Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

While it’s sort of a meme that Ethan Hunt goes rogue all the time, I was interested how it actually breaks down, because it’s not actually all the time. Ethan gets a certain amount of latitude when trying to achieve his mission, and even if he runs afoul of some authority figure or another, he’s often working with the knowledge of some other authority figure who’s given their approval for the mission. So let’s do some gross math.

First, let's define “rogue”. This is my definition for this purpose. You are free to define it how you like if you want to do this calculation differently. In my opinion, Ethan is rogue if and only if he is knowingly and directly disobeying the orders of a superior in the American government without the express permission of some other superior in the American government. This includes any missions he is explicitly assigned and has chosen to accept. Achieving the mission is his highest priority, and the independent nature of the IMF means he can exercise discretion when doing so. Making a dangerous call is not going rogue, but disobeying direct orders solely on his own authority is.

The first film is pretty straightforward. The mission goes poorly and Ethan is on the run for a bit, but he's not explicitly rogue until he meets with Kittridge and is accused of being the mole. Kittridge suggests he come quietly, not explicit orders but pretty definitive. They trade insults and threats but I don’t think Ethan’s explicitly rogue until 31:41, when he smashes the glasses on the table and throws the gum at the tank. That’s a clear act of aggression to facilitate his escape and disobey Kittridge’s orders. This continues for the next hour or so of the film. Near the end, Ethan lures Kittridge to London and gets him on the train, but I don’t think we can fully say he has Kittridge’s permission until Kittridge sees Jim through the glasses camera and says “Good morning Mr. Phelps.” That line occurs at 1:36:50, and although he can’t hear it, I’m going to say Ethan’s actions are sanctioned after that point. This continues until the end of the film. It’s suggested that Ethan doesn’t work for the IMF at the end of the film since he refuses to “go back” with Luther, but he seems surprised at the introduction of the tape in the final scene, perhaps meaning he was reinstated without his knowledge. Regardless, he’s not going against orders here, so we’ll stop the timer at 1:45:58 when credits roll (end credits won’t count, especially as they get longer).

Total On-mission time: 40:49, Total Rogue time: 1:05:09

2 is the simplest one here: Ethan never actually goes rogue here. He makes some risky plays but everything is sanctioned by the IMF. Not really any gray areas. Credits start at 1:58:58.

Movie On-Mission Time: 1:58:58, Movie Rogue Time: 0:00

Total On-mission time: 2:39:47, Total Rogue time: 1:05:09

3 gives us an interesting situation. Ethan’s on-mission throughout the attempted rescue of Lindsey, but he sets up a mission to capture Davian without approval. While he’s not violating direct orders, the only mission he is assigned is to bring Lindsey in. While this is meant to aid the hunt for Davian, he has not been told to apprehend him. Creating his own mission may not be violating direct orders, but the mission he’s actually been assigned has failed and he cannot be said to still be trying to accomplish it. You could argue that this is something he’s doing in his spare time, but this interferes too much with IMF operations to be considered not rogue. Rogue clock starts at 35:11 when he tells Benji not to go to Musgrave about the information they found. The whole mission to capture Davian is rogue until Ethan sends Musgrave a transmission telling him they have Davian. The rogue clock ends at 57:03 at the start of the scene Musgrave tells Brassell about the mission, since Musgrave has implicitly approved the mission at this point and is vouching for Ethan. I would argue that Ethan is technically on-mission from this point forward since he is operating with the approval of a superior, even if Brassell outranks Musgrave. When he lands, Ethan is met by an armored convoy and is not taken into custody, so he’s fine until Davian escapes. They then send people to arrest Ethan, but he doesn’t know this until he sees them. Rogue clock will start again at 1:12:54 when he explicitly tries to evade arrest, and since he’s restrained Hannibal Lecter-style while in custody, we’ll continue the clock since he doesn’t appear to be cooperating. However, we now run into the problem of Musgrave, who is Ethan’s superior but secretly a mole. Musgrave tells Ethan to go to Shanghai and helps him escape (1:15:37). Since Ethan still believes Musgrave to be his loyal superior, I’d argue he’s not rogue at this point (I’ll still count his initial arrest and custody as rogue time since he doesn’t seem to know Musgrave is continuing to support him). However, the second he learns Musgrave is a traitor (1:38:28), I would say he realizes he doesn’t actually have support within the IMF and is going against orders (this is probably not at the front of his mind, but it’s technically accurate). He’s then technically off-mission until we confirm Brassell isn’t actively arresting him (which we can’t tell until we get back to the states, since Ethan doesn’t communicate with any IMF personnel outside of his team). This occurs at 1:57:27, and credits roll at 1:59:04.

