Medallion of Power

The Medallion of Power is a game advantage that briefly appeared in . It is a variant of the Challenge Advantage that allows the tribe holding it to receive an advantage in a challenge should they decide to use it.
==Usage==
After explaining the mechanics of a challenge, the host will explain what the tribe's advantage at the challenge would be if they use the Medallion (such as shortcuts or less workload). The host would then ask the tribe that possesses the Medallion if they will take the advantage. If the tribe decides not to use the Medallion, the item will remain in the tribe's ownership, and the challenge will start on equal playing field. But once the tribe uses the Medallion, the advantage will be given to them, though they must transfer ownership of the Medallion to the rival tribe.
==History==
Stylized as a large flower with a blue and yellow lanyard, the Medallion was introduced during the marooning on Day 1. The Medallion was recognized as an opportunity to level the playing field between the age-defined Espada and La Flor tribes.
At the start of the season, the twenty castaways (who had yet to be divided into tribes) were tasked to find it, yet the Medallion's true power remained unknown. The first person to find the Medallion would win it for their tribe. When Brenda Lowe found it, the other players on her mat congratulated her, under the premise that the two groups of ten were the actual tribes. Much to the castaways' surprise, host Jeff Probst announced that the two groups were not tribes yet, and revealed that the season will have a young vs. old format.
With Brenda being under 30, she won the Medallion for the La Flor tribe. Moments later, Jeff then gave the tribe a dilemma. While the Medallion's power remained unrevealed, Jeff gave La Flor the option to trade the Medallion of Power for fishing supplies, with what the tribe deciding not to pick being given to the rival Espada tribe. After a healthy conversation, the tribe decided to give away the Medallion to Espada in exchange for the fishing gear.
At the first Immunity Challenge, Jeff revealed that the true purpose of the Medallion was to give its host tribe a distinct advantage at challenges, much to La Flor's chagrin. Ultimately, Espada decided not to use it, thus starting the challenge on even ground. The older tribe's decision did not help them, as the younger tribe surged ahead with the puzzle portion and won the challenge, sending them to Tribal Council.
At the second challenge, which was for both reward and immunity, Espada opted to use the Medallion, which gave them a tremendous lead over La Flor. Though La Flor caught up, Espada pulled ahead and won the challenge. At the next challenge, La Flor decided not to use the Medallion, thus keeping it in their possession until the next challenge. Despite this, the younger tribe won the challenge. The tribe used it at the next challenge, giving them a lopsided victory.
On Day 12, Jeff announced a Tribe Switch, mixing up the two tribes. After this, it was announced that the Medallion of Power would be retired for the rest of the season.
===Medallion Usage===
Episode	Ownership	Challenge Mechanics 	Advantage 	Medallion Used?	Result
1 	 	Tribe members must fill their barrel with enough water to release their puzzle pieces 	One bucket of water placed in their barrel 	 	Lost
2 	 	Tribes must retrieve balls from a stack of hay and toss them to a barrel 	One ball already in their barrel and having one weaker tribe member sit out the challenge 	 	Win
3 	 	Tribe members must toss sandbags on top of a series of barrels 	Two of their barrels will be out of the field, already on a platform with a sandbag on top of each of them 	 	Win
4 	 	Blindfolded tribemates will be instructed by a caller to retrieve ten items scattered around the area	Two items will already be placed onto their tribe mat, thus reducing their required number of items to eight	 	Win
==Reception==
Fans' reaction to the Medallion of Power was lukewarm to negative, a trend that would continue with the following season. Many commented that the Medallion was deemed useless as a large portion of the challenges when it could be used involved little to no physical ability.
Jeff Probst has remained staunchly critical of the twist, but conceded that the original concept may have been let down by its execution and its being limited to challenges only.https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/controversial-twists/id1673596832?i=1000610798404 (18:00)
==Trivia==
* La Flor became the first tribe to possess the Medallion of Power (which was found by Brenda Lowe), but it was Espada who became the first tribe to use it.
* Out of the four challenges where the Medallion of Power could have been used, it was only used in two of them.
** Both times the Medallion was used, the tribe using it won the challenge.
==References==
Category:Gameplay
Category:Twists
Category:Objects
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor: Nicaragua
Category:Survivor (franchise)