Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Shares an Ending With Top Gun Maverick

The third act of “Dial of Destiny” involves Indiana, Helena, and the Nazis traveling back in time to the siege of Syracuse in the third century BC, where the plane they arrive in gets shot down by Roman forces. With one plane left, and limited time to get out or get trapped in ancient Greece forever, Indiana offers himself up as a sacrifice. Having been shot earlier (in the shoulder, not fatally), Indy decides he’d prefer to take the opportunity to live his remaining days in the past he’s spent a lifetime studying. 

This is a moment many a fan thought would happen going into “Dial of Destiny,” that Harrison Ford would only agree to the movie if he got another Han Solo moment and die immediately after coming back. This makes sense according to legacy sequel rules, you use the older characters to pass the torch — but “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” has other things in mind.

Right as Indiana is having a meaningful conversation with the real Archimedes and preparing to die of infection in Ancient Greece, Helena sucker-punches him and puts him on the plane, ruining his plan but saving his life. This is quite similar to “Top Gun: Maverick,” another legacy sequel about an old man struggling to find his place in a changing world, who leads a group of younger potential replacements. Going into that film, there was almost no chance Maverick would survive to the end, and with good reason. Maverick spends most of the film being called a ghost, a specter of a dying era. During the final mission, he easily sacrifices himself to save his replacement and achieve redemption by saving his best friend’s son, Rooster.