Good call - you saved me the trouble of typing out "Stay in the woods!" - your thinking is good. Me, I was thinking Aiden is an unreliable narrator, and the smug one is HIM, not Lauren, and the tribe might not miss Aiden too much if he stayed in the woods. (And got eaten by a monster? No, no, I swear I like Aiden better than that!) Seeing Aiden become a hero by saving the tribe from some threat (detected only because he stayed in the woods) is gratifying. I'll take a happy ending to a hero's journey over a tragedy or a come-uppance. Thanks for posting this, @iamjustinscott