Massiha Last Crusade

Everyone basically knows that the Indiana Jones trilogy shows the stages of knighthood. Temple of Doom shows the stages of the mercenary knight, Raiders of the Lost Ark shows the indentured knight, and the Last Crusade finally showed the Grail knight. Alas, all three types of knights are present in the Last Crusade. Flash to the scene

where Indy steals Coronado’s cross from the goons. He keeps saying, “it belongs in a museum,” but he’s still stealing it. He may be doing it to be the one who discovers it, therefore, getting the fortune and glory. This is Indy as the mercenary knight. He even still is the mercenary knight when he steals the cross again on the Portuguese coast. Fast forward to being approached by Donovan to find the grail. This is Indy as the indentured knight. Granted some motivation is to find his father, but he is in service to finding the grail for Donovan and using his resources including money to find it. Finally, he graduates to becoming the Grail Knight when he has to accomplish the three tasks in order to save his dad. He does it selflessly for a man he feared never loved him as much as he lo

ved everything about the quest for the grail. Above all it restores his faith in a higher being, God. He could have never saved his dad unless he truly believed all that he needed to in order to get the grail. One had to be pure and believe. Another scene that could be his transformation is when he listens to his father and stops reaching for the grail. It shows he doesn’t really need the fortune and glory. He just needed a different kind, the love and recognition of his father.

Kuebler-The Last Crusade

As my classmates before me mentioned, the trilogy of Indiana Jones serves as a three part reflection on the trials of the knight. Yet each movie seems to hold in it a set of its own tasks. In the Last Crusade we first see Indy as a very young boy fighting for what he believes is right. He lost, but that doesn't mean that he has to like it. Years later we see him still pursuing the same artifact that he feels "belongs in a museum." As the mercenary knight he fights for what he believes and seems to always get away by the hair on his chin.

We transition past the rogue, thief, and mercenary knight and move on to the indentured knight where we find Indy needing to look for his father. Yet it is not just for this reason, he is working for a man who he cannot trust and seems to be a knight on a quest. But it is not until he is with his father that his decision must come. He can either save his friend and the maps and leave the book or continue along on the grail quest to serve a higher purpose. Indy’s father does a good job of convincing him even though Indy is still a non-believer in the grail’s power. Finally as they enter the temple, Indy becomes a knight of the grail and while still technically unworthy of the grail he is able to take up the challenge. He is not seeking the grail for the glory of himself but of sacrifice and care for his father. Indy is able to retrieve the grail and is proven worthy by not being taken by the temptress who killed the last man.

It is not until he listens to his father and releases the grail that he is a fully realized knight. It is because of these stages that we see the transformation of one man into legend. If he was anyone else these events would have never taken place, but that’s not much fun. Indiana Jones, through these quests, is made into more than human. He is a knight of Arthurian Legend and is fit to live on for eternity.

Cutler: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indy changes from mercenary knight to indentured knight and finally to the Holy Grail quest knight. The first scene in this film where Indy is shown as a mercenary knight is when he steals Coronado's cross from the bandits in Utah. Even though he is doing it for a good cause ("it belongs in a museum"), he is still stealing it, therefore doing it for his own gain. The next scene shows Indy as an indentured knight. He and his father narrowly escape the Nazis and come to a crossroads. Indy wants to go find Elsa, but Henry Sr wants to retrieve his diary in the enemy territory (Berlin). Indy begrudgingly obeys his father and becomes indentured to him and his quest to find the Holy Grail. Finally, we see Indy as a Grail quest knight. After years of his distant relationship with his father, Indy realizes that he is on a spiritual quest to find the Grail and he must respect that. He joins his father in finding the Grail. The scene when Henry Sr is shot, Indy becomes a Grail quest knight and follows his father's dream by searching for the Grail using his diary. He uses his knowledge that his father had instilled in him all throughout his life to realize that the Grail is modest and not flashy, so he picks the right one. In the end, Indy narrowly escapes but he has the knowledge that he found the Grail with help from his father.

McCay Temple of Doom Blog

The scene on the rope bridge serves as an apotheosis for Indiana Jones, and it also serves as an initiation into a higher form of behavior, leading Indie to realize he should not sell the village's sacred stone. Discuss how the incident on the bridge changes Indie.