Season 3 Episode Recaps

Recaps for everything that happened in Trevivor Season 3: Camelot's Last Stand!

## **Episode 1:** “Please don’t make me play the game that I willingly signed up for” - Hope

As sixteen fresh new peasants waited to be let into Camelot, they received a surprise: two more were to join them, returnees from our two previous seasons. First was **PYRO** from The Nine Realms, followed by **CLAY** from Hades’ Fury. They were to serve as captains, looking for redemption after falling well short in their first appearances. There was another jolt that followed, as it was announced that there would be a **Day Zero**, giving our 18 peasants the chance to all talk to each other before they would be drafted into tribes by the two captains.

Some of the standouts socially during this Day Zero were **IZ**, **RAVELT**, **TANNER**, **PYRO** and **SERRA**. Those first two in particular showed up on nearly everyone’s first impressions and as potential allies going forward. **ASHLEY** was also very active but received some mixed reviews, though overall she still stood out as a player to watch going forward. **POLA** was someone who had some negative perceptions from others, with her strategy of purposefully playing dumb coming across to some as odd.

Most of the castaways seemed to hope they would be selected by **PYRO** of the two captains, as **CLAY** was busy at marooning and got off to a slower start socially. When it came time for the draft, **PYRO** selected **RAVELT** first, while **CLAY’S** first pick was **TANNER**. Interestingly, both of their top fours were completely different, as **PYRO** then scooped up **SERRA**, **IZ** and **SPIDER**, while **CLAY** selected **HOPE**, **SIMBA** and **REJ**. In the second half of the draft, **ASHLEY**, **DAVON**, **HIGH** and **OCTOBER** all joined Pyro on Stirling, while **XAVIER**, **MELAS**, **POLA** and **TOMMY** rounded out **CLAY’S** Quimper.

Some interesting notes from their draft rankings: **SPIDER** was the only peasant in the top five for both captains, while **TOMMY** was bottom-two for both. **OCTOBER**, **HIGH** and **POLA** were the others in the 10-16 range on both of their lists, potentially showing that they all would need to step up their game a little.

On Stirling, most people seemed pretty happy with their tribe. **IZ** and **RAVELT** in particular received a deluge of messages of people seemingly happy to be on a tribe with them, positioning them as potential centre-pieces of the tribe. They both immediately launched into the safari but found nothing on their first run, while **ASHLEY** was the first person to find a reward, enlisting **RAVELT’S** help to complete a task and receiving a *WILL*. She also proposed a ride or die alliance with him, which seemed genuine on her end, though it left **RAVELT** feeling a bit nervous about making that agreement. However, they both sat at #1 on each other’s trust rankings. **DAVON** had a strong evening, earning himself a *WILL* from the safari and also creating the first alliance of the season, Rave Babes, with **IZ** and **RAVELT**. **PYRO** also found a reward from the safari: a rock amulet that will protect her should she face rocks at any point this season. **HIGH** was initially disappointed at having neither **HOPE** or **POLA** on his tribe, but rebounded quickly, finding a *WILL* in the safari and building bonds with his new tribemates, with **IZ** and **ASHLEY** at the top of his trust rankings. The safari did not go as well for a couple tribe members, as **SERRA** gave up on beating the Tetris challenge, **OCTOBER** was unable to complete it either, and **SPIDER** did not use his safari at all.

The one common denominator from everyone’s initial trust rankings was **SPIDER** and **OCTOBER** being at or near the bottom. At just 13, and on a tribe of nearly all people in their 20s, **SPIDER** was at a natural disadvantage in terms of social relatability, and it remains to be seen how well he will be able to navigate that. **OCTOBER** was pointed out as the least active, and looked to be the presumptive boot should Stirling go to tribal.

For the challenge, **IZ** took the lead on the graphic design, while **SERRA** took the lead on the writing of the backstory. The tribe as a whole worked well together, submitting earlier than Quimper and also blowing them out of the water when it came to the judging. Avoiding first tribal and having some time off, the opportunity was there for those more towards the bottom of the tribe’s early hierarchy to try and improve their position.

On Quimper, conversations started off slow but **TANNER** and **SIMBA** got right to work with game talk. **SIMBA** mentioned right away he wants **CLAY** out first if they were to lose the challenge while **TANNER** disagreed. **TANNER** didn't want to push too much early on and mentioned in his confessionals that he thinks he’s gonna sit back cause he thinks **SIMBA** will take the lead on everything. **SIMBA** aligned himself with multiple people and proceeded to say he wants to play a villain role and vote out everybody's favourites. Two of these people would not be **HOPE** and **POLA** who he offers BOTH a duo with him.

**POLA** started the swap being extremely paranoid mentioning to everybody that she feels like she's at the bottom and that **SIMBA** who promised her safety, was “probably lying”. **POLA** had no shame and directly after the merge she asked **HOPE** to be her ride or die making **HOPE** feel a little awkward but she proceeded to agree anyhow. **XAVIER** was fairly quiet this round in confessionals but in dm’s he was growing connections with **SIMBA** and **TANNER** while also keeping **POLA** close and trying to maintain her paranoia. Lastly, **TOMMY** started off the game fairly weak by not forming many connections but instead focusing on the safari. **TOMMY** completed the safari and picked a chest to reveal a *TRIBE CROSS COMMUNICATION ADVANTAGE* where he picked **IZ!!** They both agreed to share information about the safari and decided to form a game relationship that will favour them come swap or merge.

Also important to note, **MELAS** and **TOMMY** hadn’t connected with many people on their tribe which caused them both to be near the bottom of just about everybody's trust rankings. While **HOPE**, **XAVIER** and **REJ** have stuck to the middle of peoples trust rankings. Also, only two people finished their safari this round which was **TOMMY** and **HOPE**. **HOPE** received a *WILL* and **TOMMY** received the cross tribe communication as previously mentioned.

For Quimper’s coat of arms, the tribe was struggling on time management and communication. **HOPE** took the lead in creating the design and **POLA** mentioned she wanted to work on the story but their progress was stagnant. **TANNER** and **REJ** decided to step in last minute and posted their work. The tribe made a unified decision to use **TANNER** and **REJ’S** work instead. Unfortunately in the end it wouldn’t have made a difference because Quimper wasn’t able to keep up with the competition and Quimper would be sent to tribal to vote out the first peasant of the season.

An unofficial majority alliance was formed including **HOPE**, **SIMBA**, **TANNER**, **XAVIER** and **POLA** after the challenge results were announced where they debated if they were going to vote out **CLAY** or **MELAS**. Despite **CLAY** being somewhat inactive in tribe chats and dm’s, **TANNER** took control of the vote due to him feeling closer to **CLAY**. Being the first tribal of the season, everybody agreed on **MELAS** as a way to not make too many waves, and **MELAS** becomes the first peasant of the season voted out in a unanimous 8-1 vote.

## **Episode 2:** "I'm gonna be so nice they will feel sick" - Pola

As soon as the Quimper tribal council ended, Stirling jumped right back into the safari, and members of the tribe were just as enthusiastic about sharing what they got as they were about doing the tasks themselves. **ASHLEY** won a Vote Shield, and immediately told both **RAVELT** and **HIGH**, also telling **IZ** a little later. Similarly, **RAVELT** won a DM locker with which he can cause a live tribal post-merge, and all of **ASHLEY**, **HIGH**, **IZ** and **PYRO** quickly ended up learning this. **DAVON** also won a vote shield, which at least **IZ** learned, while **IZ**, **PYRO** and **SERRA** all won a *WILL*. Of the others, **OCTOBER** chose an empty chest, **HIGH** chose the now-empty chest from which **PYRO** had previously nabbed a Rock Amulet, and **SPIDER** again did not attempt a task.(edited)

The biggest shift in the tribe’s dynamic from the first challenge to this point was the fracturing of **IZ** and **RAVELT’S** relationship, which stemmed from the latter sniffing out the former’s IRL identity and telling her about it. This was not received well by **IZ**, and caused her to re-assess where **RAVELT** stood with her. While not completely ruling out working with him, he slid down her trust rankings, as **HIGH** continued to climb. This led to the creation of Dihzy with **IZ**, **DAVON** and **HIGH**, which was later followed by Hi Wave consisting of those three + **RAVELT** and **PYRO**, forming the first true majority alliance on the tribe. These moves also solidified **HIGH** as a newly-minted power player on the tribe, as he was fairly well-regarded across the board and free of any drama.

**PYRO** was another beneficiary of the minor shake-up in the tribe’s structure, finding herself a strong #2 on **RAVELT’S** trust rankings (behind **ASHLEY**), and also becoming closer with **IZ**, pitching a proposed four-person alliance of the two of them, **TANNER** and **TOMMY** come a swap/merge. **PYRO** revealed in her conf that she and **TANNER** had made a secret pact on Day Zero that they would work together later in the game, and that she did not pick him to her tribe on purpose. **IZ** seemed receptive to this idea, it fitting nicely with her existing cross-tribe channel with **TOMMY**, and **PYRO** telling her that **TANNER** had really liked her on Day Zero solidified this as a real possibility, with the two of them hoping to rope **DAVON** and **HIGH** in later as well.

Meanwhile, **ASHLEY** and **SERRA** continued to occupy more middle-tier positions on the tribe, with **ASHLEY** in particular tough to figure out how good of a spot she was in. Top two on both **RAVELT** and **HIGH’S** rankings but far lower for **PYRO** and **IZ**, doing well in the safari but being very open about what she has. **SERRA** was left out of the creation of Hi Wave though **PYRO** initially was hoping to include her and still would like to work with her. She’s clearly not at the top but is also not at the bottom, as **OCTOBER** and **SPIDER** remain more or less consensus bottom two amongst everyone else.

At the beginning of the scavenger hunt challenge, once the Knights remembered that someone from Stirling had to sit out (), **OCTOBER** was offered up as the sit-out, as **HIGH** pointed out that everyone else had mentioned participating in the tribe chat earlier. Awkwardly, right after this decision was pinged in, **OCTOBER** showed up and expressed that she had been looking forward to participating. Nevertheless, the challenge went on, and Stirling absolutely massacred Quimper 44-11, with **DAVON** scoring more than all of Quimper combined, and **PYRO**, **IZ**, **HIGH** and **SERRA** all nabbing a good number of points as well.

In the aftermath of their win, Stirling was able to relax and await the next challenge, though **DAVON** did try and keep tribe unity up by stating that Quimper had seemed super unified in how they acted during the challenge, and that they needed to be very careful of them should a swap happen next. A few of his tribemates seemed to agree, but we’ll have to see how unified Stirling remains once they have to face some adversity in the game.

Over on Quimper, they were pumped to get back into the game and win a challenge so that they wouldn't have to go to back to back tribals! First though, the players had their safari runs and a lot of them were eager to…. Not do the safari. This episode 5/8 of the players did not finish their safari run. **POLA** did, and won herself a *LEGACY ADVANTAGE* and immediately let **HOPE** know this information. **SIMBA** finished and won nothing and **TOMMY** won himself a *WILL*.

