No Time To Die Ending Explained: How Daniel Craig’s Latest James Bond Movie Ends

You could say No time to die is the Bond movie to end all Bond movies. Already a affected in UK, the 25th official film 007 ends Daniel Craig’s 15-year tenure as James bond with a bang (despite its lack of a post-credits scene).

“In Daniel Craig’s latest outing as a suave super-spy, James Bond finally has a life,” Richard Trenholm said in CNET No Time to Die live review, which is now released in the US and Australia on November 11. “The result is an epic, explosive and emotional swan song that throws everything he has against the wall for a truly unique entry into the series.” This is especially true for the bold and unprecedented ending.

Let’s do dive into the last moment of the film, but beware: the following SPOILERS should be for your eyes only if you’ve seen the movie.

Infiltration

Bioterrorist Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) drags former Bond lover Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) and her daughter Mathilde to his classic villain lair on a former WWII island base between Japan and Russia. Earlier, Madeleine insisted that Mathilde was not Bond’s child, but those startling blue eyes suggest otherwise.

Madeleine’s father, the late Mr. White, killed Safin’s family on behalf of Specter terrorist group when Safin was just a little boy, then he killed Madeleine’s mother to get revenge on Mr. White. Madeleine got stuck under the ice as she tried to escape this attack, but Safin saved her and became obsessed like a big nutcase.

Safin once forced her to participate in his ploy to wipe out Specter with Heracles, a DNA-based biological weapon containing nanobots that target specific people. Bond unwittingly completes his mission to kill Specter’s captive boss Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) as part of Safin’s revenge (maniacal laugh). But there’s more: From his base, Safin intends to launch Heracles into the world, infecting millions of people (laughter escalates).

Newly reinstated as 007, Bond and his colleague Nomi (Lashana Lynch) infiltrate the island and seemingly manage to open the silo doors for a missile strike ordered by M (Ralph Fiennes) to wipe out Safin’s base. Nomi escapes with Madeleine and Mathilde, while Bond sticks around to ensure the base is destroyed.

Bond’s fate

The silo doors begin to close, so Bond rushes to reopen them. Could this be a trap? It certainly is.

Safin gets the fall on 007, shooting Bond multiple times and infecting him with nanobots encoded in Madeleine’s DNA – meaning he will never be able to touch her or Mathilde again without killing them. What a moron.

Bond dazedly executes Safin and reopens the silo doors, but it’s clear he doesn’t have time to escape. Seriously injured, he climbs a ladder to the roof and calls Madeleine to tell her that he loves her.

“You have all the time in the world,” he says.

“She has your eyes,” she replies, confirming that Mathilde is her daughter.

“I know,” he says, as the missiles descend on the base. “I know.”

With this, Bond is enveloped in explosions.

Wait, James Bond dies?

Yes, for the first time in the character’s 59-year cinematic history (and 68 literary years), 007 is killed. The title of the film lied to us. It’s pretty definitive too; he had been seriously injured by Safin and the missile strike had wiped out the island. But the legendary spy also seemed at peace with his fate.

It comes after Bond first became a father (to our knowledge) and seemed ready to settle down with Madeleine and Matilde, which makes it all the more devastating. Excuse me, I have something in my eye.

What happens after his death?

Nomi returns to MI6 headquarters in London and M brings her, Moneypenny, Tanner and Q (Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear and Ben Whishaw) together in an emotional toast to their late colleague during which M reads a quote from author Jack London.

“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist,” he says. “I won’t waste my days trying to extend them. I’ll use my time.

This has already been used in Ian Fleming Roman You only live twice, appearing in Bond’s obituary when the world thought he was dead.

The final moments take us to the spectacular Italian mountainside town of Matera where we met Madeleine and Bond at the start of the film. This time she’s driving with their daughter.

“Mathilde, I’m going to tell you a story about a man,” said Madeleine. “His name was Bond, James Bond.

The credits roll, to the tune of Louis Armstrong We have all the time in the world.

How is this song significant?

Longtime Bond fans will recognize We Have All the Time in the World from 1969 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the sixth film in the franchise and George Lazenby’s one and only outing in the role.

The title is darkly ironic – it’s taken from Bond’s last line after his new wife, Tracy, was shot dead by the Blofeld thug.

No Time to Die echoes Her Majesty’s Secret Service in that he sees Bond grow as a person and seemingly ready to leave espionage behind to take hold. Either way, fate kicks in – and something seems to be in my eye again.

Is there a post-credits scene?

No Time To Die doesn’t have a post-credits scene, but if you stick around until the end you’ll see the classic words “James Bond will come back”.

The sentence has never been so reassuring, but it is not yet known who will take over from Craig.

The future 007

The search for the next Bond actor will begin in 2022, producer Barbara Broccoli told BBC Radio 4’s Today program, according to Deadline.

“We want Daniel to have his time of celebration,” she said. “Next year we will start to think about the future.”

The Bond franchise has always been a bit hazy in terms of continuity – more recent actor movies sometimes referred to events from a previous era, so it seemed like Sean connery, Lazenby, Roger moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan all played the same person.

However, Craig’s first film, Casino Royale, restarted the franchise in 2006. Its films are therefore a standalone series and the death of its version of the character closes the loop of this narrative. Goodbye, Mr. Bond.

If Broccoli and fellow producer Michael G. Wilson are feeling truly daring, Bond’s nephew appeared in the 1991 James Bond Jr. cartoon. Maybe it’s time to bring young Bond out of obscurity?