Time travel shenanigans, historical whoopsies, and a hard-headed inability to believe in
the supernatural! Let's turn back the clock and relive "Dial of Destiny's" biggest headscratchers.
The film's opening flashback to Indy being captured by the Nazis sees him
narrowly escape death thanks to some seriously lucky breaks. For starters,
Indy is able to stop himself from being hung thanks to a wayward bomb. But oddly enough,
that's not even the most unbelievable thing that happens in this opening. Rather, it's
Indy's plan to steal a car so that he can hop onto a moving train that makes absolutely zero sense.
To steal the car, Indy punches a guard sitting in the driver's seat, rolls the body away,
and then assumes the driver's role as high-ranking commanders get in.
That's standard Indy. But in this instance, it's not like this car is particularly far
away from everyone else. Soldiers can be seen loading stuff in the background. So,
it's pretty wild that no one saw Indy punch the guard and get in the driver's seat.
It's even more bizarre when you realize that the officer gets in the backseat
literally seconds after Indy knocks the guard out. How could those officers not
see the body of the guard Indy knocked out? Or for that matter, how did they not
see the entire entire exchange take place? The guard's body only rolled a couple of feet away,
so it's mind-blowing how Indy gets away with this one. Indy may have a
knack for quickly impersonating an enemy in a pinch, but this scene pushes the limits.
While Indy is making his way up the train to find the stolen knife artifact,
his partner and friend, Basil Shaw, has been captured by the Nazis and is being
interrogated by the intimidating Colonel Weber. Although Weber tries to squeeze some information
out of Shaw through some violent tactics, he doesn't get much — and only learns the
truth when Jürgen Voller appears to tell him that the Lance of Longinus -- or at least the
tip of it artifact--is actually fake and that Voller has half of the dial of destiny in his
possession. Shaw is a little busy escaping his restraints during this conversation, but he's
only in the next room and makes several reactions suggesting that he can hear what they're saying.
So, why does he act so surprised by all this information when he meets up
with Indy to talk about it? When Indy tells him that the artifact is fake,
it's like he had no idea and he even acts like didn't know the dial was sitting in the room
next door — despite hearing them talking about it moments earlier. Shaw is definitely a bizarre
character for Indy to partner up with but this takes things to a whole other level of strange.
Speaking of the Lance of Longinus, although the Nazis have collected an immense amount
of priceless artifacts during their latest raid, the most notable artifact they find is
surprisingly fake. It's something that baffles Voller, the rest of his Nazi compatriots,
and even Indy. So why was this fake artifact stashed amongst all the real ones? It could
be to trick treasure hunters into thinking they got an item more valuable than the rest,
but it seems like kind of a faulty tactic since the Nazis just took everything anyway.
It's never really explained why there's just this one random fake artifact stashed in this historic
treasure trove, but it's likely that it's just a plot contrivance. The idea of the lance being
fake is really just an excuse for Voller to introduce the dial to Weber and the audience.
"Hitler made mistakes, and with this I will correct them all."
Although Voller is determined to see his plan through to the very end,
he makes some questionable choices that show him just getting in his own way -- namely his
perplexing choice to not kill Helena and Indy when he has the chance. There are multiple times
throughout the film where Indy and Helena are basically sitting ducks or captured by Voller,
and it's weird that he never just puts a bullet in their head to stop their pursuit of him.
Sure, it would stop the movie in its tracks, but it would also solve nearly all of his
problems. He even has a trigger-happy henchman who would love to put Indy down.
However, he never does, and it constantly backfires on him since they always manage to
be one step ahead of him. Sure, he does kind of need them at points since he is following
their footsteps and needs some information from them. But once he gets it, he just should've
ended things there. Even more confusing is why Voller feels the need to bring Indy with him as
they head back in time, since that decision does nothing but cause chaos throughout the finale.
Voller might have some deep knowledge as a scientist and a historian,
but he probably wishes he could go back in time to get some more common sense as a villain.
Along with Teddy being Helena's partner in crime, he acts as the group's youthful spark
of energy and can be a very useful pickpocket when needed. However,
he's unfortunately captured by Voller and his men and is stuck with them after being
handcuffed to one of Voller's goons. While Teddy has surely escaped situations like this before,
he's in a pretty tough spot and comes up with an escape plan that miraculously works.
Yes, it sort of makes sense that Teddy's best option is to get the bad guy into
the river below. The only thing is that Teddy literally said he didn't
know how to swim earlier. Knowing that, dropping into a river doesn't feel like
a particularly ingenious plan — especially being tied to this hulking mass of a man.
Somehow though, he's able to have enough strength to breathe underwater and stay
calm enough to escape his restraints and pin Voller's lackey underwater before,
well, swimming away. It's an escape plan that defies logic
in multiple ways and really shows that luck and plot armor are on Teddy's side.