Once again, the conversations were slow on Quimper tribe. **HOPE** began to feel closer to **POLA** after **POLA** told her about her advantage. She realized that **POLA** is being genuine with her and slides her up on her trust rankings. **TANNER** was the only one that appears to actually be trying to grow more connections as he reached out to **REJ** and made a duo with him and then also made a trio with **TOMMY** and **SIMBA**. Quimper also got their first alliance chat of the season: Knightly Morphin Power Rangers, who were the same group of five that voted together last vote and chances were, would be voting together again if they were to go to tribal.

The Quimper tribe was eager to work together and win the next challenge. After losing the first challenge, losing a second one would be devastating to their numbers. Unfortunately, Quimper could not keep up with Stirling during the scavenger hunt and to put it nicely, they got demolished. **SIMBA** scored the most points on their tribe with a total of 3 points. In conclusion, with a score of 44-11, Quimper lost the scavenger hunt challenge and was headed to tribal for the second time in a row.

The general consensus on the tribe was that everybody liked each other and didn't want to vote anybody out, however, **SIMBA** maintained his goal of wanting **CLAY** out while also offering to be a decoy vote. A majority of the tribe was comfortable with this decision and they didn’t feel obligated to rock the boat. The only two people that objected were **HOPE** and **XAVIER.**. **HOPE** didn’t express this disagreement publicly, but **XAVIER** threw out **TOMMY’S** name in hope to save **CLAY**. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough. Due to relative inactivity (though he had picked it up during the scavenger hunt itself) and dull conversations as said by the players, **CLAY** would be the second peasant voted out of the game in a 7-1 vote and the second unanimous vote of the season.

## **Episode 3:** “The more times I show my charm the better” - Davon

After a second straight Quimper tribal, that now-group of seven looked to change their momentum, while Stirling looked to stay perfect. Both their goals, however, where shattered when it was revealed that **both** tribes would be heading to tribal council, as each member of Quimper was paired with someone from Stirling for wavelength, with the winning pair winning individual immunity at their respective tribals. The pairs were **TANNER/SPIDER**, **HOPE/PYRO**, **POLA/OCTOBER**, **SIMBA/ASHLEY**, **XAVIER/HIGH**, **TOMMY/DAVON**, **REJ/IZ** and then **RAVELT/SERRA**, the two leftover members of Stirling who had to pair up with each other, losing the opportunity to chat with someone from the other tribe.

While the realization that they would have to go to tribal was an annoyance to those on Stirling, the person who would be booted did not seem to be too much of a question. **OCTOBER** had been singled out as the presumptive boot since the first cycle, and that did not seem to have changed between then and the third. That did not mean, however, there would not be some important developments this cycle.

**ASHLEY**, **DAVON** and **PYRO** continued to be safari stars, the only people in the game who won something in all of the first three cycles. **ASHLEY** and **PYRO** both won their second *WILL*, while **DAVON** won a Rock Amulet to go with their Vote Shield. On the other side of the spectrum, **SPIDER** for the very first time punched in a safari command, but did not come close to finishing his task.

Over on Quimper, their energy was running low from already losing two tribemates but after **King Arthur’s** announcement of a double tribal, it was clear that Quimper was not going to catch a break. The tribe’s sad attempt at the safari continued as only three of the castaways finished their run this cycle, those people being **HOPE, SIMBA** and **TANNER**. **HOPE** and **TANNER** both received nothing but **SIMBA** received a *WILL*. Their challenge for this cycle didn’t go as well either.

During the challenge, **IZ** became quite frustrated with **REJ’S** very slow approach, going as far as to thinking that he was attempting to throw the challenge in some way. This was not the case, as **REJ** was doing his best to not make any mistakes and struggled with perhaps overthinking a little. In the end, they ended up getting a penalty which cost them, and allowed **PYRO** and **HOPE** to nab the victory, and individual immunity. The opportunity to socialize in their Wavelength channels was used by some, with **DAVON/TOMMY** and **HIGH/XAVIER** in particular conversing with each other for a bit after they finished, and the latter two stating that they would be down to work together if they ended up on the same tribe.

On the other side of the spectrum, **SIMBA** tried to use his channel with **ASHLEY** to paint himself as someone near the bottom of Quimper, saying that he felt he could be the next to go. Despite her resistance and unresponsiveness, he continued on in order to try and gain a future ally but **ASHLEY** mentioned in her confessional that she did not feel good about **SIMBA**, and came out of the challenge stating that she would not like to work with him in the future, with one of the main reasons being his use of the emoji.

After the challenge results were released and Quimper was told that **HOPE** was immune, Quimper started talking about voting out their third tribe member in a row. Unfortunately, their numbers were dwindling and there wasn’t as many people to choose from. It was clear that **TOMMY** was at the bottom of the tribe and had been close to real danger for a while, and unfortunately that would catch up to him as his name was the first name thrown out this episode. **XAVIER’S** name was also thrown out by **TOMMY** but **XAVIER** got word of it quick and told **TANNER** and **SIMBA** about it. Due to the presence of the Knightly Morphin Power Rangers alliance that dominated the tribe, the idea of an **XAVIER** vote was diminished quickly. **TANNER** was fairly neutral about a **TOMMY** vote but did mention that **HOPE** was really pushing for it, as she had **REJ** noticeably high on her trust rankings despite him not being in the majority alliance. This led to the creation of Hope-Rej-Simba, a first alliance chat of the season for **REJ** and one that seemed to point to him staying, as he looked to gain a bit of real power in the tribe. On the other hand, **POLA** was gunning for **REJ**, wanting him out and hoping that **TOMMY** had something up his sleeve to save himself. Due to this, she let **TOMMY** know that the vote is on him.(edited)

**TOMMY** took this information and tried to use it to his advantage. He attempted to create a **SIMBA** blindside which was a somewhat unfortunate target to choose because **SIMBA** didn't even really want to vote for **TOMMY** and in his confessional he said he felt like it was something he just had to do. **POLA** heard about this potential blindside and once she realized that leaking the info to **TOMMY** wasn't going her way, she let everybody know, causing some havoc. **TOMMY** then proceeded to blame **POLA** and said she was the one that had said **SIMBA’S** name. This doesn't go over well with **TANNER** and **XAVIER**, power players who had trust in **POLA**, and the target remained squared on **TOMMY**. Unfortunately, **TOMMY** had no advantages or “tricks up his sleeve” and his failed attempt at saving himself resulted in him being the fourth person voted out of the season in a 6-1 unanimous vote.

Back at Stirling’s camp, Hi Wave discussed whether they should just straight up tell **OCTOBER** that she was the vote. They decided that was the honourable thing to do, and they did it. **OCTOBER** tried to explain her lack of activity by blaming it on back to back super long work days, and felt like she had done the most she could, but her pleas did not change the minds of her tribemates. She decided to vote for **SPIDER**, who began to feel like he was on the outs himself. After saying that his plan was to “do absolutely nothing”, he started to become worried when 4/9 votes had been submitted with only **IZ** talking to him about the vote, followed by **PYRO** coming to him with reassurance that he wasn’t the one going. Despite that, he seemed content to not try and shake things up at all.

**PYRO’S** rise to one of the top - or perhaps even *the* top - player on Stirling continued, as **ASHLEY** began to feel better about her after having some game talk together. **PYRO** said in her conf that she’d be down to work with **ASHLEY** to an extent, but was a little wary of her due to feeling that she could have a strong UTR game going on, with both **RAVELT** and **HIGH** mentioning they like her a lot. **RAVELT**, meanwhile, moved **PYRO** into the top two of his trust rankings, loving the conversations the two of them were having.

The one person who expressed some reservations about **PYRO** was **IZ**, who felt the captain was the one in the best position on the tribe, wanting to use her as a shield for now but seeing both her and **DAVON** as “flashy threats”. Meanwhile, she continued to want **RAVELT** to go sooner rather than later, but decided to not gun for him quite yet because of his challenge strength, and because in the event of a swap he would likely want to stick with the Stirlings, which she could work with. As news of the Situation™️ continued to spread through the tribe, **RAVELT’S** position continued to deteriorate, but **IZ’S** position also began to weaken by the end of tribal.

This was because of **IZ** looking to keep a strong relationship with **SERRA**, making her a promise that she wasn’t on the bottom and also telling her about the existence of Hi Wave. **DAVON** was very unhappy upon **IZ** telling him about that, seeing her as a liability for his game due to her tendency to leak info, and then looking to do some damage control with **SERRA**. **PYRO** was left similarly unsure of where she could stand with **IZ**, and this revelation pushed her even more towards **DAVON** being her #1.

This left **IZ**, one of the most prominent players, in a bit of an odd spot. Standing at the top of **HIGH** and **SERRA’S** trust rankings but falling for **DAVON** and **PYRO**, it remained to be seen whether she could keep her status as a top contender, or whether she would end up being targeted sooner than expected. In the midst of all this, the **OCTOBER** vote went through 8-1 as planned, but a unanimous vote masked the amount of potential tension simmering beneath the surface on Stirling.

## **Episode 4:** “Call me FBI Ashley” - Ashley

After the double tribal, our peasants were hit with the news that they would be swapping tribes! Remaining in a two tribe setup, with the creative names Quimper 2.0 and Stirling 2.0, the divide was as follows:

On Quimper 2.0: **ASHLEY, HIGH, IZ, RAVELT** and **SERRA** from OG Stirling, and **SIMBA** and **TANNER** from OG Quimper On Stirling 2.0: **HOPE, POLA, REJ** and **XAVIER** from OG Quimper, and **DAVON, PYRO** and **SPIDER** from OG Stirling

On Quimper 2.0, both **SIMBA** and **TANNER** were left quite unhappy with their situation, going from power positions on their OG tribes to a definite minority. **SIMBA** especially was furious with his situation, and he had reason to feel like he was screwed because **ASHLEY** was coming for his head from the second the swap was announced.

The previous challenge had seen **ASHLEY** and **SIMBA** paired up, and while **ASHLEY** had already decided she didn’t want to work with him in the future due to his use of the emoji, his future position was inadvertently hurt by him lying to **ASHLEY** that he was at the bottom of his tribe and felt that he was in danger. This information was contradicted by what **TOMMY** told **IZ** with their cross-tribe channel, and after **TOMMY** was voted out **IZ** realized that **SIMBA** had been lying. **ASHLEY** immediately confronted **SIMBA** after the swap, who claimed that the reason he’d survived was because **TOMMY** had gotten into a fight with **POLA**, but **ASHLEY** did not believe this, and **SIMBA’S** story was contradicted by **TANNER**, who said he had not heard of a big fight between **TOMMY** and **POLA**, and also that **SIMBA** hadn’t really been on the bottom.