Movie On-Mission Time: 1:15:30, Movie Rogue Time: 43:34

Total On-Mission Time: 3:55:17,Total Rogue Time: 1:48:43

Ghost Protocol is another sticky one. He’s on a mission in the prison, and he receives a different mission that legitimizes his actions until the Kremlin bombing. We don’t know exactly when the President activates Ghost Protocol and disbands the IMF, but I'd argue it doesn't matter. Ethan doesn't actually know he's been disavowed when he leaves the hospital, so he's not knowingly rogue. Sidorov and Russian authorities chase him from this point forward, but he doesn’t answer to them. What matters is the American government. However, it gets complicated when the Secretary gives Ethan a renewed mission to track down Cobalt. At this point, the IMF is disbanded. However, the Secretary is on his way to Washington to submit his resignation, which means that, while disgraced, he still technically has authority at this point. He then dies, but Ethan still has his mission, and in multiple entries of the franchise, I’ve considered the support of a superior and an ongoing mission to override other orders, even if they come from higher up the chain. However, given the complete dismantling of the IMF I think we have to say that he is rogue from the second he learns about Ghost Protocol and the IMF is disavowed (40:51), since he has no authority and he is actively evading arrest. This continues until 1:59:23, when we cut to Ethan and Luther in Seattle. Since he receives a mission at the end, we can assume the IMF has resumed operations (no reason to believe at this point that the Syndicate has begun to fake Ethan’s missions as they do at the beginning of Rogue Nation, since it seems unlikely they would reveal themselves to him at this point). Credits roll at 2:06:25.

Movie On-Mission Time: 47:53, Movie Rogue Time: 1:18:32

Total On-Mission Time: 4:43:10, Total Rogue Time: 3:07:15

Rogue Nation, as expected, has a lot of rogue in it. Although Brandt (who now is able to speak on behalf of the IMF) hasn’t been kept up to speed on what’s happening in the opening and he chastises the team, saying he can’t authorize hijacking a satellite, he seems to know what the mission is. Getting the package off the plane seems to be his primary goal as well, and he pushes for them to finish the mission even after he learns about the satellite. Ethan and the team have gone “rogue” in a sense by doing something Brandt wouldn’t approve of, but they give him plausible deniability and he seems to accept this. Therefore, I think this technically falls under Ethan’s normal latitude, even if it is “rogue” in spirit, and Brandt’s lack of overt resistance suggests he’ll back Ethan when all is said and done. However, CIA Director Hunley succeeds in shutting down the agency, meaning Ethan is once again rogue from the moment he learns about it, possessing no authority or latitude even with Brandt’s approval. He says “We never had this conversation” to Brandt at 19:09, which is a clear and active step in going rogue. There’s a bit of a grey area as Brandt seems to be granted some external authority in the search for Ethan (Hunley tells him “Welcome to the CIA”), but I don’t think he can be said to have the authority to approve Ethan’s actions. However, at 1:46:59, Hunley accepts his role in the mission and gives his tacit approval to Ethan’s actions from that point forward. I would say he’s on-mission from this point on, ending at 2:04:42.

