Tear Jerker / No Time to Die

"Forgive me."

"We don't need to go faster, we have all the time in the world."

— James Bond, unintentionally and tragically Tempting Fate.

While there is No Time to Die, there will be plenty of time to cry every single tear in this film, especially when it comes to its shocking ending.

All spoilers on this page are left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

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• In the opening flashback, Safin murders Madeleine's mother in front of her. While she had been shown to be a jaded drunk who neglects her daughter, she was still her mother, and Madeleine, still a little girl at this point, is forced to witness a masked man mercilessly shoot her for something her husband did and probably had no knowledge of.
• The Happy Ending Override of the previous film. For the first time in years, Bond was genuinely happy again and once again looking to start a life with a woman instead of one of his usual flings, and it all goes to hell... again.
  • Madeleine suggests that Bond visit Vesper's grave in Matera to gain some closure over her loss, and that's when Spectre decides to attack. Believing Madeleine betrayed him, Bond parts ways with her only to discover, five years later, that Blofeld planned the ambush without Madeleine's knowledge, just to drive a wedge into the one healthy relationship Bond had left after departing from MI6.
    • Just before Spectre attacks, Bond allows himself a moment of personal vulnerability that is seldom seen in the franchise. When visiting Vesper's grave, he only says one thing: "I miss you". After years of denying that he ever cared about what happened to her since she betrayed him, he finally admits — to himself, more than anything — that he really did. And if one listens closely, the piano notes playing over the scene is actually Vesper's theme from Casino Royale (2006). It's another reminder of the immense tragedy that overshadowed Bond's and Vesper's entire romance.
    • The Spectre agents planted a bomb on Vesper's grave, which obliterates it and could have killed Bond if he didn't move out of the way in time. They desecrated her grave just to get to Bond.
  • The Matera chase scene has Madeleine ask Bond why she would ever betray him. His response, filled with sheer Tranquil Fury, shows how Vesper Lynd's presence is making him believe that the same sting of false love is happening again. Even more tragic is that he's wrong, but Vesper's betrayal has left him too emotionally damaged to have a normal relationship.
    Bond: We all have our secrets. We just didn't get to yours yet.
  • Bond and Madeleine's exchange just before he puts her on the train — "This is it." "This is it." — heavily implies that deep down, they both feared that things were too good to last and that them breaking up was inevitable even if it weren't for the attack. When they reunite in Norway, she says "We were fools for trying", citing that neither of them is built for trusting.
  • Bond's face after he puts Madeleine on the train. They stare at each other for as long as possible before he finally turns away, possibly in tears. He either can't believe that he's been betrayed again, or worse yet, knows he just made a huge mistake in distrusting her — he later tells her that it's his greatest regret — but it's too late to do anything about it now. Indeed, he's stunned upon meeting Mathilde and realizing that his error cost him five years of domestic bliss and the first few of his daughter's life.
  • Madeleine running down the length of the train as it starts to move, clearly wanting to look at him as long as she can, possibly even wanting to shout out that she's pregnant, but in the blink of an eye, he's gone and she can't do anything but stand there helplessly.
    • Just the fact that Bond decided to track Madeleine down in the first place, allowing himself to be vulnerable again in order to sincerely apologize for not trusting her and declare that he still loves her is incredibly moving.
• The theme song. It's probably one of the saddest pieces of music in the Daniel Craig era, rivaling "Skyfall" and "Writing's on the Wall".
  ♫ Fool me once, fool me twice
  Are you death or paradise?
  Now you'll never see me cry
  There's just no time to die. ♫
  • Madeleine during the opening sequence is seen trying to reach to Bond over a chasm, but he refuses to, turning his back on her as the song continues.
• Felix Leiter's death. After Bond deduces that Obruchev is working for Safin, Leiter's partner Logan Ash reveals his true allegiance with Safin by fatally shooting Leiter and setting the boat to sink with Bond inside in order to escape with Obruchev. Though Bond was able to escape, he failed to save Leiter as the latter succumbs to his injuries and drowns in a manner similar to Vesper's death, much to Bond's dismay. By the next morning, Bond is on a safety boat and mournfully looking at a Delectado cigar that he was going to give to Felix. The fact this moment was filmed around the time one of Felix's actors, David Hedison from Live and Let Die and Licence to Kill, having passed away hits harder.
  Felix: James, it's a good life... isn't it?
  Bond: The best.
• Doubling as an awesome moment, Bond's quietly furious Pre-Mortem One-Liner to the wounded Logan Ash after wiping out his motorbike/SUV gang in the Norwegian forest, before dropping his own crashed car on him. Considering Ash was responsible for betraying and killing Felix — and then pathetically begging for mercy after trying to do the same to Bond — it's a hell of a lot more personal than usual.
