Does Indiana Jones matter in Indiana Jones and Raiders of Lost Ark?

[Elmo9]

I was watching this Big Bang Theory clip. And its sort of a joke that Indiana Jones didnt impact the story at all.

Now i will agree with "Nazis getting the Ark of the Covenant and going along that route" on that part Indiana Jones didnt impact the story. But there is other elements where he does impact it.

1: Nazis would find Marion and kill her for the artifact she has. If Indy wasnt there, she would have died
2: Assuming she went along with it, Indiana Jones tells her to not look at the ark which saves their lives
So that overall do have an impact to the story. Mainly that one main character doesnt die and becomes a recurring character due to this.

 

[Dizzi]

uhhhh hes got the archaeological knowledge to capture it....

 

[Farore's Chosen]

Indiana Jones is definitely impactful. He's Indiana Jones and awesome!

 

[TheHeroofHyrule2018]

To be honest, the movies are really more about the impact the events and artifacts have on Indiana Jones rather than what impact Indy has on the artifacts.

Remember at the end of the Last Crusade where Henry Jones Sr. says, "Elsa never really believed in the Grail. She thought she'd found a prize."

Indy: "What did you find, dad?"

Jones Sr.: "Me? ....Illumination!"

The story isn't necessarily about finding the artifacts (especially seeing how at the end of each movie, the artifact is lost some way or another). The story is about the growth of Indy as a character, how the journeys he goes on for lost treasures of history changes him (like in Temple of Doom), or repairs his relationships with others (like Marion or Indy's Father).

That's why they're called the Indiana Jones movies.

 

[Chevywolf30]

I mean, he figured out that the staff was the wrong length, the Nazis might not have found the Ark otherwise.

 

[thePlinko]

I mean, he figured out that the staff was the wrong length, the Nazis might not have found the Ark otherwise.

But the only reason why they had the wrong length is because Indy prevented them from getting the headpiece. Had he not have been there they would have eventually tracked Marion down and gotten the piece themselves.

I think the main thing that Indy affected in the end was just the fact that the US got the Ark and not Germany, though we’re never explicitly told how he got off the island.