Does Firewatch's Ending Make Sense?
video description
One night me and my friend were going to change after working out late at night and decided to go inside, but when we walked by outside the door to the girls locker room we heard a sound from inside, almost like someone dragging something along the floor.
We were puzzled since we were the only ones out there and it is a bit outside the city where we live. My friend decides to open the door, but when he tries to open it its like someone is holding it from the other side.
We freaked out and ran into the office and locked the door, there we began discussing what the hell it could have been, and then we both remembered that an older man had gone missing in the woods about a year ago. So we started thinking what if its him and he just had been living in the girls locker room all this time (the only ones using the gym are male football teams so the girls locker room hadnt been used since we started working there.
The next day we decide to give it another try, so we sneak up to the door and try to open it as fast as we can, but to our surprise its still like someone is holding the door on the other side. -He cant still be holding the door, there is no way- we think, so we pull the door together using all our force and finally it opens. A raccoon runs out beneath our feet.
We look at the door from inside and it turns out the spring holding the door open had malfunctioned somehow and made it really difficult to open. There is toilet paper all over the floor so probably it was just the racoon messing around inside.
The thing is, in the moment we were dead sure it was the old man or someone dragging a corpse or something in there, when in reality it all had a logical explanation.
Firewatch story and ending really reminded me of that feeling again, so I love it. Can understand it might seem a bit anticlimactic to someone that never has been paranoid like that, but to me it was the perfect ending.\r\n
Date: 2023-12-10
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 29
-typicalg9981
Watching this video made me have a thought. the whole reason the government thing is brought in is because Ned is trying to make sure you stay off his tail. but he slipped up when you found the clip board. so that's why he had to think fast. he tried to cover up his tracks and make sure he wouldn't be found. if the guy had been there for what was 4 years living on his own he would know every inch of that park and what was going on in it. he could have access to about everything. he could of planted anything and he could of hid anything.
At first I thought it was about yellow stone getting back at this park for being better and they were trying to make it look like Henry started a fire.
I don't feel the story line was wrapped around the Goodwinds, enough. which I guess is the reason why it's a mistery. but I feel like Ned and his son are thrown off to the side right in the beginning of the story. I guess that's what really threw me off. Maybe if the son was found earlier. Having Henry find a body a day or two away from the ending is a little late. I don't feel that was the climax. I think Henry seeing D would of been better. I don't feel that her just leaving was what she would of done. idk I guess it just upset me that you don't get to see her. that's what I would want. and I guess I would go back to my wife but there would be nothing left for me to go back to. I've had experience with dementia. There was nothing to remeber. and if there was it was too hard to handle. starting over would of been better for henry.
reply
Watching this video made me have a thought. the whole reason the government thing is brought in is because Ned is trying to make sure you stay off his tail. but he slipped up when you found the clip board. so that's why he had to think fast. he tried to cover up his tracks and make sure he wouldn't be found. if the guy had been there for what was 4 years living on his own he would know every inch of that park and what was going on in it. he could have access to about everything. he could of planted anything and he could of hid anything.
At first I thought it was about yellow stone getting back at this park for being better and they were trying to make it look like Henry started a fire.
I don't feel the story line was wrapped around the Goodwinds, enough. which I guess is the reason why it's a mistery. but I feel like Ned and his son are thrown off to the side right in the beginning of the story. I guess that's what really threw me off. Maybe if the son was found earlier. Having Henry find a body a day or two away from the ending is a little late. I don't feel that was the climax. I think Henry seeing D would of been better. I don't feel that her just leaving was what she would of done. idk I guess it just upset me that you don't get to see her. that's what I would want. and I guess I would go back to my wife but there would be nothing left for me to go back to. I've had experience with dementia. There was nothing to remeber. and if there was it was too hard to handle. starting over would of been better for henry.
reply
polygon
I watched another ending theory for this which discussed the idea of taking time out for yourself. When things get a bit too much for us, we tend to seek time alone and isolate ourselves, whether it's by reading a book, playing video games or in Henry's case, going away for the summer. He takes a few months to himself to get away from his problems and I feel that the use of the day count adds that essence of Henry counting down the days until he has to go back to Boulder and be faced with the reality his wife and her illness again. This theory talked about how the whole mystery around Ned and his son was really just a distraction from Ned to take his mind of what he would inevitably go back to.
