No Time To Die: Every Plot Hole & Headscratcher

Warning! SPOILERS for No Time To Die.

While No Time To Die is an action-packed and poignant ending for Daniel Craig’s era as James Bond, director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s film has its share of plot holes and headscratcher moments. Bond saves the world from a new enemy, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), but he also confronts his past in his archrival, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), and reconciles his relationship with Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). No Time To Die is an epic, globe-trotting 007 adventure with exciting action sequences but its story does have a number of odd inconsistencies.

Before Cary Joji Fukunaga came aboard to direct the film that became No Time To Die, Bond 25 was originally going to be directed by Danny Boyle, who tossed out the screenplay written by veteran Bond scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade in favor of a script by John Hodge. When Danny Boyle and John Hodge left Bond 25 due to creative differences, Purvis and Wade returned to write a new script with incoming director Cary Fukunaga. The trio is credited with No Time To Die‘s story and they share screenplay credit with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who was brought in to polish the script’s dialogue, characters, and add humor.

James Bond movies are complex beasts that have to balance elaborate action sequences, multiple locations around the world, and a story that has to center on the gentleman spy while also weaving in his vast supporting cast along with new characters and villains. No Time To Die had the added pressure of being the conclusion of Daniel Craig’s five-film 007 saga that began with Casino Royale, and it needed to be a fitting sendoff for the most popular and successful James Bond of the modern era. Overall, No Time To Die succeeded in its goals and delivered a top-tier Bond movie that’s enjoyable to watch in spite of the following plot holes and headscratchers.

How Did Safin Survive Madeleine Shooting Him And Why Doesn’t He Age?

In No Time To Die‘s pre-credits flashback scene, Lyutsifer Safin gets shot multiple times in the torso by young Madeleine. This is also a callback to Spectre when Madeleine explained to James Bond that she knew how to use a gun since she was a girl. After young Madeleine dragged Safin outside in the flashback, Lyutsifer suddenly revived and began stalking her across a frozen lake and he decided to save her life when she fell through the ice. How did Safin survive his gunshot wounds? It wasn’t explained but the most likely solution is that he was wearing a bulletproof vest under his parka and all of Madeleine’s gunshots were aimed at his torso.

As for the mystery of Safin’s age, considering his home invasion in Norway happened at least 20 years before No Time To Die‘s main story, there’s no outright explanation. Perhaps something in Safin’s poison garden was able to keep him from aging. It’s also possible the chemicals Mr. White (an important Bond villain played by Jesper Christensen) exposed Safin and his family to when he killed them caused physical changes in Lyutsifer. It’s also possible that Safin was still relatively young when he met young Madeleine and he’s only in his early 40s in No Time To Die. Rami Malek himself is only 40.

How Did Blofeld Know Madeleine Would Lure Bond To Vesper’s Grave?

James Bond and the audience are meant to think Blofeld colluded with Madeleine to betray Bond, but once we know Madeleine is innocent, Blofeld’s scheme in Matera, Italy doesn’t quite make sense. No Time To Die‘s pre-credits sequence happened years before Madeleine began regularly meeting with Blofeld as his therapist so they had no contact since she was with James since the end of Spectre. How did Blofeld know Bond and Madeleine would eventually go to Matera and that Swann would ask him to visit Vesper Lynd’s (Eva Green) grave? After all, Spectre planted a bomb and had agents there waiting to ambush Bond but how could they have known James would go to Vesper’s tomb or even visit Matera at all? Further, why is Vesper Lynd, who was a British citizen and died in Venice entombed in Matera in the first place?

Despite Being “Off The Grid,” Everyone Knew Bond Retired To Jamaica

When Bond returned to London and MI6 midway through No Time To Die, M (Ralph Fiennes) told the ex-007 that he was so far off the grid they assumed he was dead. Yet, that doesn’t track with the fact that everyone seemed to know James Bond retired to Jamaica. After five years of solitude, the CIA’s Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) easily found Bond and so did the new 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch) from MI6. If they knew where Bond was, Spectre probably should have, too, since Blofeld seemed to be aware James would go to Cuba, hence why Spectre set a trap for him.

Bond Suddenly Went From The Middle Of The Ocean To Being Back To London

No Time To Die has a few time jumps but an obvious one happened after Felix died and Logan Ash (Billy Magnusen) sank their boat. Bond managed to survive and he found a convenient life raft. The next morning, a huge shipping tanker found Bond. The very next scene, Bond is back in London entering his warehouse to retrieve his suit and his Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the same car Timothy Dalton’s 007 drove in The Living Daylights. How much time passed between Bond being rescued in the Caribbean and his sudden reappearance in London? How did he explain who he was and what he was doing in the middle of the ocean? These are inconvenient details that don’t further No Time To Die‘s story so the film jumped past them but it was a jarring transition.

