Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny's Most Confusing Moments Explained

Although it's been over 40 years since Harrison Ford went on his first adventure as Indiana Jones, he returns for one last ride in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." Even though Indy (Ford) is pretty retired at this point, he's pulled back into another adventure dealing with his sly goddaughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), an ancient dial with a mysterious power, and an old enemy. With an old Nazi scientist named Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) looking to use the dial to change the course of history, Indy must work alongside Helena to stop Voller from enacting his nefarious plans.

"Dial of Destiny" sees the past and present collide in ways this franchise has never seen before and while it does lead to mind-blowing reveals and story turns, it also leads to incredibly confusing moments. From bizarre oversights that'll make viewers question the reality to a final act full of perplexing choices and direction, Indy's latest adventure isn't without its "HUH?!" moments. So, while we're already confused as to how this franchise continues decades after the original, let's delve into the most bizarre and confusing moments of "Dial of Destiny."

While Indy is making his way up the train to find the stolen Lance of Longinus, his partner and friend, Basil Shaw (Toby Jones), has been captured by the Nazis and is being interrogated by the intimidating Colonel Weber (Thomas Kretschmann). Although Weber tries to squeeze some information out of Shaw through some violent tactics, he doesn't get much and only gets told a terrible truth when Voller enters the room. Voller and Weber talk about how the lance is actually fake and that Voller has half of the titular "Dial of Destiny." Now while Shaw is a little busy escaping his restraints during all of this, he's only in the next room and makes reactions that acknowledge his being able to hear everything. 

So, why does he act so surprised by all this information when he meets up with Indy to talk about it? Seriously though, 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. He literally heard them talking about it moments earlier and unless the Nazis are speaking in some kind of secret language, Shaw definitely understands them since he spoke with them before. Shaw is definitely a bizarre character for Indy to partner up with but this takes things to a whole other level of strange. 

As the dust from the opening climactic battle settles and Indy is able to boot Weber off the train, Voller joins the fray to turn the tables. With a gun in his hand, he's got Indy and Shaw in a compromising position. Thus, Indy is forced to hand over the dial — which makes Voller incredibly happy. We eventually come to learn that Indy doesn't really give Voller the dial and it ends up being the perfect distraction as Voller is suddenly knocked off the train after he's hit in the face by a sign at high speeds.

Now, most would be right to think that this hit would leave Voller with an irreversible scar that would reflect his inner evil — let alone kill him on the spot. Unexpectedly though, Voller barely has a scratch on his face when he reappears in the present and it makes no sense. That collision was so hard and sudden that Voller's head should be rolling around and decomposing in some woods, so it's unbelievable that Voller could look as relatively pristine as he does.

Along with Teddy (Ethann Isidore) 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 when it honestly should've led to disaster. First of all, this goon is so much bigger and stronger than Teddy so it makes sense that Teddy's best option is to get him into the river below. The only thing is that Teddy literally said he didn't know how to swim earlier so he would surely drown in no time — especially being tied to this hulking mass of a man. 

Somehow though, he's able to have enough strength to breathe underwater, stay calm enough to escape his restraints and pin Voller's lackey underwater before swimming away. It's an escape plan that defies logic in multiple ways and really shows that luck and plot armor are both on Teddy's side for this ill-thought escape plan. 

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 and all the other lore surrounding this secret power within the dial. However, 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. Honestly, 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's literally seen the Ark — which holds power beyond human capacity and reach — as well as gone and searched for the Holy Grail, so nothing should really surprise him anymore. 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 it's just one of the many bewildering ways that Indy is characterized in this film. 

With Indy, his allies, and grave enemies all being transported back to the time of Archimedes and the Battle of Syracuse, there's an instant concern about what could happen because of their presence. After all, there are surely drastic ramifications for a WWII 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 vastly 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's possible but it's a little confusing because we see all of that before it happens in real-time. Plus, it doesn't help that the characters never bring that up again or question if their actions broke history. Instead, we just get more questions than answers and it's another confusing aspect of the film's time-traveling finale.

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 Indy'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 (John Rhys-Davies) steps in to save him. However, this surprisingly isn't the case when Indy returns.

When Indy reawakes in the present, there are no cops around ready to cuff him nor any signs that he's still being hunted for murder. Given that the cops would still have no reason to believe that someone killed those people other than Indy, it's a little weird that Indy seems scot-free suddenly. 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.