Indy 5: The Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ending explained

Indiana Jones is finally retiring. For one last adventure, Harrison Ford dons the hat and grabs the whip and, accompanied by Phoebe Waller-Bridge who plays his goddaughter Helena, searches for Archimedes’ Antikythera, the titular dial of destiny that may grant its bearer a way to travel through time. Of course, things are never quite simple for Indy, as there are Nazis who are searching for the very same artifact. Who will end up with the dial of destiny and where will it take them? Well, read on to find out.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny features a lot of twists and turns, callbacks, and even a cameo or two. If you haven't seen the movie yet and want to know what happens or if you have seen the movie and have a question or two about something you may have missed, this is the guide for you.

Spoilers for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny below.

How does Indy 6 end?

After a lengthy journey by Indiana Jones, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Helena's kid sidekick Teddy, Mads Mikkelsen's Voller, and Boyd Hollbrook's henchmen Klaber, the highly sought for Antikythera (invented by Archimedes and possibly holding time-traveling properties) ends up in the hands of Voller (a Nazi). Voller chooses to use the Antikythera to travel back in time and kill Adolf Hitler, and thus, in his opinion, secure a victory for Germany in World War II.

For the journey, Voller commandeers a plane to drive towards the coordinates the Antikythera spits out, and alongside Klaber and an injured and kidnapped Indiana Jones, flies the plane towards the past. Unbeknownst to the plane's passengers, Helena has managed to stow away on the plane as well.

Voller's plane makes it through a storm to another time, but it turns out that they haven't made it to World War II, but have in fact, travelled all the way back to the Siege of Syracuse (213-212 BC) when the Roman Republic stormed the city of Syracuse and took control of the island of Sicily. During the siege, Syracuse was defended by inventions created by Archimedes, who also happened to create the Antikythera that everyone has been searching for. These weapons are quickly turned against the plane, which the ancient soldiers call a "dragon." Klaber pulls out an automatic weapon and begins to shoot down into the battle, but it's to no avail, huge launched harpoons begin to take down the plane.

Indiana Jones and Helena escape the plane by parachute, just in time to avoid the plane being hit bad enough to knock the aircraft to the ground (causing the subequent deaths of Voller and Klaber). On the ground, through a short conversation with Archimedes, the master mathematician himself, Helena and Indy learn that the Antikythera wasn’t invented as a way to travel to many different times, but as a way to bring people from the future to the siege itself specifically in order to secure help for the city of Syracuse.

After meeting Archimedes, the injured Indiana Jones decides that he wants to stay in the past. He's studied history all his life, and now he can live in it and spend some time with the legendary Archimedes. But Helena, knowing that Indy is dangerously injured and that his presence would change the course of history, knocks Indy out and brings him back, unwillingly, to the present.

At the end of the movie, we wake up with Indy, now recovering, in his New York apartment. Indy has a chat with Helena about why she brought him back and who (and what) for. At that moment, the door swings open and Sallah and his kids bustle in alongside, for the first time in the movie, Indy's estranged wife Marion. There, in Indiana Jones' apartment kitchen, they recreate the injury kiss scene from Raiders, as Helena leaves with Teddy and Sallah and his kids in search for ice cream.

So the Dial of Destiny wasn’t really a time travelling device?

Well, the Dial of Destiny is a time travelling device, just not one you can program to go to a bunch of different times. It was built only to go to a certain time and a certain place, specifically the Siege of Syracuse (sorry to the Nazis who wanted to kill Hitler).

Is Marion in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny?

Yes, Marion Ravenwood as played by Karen Allen does appear in Dial of Destiny, first as a photograph that Indiana Jones humorously covers with a magnet and then uncovers when the woman herself appears in his kitchen. Though Marion isn’t in most of the film, she does swoop in at the end for a recreation of the kiss-the-injury scene from Raiders of the Lost Arl, which closes out the movie.

Were there any cameos in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny?

Yes! There were a couple cameos in Dial of Destiny. John Rhys-Davies reprised his role of Sallah from Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. We also see Karen Allen reprise her role as Marion from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The last cameo-type appearance isn’t a reappearance of an old character, though it almost feels like it is, considering the huge performer behind a fairly small role.

At a certain point in the film, Indiana Jones and Helena realize they need to get a boat so they can dive and look for a clay tablet that will lead them to the other half of the Antikythera. To do so, Indiana Jones tracks down an old friend, Renaldo, played by none other than Antonio Banderas.

Does Indiana Jones die in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny?

No! Though there is almost a bit of a fake-out after Indiana Jones is gravely injured and decides to stay back in the Siege of Syracuse, Helena knocks Indy out and brings him back to the present where, presumably, he is saved by modern medicine. As Indy recovers from his last adventure, he reunites with Marion, his estranged wife.

Does Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character Helena end up as the new Indiana Jones at the end of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny?

Well, not quite. Helena and Indiana Jones have pretty different values. Helena is there to look out for her (and her sidekick Teddy’s) financial wellbeing. She’s there to steal and sell, not necessarily preserve historical artifacts. While she has the historical knowledge and the action chops (and the ability to rattle off one liners when she's in a tight spot), it doesn't quite feel like she's taken the place of Indiana Jones in this movie.

Is there a chance for a sequel to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny?

There’s probably not going to be an Indiana Jones sequel following Harrison Ford’s Indy, but what about Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena? Well, maybe if the movie does well, but looking at tepid early reviews (including our own) as well as lackluster box office projections, perhaps this truly is the end of not only Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, but also this version of the main Indiana Jones series (though we’re sure, in this climate, a reboot is only a decade or so away)

Check out our review for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

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