How 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' explains Shia LaBeouf's absence as Indy's son, Mutt Williams

• Warning: Minor spoilers ahead for "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."
• The 2023 sequel picks up with an older Indiana Jones in 1969.

Harrison Ford has led the "Indiana Jones" franchise for over 40 years, first donning the fedora in 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark." In that time, he's gone up against Nazis, cultists, and even Soviet spies.

But Ford is hanging up the bullwhip for the final time in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," which sees the adventurer and archaeologist hunt for a mythical dial alongside his goddaughter, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge).

It might strike some theatergoers as an odd choice since the previous movie, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," saw Jones work with his son, motorbike greaser Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf).

The end of the 2008 movie even hinted that Williams could go on more adventures of his own when he picked up the iconic fedora for himself as his mother, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), married Indy.

So what happened to Mutt?

The 2023 sequel addresses Mutt's absence and weaves it into the adventurer's character arc.

The film picks up in 1969, shortly before the moon landing, as Indy is living alone in a small apartment in New York. His lectures at a local college send his students to sleep, and he's about to retire from teaching altogether.

Much of the film is about age, time, and how Indy almost doesn't belong in a world that's looking up at the stars.

But once Indy is thrown into the adventure with Helena and they're hunting for the dial, he makes an emotional confession as they sail across the Aegean sea — explaining how Mutt enlisted in the army to go and fight in Vietnam.

It's surprising because Mutt seemed like a bit of a rebel in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," but Ford's hero says he did it to prove a point.

Mutt was killed in action, and the grief tore Indy and Marion apart. This later led to their divorce, which is why he's been living alone in that cramped apartment.

It's clear that Mutt's death has significantly impacted Indy, as he struggles to deal with his isolated, mundane life.

Thankfully, the mystery surrounding the titular dial revives his sense of adventure, and by the end of the film, he even starts to patch things up with Marion.

After all of his years of tomb-raiding, it's nice to see a happy ending for the adventurer.