  Ash: Nice moves, Bond. (the tree holding his car up bends and begins to splinter beneath its weight) You won't be able to stop him... so why don't you help me out, brother?
  Bond: I had a brother. His name was Felix Leiter. (Bond pulls down Ash's car hard enough to break the tree, crushing him)
• After Leiter's death, Bond flings his name in M's face during an argument and then reveals he's dead. Even M is sobered by the revelation, commenting on his long respect for the man.
• Lyutsifer Safin, murderous sociopath he may be, has quite a tragic backstory. Mr. White, working on orders from Blofeld, murdered Safin's entire family with a corrosive poison that permanently scarred his face, at a banquet in their honour no less. Consumed with vengeance, he completely snapped and began his own evil organisation to get back at Spectre, developing an unhealthy obsession with poisons like the one that killed his family in the process. Even after learning that Mr. White committed suicide out of remorse after his fallout from Spectre and that Bond already has Blofeld arrested for his crimes, Safin angrily refuses to let go of his desire for vengeance.
• The look on Bond's face as Safin's helicopter takes off with Madeleine and Mathilde aboard. Nothing but sheer terror for the safety of his loved ones, anger at himself for failing to protect them, and pure helplessness. In all of Craig's tenure as Bond, possibly the entire series, it's probably the first time we've ever seen him so thoroughly shaken.
• Even more heartbreaking than his actual death would be the sight of James Bond, for the first time in the film series's history, falling to his knees and begging for the villain's forgiveness, so his little daughter would not be strangled by the mad poisoner. The invincible and mighty 007, whom terrorists, drug cartels, entire armies, and even the might of Spectre itself were no match for, is finally defeated by his own all too human heart.
  • This is somewhat mitigated, however, when it turns out to be a ruse so Bond can secretly reach for his hidden gun. Even then, it shows how any parent would react when a monster like Safin threatens their child.
• The continuity and Myth Arc that started with Casino Royale effectively ends, definitively, with a bang. While our hero has once again triumphed over the villain (Lyutsifer Safin in this case), he's only done so after being infected with nanomachines that will kill his wife and child if he ever comes back into contact with them, along with potentially millions of other people. Bond can't live with the knowledge that he can't be with his family and opts to complete his mission by staying on the island while missiles completely obliterate Safin's base and all the nanomachines with him; including his own. That's right; after 25 movies, it's finally time for James Bond to die.
  "His name was Bond. James Bond."
• Bond's death hits harder with the fact this film was made and released around the recent passings of his first two original Bonds Roger Moore and Sean Connery, especially the latter as if it weren't for COVID-19 postponing the release date, Sean would have lived around to see it, but instead passed away before he could.
• In the midst of the final battle, Bond finds Mathilde's stuffed toy that she dropped and stops to pick it up, smiling as he does so, clearly anticipating giving it back to her and beginning a new life with his family. It starts off as a heart-warming moment, but if you're watching the movie for a second time and know that he won't get the chance to do that, it becomes agonizing, even more so that he clearly still has it tucked under the right suspender as the missiles hit, meaning that his last thoughts are Fond Memories That Could Have Been.
• The look of horror on Bond's face after Safin reveals that he now carries Heracles that targets Madeline and by extension Mathilde. With one stroke, Safin has taken what Bond wants most in life away from him forever.
  • This is followed up by the almost deliberately anti-climatic way Bond kills Safin. As written on the main page, he doesn’t do it in the showy manner that we’ve seen him kill numerous bad guys before, but in a very resigned and bitter way; knowing full well that it’s a meaningless victory. Yes, he’s defeated the villain; but even in death, the villain has gotten the last word.
• Bond asking Q, "How do I get it (Heracles) off?", desperately hoping for even the slightest possibility that everything Safin told him is untrue even though it's quite clear that he knows it is.
• Bond realising and resigning himself to the fact that he's going to die and still finding the strength to climb out of the silo room so that he can get good enough reception to call Madeleine and bid her farewell.
• Bond and Madeleine's final conversation. In particular:
  • Bond describing just what makes Mathilde so special, with his voice actually faltering.
    Bond: Madeleine... you have made... the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. She's perfect. Because she came from you.
  • Bond comforting Madeleine in the face of his imminent death:
    Madeleine: We just need more time. If we only had more time...!
    Bond: You have all the time in the world.
    • The realisation that the three of them only got a few hours to be a happy family is wrenching. Not to mention how close he was to the rest of his life; a wife, a daughter, and all enemies dispatched so that they could live peacefully, only to have it cruelly taken away within the last few minutes.
  • Their Anguished Declaration of Love. Three times Bond has said that to a woman, and every single time, it has ended tragically.
    Madeleine: I love you.
    Bond: I love you too.
