Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny brings Harrison Ford back as Henry Jones Jr. and we, as fans, get to go on “one” last ride with the fedora-wearing professor we know and love. It is a movie that made me, as a longtime fan of the franchise, extremely happy with the seemingly final outing for a character that means a lot to fans all over the world. Still, that doesn’t mean we don’t have some questions about what happens at the end.
Exploring some of the themes that come to an end with the final film as well as talking about some characters, we’ll explore exactly what happened at the end of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
**Spoilers ahead for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.**
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Ending explained
Out the gate, this needs to be said: Indiana Jones survives. He almost wants to be left behind in time but it is Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) who forces him to come back to his own home by the end because he finally reaches a place in history that he’s always loved. It is the first part of the end of the movie that really puts a nice fedora on arcs that have been part of Indy’s character from the start. It also forces Helena to reach out to Marion (Karen Allen) and get Indy back into his life.
Now that it is here, we have a lot to discuss with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. To start, let’s dive into the final moments of the movie and where we can go with Indy as a character. Mainly in how the film is a great send-off for Indiana Jones two great loves: History and his love for Marion Ravenwood.
Indy’s love of history
As Indiana Jones is kidnapped by Nazis and travels back in time, the impact of seeing the history he’s spent his life obsessed with is overwhelming, he struggles with the choice to stay there or to leave in order to make it back home. When Indy realizes that Archimedes made the Dial to always return back to his time period, it ruins the plans of Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) to make sure that Germany wins World War II. Going to Sicily during Archimedes’ life wouldn’t be helpful to Voller but it was a time that meant a lot to Indiana Jones.
Without Helena, he would have definitely stayed behind. She (physically, with punching) forces him to leave but it shows his love for history and how it sometimes blinds him to what he needs to do. This has been a theme throughout the franchise as a whole with the evils that be taking over in moments when Indy should have been successful. Having Helena be the one to save him brings it full circle and is, in a way, the moment where I think Indiana finally realizes that his love of the past can’t mean that he lives in it.
Indy and Marion forever and always
The moment that made me the happiest came from the inclusion of Marion and Indiana Jones back together. When Helena knocks Indy out so she can get him home, he has some other wounds that need tending to. It means that he is knocked out for a few days and that Helena calls out to get Marion to come and help her.
Throughout the movie, Marion and Indy struggle in their relationship after the death of their son Mutt Williams (played by Shia Labeouf in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) with Indy taking it as his own fault and it driving a wedge in his relationship to Marion. The two don’t have much to do together in the movie and their arc is mainly tracked through divorce papers and a heartwrenching monologue about their son’s death. But in the end, as he’s healing, their relationship also begins to heal.
We also get a delightful call back to Raiders of the Lost Ark, when we get to see the two finally be romantic with each other, and a reenactment of the iconic “where doesn’t it hurt?” kissing scene. It’s a touching moment shared between these two characters who have been through a lot with each other.
Ending this movie with Helena happy to be Indy’s goddaughter and with Indy and Marion back together was a perfect move and one that made me very happy. There’s a lot that goes into the ending of Dial of Destiny but this romantic reunion after an epic adventure is a perfect representation of who Indy is as a character.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios)
