The
prologue depicts a young Indiana Jones in 1912 as a Boy Scout in Utah,
battling grave robbers for the Cross of Coronado, an ornamental cross
belonging to Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. As the foiled
grave
robbers give chase, Indiana hides in a circus train, in the process
using a whip, scarring his chin, and gaining a fear of snakes. Although
he rescues the cross, the robbers tell the Sheriff that Indiana was the
thief, and he is forced to return it, while his oblivious father,
Henry, is working on his research into the Holy Grail, keeping
meticulous notes in a diary. The leader of the hired robbers, dressed
very similarly to the future Indiana and impressed by the young man's
tenacity, gives him his fedora and some encouraging words. In 1938,
Indiana manages to recover the cross from the robbers' ship, and
donates to Marcus Brody's museum.
Indiana is introduced to the wealthy Walter Donovan, who informs him
that Indy's father has vanished while searching for the Holy Grail,
using an incomplete stone tablet as his guide. Indy receives a package
which turns out to be his father's Grail diary, containing all his
life's research on the Grail. Understanding that his father would not
have sent the diary unless he was in trouble, Indiana and Marcus travel
to Venice, where they meet Henry's colleague Dr. Elsa Schneider.
Indiana and Elsa discover catacombs beneath the library where Henry was
last seen, and discover the tomb of Sir Richard, a knight of the First
Crusade, with a complete version of the stone tablet that Henry used.
They flee the catacombs when they are set aflame by The Brotherhood of
the Cruciform Sword, and manage to capture the cult's leader, Kazim.
After Indiana convinces him of their intentions, Kazim explains The
Brotherhood are protecting the Grail, and that Henry was abducted to a
castle on the Austrian-German border.
Indiana and Elsa infiltrate the castle. Indiana finds his father, but
learns that Elsa and Donovan are working with the Nazis to seek the
grail, hoping that Indiana would discover its location. The Nazis
manage to capture Marcus, who had traveled to Iskenderun, Hatay with
the maps to the Grail's location and seek out the protection of Sallah.
The Joneses are able to escape and recover the diary from Elsa who had
taken it to Berlin, and then manage to escape from Germany. They meet
with Sallah in Hatay and learn of Marcus' abduction and that the Nazis,
backed with resources from the country's leader, are already moving to
the Grail's location. With the help of The Brotherhood, the Joneses
ambush the convoy and are able to rescue Marcus, though Donovan and
Elsa continue on to the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, where the Grail is
located.
The Joneses, Marcus, and Sallah manage to catch up and find that the
Nazis are unable to pass through traps set by the Grail. The four are
discoverd, and Donovan mortally shoots Henry, forcing Indiana to
circumnavigate the traps using the information in his father's diary,
with Donovan and Elsa shortly following him. Indiana succeeds and finds
the last Knight of the First Crusade, kept alive with the power of the
Grail, and whom has hidden the Grail among several other cups. After
being told to "choose wisely", Elsa selects the cup she believes to be
the Grail, but when Donovan tries it, the water he drinks from it ages
him dramatically into ashes. Indiana, recognizing that the Grail would
be that of a humble carpenter instead of a wealthy king, selects the
correct vessel, and quickly takes water in it to his father, which
heals his wounds instantly. As they prepare to leave, the Knight warns
them to not take the Grail out of the temple, but Elsa does so, causing
the temple to collapse. Elsa falls into a ravine in the ground
attempting to recover the Grail, and Indiana almost meets the same fate
until his father tells him to let it go. The Joneses, Marcus, and
Sallah flee the collapsing temple and ride off together, after Henry
tells the group that "Indiana" was actually their dog's name.
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