Simvivor: Dragon Valley

***Simvivor: Dragon Valley*** is the ninth season of *Simvivor*. A season that was deemed a critical failure, it faced a severe decline in ratings for the franchise by its finale episode. The "pre-existing relationships" twist was considered "half-baked" and "poorly executed", which ultimately led to a one-sided season with all of the castaways with connections going deep into the game.

In the end, it was 32-year old professor Cindy Alto-Landgraab who won in a 5-2 victory, beating her estranged husband Eugene Landgraab at the Final Tribal Council.

## Production

Production for *Simvivor'*s ninth and tenth seasons started simultaneously in May 2021, with both seasons being filmed back-to-back. However, both seasons featured some sort of twist where castaways knew others prior to the game. As a result, this relationship editing in the simulation led to predictable outcomes and overall bad seasons. Producers later scrapped both seasons, later combining both casts into one and re-working the twist to not include every single castaway.

*Dragon Valley* was later chosen as the new location, as it was originally going to film in Glimmerbrook.

The pre-existing relationships for the season are as follows:

* **Cindy & Eugene**: Estranged married couple
* **Arianna & Luke**: Exes
* **Danica & JP**: Siblings
* **Isa & Morticia**: Married
* **Tennessee & Texas**: Twins
* **Mac & Savannah**: Former best friends

## Twists/Changes

* **Expanded Cast:** Following its predecessor, this season also featured eighteen castaways.
* **Tribe Composition:** The castaways are divided into tribes of nine, but each tribe featured members who shared past relationships. In total, twelve of the eighteen castaways knew at least one person prior to the show.
* **Tribe Switch:** On Day 9, selected tribe "chiefs" were tasked to rearrange the tribes, mixing up the castaways.
* **Double Tribal Council:** On Day 15, both tribes attended Tribal Council. They played for reward, with the winners competing for individual immunity and the opportunity to observe the losing tribe's Tribal Council, and vote for one person to receive immunity.
* **Hidden Immunity Idol:** Located around the Xhakúm campsite is a Hidden Immunity Idol. Clues are given to winners of challenges. In a change to the previous idol mechanics, the idol is played **before** the vote to detract potential voting blocs from targeting the idol's user.

## Season Summary

*Dragon Valley'*s premiere featured clips of each paired castaway at home, discussing their relationships. Eugene Landgraab was a notable figure as he explained that his estranged wife Cindy Alto-Landgraab no longer lived at home - their segment was recorded via webcam. Afterwards, all eighteen castaways met as a group before divided into their two tribes and separated to their own camps.

Pippa Hynes was seen early on as an over-the-top strategist and she got into extreme conflict with fellow tribemate Mac Catalan. Despite Pippa's negative reception from her tribe, she was spared as the season's first boot due to her lack of pre-existing relationships. The overall theme of pre-existing relationships came into play numerous times within the season.

Marked with a lack of storytelling and a confusing edit, multiple players such as Arianna Duffy and Johnny Smith were framed to be likely contenders to win the game, but were all voted out early on. At the merge, Isa Goth formed an alliance with Cindy and Eugene, as well as Luke Holland, which lasted until Isa's eventual elimination. Despite being blindsided and betrayed by his allies when his wife Morticia Goth was voted out, Isa's loyalty was unfaltering and led to a late-game decimation of underdogs Danica Edmonds and JP Langley.

Unsurprisingly, Cindy and Eugene finished out the season strong as the final two castaways. Rebuilding their relationship essentially from scratch throughout the season, the two developed a closer bond than ever before and relied on each others' respective wits and charm to get ahead. However, it was Cindy's impressive social game that was respected by the jury in the end. She became the ninth Sole Survivor, winning in a 5-2 vote.

## Trivia

* This is the first season of all new players where most of the cast had pre-existing relationships.
* Cindy Alto-Landgraab set the record this season for most Individual Immunity wins for a female castaway, with four.