Why That Major Character Was Killed In Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning

The following contains major spoilers for "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One."

In "Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation," director Christopher McQuarrie introduced Ilsa Faust, a smart, sexy, highly capable spy playing all angles. As played by Rebecca Ferguson, Ilsa became something of a revelation to the franchise — someone who could go toe to toe with Ethan Hunt. In fact, she was so effective that she returned for not one but two sequels, which isn't exactly common for this series (outside of the ever-present Ving Rhames). Ilsa quickly became a fan favorite, thanks to how complex the character was written, how much she kicked ass, and Ferguson's compelling, sleek performance. In short, Ilsa was a great character.

And then "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" went and killed her off. 

As a big Ilsa fan, this twist left a bad taste in my mouth. First of all, it reeks of fridging — killing off a female character just to give the main male character motivation. Second of all, Ilsa is so cool that her death felt anticlimactic — she dies offscreen and is only discovered by Ethan Hunt after she's expired. So what's the deal here? Why did Christopher McQuarrie decide to bump Ilsa off? 

Speaking with USA Today, writer-director McQuarrie says that killing Ilsa was "a really tough decision." He then went on to add that since this story is primarily Ethan Hunt's journey, it makes a certain amount of sense that other characters could be killed during the dangerous IMF missions. As the filmmaker said: 

"But it was one we knew we had to make for the movie to have stakes and for the movie to remain 'Mission.' 'Mission' is primarily Ethan's journey (and) there is this continuum that the people closest to him, he tends to lose them. It was a really tricky conversation for us to have, and we knew that there would be some reactions to that, but we also knew this is the reality of the world that's been created over seven movies."

I'm not a fan of this answer. Why does Ilsa have to be the one to die? Is she the most expendable because audiences love Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell or Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn? Hell, why not bring back Jeremy Renner's William Brandt and kill him off instead? No matter what the angle, I just can't get behind the idea that Ilsa was killed off to give Ethan some motivation. 

Okay, time for some speculation. Here's a question — is Ilsa really dead? In the film, we see her fighting the film's (non-AI) villain, Gabriel, on a bridge. Gabriel ultimately stabs Ilsa in what looks like the heart, leaving her seemingly dead body on the bridge for Ethan to find. Ethan arrives too late and cradles Ilsa's body — and then the scene cuts away, and we don't find out what happened to Ilsa after that. Did they leave her there? Bury her? Call the cops? We don't know.

Earlier in the film, there's a moment where it looks like Ilsa has been shot to death — only for this to be revealed to be a fake-out. Ilsa is still alive, but Ethan tells her to "stay dead" in order to keep herself safe since she's become the target of bounty hunters. This has me wondering — is Ilsa's death on the bridge another fake-out? Is Ethan just pretending she's really dead in order to keep her safe? It's certainly possible, and since this is the first of a two-parter, it would make sense for Ilsa to return in "Dead Reckoning Part Two."

Then again, McQuarrie sure makes it sound like Ilsa is really dead. But he could be playing coy to avoid giving away any spoilers. Or maybe I'm just grasping at straws here because I really don't want Ilsa to be dead. We'll know for sure when "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two" opens on June 28, 2024.