That lie combined with **SIMBA** trying to throw **POLA** specifically (who **ASHLEY** liked) under the bus for allegedly being hot-headed and calling the shots made her determined to gun for **SIMBA** as soon as they lost a challenge, while **TANNER** was very worried that **SIMBA’S** attempted deception would blow up for both of them, as he didn’t want to betray **SIMBA** immediately but also didn’t want to be targeted over him due to the others believing his story that he had been on the bottom of his OG tribe. **TANNER** had his day improved somewhat due to the safari, as he both found a Vote Shield and also had **PYRO** open up a cross-tribe chat with him, which he was very excited about, and he quickly began to be pretty open with her in terms of sharing info, telling her exactly what he got in the safari and giving his thoughts on the OG Quimper dynamics.(edited)

Meanwhile, the other five members of the tribe seemed reasonably unified, and quickly formed The Real Sterling to consolidate their numbers. **IZ** was still weighing the possibility of gunning for **RAVELT** before either OG Quimper, but also seemed fine with holding off on that a little bit longer. **SERRA** continued to get closer with **IZ**, and hoped to make an F3 pact with her and **HIGH**, which would form a majority trio within the majority alliance. While that did not become official quite yet, the seeds were planted for a group that could control the tribe. For his part, **HIGH** stated that he sees **IZ** as his ride or die, and that he doesn’t plan on turning on her in the future due to their genuine friendship. Looking to implement what he called the “Parker strategy”, **HIGH** has been looking to create different pockets of duos (**IZ**, **ASHLEY**) as well as trios (**IZ/DAVON**, **IZ/SERRA** and potentially **ASHLEY/POLA**) in order to insulate himself now and looking ahead to the next shake-up. However, **IZ** mentioned that she was wary of him and wasn’t sure if she wants to go to the end with him, due to him being a well-liked UTR threat.(edited)

**IZ** continued to try and strengthen her own position by talking with **TANNER** a lot the night before the challenge, telling him that people are aware of his history with **PYRO**, and that she wanted the two of them to work together in order to protect each other as they will likely be seen as big threats. **TANNER** shared this with **PYRO** in their channel, and **PYRO** took this to mean that **IZ** has been getting closer with **SERRA**, and warned **TANNER** to be careful about what he says to **IZ** due to the potential of her leaking info or otherwise using it against him.

After the swap, the OG Stirling on Stirling 2.0 knew that they were in the minority and that their games were at risk. While OG Stirling was worried about tribal lines being drawn, OG Quimper was thinking the exact opposite. **HOPE** was letting people know that original tribal lines would not necessarily be followed while **XAVIER** was reconnecting with a pre-existing game relationship with **DAVON**. While **REJ** was very quiet the entire episode, he did not start off quietly by causing a rift between him and **DAVON** and mentioning how great **DAVON** had been in the scavenger challenge previous to the swap. This causes **DAVON** to feel like **REJ** was already targeting him, not making him feel good about him at all. **DAVON** felt at the bottom of his tribe, and before the vote confronted **XAVIER** about the vote and asked him if he would consider not writing his name down. **XAVIER** agreed as long as he doesn’t have to vote out one of his allies.(edited)

There were two alliances quickly formed on the tribe, with the OG Stirling trio coming together in The Swap Screwed Three Musketeers, while **REJ** created Destiny's Child, which contained himself, **HOPE** and **POLA** but NOT **XAVIER**. It did not seem like **XAVER** was made aware of this alliance’s existence, but it was interesting to see him not immediately included.

For the challenge, **HIGH** volunteered to be the hero for Quimper 2.0, while it was **PYRO** who stepped up to the plate for Stirling 2.0. After studying their videos both got perfect scores on the trivia quiz, but **PYRO** dominated in terms of time, sending Quimper 2.0 to tribal council.

After the challenge results were released, Stirling 2.0 was feeling a lot more relaxed. So relaxed, that not too much happened after the results. The tribe spent their free night socializing and getting to know their new tribe mates without the pressure of a tribal. **PYRO** talked in her confessional about how **IZ** talked to her about how the previous challenge went with **REJ** and proceeded to say that someone that is that unsure during a challenge should not be trusted. However, shortly after that she says how she trusts **REJ** alot and that she was telling him very personal things about her life. **PYRO** also talked to **DAVON** about the fact that **IZ** has loose lips and they wanted to plot a way to get her out come merge.

Some other things to note from this tribe were that **SPIDER**, **POLA** and **HOPE** were pretty quiet this episode. This caused **SPIDER** and **POLA** in particular to linger at the bottom of everybody’s trust rankings. **PYRO** continued her streak of being trusted and everybody loving her and in an interesting note, **DAVON** put **XAVIER** second on his trust rankings, while **XAVIER** kept him as second to last.

Meanwhile, at tribal on Quimper 2.0, **SIMBA** was quite annoyed at his former tribemates for letting **PYRO** be the hero for Stirling 2.0 as he felt they should have thrown the challenge, and felt like he was the likely boot. He attempted to throw **TANNER** under the bus in a bid to save himself, and quickly voted for his former ally while promising full loyalty to whoever would save him. However, his name still had tons of traction, with **ASHLEY** in particular remaining focused on getting him out. While there was not immediate consensus - **RAVELT** initially would have preferred to vote out **TANNER** - **ASHLEY** leaking to The Real Sterling that **SIMBA** had tried to put together an alliance of himself, her, **IZ** and **SERRA** took care of any last resistance to writing his name down, and a unanimous vote fell on **SIMBA**, ending up as 6-0 due to **TANNER’S** Vote Shield blocking the one he received. The tribal took just two hours, a speed that shocked some of those on the other tribe.

With a quick vote against the clear minority in the books, on paper **TANNER** seemed like he could be in major danger should Quimper 2.0 go to tribal again. He would have to see whether his growing social bonds would be enough to at least temporarily move to target on to someone like **RAVELT**. Meanwhile, the rest of the OG Quimpers were left to grapple with the fact that nearly half of their original tribe was now gone.

## **Episode 5:** “Hm. This sucks ass” - Pyro

Immediately after Quimper 2.0’s quick tribal, **HIGH**, **IZ** and **SERRA** formed High Almost Five Gang, putting into place the trio that they had discussed the previous episode. Standing at the centre of things in their six-person tribe, this move looked to ensure the safety of all three. Meanwhile, **IZ** continued to try and build a bond with **TANNER**, trying to sell him on the idea that the two of them needed to work together to avoid being targeted, and use **PYRO** as a shield. **TANNER** then went to **PYRO** in Sir Dandaddy's Best Friends Forever to tell her that **IZ** was trying to plant seeds of her being dangerous, **PYRO** thanked him for letting her know, and told him that she was trying to do the same thing to **IZ** on her end. Also, **RAVELT** tried to pull the sword from the stone with two *WILL*, but failed.

Over on Stirling 2.0, **HOPE** was worried about where she might stand in the tribe, as she’d been working a lot that weekend and felt her social game might be seen as weak by her new tribemates. However, she looked to still be in a solid spot as none of the OG Quimpers seemed to be planning on flipping. Meanwhile, the trio of OG Stirlings on the tribe banked fully on the hope that they could avoid tribal, knowing that one of them was likely cooked should Quimper 2.0 win the challenge.

The challenge for this episode was **one on one puzzle duels**, and like for **wavelength**, the competitors for each tribe were given a secret channel where they could discuss whatever they’d like. The pairs were **PYRO** vs **RAVELT** on Jotto, **ASHLEY** vs **SPIDER** on noitcaeR, **HIGH** vs **REJ** on Chain Reaction, **TANNER** vs **POLA** on Jigsaw, **IZ** vs **DAVON** on Nonogram, and **SERRA** vs **XAVIER** on Mastermind. **HOPE** sat out for Stirling 2.0.

While some of these channels were silent outside of the challenge itself, others were much more lively. **IZ** and **DAVON** fell into the latter category, as they quickly launched into discussion about the state of the OG Stirlings on Stirling 2.0. **DAVON** was convinced that the OG Quimpers would stick together, and despite the fact that he had a Vote Shield he shared his worries over **SPIDER** potentially flipping to save himself, and just general paranoia due to being in the minority. **IZ** said that she considered trying to throw the challenge, but due to not being sure as to when the merge will happen, thought it would be too risky.

This debate over whether or not to try to throw caused a rift in between the different groups of OG Stirlings, as **DAVON**, **PYRO** and **SPIDER** were put off by the idea that their former tribemates were abandoning them and fine with screwing them over, and felt that this showed they cared about each other more than them. On the other side, none of **HIGH**, **SERRA** or **ASHLEY** wanted to try and throw at all, with **ASHLEY** in particular annoyed at those three for being upset at them for not doing so. She reiterated in her conf that this is an individual game, not wanting to put herself on the line for them, and this whole situation made her feel like the OG Stirling trio on Stirling 2.0 would not be on her side come merge, making her feel like keeping **RAVELT** around longer might be the right move. She also began a long, futile idol search, feeling like she probably needed it. **IZ** did not want either **DAVON** or **PYRO** to go, but couldn’t bring herself to try and throw even though she was worried it could pit the two of them against her later. **HIGH** remarked that he thought it would look really bad if they did try and throw, and that he didn’t want to stick with just OG Stirling forever anyway.

Meanwhile, **RAVELT** was very happy to have the opportunity to reconnect with **PYRO**, and told her about the **SIMBA** vote and how people hadn’t been as talkative recently. **PYRO**, knowing that he was in danger, did not say anything to him about that, but talked in her conf about how she’d like for him to stay. She also continued her quest to paint a bigger target on **IZ**, trying to play up her social prowess in a big way, however **RAVELT** saw that she was doing this as a strategic move, and remarked in his conf that he didn’t necessarily agree that **IZ** was a noticeably bigger threat than **PYRO**.

Back in Quimper 2.0’s camp, both **IZ** and **ASHLEY** looked to reassure **TANNER** that he wasn’t the next target, with **IZ** specifically mentioning **RAVELT** as a presumptive target. Later in the cycle, **SERRA** also came to **TANNER** with a proposed four-person alliance of them two, **IZ** and **PYRO** for post-merge, and while **TANNER** said he would be down, he noted privately that he would like to get some OG Quimpers involved if that were to come to fruition. **SERRA** and **IZ** continued to move in lockstep, with both of them talking in conf about how tight they are and how they see the game similarly. They discussed a planned boot order of both **RAVELT** and **ASHLEY** going before **TANNER** should they have to go to tribal twice.

In the final cross-tribe channel that provided a real impact on the game, **POLA** immediately launched into asking **TANNER** about the **SIMBA** vote, and while **TANNER** wasn’t originally planning on talking too much game with her, he felt he had to when it was clear she wanted to know as much as she could, not wanting her to hear it from someone else. **POLA** was quite upset to hear that **SIMBA** had tried to throw her under the bus while painting himself as being on the bottom of OG Quimper, and her reaction to this news made **TANNER** want to be very careful about potentially pissing her off in the future.

When it came to the actual puzzles, Quimper 2.0 dominated, winning 5-1. The only Stirling 2.0 member to win their duel was **XAVIER**, this resounding defeat sending him and his tribemates to tribal council. In the aftermath, **POLA** continued her strategy of playing dumb, saying in camp chat that the only reason she lost her duel was because she didn’t know how to take a screenshot of her puzzle properly.

