History Headscratchers / MissionImpossibleFallout

** Maybe Erik is really good at handling stress, since that's a useful skill in his line of work. Maybe he knows full well that something was up with Julia but he ''pretends'' to be completely chipper so as not to stress her out further. In fact I seem to recall he said something to Ethan that slyly hinted that he knows that Ethan is not who he claims to be. So I think the idea is that Erik understands the situation far more than he's letting on, and he also knows that asking awkward questions would only make things more awkward. If he gives anyone a reason to think he might have learned top-secret information, then he (and quite possibly Julia) will get in serious trouble. Why take the risk that that might happen if he can smile a lot and pretend to be ignorant?

** Maybe Erik is really good at handling stress, since that's a useful skill in his line of work. Maybe he knows full well that something was up with Julia but he ''pretends'' to be completely chipper so as not to stress her out further. In fact I seem to recall he said something to Ethan that slyly hinted that he knows that Ethan is not who he claims to be. So I think the idea is that Erik understands the situation far more than he's letting on, and he also knows that asking awkward questions would make things more awkward. If he gives anyone a reason to think he might have learned top-secret information, then he (and quite possibly Julia) will get in serious trouble. Why take the risk that that might happen if he can smile a lot and pretend to be ignorant?

** Maybe Erik is really good at handling stress, since that's a useful skill in his line of work. Maybe he knows full well that something was up with Julia but he ''pretends'' to be completely chipper so as not to stress her out further. In fact I seem to recall he said something to Ethan that slyly hinted that he knows that Ethan is not who he claims to be. So I think the idea is that Erik understands the situation far more than he's letting on. He knows that asking awkward questions would make things more awkward. If he gives anyone a reason to think he might have learned top-secret information, then he (and quite possibly Julia) will get in serious trouble. Why take the risk that that might happen if he can smile a lot and pretend to be ignorant?

* At Luther's behest, Julia leaves to "be with her husband" Erik during the final minutes of the countdown. In the final scene, however, Erik is completely chipper and unsuspicious. So did he see nothing amiss with Julia's behavior in what may have been their last moments together? Even under those circumstances, she hid her feelings behind deception and said nothing that he might later question?

** It’s mentioned that the original Syndicate has split into various sub-groups who are acting semi-independently; presumably the ones loyal to Lark and the ones who took the plutonium cores are different groups who aren’t directly loyal to each other.

* Why were the brokers even needed? The Apostles at the beginning of the film successfully snatched the cores right? They were working for Lark right? Why did they not bring the cores straight to their employer then and there?

* Why did Lark even need the other two plutonium cores? His intended bomb setup was meant to detonate if one of the two bombs was defused - meaning that his plan presumably could have succeeded with a single bomb. While he wanted to frame Hunt, he didn't seem to have a specific vendetta against Hunt and was perfectly fine blowing his cover once the time was right. With that in mind, Lark could have just swiped the core that the White Widow gave them in Paris and gone to Asia to set off his plan without any interference at all. He would never have needed to spring Lane or deal with the Apostles.

* Why did Lark even need the other two plutonium cores? His intended bomb setup was meant to detonate if one of the two bombs was defused - meaning that his plan presumably could have succeeded with a single bomb. While he wanted to frame Hunt, he didn't seem to have a specific vendetta against Hunt and was perfectly fine blowing his cover once the time was right. With that in mind, Lark could have just swiped the core that the White Widow gave them in Paris and gone to Asia to set off his plan without any interference at all. He would never have needed to spring Walker or deal with the Apostles.

** John Lark, who's a CIA mole, knew that the whole thing was a sting operation to catch him, so he played along. Remember, Lark was helping Solomon Lane achieve his goal of framing Ethan Hunt at the time. The Apostles were most likely in on it as well, that's why they let Ethan and his team alive instead of killing them outright in the opening scene. Even if Ethan and his team succeeded against all odds in recovering the plutonium, Walker/Lark could've always snatched them back later using his CIA connections. All the trouble Lark and the Apostles went through in the overly complicated plan is all because of Solomon Lane's irrational goal of making Ethan Hunt suffer.