# Why is Indy old in Dial of Destiny? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 16, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671 "2023-08-16T19:00:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/1 "2023-08-16T19:00:36Z")
Didn’t I see him drinking from the Holy Grail in Last Crusade? Wasn’t drinking from the Grail supposed to guarantee everlasting life? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/2 "2023-08-16T19:02:20Z")
Only as long as you stay within the shrine of the Grail. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/3 "2023-08-16T19:03:33Z")
If you stayed with the Grail and kept drinking. The knight was pretty old so it seems like it was more that it slowed things down considerably not stopped it ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/4 "2023-08-16T19:05:30Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If you stayed with the Grail and kept drinking. Serious Q: Do they actually say that in the film? I don’t remember it, and I must not be the only one. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/5 "2023-08-16T19:17:46Z")
**Knight:** _You have chosen wisely._ But the Grail cannot pass beyond the great seal. That is the boundary and the price of immortality. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/6 "2023-08-16T19:19:17Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If you stayed with the Grail and kept drinking. The knight was pretty old so it seems like it was more that it slowed things down considerably not stopped it - From [here.](https://indianajones.fandom.com/wiki/Grail_Knight) > Though drinking from the Grail had extended the Grail Knight’s life beyond any normal mortals, the centuries spent in isolation had sapped his strength.[[1]](https://indianajones.fandom.com/wiki/Grail_Knight#cite_note-LC-1) Every time the Knight’s spirit wavered, he physically aged a year.[[5]](https://indianajones.fandom.com/wiki/Grail_Knight#cite_note-Junior_Novel_1980s-5) Even then, the Knight remained loyal to the Cup of Christ, willing to entrust its protection to any knight he deemed worty enough. (Yeah, I know “worthy” is misspelled) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/7 "2023-08-16T19:19:33Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > **Knight:** _You have chosen wisely._ But the Grail cannot pass beyond the great seal. That is the boundary and the price of immortality. [Video clip here.](https://youtu.be/A0TalLrtZ24?t=238) ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/8 "2023-08-16T19:37:22Z")
For the record, we have other evidence in-film. Remember there were three grail knights, all presumed to have drunk from the grail. Two left the grail to return (one is in the tomb in Venice, the other dictated the story to a Franciscan monk whose manuscript is seen by Indy early in the movie). All three had stayed in the sanctuary for 150 years prior to the two brothers who left to preserve the story. The one in Venice died of illness and age, the last who provided the story died of “Extreme old age.” Now @running_coach quotes a sequence from the wiki, which I will not support or contradict, but if that part is considered canon, we have ample evidence that Indy is super flawed in terms of spirit, so, yeah, he wouldn’t have gotten much luck even if he had stayed within the sanctuary. ---
**Author:** ![Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/9 "2023-08-16T20:09:47Z")
Oh! OK, thanks everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/10 "2023-08-17T22:44:40Z")
In the film Indy has Sean Connery drink from it to heal his father. But they make a point of having Indy drink too. (I think, Ive only seen it once)…at the time, I thought the point was to make Indy immortal or at least some excuse about him being hale down the road. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/11 "2023-08-17T23:35:55Z")
He had quite an injurious day. He did fall off a tank while going over a cliff just a couple of hours previously, so a sip from a magical healing cup would have helped him out quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/12 "2023-08-17T23:57:43Z")
Also…I mean its right there. Anyone would have done it. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/13 "2023-08-18T00:00:47Z")
It might also explain why Indy is able to still go on adventures _despite_ being so old. Maybe he’s a lot younger-looking on the inside. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/14 "2023-08-18T00:27:33Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > In the film Indy has Sean Connery drink from it to heal his father. But they make a point of having Indy drink too. (I think, Ive only seen it once)…at the time, I thought the point was to make Indy immortal or at least some excuse about him being hale down the road. I have always assumed that Indy drank from it to confirm that it was the real grail before having his father drink from it. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/15 "2023-08-18T00:41:13Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > I have always assumed that Indy drank from it to confirm that it was the real grail before having his father drink from it. Me too, especially after seeing a Nazi get dusted from the wrong one. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/16 "2023-08-18T00:43:07Z")
As I mentioned elsewhere, Indy is 93/94 in the present-day segments of [The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Indiana_Jones_Chronicles) (TV series that ran for two seasons, '92 - '93). ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/17 "2023-08-18T01:17:46Z")
Ahh see, I misremembered. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-indy-old-in-dial-of-destiny/988671/18 "2023-08-18T01:19:15Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Maybe he’s a lot younger-looking on the inside. It could easily have cleaned out any cancerous cells, repaired DNA damage, lengthened the telomeres, dissolved any amyloid plaques, etc.