Awkwardly, Stirling 2.0 had planned on having a tribe game night that evening, with tribal opening fifteen minutes before their scheduled time. Despite that, they followed through with their plan and played some Jackbox games together, with **PYRO**, **DAVON**, **HOPE** and **REJ** the ones that played the longest. **POLA** was not a part of this, and that combined with feeling like the others weren’t talking to her as much as with each other in general made her worried that she was on the block.

When it came time to actually discuss the vote, **SPIDER** came up as the top target for the OG Quimper foursome, and they finally formed an alliance chat with all four of them in it: The Quimps. **POLA** wanted to target **SPIDER** for meta reasons: **HOPE** had told her that he’d won an ORG previously and she didn’t want to deal with that, while the other OG Quimpers looked to target **SPIDER** purely because they’d made stronger connections with **DAVON** and **PYRO**.

**REJ** in particular bonded with **PYRO** some more, as **PYRO** shared with him what **IZ** had said about him during/after the Wavelength challenge and also in general painting her as someone playing very hard. **REJ** appreciated this and began to trust **PYRO** more, and for her part **PYRO** was focused on trying to build trust with the OG Quimpers as much as she could not just for survival but also because she was becoming more worried that she wouldn’t be able to lean on her OG Stirling connections post-merge, pointing out **SERRA** seemingly growing much closer with **IZ** as a specific example of something not amazing for her.

**XAVIER** also continued to want to work with **DAVON**, telling him that the target was **SPIDER** before anyone put a vote in. While **DAVON** wasn’t sure if he could believe him initially, and both **HOPE** and **POLA** were unhappy with **XAVIER** for him spilling the target like that. However, they still decided to stick with the same target, though the vote stretched on with no votes submitted until there were less than three hours left before the deadline. In The Swap Screwed Three Musketeers, the OG Stirlings were unsure of how they could proceed, not having anyone seem seriously interested in flipping on that vote, and without any advantage that could spin the numbers the other way - with **DAVON’S** Vote Shield non-transferable, the votes would have to be on him to force a tie and rocks, and he did not seem eager to try and force people to vote for him.

For the first time **SPIDER** completed a safari task to try and find an item that could help, but picked an empty chest. Knowing that **SPIDER** was the target but not able to do too much about it, the three in the minority discussed how they should handle the vote. **DAVON** initially suggested they all still vote together, but **SPIDER**, who had accepted his fate, said that the other two should do whatever they needed to do to try and make themselves look good to those in the majority, to try and help them the next cycle. He also told both **DAVON** and **PYRO** that they needed to win for him.

The tribal had a bit of anti-climactic end, as **SPIDER** decided that he would wait until the very last minute to vote, spamming tribal council chat with memes and hopping into the tribe VC to stream himself playing Skylanders. When the deadline came he tried to vote for himself, and when told he was not allowed to do that he randomized his vote, with it landing on **XAVIER**. He left with a pleasant goodbye message, imploring the tribe to not vote out either of his OG tribemates next.

## **Episode 6:** “Man all I gotta say is this vote is gonna hurt” - Rej

As Stirling 2.0 decompressed after their long vote, Quimper 2.0 continued to strategize. The fallout over the throwing vs not throwing debate continued to dominate proceedings, as **ASHLEY** talked with **IZ** in DMs about how she felt they wouldn’t be able to trust **DAVON** or **PYRO** anymore. The two of them and also **SERRA** remained unhappy with those two being unhappy with them, although **IZ** still hoped to have an alliance with **SERRA**, **TANNER** and **PYRO** come merge, pointing out **HOPE** as someone to watch out for given her tight bond with **POLA** and perceived power from back on OG Quimper. **TANNER**, for his part, hoped to be able to reconnect with **XAVIER**, **POLA** and **REJ**, while also working with the group of four that had been proposed to him.(edited)

At this point of the game, everyone was thinking about the merge, though they didn’t know exactly when it would happen. **ASHLEY** pitched an F6 alliance of herself, **IZ**, **SERRA**, **HIGH**, **POLA** and **HOPE**, bringing together the people she felt best about from Stirling 2.0 while also hopefully forming the talked-about but to that point never realized CET alliance with **HIGH** and **POLA**. **RAVELT** had **PYRO**, **ASHLEY** and **HIGH** at the top of his list for the people he’d like to work with, with **HOPE** as someone he’d gotten good vibes from despite not being on a tribe with yet. **SERRA** went even further with her planning, laying out an entire ideal boot order that ended with herself, **IZ** and **HIGH** as the F3.

Before the challenge and tribal, Stirling 2.0 were fairly quiet and anxious to start the next challenge. Knowing that **DAVON** and **PYRO** were in the minority, the tensions were high and they knew they needed to pull out a win. Also, **POLA** was already set on a **DAVON** vote so a win for the entire tribe was crucial to the OG Stirlings. Some of the tribe spent their time working on the safari where **PYRO** received another *WILL* and **DAVON** finished his 2000 spam message run but received nothing. **PYRO** now had 4 *WILL* and considered pulling the sword next cycle but was unsure. The other players were struggling to make use of the safari, and all four of the other peasants did not complete their run this cycle.

The challenge was a Trevivor classic: **Sacrifices!** However, compared to the two previous seasons, there was no one who went all-out for immunity, in fact there was no one who accepted the fourth sacrifice (lose their vote at their next tribal)! Everyone except two players stopped at the third: **IZ** stopped at the second, keeping her ability to compete in the first merge immunity challenge, while **POLA** stopped after the first, not wanting to sign her name on her F8 parchment. That was the difference, and Stirling 2.0 was sent to their second-straight tribal council, with everyone in the game receiving a pfp, status and server name for the rest of the cycle.

Stirling 2.0 jumped right into tribal with **POLA** already dropping names.**POLA** was pretty set on getting **DAVON** out along with **HOPE**, but **POLA** didn’t want to commit to anything until she talked to **REJ** and **XAVIER**. **XAVIER** found himself caught in the middle and was very conflicted and struggled this entire episode on who he would vote for. While he had his OG tribe alliance, he had built a strong bond with both **DAVON** and **PYRO**. **DAVON’S** all or nothing mode went off and he build a case against **POLA** that included also saving **PYRO** and sent it to **XAVIER**. **DAVON** gave **XAVIER** a lot to think about such as how **DAVON** and **PYRO** will both be huge targets come merge and players can hide behind them, **POLA’S** nerves and flightiness meant she wasn’t an ally that you want come merge and **DAVON** even looked try and lay out full strategies that **XAVIER** could use, him and **PYRO** giving **XAVIER** a lot to think about. Despite the pitch being against **POLA**, **PYRO** mentioned she didn’t want to be the one throwing out specific names, thus using **DAVON** to do that for her.

**HOPE** and **REJ** had agreeing thoughts about the vote but their strategies were pretty different. **HOPE** was wanting to keep **DAVON** and **PYRO** because once merge comes, she’d rather them feel good with her but if they were to vote one of them out, then the other would instantly turn on them come merge. **HOPE** wasn’t sure how to bring this up to her OG Quimper allies due to the fact that she’d be turning on one of them. **REJ** was comfortable with a **POLA** vote due to his close relationship with **XAVIER** and **HOPE** and he had no problem doing a possible blindside on one of his allies from the beginning of the game to ensure his safety. **HOPE**, meanwhile, would rather have voted out **XAVIER** than **POLA**, due to the two of them being close, but **REJ** did not seem willing to vote for **XAVIER**.

In a last minute attempt to ensure votes, **POLA** went to **XAVIER** and shared information with him about her *LEGACY ADVANTAGE* and told him that if he kept her, that come merge, they’ll have a majority of the numbers due to the proposed CET alliance. **XAVIER** used this information and shared it with **PYRO**, telling her that it might be a good idea for himself to vote with **POLA** rather than against her in a bid to have her give him the legacy advantage. However, **PYRO** worried that more people were thinking that, which could end up with a majority on herself or **DAVON**. Meanwhile, **DAVON** tried to lie to **POLA** and tell her that he had lost his vote in the sacrifice challenge, but **POLA** did not believe him for a second.

In the end, **HOPE** could not bring herself to write **POLA’S** name down and voted for **DAVON** with her, while **POLA** went out 4-1, with **DAVON’S** Vote Shield blocking one of his votes. She was quite upset the results, and gave **HOPE** her legacy advantage with the hope that she could be the one to win the game for her. **HOPE** was ecstatic and very thankful at this. With OG tribe lines crossed for the first time, the question was what might come next.

## **Episode 7:** “Idk lol now that I’m here I am WORRIED” - Ravelt

While more and more people were coming up empty in the safari the last few cycles, a few were still able to consistently get rewarded. **PYRO** and **SERRA** were the standouts in terms of gaining *WILL*, with both of them finding a piece yet again, bumping them up to 5 total each. With **RAVELT** the only person to attempt to pull the sword up to that point, neither was sure what mark they needed to reach, but the next cycle could see one or both attempt it themselves.

**SERRA** also continued asserting herself in the game more, having gone from a UTR player outside the initial majority on OG Stirling to now in a power position on Quimper 2.0. While still happy with her current ally setup, she remarked that she needed to be careful what exactly she shares with **IZ**, due to the latter’s tendency to leak info, both with her and others. Meanwhile, **IZ** shared with **TANNER** that **RAVELT** was targeting him, which **TANNER** expected, though he was again reassured that he would not go should Quimper 2.0 go to tribal.

After a round of Sacrifices, it was announced that the next challenge would be a **Meeting at the Round Table**, where seven advantages would be up for grabs, all positive, but the tribe who took the most would be sent to tribal council. With both individual and tribal stakes, the question was who would step up and look to grab power.

The answer: no one. With no one wanting to put a target on their back and make the first move, the items came and went with no one claiming them. After it was announced that in the event of a tie both tribes would be sent to a joint tribal the strategizing picked up, though it was still centered on letting nearly all the items go by.

**IZ** created Tis the Season with **SERRA** and **TANNER**, formalizing the trio that had been planning on working together for a bit already, and Sir Dandaddy's Best Friends Forever became the focal point of the cycle’s strategy, as **TANNER** and **PYRO** decided to tell others about the chat, pretending that **PYRO** had only just found the advantage and opened it through that round’s safari.

On the side of Stirling 2.0 **PYRO** was quite open, as after talking things over with **DAVON** in DMs she revealed to everyone else in camp chat that she had the chat, and had chosen **TANNER** as on paper he seemed like the person most likely to flip. She said that **TANNER** had apparently talked to “the leaders” of his tribe, who said they’d be down to vote an OG Stirling off in the event of a joint tribal, however **PYRO** said that she’d rather go after one of the “leaders”. **DAVON**, **XAVIVER** and **REJ** all immediately pointed out **IZ** as one, with **DAVON** in particular harping on her challenge abilities. Privately, **PYRO** hoped to be able to save **RAVELT**, who she knew was on the block but trusted more than the other OG Stirlings.

