What Does The Ending Of Blair Witch Really Mean?

What Were Lane And Talia Up To?

When Lane and Talia found the plot-instigating clip of Lisa, they claimed it was the only usable bit of footage on the tape, something we now know to be false; quite how much footage was on that tape is unclear (presumably it starts after Lane is killed), but they'll have known that her and James would ultimately fall foul of the Witch, meaning they chose to use the unidentifiable part as bait.

All of this will have been motivated by their fascination with the legend and a desire to discover what exactly everybody in Burkittsville is afraid to say. Although them faking the first batch of stick figures may have dismissed them as frauds, they were actually as dangerous as the gang originally fear; they were fanatics playing into the myth, to the point Talia even questioned whether what they were doing - leading these people to certain death - was right.

Of course, while they were accidentally flirting with fate, doing the Witch's will before she's even got her claws into their mind, it still didn't end positively, with both falling foul of the time dilation and dying regardless of what they did for the spirit. In the end, the Witch has no allegiances and takes no prisoners or friends.