herself for Grace (Hayley Atwell) in the film, although Ferguson has explained her decision was driven by feeling the character’s story had ended and her desire to pursue new projects rather than commit to another extended production.

“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” features several notable deaths beyond those of nameless henchmen. One such death is General Sidney, portrayed by series newcomer Nick Offerman, who is shot by a rogue agent aligned with the Entity, illustrating the AI’s deep penetration into government ranks. Additionally, two other key deaths merit further discussion.

Other than Ethan Hunt, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) is the only other character to appear in all eight “Mission: Impossible” films, even if he only has a small cameo in “Ghost Protocol.” He’s been an integral part of the series’ DNA, so “Final Reckoning” proves it’s not messing around when Gabriel (Esai Morales) kidnaps Luther and places him in a cell with a nuclear device at the start of the film. Luther can disable the device’s nuclear capabilities to save millions of lives, but the bomb will still go off. There’s nothing Ethan can do to save his friend, so he runs away as the bomb detonates and kills Luther.

It’s a devastating moment, and it’s heartbreaking for Luther to be taken out so early that he can’t help Ethan stop the Entity later in the film. However, it does show that this sequel is going all out. It’s unclear if this is the true final “Mission: Impossible” movie or just the last one to star Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. But it does feel like the end of an era, and Luther’s death shows that no one is safe.

While his death may seem to come out of nowhere, it grounds Ethan’s story and makes it clear why he’s hell-bent on ensuring no one gains control of the Entity. Gabriel may have planted the bomb that killed Luther, but it was all in service of getting the Entity under his control. No one should have this much power, which is why Ethan and his team go to incredible lengths to ensure no one gains dominion over the nigh-all-powerful AI.

Gabriel is introduced as the main human villain in “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning” where he works in tandem with the Entity. However, his primary objective changes in “The Final Reckoning.” He now wants to control the Entity and expects Ethan Hunt to hand over the source code obtained from a sunken Russian submarine to allow him to do so. This leads to a high-flying set piece where Ethan and Gabriel fight aboard a biplane, where, for all of his ominous speeches, Gabriel goes out in an unexpected (and kind of funny) fashion.

As the plane’s going down, Gabriel gloats to Ethan that he has the only parachute. When he jumps out, he collides face-first with the plane’s rudder and awkwardly slides off, plummeting to the ground. While it may sound like a letdown for the film’s big villain’s death, it’s important to remember that despite his delusions of grandeur, Gabriel really isn’t the main bad guy. That would be the Entity, and Ethan still needs to get off the plane and destroy the Entity’s source code so that Grace can trap it where it can’t do any harm.

Gabriel’s death highlights what a non-factor he really is. “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” ends with Ethan taking a special flash drive containing the Entity into hiding with him so that no individual or world power can use it to bring the Entity under their control. In the end, Gabriel was just another bad guy caught up in something larger than himself.

“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” is playing in theaters now.