The title character of the Indiana Jones franchise has had many chronicles, yet The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones has presented a confusing canon for the whip-slinging hero. With Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny set to retcon Indy's past and potentially introduce another alternate timeline, the canon of the franchise has been chaotic as Disney prepares its next installment. While others may mull the merits of another Indiana Jones sequel, it’s nothing new for Lucasfilm to recontextualize and rewrite their franchises. However, it could mean dramatic changes to those who want to dig into Indy’s past.

Airing as The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, the TV series spinoff premiered in 1992, acting simultaneously as a prequel and epilogue to the original trilogy. Developed as an edutainment program by director George Lucas, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles lasted two seasons, produced four made-for-TV movies, and released 94 companion documentaries about history. Prematurely canceled before Lucas could see the series to completion, it was later retitled The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones and saw multiple re-releases and re-edits.

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Young Indy's Re-release Is Canon

A collage image of Young Indiana Jones movie poster

In The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, the show usually began with the 93-year-old archeologist, played by George Hall, recalling his adventures before the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark. “Old Indy” became one of the series’ highlights and served as an entertaining epilogue to the classic trilogy. However, when future releases began to remove Hall’s “bookends” and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull debuted (which itself started as a premise for a canceled episode), many questioned what it meant for the Indiana Jones timeline and if the TV serials were still canon.

When the series first became The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones and was re-edited for release in 1999, except for in one episode, all the Old Indy scenes did not appear. Done as part of an effort to reorganize and piece together The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones more cohesively, the character of Old Indy inevitably disappeared from the canon. However, despite no longer existing to share them, Old Indy’s stories still happened within George Lucas’s main timeline, making for an exciting biography for one of cinema’s most beloved heroes.

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The Young Indiana Jones Adventures Harrison Ford Bookend

Strangely while a majority of Old Indy’s segments became de-canonized, one stayed intact. The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones season 2, episode 5, “Mystery of the Blues,” had actor Harrison Ford reprising his role as an old Indiana Jones, recalling the days he spent as a waiter in Chicago. Considered a standalone quasi-sequel to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the feature-length episode explored themes of music, 20th-century race relations, and how “Jonesy” learned to play jazz. Featuring an appearance from Keith David and a bearded Harrison Ford defeating villains with a soprano saxophone, although not a traditional Indiana Jones adventure, “Mystery of the Blues” was canon nonetheless.

Regardless of its canonicity or if Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny erased it all from history, it’s important to remember why The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles existed in the first place. George Lucas saw the TV series as an action-packed educational tool, intending its use in history classes. Although it may be disappointing that The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones cut its elderly narrator from the Indiana Jones canon, his lessons still exist. Old Indy’s chronicles taught that history isn't just inside a museum; it’s passed on in the memories others share, the people they've met, and the legacy they leave behind at the end of their adventures.

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