What's Really Going On In Firewatch Theory
A theory on the character relationships in Firewatch.
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A theory on the character relationships in Firewatch.
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Geek Remix: What's Really Going On In Firewatch Theory
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What if the person Henry overheard Delilah talking to on the radio was Ned? If you listen in on their conversation she says things like "I don't think he has any idea" - clearly referring to Henry. She also gets very defensive if you ask her if she was talking about you (Henry) and then refuses to talk to you for a while.
I was going to bring that part up, but for some reason it felt "too obvious" to point out. Like it would have been so obvious people would believe me less. Also it's a point that sticks out to everyone.Stathicus said:
Anyway I am curious as to why so many people really liked Delilah. I found her to be extremely inappropriate. She hears a guy calling out to his sick wife in the middle of the night and goes "yeah I totally want that kind of affection for me" and then tries to initiate a relationship. WTF!?
She totally senses his weakness and goes for it. And I'm NOT saying she does that on purpose. It was like a subconscious choice she made.
I didn't think it was weird that she didn't know about Wapiti station. "Wapiti station" may not be an official name she has been told. The station is actually for monitoring Elk, so it stands to reason she could have been told months ago about some scientists studying Elk, and that not being a big deal in and of itself, she thought no further about it. Thus she fails to make the connection a few months later, in the heat of the moment, when her friend starts ranting about being attacked and finding a super secret fenced-off base called Wapiti Station.
Also, I don't think the walky-talky planting is implausible. An 8 mile hike only takes just over a couple of hours if you move quickly and know where you are going. She couldn't risk going directly to the Fork's tower in case she gets intercepted on the way by a dangerous interloper, so she made a simple plan to drop it off at a landmark that is far away enough to be safer, close enough to be a short walk from his tower, and in a location which takes advantage of the fact that the interloper can't possibly see the poster in the cabin. I do wonder how someone could not know about how frequencies work on a walky-talky when that is usually the first thing people find out about when using them, but I can chalk that up to an unrealistic narrative convenience.
The game deliberately makes Delilah sound evasive, so as to make first time players highly suspicious of her motives. But a lot of it is ultimately down to her accidentally using ambiguous language. What she is doing is usually perfectly rational, and we the viewers are just being paranoid.
EDIT: flaw with the theory proposed as well by GR: If Delilah knows Ned is listening and gets him to smash up the girl's camp, she must also realize that by sending Henry to the same place, she risks the two of them bumping in to one another. They already had met by accident once, and she doesn't know if Henry will recognize Ned if they meet a second time. That could screw everything up.
Also, I don't think the walky-talky planting is implausible. An 8 mile hike only takes just over a couple of hours if you move quickly and know where you are going. She couldn't risk going directly to the Fork's tower in case she gets intercepted on the way by a dangerous interloper, so she made a simple plan to drop it off at a landmark that is far away enough to be safer, close enough to be a short walk from his tower, and in a location which takes advantage of the fact that the interloper can't possibly see the poster in the cabin. I do wonder how someone could not know about how frequencies work on a walky-talky when that is usually the first thing people find out about when using them, but I can chalk that up to an unrealistic narrative convenience.
The game deliberately makes Delilah sound evasive, so as to make first time players highly suspicious of her motives. But a lot of it is ultimately down to her accidentally using ambiguous language. What she is doing is usually perfectly rational, and we the viewers are just being paranoid.
EDIT: flaw with the theory proposed as well by GR: If Delilah knows Ned is listening and gets him to smash up the girl's camp, she must also realize that by sending Henry to the same place, she risks the two of them bumping in to one another. They already had met by accident once, and she doesn't know if Henry will recognize Ned if they meet a second time. That could screw everything up.