On the other side, **IZ** had become less gung-ho about cutting **RAVELT** and felt it would not be a good idea to just cut him without thinking further in the name of hoarding advantages, now favouring a cautious approach due to feeling like everyone on Stirling 2.0 could be against them come merge. **TANNER** favoured going to a joint tribal, as it would allow the opportunity to take out someone like **HIGH** who he saw as potentially very dangerous come merge. **SERRA**, however, seemed to definitely want to avoid a joint tribal, and threw out the idea of just grabbing the last item and then booting **RAVELT**. Meanwhile, **RAVELT** wanted someone on Quimper 2.0 to grab an item (though he didn’t want to do it himself), with **TANNER** standing as the obvious boot in his eyes.

**ASHLEY**, left out of the innermost planning, came the closest of anyone to breaking rank, as she desperately wanted to hold any sort of advantage, and saw this as the easiest, most obvious way to do so. However, she was worried that her tribemates would be upset with her if she did, and after sharing with **IZ** that she wanted Quimper 2.0 to take both of the last two items, those in Tis the Season made sure she got the message that this would put a target on them, and also that that could lead to Stirling 2.0 grabbing the last to force a joint tribal. Somewhat reluctantly, **ASHLEY** backed off.

**TANNER** had reason to see Stirling 2.0 trying to force a joint tribal as a possibility, as it was something that **PYRO** had floated to him as a plan they could do. However, **SERRA’S** hesitations plus the fact that Stirling 2.0 wanted to gun for **IZ** at a joint tribal left **TANNER** now also wanting to avoid one. He tried to convince **PYRO** that it would be better for **IZ** to remain in longer as a shield, while privately he shared that he also wanted her to stay so she and **PYRO** could keep gunning for each other for a bit longer, keeping more heat off of himself.

**PYRO** shared with her camp chat that she’d been told the plan was for **SERRA** to just take the last item, which caused **REJ** to worry this meant **TANNER** was done for, and floated the idea of one of them taking the second-last item to try and goad Quimper 2.0 into a tie. That was shut down, however, and **PYRO** said that **TANNER** should be fine, though she left out that it would be **RAVELT** targeted specifically. This was enough to placate the rest of Stirling 2.0, who then sat back to see what would happen.

The reason it was **SERRA** specifically who grabbed the item was because she publicly asked if she could, due to ostensibly never holding an advantage before. No one publicly objected, so the plan was set. **TANNER** knew he was at risk, but was confident enough that both **IZ** and **SERRA** at least were with him, that and his Vote Shield enough to get him through the vote. **RAVELT** looked to strategize with **IZ**, and was okay with **SERRA** taking the last item in order to boot **TANNER**. As the time of the last item drop drew near **RAVELT** began to feel nervous, due to **IZ** reportedly telling **ASHLEY** and **SERRA** about the plan to boot **TANNER** but then neither of those two coming to him immediately to talk about it, but a few minutes later **SERRA** did so to put his mind a little more at ease. He did bring up the possibility of **IZ** and **SERRA** playing him in his confessional, but thought it was the less likely option.

When the time came, **SERRA** grabbed the item as planned, which turned out to be a 50/50 Coin, handing Stirling 2.0 the easiest immunity win they’d ever get. In the immediate aftermath **RAVELT** began to feel nervous once again due to the lack of **TANNER** visibly scrambling and the general lack of “good vibes”, but with the plan in motion there wasn’t much to do besides submit his vote for **TANNER** after checking in with The Real Sterling. The Tis the Season trio submitted their votes for **RAVELT** around the same time, while **HIGH** went offline soon after the challenge ended, presumably due to his time-zone, leaving his vote until later.

The final member of the tribe, **ASHLEY**, was left feeling a bit helpless and feeling very pessimistic about her chances going forward, not believing that she held a real shot of making it to FTC. She did not want to vote **RAVELT**, who she believed to be the one person who wanted to go with her all the way, but did not see a way to save him. She also thought it was a dumb move for the rest of the OG Stirlings, believing that **TANNER** would flip back to the OG Quimpers at merge, with **DAVON** and **PYRO** staying with them to put the four other OG Stirlings in the minority. Even within the OG Stirlings she felt on the outside, with **SERRA** not telling her what her advantage was. She put off submitting her vote until the next day, too sad to make a parchment that soon.

In the end, the vote came off as expected, with **HIGH** and **ASHLEY** both voting for **RAVELT**, sending him off 5-1 on what turned out to be the morning of his birthday. He then willed his DM locker to **PYRO**. With only ten peasants left, and both tribes now standing at 5-5, the next cycle was sure to be an important one.

## **Episode 8:** “What a TIME to be immune” - Iz

With eight of our peasants now eliminated (seven of them unanimously), the game now truly kicked into higher gear. The merge loomed, but as the Knights prepared to bring the peasants all together, the beginning of the new cycle brought new safari opportunities. All three of **HOPE**, **SERRA** and **PYRO** immediately looked to pull the sword from the stone as their action, and while **HOPE** did not have enough *WILL*, both of the other two did. However, since they were on the same OG tribe only one of them was eligible to find a reward, and with **SERRA** being faster by mere minutes she won an idol, while **PYRO** was left with nothing.

For an unknown reason, **SERRA** then posted in Tis the Season that she had tried to pull the sword but got nothing, before almost immediately deleting the message. **TANNER** saw it, however, and after **PYRO** told him in Sir Dandaddy's Best Friends Forever that she had tried and failed to pull the sword (sending him the message she’d received as a form of proof), **TANNER** told her what he’d seen **SERRA** post. This made **PYRO** feel that **SERRA** had indeed pulled the sword successfully, and after **TANNER** also shared that **SERRA’S** new advantage from the previous challenge was a 50/50 coin, **PYRO** became worried at the thought of **SERRA** potentially having 1.5 idols. Now seeing **SERRA** as a bigger threat than **IZ**, **PYRO** wanted to gun for her right away, and told Stirling 2.0 camp chat that the 50/50 coin was in play, to put a larger target on her.

The merge then (finally) occurred! **DAVON** looked to take charge early, creating A New Hope to bring all the Stirling 2.0 members together, but then messed up by accidentally posting a message meant for there in tribal council chat, outlining a supposed cover story for the **POLA** vote. Awkwardness ensued as he tried to play it off like he meant to say it there, and **HOPE** for one was quite unhappy at that mistake potentially making the A New Hope group look more unified. This fear looked to be well-founded, as **TANNER** was sketched out by this, both because it painted those five as a strong group and also because it somewhat conflicted with what he was told a little later by **XAVIER**. **DAVON’S** name soon became one of the most prominent ones tossed out as a potential target on the part of the Quimper 2.0 group due to his strong social play and high threat level, with **REJ** also circulating as another option. On the other side, **SERRA** continued to gain traction as a target.

It was in this early section of the merge that **ASHLEY** finally learned what **SERRA’S** advantage from the previous challenge was, from **DAVON** of all people, who told her that he’d heard it from **PYRO**, who had heard it from **TANNER**. Unhappy that **SERRA** would tell **TANNER** what her advantage was but not her, **ASHLEY** first told **IZ** this, worried about a potential **TANNER/PYRO** duo, then told **HIGH**, who told her that he’d only heard what **SERRA’S** advantage was through **IZ**. **HIGH** became more sus of **SERRA** because of this, given that they were supposed to be in an F3 deal together, and he also saw **TANNER** as shady, not sure if he’d end up on the same side as him. Meanwhile, **IZ** saw **DAVON** and **REJ** as a potential duo due to how much they talked in camp chat with each other.

When it came time for the challenge, the peasants were thrown straight into tribal due to the unexpected twist that only one person was eligible to compete in the challenge - due to the Sacrifices accepted a couple cycles back - and that person was **IZ**, who thus automatically won immunity. With the clock now ticking, the peasants got to scheming.

In A New Hope, **PYRO** told the others that she felt she was their best option to infiltrate the other side and figure out what their plan was, and they agreed that she would push a story that **REJ** had flipped on the **POLA** vote to vote with **PYRO** and **DAVON**, with **HOPE** and **XAVIER** having voted for **DAVON**. **REJ** knew he was being put at risk by being painted as the flipper in this story, but thought it was worth it in a bid to get more intel, and with the knowledge that **HOPE** was willing to play her legacy advantage on whoever was getting votes being a safety net.

Meanwhile, **TANNER** formed the long-talked about TIPS Please alliance with **IZ**, **SERRA** and **PYRO**, and those four immediately began to scheme together. **SERRA** said that **DAVON** had thrown out **REJ’S** name as a target, and after **PYRO** brought up both **DAVON** and **REJ** as potential targets, **TANNER** said he thought **DAVON** was the bigger threat. **PYRO** told them that they would probably be able to get **HOPE** and **XAVIER** to vote for **DAVON** based on the story she’d fed them about the **POLA** vote, and she then warned A New Hope that **TANNER** would be coming to try and bring them into that plan.

It took a little bit more before the target was officially pushed onto **DAVON**, however, as **IZ**, who initially had been happy to gun for him due to his Vote Shield and his social power, began to have second thoughts, and began to want to push the vote onto **XAVIER**, who had been inactive most of the day, and could end up being more of a swing vote or someone taken to the end (and also was someone she had little connection with). However,**TANNER** noted privately that it was for those reasons that he’d like **XAVIER** to stay in, while **PYRO** also pushed for **DAVON** to remain the target, due to this ostensibly being probably a better opportunity than they’d get in the future.

In A New Hope, **REJ** wasn’t happy that **IZ** had apparently claimed that he had thrown out **DAVON’S** name right after they’d talked. Both he and **DAVON** felt that **IZ** was overplaying, but as she was immune they remained locked on a **SERRA** blindside to get her advantages out of the game. **HOPE**, not knowing whether she’d be able to be online when the votes were read, set up her legacy advantage to be played on **DAVON** automatically if **SERRA** was idoled.

The stage seemed set for the ten votes to be split evenly between **SERRA** and **DAVON**, but more drama was set to ensue. First, in quite the confusing move, **HIGH** submitted a vote for **REJ**, completely going against the rest of the Quimper 2.0 plan. The reason for this was **HIGH** - who had wanted to get the vote onto someone else - simply refusing to write down **DAVON’S** name due to their connection, and he also straight up told **DAVON** that the vote was on him. Later admitting that this was not part of a larger plan but just him being stubborn (and also an attempt at jury management), his rogue vote turned out to be a lot more important than he anticipated.

This was due to **ASHLEY**, who very close to the vote deadline had grown quite frustrated with what she saw as her allies not truly realizing the situation they were in. She saw **DAVON** and **PYRO** as a tight duo, not holding trust in either of them dating all the way back to the throwing challenges debate from early in the swap (compounded by **DAVON** telling her the previous day that **PYRO** had told him what **SERRA’S** advantage was), and she thought it was crazy that her alliance was banking on **PYRO** suddenly being willing to vote off **DAVON**. Not getting much traction sharing these thoughts with **TANNER** - who felt like he would be fine either way, and also didn’t want to be the one to try and flip things last minute - **ASHLEY** then had the idea of trying to convince **SERRA** to use her 50/50 coin, telling **HIGH** to also keep his vote on **REJ** in the case of an idol being played on **DAVON** as well. When **SERRA** told her that she could not use her 50/50 coin due to over half the votes having been cast, **ASHLEY** became despondent, feeling like no one was truly believing her, and gave **SERRA** a goodbye message, reiterating to her that she felt she was the one that was being targeted, due to publicly winning her advantage.

