Raiders Of The Lost Ark....

Well, yes and no. In theory, bringing her back was a good idea, but they pretty much wasted her. Like so much else in the film, it was a missed opportunity.

 

Which is pretty much what the pulp adventure genre is all about.

 

Don't forget, those two were such massive hits, of the type we don't really see much today.

 

^Things were different back then.

 

I can't remember how the novel explains it either, but the comic adaption has him tying himself to the periscope with his whip.

 

The question is whether the Nazis find Marion in Nepal without Indy leading them there. If yes, then they get the medallion (not just one side), find the Ark, and die. Unfortunately I'm sure they'd just kill Marion in Nepal too.

If no, then they don't get the medallion, they never even find the Ark, Marion keeps running her bar, and nobody dies. Well, at least they don't die in anything Ark-related.