She sometimes is insensitive, but it feels more like a consequence of her drinking too much, and not knowing enough about Henry's situation to let sleeping dogs lie. I like Delilah because she feels very human. Her characterization is much more natural than what we are used to seeing in mediums, games or otherwise. It is very easy to like her, what with her fondness for puns and urge to pass the time with flirty banter. It's a sign of competent writing that she can sometimes act like a dick, and yet we can still like her enough to stay her friend.geekremix_Mari said:
I get what you mean. Some of the points you bought up though, PLUS the fact Delilah has this mysterious radio conversation about Henry that is never brought up again? I'm not totally convinced but it's enough to put doubt in my mind.geekremix_Mari said:
When I played the game I kind of liked Delilah at first but then I watched your play through of the game and I realized, yeah, a lot of the things she says/does are kind of fucked up. I don't think she ever wanted a real relationship with Henry though, or his affection. I think it's a story of one-sided love where Henry wanted a relationship with her (but was conflicted because he knew he was married) and she just wanted someone to flirt with because she was bored. I don't think there is anything you can do to get her to wait for you or to come to Boulder with you. You can't deny she led Henry on though and considering where Henry was coming from, that's still a little fucked up.geekremix_Mari said:
I'm not saying she is a badly written character. She is wonderfully written. I just don't get why people like her so much that they want to establish a relationship with her. I think it depends on how you see Henry, in my opinion. I was not seeing myself inside Henry. I was extremely empathetic to his situation, and wanted to protect him so that he could recover emotionally. So my reaction to Delilah was me trying to protect Henry to what would very much be a toxic relationship.maninahat said:
I certainly don't want to initiate a relationship with someone who has a drinking problem, and initiates intimacy after hearing my emotional torment.
I really feel like Delilah was the one pushing for a relationship and it's up the player to respond. And that freaked me out a lot.Stathicus said:
I think she just has a whole bunch of personal issues that cause her to do strange and stupid things she later regrets. maybe she was with ned because she had been dumped by javier and couldn't really get over it. i find it hard to believe that the end of the game would be "delilah is a sociopath" and her actions seem more motivated by supressed depression
It's a very weird game for me to watch because the things Delilah says and her personality is almost exactly like my ex Fiance... But I agree that I think Delilah was in on it, but I'm not so sure that Ned was? I think she could quite possibly have known Ned was around still, but then I also doubt that because she would have wanted to know about Brian and she did seem genuinely surprised when he was found dead.
But if she did truly know Ned was around I think that she and Ned were in a relationship and then one night, maybe she pestered Ned about seeing Brian after he died which caused Ned to get defensive and throw back about Javier, whom Ned seemed to know about, and then she and Ned got into a fight and he told her she'd never speak or see to Brian again or that he sent Brian back home since they knew Brian wanted to go home. That was when she and Ned split up, but Ned still tracked her and listened in on her because he loved her and then tracked Henry because he was jealous of the way she spoke to Henry.
BUT, what I really think happened is that she framed Ned after Henry found him and knew he was still around. Together her and the people who picked them up, were doing something illegal out there and conducting research they didn't want anyone to know about hence why there were plants in the ground. The paperwork Henry found was just their set up after Delilah knew they had to abandon their project site because Henry was determined to find out and thus the various "clues" and Ned's bunker filled with paperwork was brought in.
Ned's voice on the recording could have been 2 things, #1 someone else's voice since Henry didn't know Ned's voice, or #2 Delilah's allies. This all kind of settled with me when she wouldn't wait on Henry and that she sent him to the cave in order to give herself time to remove all evidence in her station before being picked up by her team, making sure Henry would not be with them. With the fire, all the evidence Henry had found would be gone. Just papers on a type writer, like the one Ned had, which could be said Henry typed himself.
Also, it's important to note that Delilah's headset was wireless which perhaps could mean she could have been walking all around the area, always knowing where Henry was in order to avoid him and set up various things at various times herself, or have on of her 2 team members do it, since 3 cots, perhaps her, Dave, and Ron. Since the last look out Delilah says that she never left her lookout station which means they could have been able to roam freely without her knowledge for maybe the 3 years they all worked up there, starting it all in 1986.