"Impressive kid."
Although "Dial of Destiny" might not see Indy face his deadliest or most physically demanding threats
yet, it still doesn't go easy on him. He's still forced to be a part of some high-speed chases,
deep sea dives, and high-flying chaos. However, it's clear that Indy is certainly testing the
concept of "age being just a number." To put it bluntly, he's pretty old at the time of "Dial of
Destiny." Given that Indy is in his mid-30s in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" -- which takes place
in 1936 -- he should be roughly around 70 in "Dial of Destiny," since the film takes place in 1969.
"It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage."
While he is Indiana Jones -- who has been through quite a lot in his adventures -- eventually the
years have to catch up with the mileage, right? No one's saying that Indy would be
a frail old man at this age or anything, but it's occasionally tough to believe that he
can physically handle everything he goes through in the film. Plus, getting shot or punched would
certainly inflict more damage or have more of an impact on him than in his younger days. Yet,
Indy seems just as capable as he's always been. It's not a dealbreaker,
but it is yet another element that just slightly messes with your suspension of disbelief.
"I don't believe in magic."
At this point, maybe it's time to start believing in some magic. When Indy first hears about the
dial's potential to send its users back in time, he doesn't believe that it's real. He
constantly dismisses Shaw's beliefs that the Nazis want it to change the course of history,
along with all the other lore surrounding this secret power within the dial. He eventually
comes to believe in the dial's power, but it's honestly weird that Indy had his doubts from
the start given what he's been through in the past. When you look at what Indy has seen and
dealt with in his adventures, it's surprising that he has doubts about anything anymore.
He was there when the Ark of the Covenant melted faces with divine power and watched
the Holy Grail age a man to dust in seconds for the crime of taking a poorly chosen sip,
so the only thing that should really surprise him these days is that Marion
keeps coming back. In "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," he literally discovered the existence
of inter-dimensional beings and saw what potential alien lifeforms looked like. So,
is it really that out of the question that this dial could hold some time-traveling
capabilities? Apparently for Indy it does, at first. And although Indy's quest for
knowledge over superstition has always been one of his defining characteristics.
"Knowledge was their treasure."
But by this point in his life, hey,
maybe that mystical artifact the Nazis are searching for is the real deal.
With the dial being supposedly able to send users back in time, it's no wonder that it's such a
coveted artifact. Voller is ready to put a bullet in anyone that gets in his way of obtaining it
and Indy is willing to put his life on the line so that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
However, the dial makes for some confusing rules and limitations on time travel. The explanation
seems to be that the Antikythera uses existing fissures in time to allow time travel. Being
thousands of years old, the calculations the device uses are also thousands of years old.
When Indy and the others finally use it, they get hurled through time to the Battle of
Syracuse rather than wartime Germany. Did Voller simply get the equation wrong and lead the group
down a bad path? Is Indy right that Archimedes didn't account for tectonic shifts in the Earth?
It seems like that suggestion may be the truth,
but frankly, the film doesn't make it completely clear what's right or wrong.
"Nobody's gonna believe it."
When everyone gets transported back to the time of Archimedes,
there's an instant concern about what could happen because of their presence. After all,
there are surely drastic ramifications for a World War II plane flying through the skies
of a battle that took place over a thousand years ago or a major figure like Archimedes
interacting with people from far beyond his time, right? Well, it's tough to say whether there are
consequences as the film doesn't explain much of the impact of Indy's antics invading the past.
When Indy and Helena first discover Archimedes' grave, they notice his corpse holding a watch
and his tomb showing pictures of a beast that looked like it had plane wings. So,
does this mean that the events that take place were always meant to happen and be a part of
history? It sure seems like it, but it's never really clarified. Plus, it doesn't help that the
characters never bring it up again, or question if their actions had any effect on history at all.
Although Indy is undoubtedly the hero of this adventure, he's not exactly seen that way by
everyone. After Voller and his lackeys kill some of the professor's university companions when they
first show up to retrieve the dial, Indy attempts to call for help. Unfortunately, his efforts are
interrupted by Voller's cohorts and the unfinished call ends up making Indy a lead murder suspect.
Before Indy can even travel out of the U.S., he's considered a wanted man and nearly gets recognized
before Sallah steps in to save him. However, this surprisingly isn't the case when Indy returns.
When Indy reawakens in the present, there are no cops around ready to cuff him nor
any signs that he's still being pursued for murder. Given that the police would still
have no reason to believe that someone killed those people other than Indy,
it's a little weird that Indy seems to suddenly be getting off scot-free. Maybe Helena was able
to sneak Indy back undetected, or the police gave up because of lack of evidence. However,
it's incredibly strange how no one talks about it in the film's final moments, and the mystery
of whether or not Indy is a wanted man will continue ... or be left as a total plot hole.