But while **ASHLEY** submitted the final vote feeling like she hadn’t been fully listened to, her warnings had done just enough to convince **SERRA** that she was truly in danger, and she then surprised players and spectators alike by playing her idol without warning at the vote read. This caused **HOPE’S** legacy advantage to be played on **DAVON**, and while some of the players felt like this meant a 0-0 tie (and rocks) was on the horizon, **HIGH’S** rogue vote snaked through the maze of advantages and knocked out **REJ**, sending him to Ponderosa as the first juror with just a single vote cast against him, and leaving his allies shocked.

## **Episode 9:** “Let me eat my Taco Bell in peace” - Hope

In the fallout from the **REJ** elimination, **ASHLEY** went to The Real Sterling and demanded to be recognized for her role in saving them from losing one of their own. She immediately wanted to target **PYRO** next, while **IZ** was pissed that **DAVON** apparently thought that it was her pushing his name first, while she had wanted to vote for **XAVIER**, with **PYRO** being one of the strongest voices in favour of keeping it on **DAVON**. She felt that this had been **PYRO’S** attempt to blow up hers, **SERRA’S** and **TANNER’S** games. After being asked to explain herself in TIPS Please, **PYRO** said she had wanted to flush **SERRA’S** idol, and had felt that the other three in the chat had gotten too close and she didn’t know whether she could trust them. She also told **IZ** that she hadn’t told **DAVON** it was her pushing his name, and didn’t know where he had gotten that from. The end result of the previous vote was that it served to bring the Quimper 2.0 group closer together, with **TANNER** in particular no longer feeling any loyalty to any of the other four, and happy to target any of them.

Meanwhile, A New Hope wallowed in their misery, with **PYRO** feeling like she was the next to go. **HOPE** saw **HIGH** as the person they would have the best chance of trying to flip due to him not voting with the other four on the previous vote, while **DAVON** also wanted to try and flip **ASHLEY**. **HIGH**, for his part, was now feeling quite good about his position, as throwing his vote on **REJ** had not only eliminated a non-ally and avoided rocks, but it now put him much more in the middle with everyone wanting to work with him. **PYRO** also let it slip to him that she had **RAVELT’S** DM locker, and was thinking of using it at the next tribal. From someone who had been somewhat floating at times previously, **HIGH** now rocketed up the tribe’s power rankings, beginning to emerge as a true contender.

**ASHLEY**, knowing that **HIGH** was the most likely person to flip, talked with him about the other side trying to recruit him, but he said that he did not want to due to A New Hope not letting him in on their plan, and he also told her about **PYRO’S** DM locker. **ASHLEY** then formed A Tribute to Dan with all five of Quimper 2.0, where **HIGH** shared that info with all of them, letting them know that they needed to get a plan in place quickly in case of the next tribal being turned into a live. Nearly everyone quickly said **HOPE** should be the target, and while **ASHLEY** was confused as to why they wouldn’t go for **PYRO**, or for **XAVIER** if they wanted to target someone UTR, others stated that **PYRO** was too obvious a target, while **IZ** had already tried to target **XAVIER** the previous round. Both **IZ** and **TANNER** said that **HOPE** would be the most unexpected, and thus best, target, with **HIGH** adding that they could then use **XAVIER** as the decoy.

However, plans would again be changed due to the safari being restocked, and multiple people nabbed items. **TANNER** found a Challenge Advantage, **HIGH** found a Grudge Vote, and **HOPE** found a third *WILL*, putting her as the first (and only) OG Quimper eligible to pull the sword from the stone, though she would have to wait until the next cycle to try it. The biggest immediate result, however, was **SERRA** continuing her advantage streak by finding an Extra Vote, which she shared in A Tribute to Dan. **ASHLEY** immediately jumped on this as their opportunity to gun for **DAVON** again, and before the next challenge (a live one) began, everyone agreed on **DAVON** as their target.

All of that happened in about two hours by the way.

Agreeing to do the next challenge just a couple hours after **REJ’S** elimination, the peasants headed to the arena for a chaotic game of Ambush! In the challenge, **DAVON** was the first one eliminated, followed by multiple people accidentally eliminating themselves, leaving a final three of **HIGH**, **TANNER** and **XAVIER**. After **XAVIER** was eliminated next, **TANNER** accidentally eliminated himself, giving **HIGH** the win and immunity. In the aftermath of the challenge **TANNER** also accidentally left the server, and had to be re-added.

**PYRO** played her DM Locker and so tribal opened with all DMs and alliance chats locked, but this did not seem to have much of an effect on the vote, with nearly everyone voting immediately and no one talking about the vote much at all in tribal council chat. **SERRA** used her 50/50 Coin in a bit for immunity, however she called it wrong and was left with nothing. Less than two hours into tribal everyone but **PYRO** had voted, and she decided that she would stretch it out for a while as she tried to search for the merge idol - a search that remained unsuccessful into the following day.(edited)

While everyone vibed in tribal council chat talking about non-game-related things, they all had the chance to reflect on where they felt they stood in the tribe. **TANNER** felt he needed to be more wary of **SERRA** and **IZ** going forward due to **SERRA** saying the message about the sword she’d deleted in their alliance chat a couple days earlier was meant for **IZ** and not there, and also due to feeling that **IZ** overshared information in general. **IZ** believed that that **PYRO/DAVON/HOPE** stood as a power trio on the other side, and also felt that **SERRA** was the biggest threat amongst her allies. **XAVIER** knew he wasn’t in a power position and was happy with that, seeing **PYRO**, **ASHLEY** and **HOPE** all as power players, at least in terms of visibility. **PYRO** knew that telling **HIGH** about the DM locker had been a mistake in allowing the other side to come up with a plan, and felt that because of that she would be too obvious of a vote, and that they were trying to flush any advantages.

In the end, after failing to find anything, **PYRO** submitted her vote close to the deadline, with all four of A New Hope voting for **SERRA** once again. With **DAVON’S** Vote Shield being cancelled out by **SERRA’S** Extra Vote, **DAVON** was eliminated 5-4, and A New Hope was now down to a trio, despondent after losing allies back to back by such slim margins. Now further down in numbers, will they be able to respond? Or will A Tribute to Dan continue their reign of terror over the merge?

## **Episode 10:** “I’m gonna take a quick 10pm shower to shower off my guilt” - High

Coming out on the right side of the votes both of the first two merge tribals, A Tribute to Dan looked to be riding high, but cracks began to form within the majority. Immediately after **DAVON’S** elimination, **TANNER** looked to keep the foot on the gas and said they should gun for **PYRO** next. **ASHLEY** agreed, but looked to try and solve their issue of being unable to split votes by suggesting trying to bring **HOPE** into their plan. **SERRA** said that was a bad idea, and suggested voting for **HOPE** instead to try and avoid potential advantages, with **TANNER** seeing this as **SERRA’S** attempt to keep some larger threats in with her. **ASHLEY** also did not like the idea of booting **HOPE**, as she thought her best shot at making it to the end and winning involved some sort of combo of herself, **HIGH**, **HOPE** and **XAVIER** at FTC. **IZ**, meanwhile, looked to create a bond with the minority, creating Hope-Iz-Xavier to lay out why she felt **PYRO** and **SERRA** were the biggest threats. Unfortunately for **IZ**, the other two remained wary of her, and that chat did not go anywhere.

The minority was then given new life when **HOPE** managed to pull the sword from the stone as her safari task, giving her an immunity idol. She immediately shared this with A New Hope, and the plan of idoling out one of the majority while also flipping **HIGH** began to form. The trio in the minority remained very tight with each other, determined to work together to all make it out alive at the next tribal.

The challenge this round was a **chess tournament**, with the eight peasants randomized into a bracket. **XAVIER** was by far the most excited to play, though he lost his first round matchup with **IZ** in a bout that took three rounds, the first two ending in stalemates. She then faced **HIGH** in the semifinals, who said before they played that he wanted to throw, in a bid to both lower his perceived threat level and also to try and help **IZ**, who he knew was in more danger than himself. He also told **IZ** about his Grudge Vote that he had found in the safari the previous cycle.

On the other side of the bracket, **PYRO** beat **HOPE** in the first round, needing a rematch after their first bout ended in a stalemate. She then beat **SERRA** in the semifinals, setting up a big matchup with **IZ** in the finals. She was not very confident, and that proved to be well-founded, as **IZ** beat her to win her second individual immunity, both keeping her safe and also clearing the way for A Tribute to Dan to target **PYRO** should they choose to do so.

The chess tournament took two days to complete, and over that time the voting lines seemed fairly static, with no one seeming like they were ready to jump ship just yet. On one end, **XAVIER** told **SERRA** that he’d like to vote for either **IZ** or **ASHLEY**, which made **IZ** unhappy as he’d told her earlier that he’d be down to keep her safe. On the other end, **SERRA** asked **XAVIER** if he’d be down to flip on **PYRO** (which **XAVIER** leaked to his ally), before then asking **PYRO** if she might want to work together. Without anyone seemingly ready to make a big move, tribal council opened with the same two alliances together.

However, the majority alliance remained unable to smoothly decide on a target. **SERRA** still wanted **HOPE** to go, while **TANNER** still leaned towards wanting to do **PYRO**, in order to set up **SERRA** and **IZ** as the next big targets, though he began to question whether that should be delayed another tribal. **IZ**, who felt her threat level was rising, looked to keep both **SERRA** and **PYRO** in the game, pitching to the latter that it made the most sense for all of them to stay in together.

Meanwhile, **ASHLEY** - who did not want **HOPE** to go at all - began to concoct a convoluted plan based on feeling that she was at risk of being idoled out, believing that **XAVIER** was gunning for her. Her idea - first pitched to **HIGH** - was for the other four in A Tribute to Dan to vote for **PYRO**, meanwhile she would let **HOPE** fully in on the plan, voting **XAVIER** with her, so even if **PYRO** idoled, her Vote Shield would protect her and **XAVIER** would go out 2-1. However, when she first floated this to the majority group, it was not met with a warm reception (specifically with regards to telling **HOPE** the full plan), and she backed off of it briefly.

While A Tribute to Dan debated on what was the best plan of action, **TANNER** talked to **ASHLEY** about how **SERRA** and **IZ** only wanted to keep **PYRO** in to protect themselves, looking to paint a bigger target on the two of them. **ASHLEY** agreed that all three of them were threats, but also saw that **TANNER** was trying to quietly control things by saying this, and lumped him in with those other three as the main threats.

Someone who was quieter during this planning period was **HIGH**, who in fact started to become worried at all the talk in A Tribute to Dan about UTR threats being dangerous, as he felt he had been playing pretty UTR. He did not want a pagonging, and also wanted to try and work with **HOPE**, looking to let her in on some things without telling the other four in the majority, not wanting to show any weakness in that regard.