  • And finally, the confirmation of Mathilde's parentage:
    Madeleine: She does have your eyes...
    Bond: I know. (Gazes upward, sees the missiles approaching, and braces himself) I know...
    • The music playing over these scenes only add to the anguish.
    • As does the expression on his face. Much like at Vesper's death in Casino Royale, Daniel Craig displays so many emotions on his face within a few minutes that your heart breaks right along with his; he's utterly devastated at the realization of what's going to happen and that he'll never see his wife and daughter again, yet he's simultaneously at peace knowing that they're safe, all while looking in the direction of the island that Nomi has taken them to, figuratively invoking a Long Last Look.
• Bond's final minutes revisit a very somber Mythology Gag from what Desmond Llewelyn's Q final advice to Bond from the Pierce Brosnan-era, by the end he has tragically forfeited both tenets.
  Q: Never let them see you bleed... always have an escape plan.
• The worst part about Bond's death is that the very last thing we see of Bond is his body fading to white after the bomblets incinerate his body. There was no daring last-minute escape, like all the other James Bond films. He well and truly is gone for good.
• Bond was a Commander in the Royal Navy, more specifically naval intelligence. In the end, it is the Royal Navy who send one of their own to his death.
• The reactions of Bond's allies and friends after he dies range from disbelieving shock to total heartbreak.
  • Madeleine, obviously, takes his death the hardest. The man who loved her, loves her, and will love her, is taken away forever. Despite the 5-year-misunderstanding-filled separation and both of them, in their words, "not built to trust", they still came together and gave each other another chance together, clearly still loving each other a lot. Her teary face despite trying her best not to cry out loud says it all.
    • She herself turns to watch the missiles approaching the island and begins shaking in terror, knowing what's about to happen. It's then that the last thing she tells him is that he's Mathilde's father.
  • Q just sits in his chair, quietly trying to process what's just happened; namely, that he played a big part in killing Bond by telling M to launch those missiles at Safin's base (albeit at Bond's insistence). And as annoying as he found Bond to be, sharing snark back and forth, there's no doubt that both men were solid friends, and Q is thoroughly devastated by James's death — note that the last thing Bond tells him is "It's alright, Q. It's alright", clearly trying to comfort him — as evidenced by the deep breath he lets out as if he's just been punched in the stomach. He even turns around to see that the Smart Blood reading for Bond displays one message: Offline.
    • The fact that Q even turned around in the first place, clearly having a sliver of hope that there'd be a contradiction to what he just witnessed, only to have it confirmed.
  • Moneypenny is clearly trying to hold back from bursting into tears. Even worse is that for her, this is the second time she's had to watch Bond die. First time, she accidentally shot him on a mission, yet found peace when he turned up fine. Now she's having to go through the feelings of fear, loss, and probably guilt all over again by watching the whole thing unfold before her eyes.
  • M doesn't show much emotion, but it's clear he's feeling the loss like everyone else. For all they locked horns and butted heads, Mallory always had Bond's back when the chips were down, and supported him even though he constantly went behind his back, because Bond was his agent, and he always trusted his judgement.
    • Even worse, M could be feeling guilty because he authorised the missile strike that ultimately killed Bond. A commanding officer has a duty of care toward his men, and Bond not only died on his watch but from a strike he ordered. He probably believes that he failed him. The fact that M was the one behind developing the Heracles nanobots — and inexplicably didn't develop an antidote or contingency plan should they fall into the wrong hands — thus setting off this chain of events, presumably worsens his feelings of guilt.
  • Perhaps it's partially a blessing that the previous M was already dead after Skyfall. For all the times they were cold towards one another, she ultimately did care for him greatly, and we can only imagine how devastated she would be to learn he was truly dead.
  • Bill Tanner can be seen standing in the background in what appears to be silent shock. Tanner has been Chief of Staff at MI6 as early as 2006, shortly after Bond first received his license to kill (Rory Kinnear has played him since Quantum of Solace, the Immediate Sequel to Casino Royale). Now a decade and a half later, he's forced to watch his friend and colleague die.
  • Nomi, despite not knowing him very well, clearly came to like and respect him in the short time that she did and is clearly just as stunned and grief-stricken as the others.
  • Some eagle-eyed viewers may also notice that Rami Malek was trying hard to get through the scene of Safin poisoning Bond so that it would make him sacrifice himself without breaking character and crying.
• The cherry on top of the sundae? Over the credits, "We Have All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong plays. Bond fans know all too well what it harkens back to.
• When Madeleine tells Mathilde about Bond right before driving through the tunnel.

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"And now, we are both poisoned with heartbreak..."

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