At the end of the story Delilah tells him to see his wife and I selected the -she won't recognize me- option to which Delilah says -It's not about her, it's about you. - Which i just found really prevalent and at first when I saw game plays I too was shocked by abrupt ending, but when I played it myself after watching this particular theory video on the ending, I found the ending itself a lot more satisfying.
reply
I watched another ending theory for this which discussed the idea of taking time out for yourself. When things get a bit too much for us, we tend to seek time alone and isolate ourselves, whether it's by reading a book, playing video games or in Henry's case, going away for the summer. He takes a few months to himself to get away from his problems and I feel that the use of the day count adds that essence of Henry counting down the days until he has to go back to Boulder and be faced with the reality his wife and her illness again. This theory talked about how the whole mystery around Ned and his son was really just a distraction from Ned to take his mind of what he would inevitably go back to.
At the end of the story Delilah tells him to see his wife and I selected the -she won't recognize me- option to which Delilah says -It's not about her, it's about you. - Which i just found really prevalent and at first when I saw game plays I too was shocked by abrupt ending, but when I played it myself after watching this particular theory video on the ending, I found the ending itself a lot more satisfying.
reply
-y05077
I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending, I'm glad they didn't end with the two of them meeting at her tower because I think that would have been a mistake. However the whole chain link fence and the entire massive hints there was some kind of experiment going on with the two of them was really interesting then when you saw all the technology and stuff like that I thought there was something big, to go from that to man sits in cave because his son died it felt a little bit like they'd just forgot about everything, especially when constantly putting stress on the idea that it's such a remote area and how would anyone get all that stuff out there. My genuine thoughts going into the ending were that they were test subjects and some kind of mass destruction had happened in the outside world and they were being tested to see if isolated colonies could work or if the area was suitable for habitation.
reply
I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending, I'm glad they didn't end with the two of them meeting at her tower because I think that would have been a mistake. However the whole chain link fence and the entire massive hints there was some kind of experiment going on with the two of them was really interesting then when you saw all the technology and stuff like that I thought there was something big, to go from that to man sits in cave because his son died it felt a little bit like they'd just forgot about everything, especially when constantly putting stress on the idea that it's such a remote area and how would anyone get all that stuff out there. My genuine thoughts going into the ending were that they were test subjects and some kind of mass destruction had happened in the outside world and they were being tested to see if isolated colonies could work or if the area was suitable for habitation.
reply
-DeMatastic
This was an interactive movie. Not a brilliant one, but a great one. I don't feel the ending was too bad, it fit thematically. I would have liked branching endings. I would have liked the final conversation with Delilah to work differently, to be longer with different final options, with one scene after the helicopter, like an epilogue, depending on that choice. Go back to your wife in Australia / go back to Boulder alone / get together with Delilah.
I feel the game made us feel like we were in control of the ending, and in the end our choices meant nothing. The lack of emotional payoff I think is very intentional, but I wish they hadn't decided that for us.
This game wasn't bad, but it also wasn't worth $20. $15 is more like it. It felt like a 3 hour movie with little to no interactivity -- everything the player does in the end doesn't matter at all.
reply
This was an interactive movie. Not a brilliant one, but a great one. I don't feel the ending was too bad, it fit thematically. I would have liked branching endings. I would have liked the final conversation with Delilah to work differently, to be longer with different final options, with one scene after the helicopter, like an epilogue, depending on that choice. Go back to your wife in Australia / go back to Boulder alone / get together with Delilah.
I feel the game made us feel like we were in control of the ending, and in the end our choices meant nothing. The lack of emotional payoff I think is very intentional, but I wish they hadn't decided that for us.
This game wasn't bad, but it also wasn't worth $20. $15 is more like it. It felt like a 3 hour movie with little to no interactivity -- everything the player does in the end doesn't matter at all.
reply
-Samakain
What do you mean the story doesn't make sense? Or that Nick's reaction to the situation doesn't make sense? All three of them are running away from something, especially Nick. It's just in a different fashion. The girls where a red herring sure, but over the course of 77 days they added needed depth and the kind of every day stuff you'd encounter in this job.
As for the camp? it was an established research camp that Nick had been raiding and using for his own benefit. If you search his bunker you see notes detailing staff movements at camp and what equipment he could make use of. Why on earth if it was HIS camp would he have marked out the soil samples? That entire bit of the video missed the entire point of the god damned camp! Come on guys, you are better than that.
But dead on about Delilah and environment stuff.
reply
What do you mean the story doesn't make sense? Or that Nick's reaction to the situation doesn't make sense? All three of them are running away from something, especially Nick. It's just in a different fashion. The girls where a red herring sure, but over the course of 77 days they added needed depth and the kind of every day stuff you'd encounter in this job.