Despite her plan not getting much traction the previous night, the next day **ASHLEY** went and gave a big proposal to **HOPE**, telling her that the vote was on **XAVIER** to try and flush any **PYRO** advantages, and that while she wanted **XAVIER** and **PYRO** to be the next two gone, after that she wanted to work with her to take down the power players in the majority, and go to F4 with her, **HIGH** and **TANNER**. **HOPE** immediately leaked everything to A New Hope, saying that both **HIGH** and **ASHLEY** had told her the vote was on **XAVIER**, and was not happy with how **ASHLEY** had proposed her plan, especially with **ASHLEY** telling her she should vote for **XAVIER** to “prove herself”.

**ASHLEY** and **HIGH**, while both discussing plans on flipping, did not exactly see everything eye to eye. **ASHLEY** told him that she felt **IZ**, **SERRA** and **TANNER** were a power trio that would not take them to the end, but **HIGH** felt like that was not entirely accurate as he felt **IZ** wasn’t too keen on working with **SERRA**. **HIGH** had his suspicions deepened when **HOPE** told him all of what **ASHLEY** had proposed to her earlier, and also that **IZ** had made a chat with her and **XAVIER**, despite it not really going anywhere.

Despite that, it did not seem like **HIGH** was quite ready to flip that vote, but this changed when **PYRO** told him that she, **TANNER**, **IZ** and **SERRA** had been looking to coordinate plans together dating all the way back to Day Zero, which included **TANNER** purposefully going to OG Quimper, and **HIGH** having been discussed as a target should they have gone to a joint tribal back at F11. All of a sudden, **HIGH** felt fully on the bottom of the majority, and wanted to flip immediately, now seeing the A New Hope trio as better allies for him. He quickly made Return of the Jedi with that trio, and all four of them said they would be willing to go to rocks, but with **ASHLEY’S** insistence on forcing a split, the plan to create a 4-3-1 against **SERRA**, the one non-immune person of the other four without a Vote Shield, formed. Just in case, **PYRO** transferred her Rock Amulet to **HOPE**, but the minority trio felt much better about their position, to the point where they felt they didn’t need to use the idol at all.

A Tribute to Dan finally decided on their main target a few hours before the deadline, as while **SERRA** and **IZ** would have preferred **PYRO** to stay in, **TANNER** and **ASHLEY** pushed hard enough for her to go that they decided to vote for her, with **ASHLEY** splitting off from the other three to vote **XAVIER** under the belief that **HOPE** was doing the same. **IZ** initially transferred her Rock Amulet to **SERRA** just in case, but increasingly felt that something was off, and had it transferred back to her, with **SERRA** sharing that feeling that something was up. However, she eventually went through with the plan and voted for **PYRO**, and the 4-3-1 envisioned by the minority came to fruition, and **SERRA** was eliminated.

In the final couple hours before the votes were read, as A Tribute to Dan debated and **HIGH** worried about what the fallout from his flip would be, **PYRO** finally found the merge idol clue, after multiple days of searching. As part of the first task necessary to claim the idol she asked **XAVIER** to change his pfp, which he readily accepted without knowing it was for the idol, due to his trust in her. This change has not been pointed out by anyone as anything significant, and the trio that at the beginning of the cycle seemed close to powerless could end up with two idols and a majority in the very next one. But of course, as was just shown, things can change very quickly.

## **Episode 11:** “Things look bad and have been going bad but I’m not out yet” - Tanner

While A New Hope celebrated having turned the tables and eliminated **SERRA**, the fallout left the former majority foursome feeling despondent. **ASHLEY** in particular was quite upset, as her closest ally had flipped without telling her. **IZ** felt similarly due to feeling unaware of where the lines were, while **TANNER** was frustrated by the feeling that he had not been able to pull off any noteworthy moves in the game. **HIGH**, for his part, felt his attachment to the A New Hope trio grow stronger by everyone’s reaction to his move, as he was not happy with **ASHLEY** and **IZ** being mad at him, though he felt **TANNER** was more understanding.

**IZ** felt like she was gone next unless she won immunity, and was frustrated in feeling like no one on the other side was truly talking with her and even considering working with her. She continued to pitch to the A New Hope trio individually that they should keep her in to use her as a shield, but did not seem to make much headway. **TANNER**, for his part, hoped that his connections with people and also his Vote Shield would act as a deterrent and keep the heat off him at least at the next tribal.

**ASHLEY** and **HIGH** continued to be slightly off the same page, as **ASHLEY** felt that there had to have been more than just feeling on the bottom of their five-person alliance for him to flip, and told him there was no way the former minority trio would turn on each other for him. **HIGH** felt like feeling on the bottom of the five was reason enough, and thought **ASHLEY** was too deadset on the lines from the beginning of the merge, not thinking it was as simple as she thought it was.

The peasants faced **Touchy Subjects** for their challenge, and **ASHLEY** dominated, getting a perfect score and winning immunity, with **PYRO** just one point behind. Some of the most notable results from the challenge were **IZ** receiving the most votes for both most trusted and least trusted (showing how strong the different alliances were), **PYRO** being named the biggest threat, **XAVIER** the biggest goat, and **IZ** the person most likely to be voted out next.

**XAVIER** was perfectly happy with being called the biggest goat, feeling that it narratively set him up to prove that he wasn’t, helping him make his FTC case stronger should he make it there. Meanwhile, **IZ**, who obviously knew she was on the block, tried multiple times over the course of tribal to convince **ASHLEY** to give her immunity to her, due to the latter having a Vote Shield that could protect her. **ASHLEY** thought that was stupid, as she could easily be targeted and idoled out should she do that, and held on to her necklace.

Right before she completed the challenge, **PYRO** received news that came to dominate proceedings, as she reached the final stage of the merge idol hunt, and was told that she needed to self-vote at a tribal (without telling anyone she was doing so) in order to get it. Unsure of whether or not that was the best move to make at the next tribal, she decided to wait on making that decision.

In terms of targets, **HIGH** had **TANNER** as his preferred option due to trusting him the least, but also wanted to sniff around to see if A New Hope was truly too tight to be wise to stick with long-term. He promised **IZ** that he wouldn’t vote for her, while **IZ** looked to reunite A Tribute to Dan to take out one of the other three, hoping to avoid any advantages.

Things then kicked into overdrive when **ASHLEY** managed to find the merge idol clue mostly by accident, and learning that she had to convince someone else to change their pfp to what **XAVIER** had made her realize that was part of the idol hunt, and made her think that either **PYRO** or **HOPE** had already found it. She asked **IZ** to change her pfp (who accepted due to wanting to stay on her good side), and while she waited for the 24 hours to elapse before she could receive the next part of the hunt, she realized that asking **IZ** to do that might have been a mistake, as it would tip off the other side that someone was on to them. This made her feel that gunning for **PYRO** - the obvious target - might not be a good idea.

**PYRO** did indeed notice **IZ’S** pfp change (deducing it was **ASHLEY** who had found it as she was the only logical person online at the time), and decided that she had to self-vote at this tribal - which **ASHLEY** couldn’t do - to make sure the idol did not fall into enemy hands. She quickly had the idea of getting her allies to help funnel everyone’s votes on to her, so she could use **HOPE’S** idol to take someone out while then getting a new idol. It was **HOPE** (who happily transferred her idol to **PYRO**) who was to try fulfill the biggest part of this plan, and that was to pretend that she wanted to flip in order to convince others to vote for **PYRO**.

Other plans were forming, however, as **ASHLEY** proposed to In Memory of Serra (the trio of herself, **IZ** and **TANNER**) that they get **HIGH** to convince A New Hope to vote for **TANNER** (with the idea that it would be unanimous or close to it), while the three of them would actually vote for **HIGH**, making it 3-3 with **TANNER’S** Vote Shield and sending to rocks with all four of the former majority group immune (due to **IZ’S** Rock Amulet). **ASHLEY** also told **HIGH** that **IZ’S** and **XAVIER’S** pfp changes were part of an idol hunt, indicating that someone else was close.

Part of the reason why **PYRO** was in favour of this duplicity and using an idol when on paper they could have majority was because she did not fully trust **HIGH**, feeling that he was too close with **IZ**, and also that he was purposefully trying to split votes the way he wanted in order to ride the middle. Given that she was self-voting, she knew any sort of big split would put multiple members of A New Hope in danger, which is why she was pushing for the votes to be funneled onto her.

**HOPE** looked to step up her pitch by spreading to others that she wanted to flip not just due to not wanting to go to the end with **PYRO**, but also because they had to go for her right then as she would get an idol the next cycle otherwise. She also painted **XAVIER** as someone who would never flip, even if he would end up losing at FTC by not doing so. Both **HIGH** and **IZ** seemed receptive to what she was saying, and felt like **HOPE** could be being genuine, with **IZ** quite worried about the thought of **PYRO** sitting at F6 with an idol. **HIGH** believed that they could pull off a 3-2-1 vote, with himself, **HOPE** and **IZ** blindsiding **PYRO**, while **HOPE** thought this move - if it worked - would be a win as she wouldn’t (on the surface) be breaking any promises she made as she would vote for **PYRO**, but she would just happen to idol herself.

However, not everyone was on board, as **ASHLEY** felt this was some sort of plot from **PYRO** and **HOPE** working together, and wanted to split the votes between two of the A New Hope trio if they could, though **TANNER** felt it would be safer to tell **HOPE** they were on board but still go with their original plan to vote for **HIGH**, as he didn’t think they could trust either **HIGH** or **HOPE** enough to do a 3-2-2 split. **IZ**, while wanting **PYRO** gone, did acknowledge that it was possible **HOPE** was setting them up, and the three of them agreed to wait a little longer before deciding on what to do.

Given that it was Easter weekend, the tribal council period had been extended to 48 hours, which gave **ASHLEY** enough time to reach the final stage of the merge idol hunt, where she realized that **PYRO** was going to self-vote. This confirmed for her that **PYRO** wanted everyone to vote for her as part of a plan to idol out **IZ** or **TANNER**, and she rushed to In Memory of Serra to tell them that they had to vote for either **XAVIER** or **HOPE**.

**IZ**, now worried about being idoled out, VCed with **HIGH** to try and assess their situation. By this point **HIGH** had grown suspicious of A New Hope as he felt like they had kind of stopped talking to him, making him feel like he was being left out and that he couldn’t truly be part of their group. The A Tribute to Dan foursome officially reunited in a quick VC together, where they agreed that **PYRO** was attempting to hustle votes onto herself in order to idol out **IZ** (**HOPE** had straight up told **IZ** that **PYRO** was voting for her), and decided to vote for **XAVIER** due to both feeling like he would not have an idol played on him, and also because he was someone super loyal who would be taken to the end over any of them.