*I wrote way too much about this, but it seems like there's a lot more to it than what we saw. Perhaps soon someone will figure it out or perhaps we're suppose to stay clueless like Henry. Anyway you made several good points and it could very well be right. I wouldn't put it past you. I just had some thoughts of my own as well. I really liked this game and the seemingly endless possibilities of what could have happened.
But if she did truly know Ned was around I think that she and Ned were in a relationship and then one night, maybe she pestered Ned about seeing Brian after he died which caused Ned to get defensive and throw back about Javier, whom Ned seemed to know about, and then she and Ned got into a fight and he told her she'd never speak or see to Brian again or that he sent Brian back home since they knew Brian wanted to go home. That was when she and Ned split up, but Ned still tracked her and listened in on her because he loved her and then tracked Henry because he was jealous of the way she spoke to Henry.
BUT, what I really think happened is that she framed Ned after Henry found him and knew he was still around. Together her and the people who picked them up, were doing something illegal out there and conducting research they didn't want anyone to know about hence why there were plants in the ground. The paperwork Henry found was just their set up after Delilah knew they had to abandon their project site because Henry was determined to find out and thus the various "clues" and Ned's bunker filled with paperwork was brought in.
Ned's voice on the recording could have been 2 things, #1 someone else's voice since Henry didn't know Ned's voice, or #2 Delilah's allies. This all kind of settled with me when she wouldn't wait on Henry and that she sent him to the cave in order to give herself time to remove all evidence in her station before being picked up by her team, making sure Henry would not be with them. With the fire, all the evidence Henry had found would be gone. Just papers on a type writer, like the one Ned had, which could be said Henry typed himself.
Also, it's important to note that Delilah's headset was wireless which perhaps could mean she could have been walking all around the area, always knowing where Henry was in order to avoid him and set up various things at various times herself, or have on of her 2 team members do it, since 3 cots, perhaps her, Dave, and Ron. Since the last look out Delilah says that she never left her lookout station which means they could have been able to roam freely without her knowledge for maybe the 3 years they all worked up there, starting it all in 1986.
*I wrote way too much about this, but it seems like there's a lot more to it than what we saw. Perhaps soon someone will figure it out or perhaps we're suppose to stay clueless like Henry. Anyway you made several good points and it could very well be right. I wouldn't put it past you. I just had some thoughts of my own as well. I really liked this game and the seemingly endless possibilities of what could have happened.
I never once said or implied that she was a "sociopath". I would not ever even use that word. You came to that conclusion on your own based off an inaccurate understanding of what a sociopath is.CyanCat47 said:
I am saying that she is like Ned. Just a bit messed up and was doing it for fun. And then she realized after learning about Brian, and almost being caught, that it wasn't funny. And she was doing something wrong.
I simply concluded that there would need to be something wrong with a person who spends the better part of three months just to make some random rookie feel scared. Even if she was that mean spirited to begin with surely she would stop the shenanigens once she got to know Henry, something she did pretty early on. Assuming she was still in on the ruse that would mean she had no scruples mentally tormenting a guy she didn't know from before and who was nothing but friendly to her for three months. also in a situation where a job is so lacking in mental stimulation that the only way you can distract yourself is to scare strangers all the time most people would surely quit or at the very least not do it for thirteen years.I didn't mean to offend, i simply remarked what i found to be a logical leap in your theory and used the wrong terminology in trying to express it. If i offended you or I am sorry.geekremix_Mari said:
CyanCat47 said:
When people are alone for long enough, they'll do weird stuff. Additionally, when two people are doing something messed up together they tend to build off each other. People tend to gang up and bully harder when in a group, than when it's just one person. And serial killer couples have a tendency to more horrible crimes because they have each other to feed off of.
I try not to use the word "sociopath" because it's so misunderstood. But I get what you're saying now. Sorry for snipping at you.