Source plot synopsis — includes the ending
In 1969, twelve years after his adventure in Peru, Jones, who is retiring from Hunter College in New York City, has been separated from his wife Marion Ravenwood since their son Mutt's death in Vietnam. Jones' goddaughter, archaeologist Helena Shaw, unexpectedly visits and wants to research the Dial. Jones warns that her late father Basil became obsessed with studying it before relinquishing it to Jones to destroy, which he never did.
After Jones and Helena retrieve the Dial half from the college archives, Voller's accomplices attack them. The CIA assists Voller, now working for NASA as "Dr. Schmidt". Helena, revealed as an antiquities smuggler, absconds with the Dial to auction it on the black market. Jones is framed for two colleagues' murders, forcing him to escape through the Apollo 11 moon landing parade, then an anti-war protest.
Jones seeks out his old friend Sallah, now a New York cab driver, who helps him flee the country after surmising that Helena will likely sell the Dial in Tangier. There, Jones disrupts Helena's illegal private auction, but Voller and his henchmen arrive and steal the artifact. Jones, Helena, and her teenage accomplice Teddy Kumar chase them through the streets in a tuk-tuk. The CIA intercepts Voller after the U.S. government disavows him for going rogue, but he and his cohorts murder the agents and steal the CIA helicopter.
Jones, Helena and Teddy trail Voller to Greece and team up with Jones' old friend Renaldo, a professional diver. Guided by Basil's research notes, they dive to the Antikythera wreck and retrieve a "graphikos" tablet containing directions to the Dial's other half. Voller arrives and murders Renaldo and his crew, but Jones' group escapes and heads to Sicily, pursued by Voller.
Inside the Ear of Dionysius cavern, Jones and Helena find Archimedes' tomb, the Dial's second half, and a 20th-century wristwatch on Archimedes' skeletal arm. Voller captures Jones, wounding him. Helena and Teddy escape and chase Voller. Voller reassembles the Dial, intending to time-travel back to 1939 to help lead Germany to victory in World War II by assassinating Adolf Hitler and avoiding his mistakes. At an airfield, Voller activates the Dial and locates a time fissure in the sky. Jones is held captive on Voller's stolen plane while Helena stows away via its landing gear. Teddy follows in another plane.
While approaching the fissure, Jones realizes that continental drift would have altered the timeline coordinates. Rather than 1939, the group arrives at the Siege of Syracuse in 214 BC. The warring armies shoot down Voller's plane, believing it is a dragon. Jones and Helena parachute out just before it crashes, killing all aboard, while Teddy lands safely. Archimedes finds Voller's body and wristwatch in the wreckage. He gives Jones the Dial but keeps the watch. Jones and Helena learn that Archimedes created the Dial to bring allies from the future through fissures that lead only to 214 BC to save Syracuse and lift the siege. As the fissure begins to collapse, Jones wants to remain behind. Helena, fearing a time paradox and unwilling to give up on him, knocks Jones out with a punch. Back in 1969, a recovering Jones awakens in his apartment and reunites with Helena, Teddy, Sallah and Marion, with whom he reconciles.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license