However, there was to be another twist in the tale. **PYRO**, who earlier in the tribal council period had told **HOPE** to change her vote from her to **IZ**, was still suspicious of **HIGH** and felt like there was to be a big split. She began to feel self-sacrificial as well, preferring for her to be the one to go out rather than either of her two allies. While she believed she would be getting multiple votes, she transferred her idol to **XAVIER** right before the votes were in, telling him to play it, hoping that that combined with **HOPE’S** Rock Amulet would be enough to protect both of them. She went so far as to even send the two of them DMs telling them that she’d be rooting for them, but in fact her idol transfer negated all four of the other group’s votes, and **IZ** was eliminated 2-1, the lone minority vote a self-inflicted one.

A little under a week after **DAVON’S** elimination put them in a 5-3 hole, A New Hope have flipped the script, evening the numbers and holding an idol that **PYRO** earned with her self-vote, immediately transferred to **HOPE**. Will there be another reversal of power, or will this tight trio be able to ride it out to the end?

## **Episode 12:** "I HATEEEEEEE THIS GAMEEEEE UOOOOOHOHOOHOHHHHHH" - Ashley

Receiving the merge idol after fulfilling her task of self-voting, **PYRO** immediately transferred it to **HOPE**, in return for having used **HOPE’S** idol the previous cycle. She then explained in A New Hope what exactly had happened at the vote, and they tried to cobble together a damage control plan, with **HOPE** attempting to claim that she had voted **PYRO**, with **PYRO** voting for **IZ**. Having gone through plenty of trials with each other, both **HOPE** and **XAVIER** seemed intent on going to FTC as a trio, and with an idol and rock amulet in their possession their odds seemed good.

On the other side, **TANNER** assumed that the voting lines would still be 3-3, despite the split at the previous vote. **HIGH** was quite upset, hurt at the feeling that the A New Hope trio had frozen him out of their plans, and that they had lied to him unnecessarily after he had flipped to try and save them. Arguing with **PYRO** in Return of the Jedi this cemented **HIGH** going back to the side of A Tribute to Dan (now also down to three members), and left the other three annoyed and again feeling like it was them against the rest.

**HIGH** was also quite annoyed at **HOPE** refusing to admit that she was in on the plan to idol out **IZ**, despite them all knowing she must have been, with **TANNER** pointing out that she was trying to save face to try and make them feel they could work with her on the next vote. **ASHLEY** shared their frustrations, and was also quite perturbed by the fact that **XAVIER** had been the one to play the idol, feeling like they had done a good job of picking a target that wouldn’t get that protection. **XAVIER**, for his part, wanted **HIGH** or **ASHLEY** to go next, and knowing that he was seen as a goat by others really wanted to win the next immunity to try and build a bit more of a case for himself.

A bit of a break in the game followed, as the players were visited by Loved Ones! While hanging out in their confs, the Loved Ones also participated in a reward challenge of **emoji charades**. **ASHLEY** and **FORKY** crushed the challenge, giving **ASHLEY** a second straight challenge win and the reward of game info that the season ended in an F3 (and also the ability to have Forky stay in their conf for the rest of the season). Quite unhappy at feeling that this reward wasn’t good enough, **ASHLEY** did form a plan of telling **HOPE** that she had received info that the season was actually an F2, in order to convince her that she needed to flip on **PYRO** and **XAVIER** at some point soon, but she did not put that into action immediately.

Meanwhile, **HOPE** was beginning to have doubts at the thought of going all the way with A New Hope, as while she felt she had very good odds of making it to FTC if she stayed the course, the amount that **PYRO** had been talked up as a massive FTC threat stuck with her. However, she felt she couldn’t turn on **PYRO** before F4 as otherwise she would be leaving herself as a target for the next tribal. And to further complicate things, she did not feel that **XAVIER** would ever flip on **PYRO**, meaning that even if she did at F4 it would lead to firemaking at best.

But F4 was still a ways away, and the peasants’ next immunity challenge was **Knight’s Move**, an arena challenge that tested their strategic abilities. **HIGH** was DQed as he did not show for the challenge (which was quite late for Europe), with **HOPE** and **TANNER** the first two eliminated in the actual battle itself. After **XAVIER** came third, **PYRO** and **ASHLEY** tied, putting them in a one on one tiebreaker duel, which **PYRO** won, giving her immunity, and sending both trios to huddle together to try and figure out a plan.

In A New Hope, the mood was pretty good, as short of an idol nullifier (which **XAVIER** was worried about), **PYRO** winning immunity combined with **HOPE’S** idol meant that unless one of them flipped, they would all be safe no matter who the votes from the other three landed on. In the debate over who they should vote out, **PYRO** wanted **ASHLEY** to go due to seeing her as the biggest challenge threat of the three, and also feeling like **TANNER** was the most likely person to work with them. **HOPE** agreed with that first part, but also felt like **TANNER** was the bigger jury threat due to being very likable, and felt he could definitely win if he managed to scrape his way to the end.

**ASHLEY** went to work on **HOPE**, copy-pasting the message she’d received after the reward challenge, just switching out the “F3” to “F2”. **HOPE** was quite worried about this being true, but it still did not change her plans for that cycle. **TANNER** did not think that they would be able to get anyone to flip, and while he knew he could try toensure his own safety by flipping on the other two he didn’t want to do it, preferring to risk going out on a rock draw if he had to. A Tribute to Dan debated their two options for the vote, wondering whether it would make sense to put their votes on **HOPE** to make sure she would be safe in a rock draw, or whether it would be better to vote for someone they felt would be less likely to have an idol played on them. In the end, they decided to vote for **HOPE**.

In A New Hope they agreed to use their idol to ensure they survived, as if they made it to F5 intact they wouldn’t need it anyways. They agreed to vote for **ASHLEY** due to her challenge threat, and when it came time for the votes, **HOPE** played her idol on herself, negating all of A Tribute to Dan’s votes for the second straight tribal, and eliminating **ASHLEY** 3-0.

## **Episode 13:** “Look at that goat status baby” - Xavier

For the third straight tribal A New Hope was able to celebrate, now finding themselves in the majority after completely turning the tables on the now-archived A Tribute to Dan fivesome. The only two from the former majority left - **HIGH** and **TANNER** - were despondent, with **TANNER** knowing his best potential path forward would be to convince **HOPE** and **XAVIER** that **PYRO** was just too good to take to the end, and that they had to flip on her when they had the chance.

**TANNER** then used his challenge advantage, hoping to be able to finally win an immunity at what turned out to be **season trivia**. However, **PYRO** dominated the competition, earning as many points as everyone else combined, with no one particularly close at all to her. Their primary option gone, in the aftermath of the challenge **HIGH** and **TANNER** figured their one available play was to try and convince **HOPE** to turn on **XAVIER** by further pushing **ASHLEY’S** lie about the season ending in an F2, but that did not go very far, partially because **HOPE** was at a party at the time and not in the mood to be talking to people on discord.

The following day, **HOPE** told **HIGH** that it would likely be **TANNER** going, and that she would force fire for him at F4 in order to try and take down **PYRO**. Now believing that there was actually to be an F2, **HOPE** worried that she was doomed to end up in 3rd place no matter what she did, unless she won FIC, wanting to take **XAVIER** to the end if she did, another reason as to why she didn’t want to flip at this vote.

When it came time to decide who was to go (with just a couple hours before the deadline), **PYRO** shared in A New Hope that she wanted the vote to be **HIGH**, seeing him as someone with a strong FTC case with playing the middle in the first three votes of the merge and having a pivotal role in all of them. **XAVIER** agreed with what she said, and also wanted **TANNER** to make F4 due the “fun aspect”. **HOPE** felt that **TANNER** was a bigger jury threat than **HIGH**, and said so, but was also fine with going with a **HIGH** vote if that was what the other two wanted.

This outcome ended up backfiring on **HOPE** in terms of her jury management, as telling **HIGH** that he was to be the vote due to **PYRO** feeling that he was the bigger jury threat contributed to **HIGH’S** feeling that **HOPE** was just following **PYRO** around in the game. He also did not personally see himself as much of a jury threat due to his flip at F8 being a big factor in the collapse of the former majority, feeling that he would be grilled at FTC should he make it there.

In the end, with the lines as tight as they were, there was not much either **HIGH** or **TANNER** could do, as A New Hope decided their fate. The vote fell on **HIGH**, with the two minority members throwing their votes onto **XAVIER**. **HIGH’S** elimination marked four straight tribals with a Quimper 2.0 member heading to Ponderosa, leaving **TANNER** as the lone man left from the group that once looked like they would dominate the merge. On the other side lay A New Hope, their persevering trio still intact. With just one more tribal before FTC, will that alliance hold strong to the very end, or will there be one last twist before the jury comes into play?

## **Episode 14:** “I just want to win the one that counts the most” - Tanner

As the lone man left from the A Tribute to Dan alliance, **TANNER** felt that his only realistic shot of making it to FTC would be to win the final challenge. While **HOPE** had indicated she might give him firemaking against **PYRO** if they were both vulnerable, he did not want to have to put his fate in anyone else’s hands.

Meanwhile, **HOPE** did feel that **PYRO** had to go, despite their very strong bond, as she felt that otherwise no one else had a chance to win. **XAVIER**, however, still wanted the vote to be **TANNER**, due to wanting to stick to the promise he made to his two allies, and feeling that he wasn’t going to beat anyone anyway. **PYRO** also wanted A New Hope to make it to the end intact, and expected a bitter jury should she make it to FTC.

The final immunity challenge for our peasants was the combo of a **jigsaw** + **asterisks**, and with a time of just under 25 minutes **TANNER** crushed the competition to win immunity and book his place at FTC. He quickly submitted his vote for **PYRO**, seeing it as the only logical option, while A New Hope was left to wallow in the reality that one of them had to go.

Both **XAVIER** and **PYRO** immediately offered themselves up as the vote, with **XAVIER** saying that he didn’t deserve to go to FTC over her, while **PYRO** said that wasn’t true and that the two of them should go over her - she also said that she had a lot of work she needed to do and didn’t want to have to write another speech . A little later in her conf she tried to figure different ways that she could self-vote, determined to make sure that she was the final juror.

**HOPE**, for all her talk earlier about flipping on **PYRO** should she have the chance, now felt horrible about doing so, and was distraught at not being able to go to FTC as a trio. She also felt more pessimistic about her FTC chances, feeling that even if **PYRO** went, **TANNER** was going to take the win if the jury was bitter. So close to the end, **HOPE** then spiralled into conspiracy theories, due to people now recognizing **TANNER** as a big jury threat when she’d been arguing that at both the previous two tribals, and also because **PYRO** had said she’d rather do fire-making against **XAVIER** than her. Given that there had been talk earlier about forcing fire somehow, she briefly became worried that **PYRO** and **TANNER** had secretly been a duo the whole time and were trying to split **HOPE** and **XAVIER’S** votes, though she also quickly dismissed that as crazy.

In the end, despite the whispers of firemaking, both **HOPE** and **XAVIER** voted for **PYRO**, both feeling very sad as they did so. **PYRO** ended up voting for **XAVIER**, and was eliminated 3-1, earning her wish of being sent to Ponderosa. With our three finalists locked in, **HOPE**, **TANNER** and **XAVIER** now face the jury, and we will see who comes out on top and becomes our third Trevivor winner!