Movie On-Mission Time: 36:52, Movie Rogue Time: 1:27:50

Total On-Mission Time: 5:20:02, Total Rogue Time: 4:35:05

Fallout is another low-rogue entry. Ethan deviates at the beginning by making a move to save Luther’s life at the cost of the plutonium, but a failed mission isn’t going rogue. The Wolf Blitzer heist is damage control on the original mission, and there’s nothing that states it wasn’t sanctioned. Hunley, now IMF Secretary, expresses sympathy for Ethan’s position and doesn’t reprimand him when they first meet. Sloane, CIA Director, is suspicious and antagonistic of Ethan, and he acts in ways she wouldn’t approve of, but he has Hunley’s tacit approval and doesn’t clearly go past the bounds of his usual leeway. Even the moment later on, where he seems to go rogue and attacks Hunley, is approved by both Hunley and Sloane. The only moment where it gets dicey is when Hunley dies and Ethan no longer has a living superior on his side. Sloane wants everyone detained and brought in, and Ethan hasn’t received a direct order from Hunley to contradict that (only Hunley’s protest at Sloane’s actions). There’s only an implicit order to continue when Hunley touches Ethan’s chest. However, I would argue Ethan’s overall mission of recovering the plutonium overrides Sloane’s order (although the Secretary is dead, the IMF is still functional), and since that mission is still active, I’d say everything until the end of the movie is on-mission. That means we have a second movie where Ethan never goes rogue once, despite accusations and deceptions to the contrary. Credits at 2:19:51.

Movie On-Mission Time: 2:19:51, Movie Rogue Time: 0:00

Total On-Mission Time: 7:39:53, Total Rogue Time: 4:35:05

Dead Reckoning’s going to swing the pendulum back in the other direction. He does start off on-mission, as Kittridge, now CIA Director, instructs him to track down Ilsa and recover the key. Since Ethan is explicitly told that what happens to Ilsa is up to him, he’s on-mission until he refuses to come in with the key. Since this happens offscreen but is mentioned during the briefing, we’ll start the clock when we first cut to the meeting at 15:49. For the rest of the movie he’s pretty clearly rogue. Benji and Luther explicitly say the mission is rogue before it even starts. There’s also no evidence that the secretary or anyone else with authority in the IMF has approved these actions (one could argue that Ethan is the highest authority in the IMF at this point, but the point is that no one superior to him is in his corner). And since the order to come in never goes away (Kittridge has a monologue that seems to express some begrudging support but it’s unclear how literal it is and based on the next film it doesn’t seem like he’s approving his actions), he’s still rogue at the end credits for the first time, at 2:35:31.

Movie On-Mission Time: 15:49, Movie Rogue Time: 2:19:42

Total On-Mission Time: 7:55:42, Total Rogue Time: 6:54:47

And now we come to Final Reckoning, which humorously keeps bringing up the fact that Ethan has “never once followed orders” despite the fact that we’ve clearly seen this isn't true. Ethan definitely starts off mission, having been off the grid for two months. Since this time period occurred offscreen, however, he’s off the hook for most of it. He continues to be off-mission, explicitly going against Sloane (now president) and violating her direct order to come in. The IMF is supposed to answer to the president and there’s no one to override that order. This continues until he willingly surrenders himself to the authorities and meets with Sloane, at which point she approves his mission (secretly and with a ticking clock, but all the same). However, I would argue that he’s complying with orders the moment he surrenders. This occurs at 39:03 (had to wait for months to watch the DVD so I could get the exact timestamp). After this, he’s following the president’s orders, even when Kittridge and Briggs try to stop him. So he’s locked in for the rest of that very long movie. Final credits at 2:42:42.

Movie On-Mission Time: 2:03:39, Movie Rogue Time: 39:03

Total On-Mission Time: 9:59:21, Total Rogue Time: 7:33:50

In conclusion, Ethan is actually on-mission for significantly more screen time than he is rogue, by a margin of over two hours. The ratio of on-mission to rogue is 599.35 minutes to 453.833 minutes, meaning he is on-mission 56.91% of screen time and rogue 43.09% of screen time. Even if you negotiated some of my more arguable on-mission stretches to rogue, it probably wouldn't change the balance much. This is mitigated a bit by the fact that two of these rogue stretches go on for months or years and we just don’t see them on screen. However, the statement that he never follows orders and is usually rogue is demonstrably untrue.