As for the camp? it was an established research camp that Nick had been raiding and using for his own benefit. If you search his bunker you see notes detailing staff movements at camp and what equipment he could make use of. Why on earth if it was HIS camp would he have marked out the soil samples? That entire bit of the video missed the entire point of the god damned camp! Come on guys, you are better than that.
But dead on about Delilah and environment stuff.
reply
-fnord3125
It's funny that BOTH people in this video missed the parts in the hideout that explained the research camp. (legit research camp, from a university i think, whose staffers were currently gone, so Ned used it and stole from it, in part to intentionally make Henry and Delilah think there was some bigger conspiracy going on.
The most disappointing dropped red herring (if it was that) for me was the missing person's poster. I noticed that the guy bared some resemblance to Henry (with the beard and all) AND was the same age as Henry. But that poster never ended up meaning anything.
reply
It's funny that BOTH people in this video missed the parts in the hideout that explained the research camp. (legit research camp, from a university i think, whose staffers were currently gone, so Ned used it and stole from it, in part to intentionally make Henry and Delilah think there was some bigger conspiracy going on.
The most disappointing dropped red herring (if it was that) for me was the missing person's poster. I noticed that the guy bared some resemblance to Henry (with the beard and all) AND was the same age as Henry. But that poster never ended up meaning anything.
reply
-thisscreensucks
. and she thinks you're really talking to Julia? it was a dream.
he was talking into his radio for one. to a person in Australia.
and the next day you get to control in the game Delialah tells you that you called her on the radio in the middle of the night mumbling about julia.
i have a feeling these people just blasted through the game so they could talk abaout it, and really didnt take any time soaking in what they were watching.
like a kid skimming through a novel the day before a book report is due.
reply
. and she thinks you're really talking to Julia? it was a dream.
he was talking into his radio for one. to a person in Australia.
and the next day you get to control in the game Delialah tells you that you called her on the radio in the middle of the night mumbling about julia.
i have a feeling these people just blasted through the game so they could talk abaout it, and really didnt take any time soaking in what they were watching.
like a kid skimming through a novel the day before a book report is due.
reply
-EnforcerErik
I don't think you guys got that the camp was for soil studies by Dr. Ben Simmons. Ned just raided it for supplies when no one was there. In Ned's cave hideaway he has a map of the science camp showing where to get in and out of it and saying that he needs to be sure not to leave a trace. The ending made a lot of sense. While I was playing I went over and over what had actually happened that didn't make sense or was weird, not just the stuff that was creepy. Everything tied together nicely in a way that made sense.
reply
I don't think you guys got that the camp was for soil studies by Dr. Ben Simmons. Ned just raided it for supplies when no one was there. In Ned's cave hideaway he has a map of the science camp showing where to get in and out of it and saying that he needs to be sure not to leave a trace. The ending made a lot of sense. While I was playing I went over and over what had actually happened that didn't make sense or was weird, not just the stuff that was creepy. Everything tied together nicely in a way that made sense.
reply
-witherofwar5676
personally I didn't really like the ending all that much. the game itself was good but you don't even get to meet Delilah once. also what I'm gonna say now has nothing to do with the endings but the only people you see is the shadow of Ned in the beginning and a very low detail design of a fireman who helps you into the helicopter. also in the end I personally think you should like see a cutscene of the chopper flying over the whole shoshone forest after you get into the chopper
reply
personally I didn't really like the ending all that much. the game itself was good but you don't even get to meet Delilah once. also what I'm gonna say now has nothing to do with the endings but the only people you see is the shadow of Ned in the beginning and a very low detail design of a fireman who helps you into the helicopter. also in the end I personally think you should like see a cutscene of the chopper flying over the whole shoshone forest after you get into the chopper
reply
polygon
I don't know if anyone caught this, but in this game you are cut off from everyone, you see no one. you see the girls from a distance but you don't see anyone, it gives a sense of being cut off and it makes you feel nervous and tense and thinking something is around every corner. The game makes you feel like you have to sit on the edge of your sit because you think something horrible will happen to you or the lady on the radio. It is a great game and clever with possibilities!
reply
I don't know if anyone caught this, but in this game you are cut off from everyone, you see no one. you see the girls from a distance but you don't see anyone, it gives a sense of being cut off and it makes you feel nervous and tense and thinking something is around every corner. The game makes you feel like you have to sit on the edge of your sit because you think something horrible will happen to you or the lady on the radio. It is a great game and clever with possibilities!
reply
-Tereith
My theory or something kind of.
