It Really Be Your Own Bitches

is the premiere and pilot episode of Survivor: Erta Ale.
==Challenges==
Reward/Immunity Challenge: 21 Hour Madness.
Castaways were given tasks at random with a set number of point hours for 24 hours with a 3 hour grace period. The tribe with the most points would win immunity and reward.
Winners: and 
==Summary==
Survivor: Erta Ale began with a bang as twenty-one former castaways were marooned at the heights of the Erta Ale lava pool in Ethiopia. They were sorted into three tribes: Neber, Sanja, and Seyf. Hidden in the cast reveal was a link to start the hunt for the hidden immunity idol, a callback to ’s idol hunting method.
On Seyf, Joan clocked the idol link within half an hour of the marooning and shared the clue with Matt to form trust. After Matt found the grid spot on his first guess, which was a callback to ’s idol hunting method, he and Joan advanced to the bridge for the idol. The rest of Seyf featured a unanimous sense of eeriness as each castaway denoted that Day 1 impressions indicated there might not be a staple easy first boot on the tribe.
Meanwhile, on Neber, Julia quickly emerged as a social powerhouse, forming close connections with Su, Emma, David, and Andrea, who all denoted her as their prospective ride-or-die. Amidst this, Julia, Su, and Andrea posited that Courtney would be an easy first boot from the tribe due to her lack of effort. David, meanwhile, felt that Courtney’s original showing meant she could make a good ally and felt that keeping her in with shields such as Su and Caeleb could be beneficial, prompting him to set his sights on Andrea and Emma as targets.
On Sanja, the tribe quickly became divided by those deemed strong threats going in and those deemed medium threats with lowered efforts. The castaways denoted two duos: Arshia and Tobi, as well as Rhys and Nicole. When Rhys found the idol link, he attempted to recruit Nicole and Arshia into an alliance. Arshia informed Tobi of this group immediately and began leaking their idol guesses to gain an upper hand in the search.
The castaways were then informed of the twist of the season: Blood Money, a callback to ’s staple twist, wherein castaways would have an opportunity to gain Louvre dollars through social, strategic, and physical means. Shortly thereafter, they attended the first immunity challenge: 24 Hour Madness. During the challenge, Matt carried Seyf’s weight, Nicole carried Sanja’s weight, and the Neber tribe collectively tackled the tasks. Due to Nicole’s intense methods for the tasks, the other two tribes quickly utilized the mini-games in the challenge to gang up on Sanja, sending them behind. Sanja’s point deficit was consecrated when Eva secretly traded points for Louvre dollars, prompting the sense of harmony on Sanja to dissipate. At the end of the challenge, Neber and Sanja won immunity and reward.
At Sanja, the plurality of Nicole, Rhys, and Arshia weighed out their options. They noted that Tobi was automatically safe and an ally option. Shane performed poorly in the challenge but was trying socially, and the other tribes might be inclined to bet money on him, which meant if they saved him, they hurt the other tribes. Feeling like they needed a majority, they pulled Tobi into a new alliance. Within that alliance, Tobi and Arshia wanted to vote Drew, while Nicole and Rhys wanted to vote Eva.
Meanwhile, on Seyf, the immunity challenge complicated the tribe dynamic with a divide of who was and who was not efficient in the challenge. Joan, Matt, Jared, and Felix entertained the idea of coming together to form a majority, while the tribe seemed divided on whether they would vote Hannah or Lynn for a lack of effort in the immunity challenge.
On Neber, the divisions became more intense. David found the idol hunt, then told Julia, who secretly told Emma behind his back. At the immunity challenge, a mini-game forced Julia to vote David out, prompting him to feel less connected with her. After comparing notes and realizing his closest allies were her targets, David noted that the proposed majority of himself, Andrea, Emma, and Julia with Su as a peripheral ally might not be beneficial for his game.
With hours looming until tribal council on Sanja, Arshia and Tobi felt that if they advocated for a Drew boot, they would reveal their bond, prompting them to concede on the vote. Feeling like a blindside was unnecessary due to their monopoly on the idol hunt, Rhys told Eva it would likely be her. As a result, she attempted to rally a majority alliance of herself, Arshia, Nicole, and Tobi, but only further ostracized her behind-the-scenes advocates in Arshia and Tobi by not putting enough effort into the process leading up to an alliance. As the faux-majority went through an apathetic charade of contemplating Drew or Shane as votes, Eva quickly realized her days were numbered. At tribal council, Eva was unanimously eliminated in a 6-1 vote.
However, the second twist of the season was revealed: as a callback to ’s Redemption Island, eliminated castaways would go to Gehanemi, where they would compete in door to hell challenges to stay alive and earn Louvre dollars. Before she left for Gehameni, Eva bequeathed her Louvre dollars to her rival Andrea, hoping to mend bad blood and do something unexpected.
==Tribal Council==
colspan="2" 	
Voted Against	Voter
 	
 	
colspan="2" 	
====Voting Confessionals====
===Trivia===
*The episode was named by Tobi.
Category:Erta Ale Episodes
Category:Episodes