Indy has found, so far:
The Ark of the Covenant
The Holy Grail
The Sankara Stones
The Crystal Skull
Each of those was potentially usable by a nefarious foe as a weapon. The Ark would be used by the Nazis as an offensive weapon to obliterate their enemies and conquer the Earth. The Grail in Hitler's mind would be used to grant him and his Reich literal immortality and invincibility. The Sankara Stones when put together would grant Mola Ram the power to take down Gods and conquer entire nations, and he had already used the power of one Stone to conquer and enslave a nation. The Soviets believed the Skull could be used to turn Americans into mind-controlled slaves.
Where do you go from all of that? We've talked about the Garden of Eden, but that concept is really very abstract and doesn't really fall along the lines of a weapon or a potentially dangerous thing. The Spear of Destiny is a possibility, but then you're just redoing the Holy Grail again essentially. Where do we from here in terms of a McGuffin that works as a central plot point, that could be a deadly device if placed in the wrong hands? All of the previous McGuffins can be looked at, essentially, as an "Ultimate Weapon". The Garden of Eden doesn't really do that for you.
Also, each of the McGuffins had some connection to real life: With the Grail & Ark, in real life the Nazis did have very strange occult leanings and desire to have mastery over the supernatural to further their cause. Crystal Skulls are believed by some in real life to have been made by aliens, and in the 1950s, the Soviets did actually research psychic warfare to be used against Americans; The Thuggees were once a real group of murderous assassins and villains who terrorized India. So so far, each of Indy's McGuffins is at least based in part on real history as well, albeit embellished or slightly twisted of course.
The Ark of the Covenant
The Holy Grail
The Sankara Stones
The Crystal Skull
Each of those was potentially usable by a nefarious foe as a weapon. The Ark would be used by the Nazis as an offensive weapon to obliterate their enemies and conquer the Earth. The Grail in Hitler's mind would be used to grant him and his Reich literal immortality and invincibility. The Sankara Stones when put together would grant Mola Ram the power to take down Gods and conquer entire nations, and he had already used the power of one Stone to conquer and enslave a nation. The Soviets believed the Skull could be used to turn Americans into mind-controlled slaves.
Where do you go from all of that? We've talked about the Garden of Eden, but that concept is really very abstract and doesn't really fall along the lines of a weapon or a potentially dangerous thing. The Spear of Destiny is a possibility, but then you're just redoing the Holy Grail again essentially. Where do we from here in terms of a McGuffin that works as a central plot point, that could be a deadly device if placed in the wrong hands? All of the previous McGuffins can be looked at, essentially, as an "Ultimate Weapon". The Garden of Eden doesn't really do that for you.
Also, each of the McGuffins had some connection to real life: With the Grail & Ark, in real life the Nazis did have very strange occult leanings and desire to have mastery over the supernatural to further their cause. Crystal Skulls are believed by some in real life to have been made by aliens, and in the 1950s, the Soviets did actually research psychic warfare to be used against Americans; The Thuggees were once a real group of murderous assassins and villains who terrorized India. So so far, each of Indy's McGuffins is at least based in part on real history as well, albeit embellished or slightly twisted of course.
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