SPOILER OFC
First time your hear Delilah talk to somebody else about you it's kinda weird.
2nd time she calls you a flapjack or something while talking to another one (and tries to make up for it)
in the tent it says /have multiple lovers and 1 main lover
and she says she don't talk to others like she talks to you.
I honestly think that there's something going on with her. She's playing a game of some sort.
reply
My theory or something kind of.
SPOILER OFC
First time your hear Delilah talk to somebody else about you it's kinda weird.
2nd time she calls you a flapjack or something while talking to another one (and tries to make up for it)
in the tent it says /have multiple lovers and 1 main lover
and she says she don't talk to others like she talks to you.
I honestly think that there's something going on with her. She's playing a game of some sort.
reply
-yangusis
Realistic, realistic, blah. You don't read a book because it's predictable and bland. You read a book to be enthralled, interested, and you want something to take away from it that made it stand out and unique. This game was great, all around. But everyone defending the ending is just ridiculous, it showed the limitations of the developers, and the writers, because it wasn't good.
This doesn't make it a bad game, just a bad ending.
reply
Realistic, realistic, blah. You don't read a book because it's predictable and bland. You read a book to be enthralled, interested, and you want something to take away from it that made it stand out and unique. This game was great, all around. But everyone defending the ending is just ridiculous, it showed the limitations of the developers, and the writers, because it wasn't good.
This doesn't make it a bad game, just a bad ending.
reply
-dv8754
The story made sense to me, I was just really let down by it.
I've enjoyed hearing campo santo talk about this game a lot more than I actually enjoyed the game. I appreciate the things they did so much on an individual basis, but was bewildered with how flatly it ended. I know it was a very intentional choices, and theoretically I like the thought behind it, but in practice it didn't work for me at all.
reply
The story made sense to me, I was just really let down by it.
I've enjoyed hearing campo santo talk about this game a lot more than I actually enjoyed the game. I appreciate the things they did so much on an individual basis, but was bewildered with how flatly it ended. I know it was a very intentional choices, and theoretically I like the thought behind it, but in practice it didn't work for me at all.
reply
-PhillipTeixeira
Anyone taking issue to how Henry and Delilah's romantic relationship ship ended, I encourage you to really listen to the lyrics during the final credits, and then think back to Henry talking in his sleep to Delilah (Julia. Think back on Delilah's relationship with Javier. That song explains everything to you, whether you like how it happens or not.
reply
Anyone taking issue to how Henry and Delilah's romantic relationship ship ended, I encourage you to really listen to the lyrics during the final credits, and then think back to Henry talking in his sleep to Delilah (Julia. Think back on Delilah's relationship with Javier. That song explains everything to you, whether you like how it happens or not.
reply
-Apoqtosis
The Ending Was Very Humane And Not Leading Off Course
He Was A Married Man Still And Should Keep His Faith But On The Other Hand His Wife Is Not Going To Get Better If Anything She'll Get Worse
By The End Of The Game You Never Got To See Delilah Nor Find Out Much About Hank But Within All That, That's What Made The Ending Realistic.
reply
The Ending Was Very Humane And Not Leading Off Course
He Was A Married Man Still And Should Keep His Faith But On The Other Hand His Wife Is Not Going To Get Better If Anything She'll Get Worse
By The End Of The Game You Never Got To See Delilah Nor Find Out Much About Hank But Within All That, That's What Made The Ending Realistic.
reply
-RayTheVideoGuy
Really enjoyed playing the game. But I agree. the mystery with Ned & Bryan makes no sense. The father wants to hide and the woods. so he builds a giant fenced off area, with a giant tower and a ton of high tech equipment, and harasses people. Why would he do that? Where did he get the equipment? How did he build it all? Very strange
reply
Really enjoyed playing the game. But I agree. the mystery with Ned & Bryan makes no sense. The father wants to hide and the woods. so he builds a giant fenced off area, with a giant tower and a ton of high tech equipment, and harasses people. Why would he do that? Where did he get the equipment? How did he build it all? Very strange
reply
polygon
when i finished it i thought the ending was not satisfying at all until i saw videos making me think the ending was good as it gives you the challenge of figuring out what was actually going on yourself making it a bit like fanf only 1. the game is actually good 2. the developer wouldn't be making the story up as it goes along.
reply
when i finished it i thought the ending was not satisfying at all until i saw videos making me think the ending was good as it gives you the challenge of figuring out what was actually going on yourself making it a bit like fanf only 1. the game is actually good 2. the developer wouldn't be making the story up as it goes along.
