I'll Think About the Final Shot of 'Indiana Jones 5' For a Long Time
The following story contains major spoilers for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
If there's one thing Indiana Jones is good for, it's going right back to teaching archaeology—even after discovering an ancient artifact like the Holy Grail. Oh, aliens built the pyramids?! Can't be bothered, I've got class on Monday. So, Disney announced that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny would mark Harrison Ford's final Indiana Jones film, audiences had questions about how Hollywood's most famous archeologist would say his goodbyes. Just a heads-up: we're going to be talking about the end of the franchise from here on, so look away if you still haven't seen Dial of Destiny.
As it turns out, spending all your time living in the past does eventually affect your brain. After discovering that Archimedes dial is real, the evil Nazi doctor Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelson) kidnaps Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge)—as well as good ol' Indy. His bizarre plan begins with an attempt to travel back to 1939. Voller wants to kill Adolf Hitler and lead Germany to war himself, knowing the events that transpire in the future. Failing to account for continental drift, however, the time portal accidentally sends them back to the year 212 BC—during the Siege of Syracuse in Italy. The plane is shot down and Voller dies, but Jones and Shaw parachute down from the aircraft.
Also at the battle? Archimedes, who is inventing the very same dial that got them there. In a twist of fate, Jones suggests to Shaw that he wants to stay behind in the past. This way, he could become a part of the ancient history he has studied over the course of his entire life. Shaw informs him that if he stays, he would alter history as they know it. The time paradox would essentially render all of Indy's work meaningless, and she would potentially return to a present unlike the one she had left. Needing a little more convincing, Shaw just sucker-punches Indy and takes him back home to 1969.
In the end, Jones wakes up back in his apartment and finds Marion (Karen Allen) taking care of him. As they embrace, the film pans to a clothesline outside, where Indy has hung his hat out to dry. At the last second, he grabs the hat through the window and brings it inside. It's a symbolic gesture for the end of Indiana Jones's story, but one that suggests his adventurous spirit still lives on. After all, Harrison Ford stated that this will be his final Indiana Jones film—and that he hopes the character will retire alongside him. Thankfully, Dial of Destiny is a fitting end, and one that playfully jabs at the complex time-travel plots of other franchises. If we're lucky, Indy can live out the rest of his days in peace.
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