What Was Bond’s Double-O Number?

James Bond getting a new Double-O number and not saying what it is was an amusing joke at Nomi’s expense, but No Time To Die never revealed Bond’s new number at all. The payoff for the joke was Nomi suddenly deciding to ask M to reinstate Bond as 007 before they teamed to assault Safin’s island fortress. Was it an elaborate play by Bond to trick Nomi into giving him back his 007 number? Did Bond actually get a new Double-O number? Why did M decide to keep it a secret as well as Bond? Did Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) know Bond’s new number? These are secrets James Bond literally took to his grave.

No Time To Die Never Explained How Blofeld Ran The Spectre Meeting From His Cell

Once Bond revealed that Ernst Stavro Blofeld ran a Spectre meeting in Cuba from his cell, M sent Nomi to Belmarsh and ordered her to sweep the entire room and the man himself. Yet, Nomi never reported her findings and No Time To Die never explained how Blofeld was able to communicate with Spectre. The only time Blofeld is actually seen is when he’s brought out to meet with Bond and Madeleine, and James inadvertently kills his adoptive ‘brother’ with the poison given to Madeleine by Safin. Since Bond didn’t interrogate Blofeld about how he managed his stunt in Cuba, Ernst took his secret to his grave.

How Did Bond Know Where Madeleine’s “Home” Is?

When Madeleine left Blofeld’s interrogation, she told Bond she was going “home.” That meant her childhood home in Norway where Madeleine was raising Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet), her secret daughter with Bond. Yet, Bond knew about Norway since he drove there to see Madeleine. It’s curious how James knew to go to Norway. After all, when 007 met Madeleine in Spectre, she was a psychoanalyst working at a private clinic in the Austrian Alps. At some point in their travels and conversations together, it’s possible Madeleine told James about her childhood home in Norway, but Madeleine never told James Bond the secret of attack by Safin. It’s also possible that Bond first tracked down where Madeleine was living in London before going to Norway. Bond did know all about her father, Mr. White, and he could have deduced “home” to Madeleine was the house they lived in when she was young.

Why Did Bond Take Madeleine’s SUV Instead of His Aston Martin V8 Vantage?

Although No Time To Die didn’t show what it can do in a fight, it’s likely that James Bond’s Aston Martin V8 Vantage is as gadget-laden as his DB5 that he used to fight Spectre and left in Matera. If the V8 does have a suite of weapons, why did Bond leave it at Madeleine’s house in Norway? Instead, James drove Madeleine’s Toyota SUV when they were ambushed by Safin’s men. The V8’s arsenal would have definitely been useful to fight off their enemies, but the logical reason must have been Mathilde. The V8 didn’t have a car seat or probably lacked the proper room in the backseat for the four-year-old girl, and Bond hoped that they could make it to the airport before Safin’s henchmen arrived. Unfortunately, Bond was wrong, and Madeleine and Mathilde were captured.

Did Bond Really Need To Die At The End Of No Time To Die?

James Bond’s decision to remain on the island while missiles destroyed it (and him) stemmed from the fact that he was injured from Safin’s gunshots and the villain injected him with Project Heracles targeted to Madeleine and Mathilde’s DNA. Bond decided his situation was hopeless and he didn’t want to put Madeleine or their daughter in danger so it was better if he died so they could have “all the time in the world.” Yet, Bond could have escaped the island as Q urged him to. Everyone seemed convinced that Project Heracles was irreversible, but, given time, scientists could have found a way to stop the virus. Bond could have simply stayed away from Madeleine and Mathilde, regardless of how emotionally painful it would be for him. Bond didn’t really need to die in No Time To Die, though he ultimately decided to.

Why Did Madeleine Take Mathilde Back To Matera At The End Of No Time To Die?

No Time To Die poignantly ended with Madeleine driving James Bond’s car in Matera and telling Mathilde “a story” about her father. It’s a touching final scene but it’s also a headscratcher. Why did Madeleine return to Matera, where they nearly died from a Spectre attack and James broke her heart by believing she betrayed him and sending her away on a train? Why bring their daughter to this place? While Matera’s stunning scenery is a fitting visual bookend ending to No Time To Die, but it doesn’t make much sense why Madeleine would bring Mathilde to Matera, which is filled with unpleasant memories.

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