Among the new characters introduced in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, none stole the show quite like Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Helena Shaw. The Fleabag star is great in the film and this is what you need to know about her new character.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Helena is the goddaughter of Indy (Harrison Ford) and the daughter of one of his colleagues, Basil Shaw (Toby Jones). The opening sequence of Dial of Destiny follows Indy and Basil as they attempt to get the Antikythera out of the hands of the Nazis, namely Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen).
They succeed, but in the years since, Basil becomes obsessed with it to the point that Indy has to take it, break it, and hide them from him. Helena, or “wombat” as Indy calls her throughout, was just 12 at the time, and this was the last time she say her godfather before her father died and Indy disappeared from her life.
Decades later in 1969, Helena visits Indy at his university during his final class. She follows him to a bar and Indy hardly recognizes her. She asks for his help finding the Antikythera, framing it as a part of her doctorate-level project, but her motivations become clearer when she takes off with the half that Indy kept when trouble arrives.
She then attempts to sell the piece off at a private auction in Morocco — showing her true intentions. She's in debt to a gangster and is willing to do anything to pay it off. That encapsulates her personality quite well, though she does have a soul.
The first evidence of this comes in the character of Teddy (Ethann Isidore). He's her young sidekick who is evidently too young to be a romantic partner but doesn't seem to be her son either. We later learn that he was orphaned and tried to steal from her one day. But two negatives make a positive, and Helena then took him under her wing and has continued to do so since. But for such a “drifter” type who would appear to live by Robert De Niro's famous Heat-“Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner” monologue.
She also does care about Indy, even as reluctant as she may be to admit it. She assures Teddy throughout that she's still in charge of this mission, but it's evident that she won't just drop Indy; no matter how many times she attempts to. Even at the end when he's shot and she's running off with Teddy, she says, “We can't leave him here” and the two continue to chase after him. She even finds a way onto Voller's (Mads Mikkelsen) plane and travels through the time vortex to save Indy.
Lastly, Helena is the reason Indy makes it back to the present day and reunites with Marion (Karen Allen). When Indy wakes up in his New York City apartment after previously being in the midst of the battle of Syracuse with Archimedes, Helena is the one there and has helped get him back to full strength. When Marion arrives, she gets Sallah, his kids, and Teddy out of the apartment (as any great wingman should), and looks happy as she leaves Indy and Marion.
So while rough around the edges, Helena isn't a malicious person and clearly wants to finish the work her father started. She also cares about her godfather and while we will likely never see a continuation of their story, you'd have to imagine that they stay in contact this time around.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is in theaters now.
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