reply
-trevoralmy6986
Great commentary and discussion on the ending! The game worked well until the developers decided to shoehorn in a half-baked mystery. Nevertheless, this game succeeds because of the well-written dialogue and the emotional, as well as physical, landscape it explores. It provided me with an experience unlike any other.
reply
Great commentary and discussion on the ending! The game worked well until the developers decided to shoehorn in a half-baked mystery. Nevertheless, this game succeeds because of the well-written dialogue and the emotional, as well as physical, landscape it explores. It provided me with an experience unlike any other.
reply
-Sudstah
I certainly enjoyed the game and this imo is the first of its kind for the way it made me feel to an extent, of how just basically a bit of exploration and radio chatter can make you feel so immersed, for a first of its genre (in a sense) they've done a great job.
reply
I certainly enjoyed the game and this imo is the first of its kind for the way it made me feel to an extent, of how just basically a bit of exploration and radio chatter can make you feel so immersed, for a first of its genre (in a sense) they've done a great job.
reply
-unitxteam9863
I guess there will be another part of the game, they have to make another part!
For example, Henry decides to go back again and he finds Delilah and smth like that. FFS this game is better than most of the no-sense crafting games out there.
reply
I guess there will be another part of the game, they have to make another part!
For example, Henry decides to go back again and he finds Delilah and smth like that. FFS this game is better than most of the no-sense crafting games out there.
reply
-derelicts9503
I kinda hoped that Henry would turn up to be Mitch Micheals - the missing person we find pictures of during the game, the twist would be that Mitch has Alzheimers and forgets who he was or something, they look pretty similiar, I dunno.
reply
I kinda hoped that Henry would turn up to be Mitch Micheals - the missing person we find pictures of during the game, the twist would be that Mitch has Alzheimers and forgets who he was or something, they look pretty similiar, I dunno.
reply
-Racalavaca
Henry's blandness makes some sort of sense, because the player needs to be able to identify with him and -fill in some gaps-. it's a pretty common protagonist trope, especially in video games, where you literally control them.
reply
Henry's blandness makes some sort of sense, because the player needs to be able to identify with him and -fill in some gaps-. it's a pretty common protagonist trope, especially in video games, where you literally control them.
reply
-HermaphroGynandro
You, Mr. Dumbbell, need to resign. You are nothing but plague to this industry. You and every other person in your cult are the real villains. You slander, libel and ruin the lives of innocent people.
reply
You, Mr. Dumbbell, need to resign. You are nothing but plague to this industry. You and every other person in your cult are the real villains. You slander, libel and ruin the lives of innocent people.
reply
-guinevereteef
its worth noting that the guy stole the fancy science stuff and planted fake sciency documents and shit there as a red herring, his actual equipment is all the jury rigged shit at the bunker
reply
its worth noting that the guy stole the fancy science stuff and planted fake sciency documents and shit there as a red herring, his actual equipment is all the jury rigged shit at the bunker
reply
-mick21158
same here i dindt get it i mean why all the UFO stuff? i mean tech stuff and all just to that ending and i was like so likely to wait for dalilha but she go i was really dessepoint really
reply
same here i dindt get it i mean why all the UFO stuff? i mean tech stuff and all just to that ending and i was like so likely to wait for dalilha but she go i was really dessepoint really
reply
polygon
I thought the guy was crazy and had schizophrenia or something, so i was not stressed in the game by other guy in the forest or about her or her history, because non existed for me.
reply
I thought the guy was crazy and had schizophrenia or something, so i was not stressed in the game by other guy in the forest or about her or her history, because non existed for me.
reply
-17Haru17
No, because they were too scared to put faces in, the whole game long!
It's ridiculous: Julia's storyline is completely disconnected from the whole game!
reply
No, because they were too scared to put faces in, the whole game long!
It's ridiculous: Julia's storyline is completely disconnected from the whole game!
reply
-Mrpokpokza
no, there are so many thing that doesnt make sense, so are the girls just gone, why did the Ned guy wreck the girls camps and why are those fences there?
reply
no, there are so many thing that doesnt make sense, so are the girls just gone, why did the Ned guy wreck the girls camps and why are those fences there?
reply
-boldirbeats
The game isn't supposed to tie off all of the loose ends, you are. That's the whole point of all the unanswered questions.
reply
The game isn't supposed to tie off all of the loose ends, you are. That's the whole point of all the unanswered questions.
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
