Had he not been there, and since it's a secret German base, it's probable that the German army would have eventually come looking for their missing submarine and taken the ark back into their possession. Obviously as ' last man standing' once the ark was activated, he's then in a position to take possession of the ark which is clearly a big win for the good guys. That's literally his entire contribution prior to it being opened. Indy then further delays the ark from being opened for several seconds (by threatening it with a bazooka) before it's taken to the altar.

Basically after having achieved nothing of substance, it ends up being loaded onto the submarine and taken to the island, exactly as would have happened had he not been there.

This presumably would have slowed them down by at least a few days.Īlthough it's arguable that Indy then helped the Germans to locate the ark several days early, he then delays the Germans for at least a couple of days by temporarily gaining possession of it. First off, it's worth noting that although the Germans were digging in nearly the right place when Indy arrived, he'd denied them the medallion which meant that they were several hundred metres out.

Arc raiders of the lost ark