Plot question: why does Ned blow his own cover?

[Zoot]

The papers found at Ned's bunker suggest that the "research reports" found at Wapiti were fabricated by him for Henry to find. But at Wapiti he also left the "wave finder" which leads Henry to find the keys to the closed off cave where Brian's body is.

If Ned went through the trouble of creating some elaborate "social experiment" ruse in order to confuse Henry and Delilah and distract them from the cave, why would he also leave the wave finder at the very same fake research station, and why would he put a beacon on the keys, enabling Henry to find them with the wave finder, instead of just keeping them securely at the bunker?

I did quite enjoy playing through the story but it doesn't really add up to me.

[DensetsuDan]

Well to start, many areas of the game are intentionally created as ambiguous. I feel the decision of this was to allow us the opportunity to think for ourselves, to experience or relate to the complexities of emotion and human nature. In particular, to let us mirror Henry's emotions. This ambiguity alone allows us to dive deeper into the characters and to focus less on what/how something was done but to highlight the fact that is was there to begin with and leave the rest to the player.

Now to Ned, at the start we find out of his potential struggles with PTSD from his wartime experiences. We know by the end of the game of his "emotional baggage" with Brian, of the grief, guilt, fear and isolation he must be carrying to name a few things. He loved Brian deeply, he felt responsible for what happened, he was terrified of the incident being discovered and saw himself as a failure for letting it happen to the point of removing himself physically and emotionally from the outside world.

With this in mind, there are two possibilities I can believe:
1. Ned intentionally left the wave finder behind.
He could have done this as a subconscious cry for help. Ned's conflicted ideas led to "cognitive dissonance" leading his conscious self to create an elaborate plan involving the social experiment as a way to cope. His unconscious, seeking closure and to free him of his burdens, decided to leave the wave finder and keys as a means to leave clues for Henry. This would also double up as an insurance policy, that if his involvement would be found out either way, his version of events would be told thus Ned remaining in control of his narrative and a final chance of sparing his reputation/ seeking forgiveness.
Note: He could have of course simply placed the clues there out of a change of heart or some twisted game to feel superior messing with others but with evidence to his mental state I would still lean towards his internal conflict of wanting his suffering to end and not to be found.

2. Ned unintentionally left the wave finder behind.
This could have been a genuine mistake caused by Ned's over-planning of an elaborate scheme. Referring back to Ned's mental state, paranoia would have been prominent for someone like Ned. Henry's and Delilah's snooping near the cave would have been more than enough pressure to worry Ned that his secret was in danger of being discovered. In a decision to distract H&D, Ned created the very complex illusion of the "social experiment" as a cover story by appropriating the abandoned Wapiti Station for his own purposes to misdirect them. While so fixated on his own illusion, Ned underestimated Henry's resourcefulness in obtaining the wave finder. A note in Ned's bunker reveals his confusion that Henry had found the keys, this could imply that the beacon on the keys were placed prior to Henry finding the wave finder and that Ned had no knowledge of Henry taking anything back from Wapiti Station (Ned had planned to burn all of the evidence there after Henry had seen the fake research reports).

To summarise my thoughts:
As the wave finder/ keys ultimately lead to the truth, it is highly unlikely that Ned would have intentionally wanted Henry to find them, at least initially. Ned took many desperate measures over the last 3 years to ensure that he and his secret remained hidden. It is my feeling that over the time of watching Henry's and Delilah's curiosity succeed in finding out the truth, Ned felt the opportunity to slowly guide him towards the real truth thus bringing an end to his suffering. For Ned, Brian's death was a regretful accident that he knew was also on the mind of Delilah and he desperately wanted a way out but had to make sure it was someone he could trust both with understanding his feeling but also take care of Delilah's. From the constant observations and eavesdropping on their calls, Henry ticked the boxes as someone Ned could confide in and provide empathy.

The key turning point of it all for me was the final fire. Although Ned started the Wapiti Station fire, it was not done out of malice but out of fear, the same emotion also driving Delilah and Henry at this point. The final large forest fire was not intentional but instead a culmination both metaphorically as destructive as the inner turmoils of each character and the fire events previous which resulted into a forced chaotic ending and an ultimatum on all three of them. I feel the characters change throughout the story, however, it was at this point that I believe Ned and the others made their decisions with Ned drifting from his original plans. The final evidence being Ned's tape recording for Henry at the end of the game acting almost as a confession to everything. Ned was truly a tragic character.

TLDR: Ned didn't intentionally "blow his cover." His actions were driven by complex psychological factors stemming from past trauma (PTSD) and the accidental death of his son. Initially focused on concealment, Ned's desire for release and closure grew as Henry got closer to the truth, leading him to subconsciously or accidentally leave clues that ultimately led to his confession.

Sorry for the long post. I completed Firewatch recently and this was a perfect place for me to write my thoughts >u<

[Zoot]

Thanks. I like the idea that his listening in on Henry's and Delilah's conversations maybe made him "rediscover humanity" in some way, and perhaps his subconsciousness drove him to slip up because it sought closure; maybe learning of the pain in their lives, he felt these two particular humans would be able to grant him forgiveness, whereas "society"/government/"the system" quite possibly never would.

[DuckyMgee]

He let Henry find the keys so he would enter 452 and get trapped
(he closed the door), but didn't count on the "lost" pitons that Brian had left at his hideout, allowing Henry to escape. After, he realised there was nothing left to do, so he left a cassette explaining that it was an accident and disappeared. The original idea was to lock Henry in the cave and have him die, keeping his secret.