Old School Alliance

**Highest Ranked**: Bethany (Winner/20)

The Old School Alliance (also known as the 'Old Schoolers') was an alliance from Survivor: Island of the Idols.

With the cast primarily consisting of more recent players, a small group was created of veterans who previously competed in earlier seasons (dubbed as 'Old School'). After gaining favour from some New Schoolers, the alliance began controlling both the tribe switch and early merge. In the end, a historic tied vote forced one Old Schooler to prove his allegiance to his Day 1 alliance.

## History

### Origins

The purple Vokai tribe was formed on Day 1 of Survivor: Island of the Idols, where three trios quickly took shape. Bethany, Leo and Penny formed one of these tight trios as the players who competed on the earliest seasons. Ellis was considered a charismatic physical asset on Vokai, and he aligned with the Old School players as he believed he could work well with them and they would be targeted before him if the alliance was to crumble. On Day 5, Penny was chosen by the rival Lairo tribe to visit Island of the Idols where she was joined by *Survivor: Panama* winner Marina, but was unsuccessful in finding an advantage. At Vokai's first immunity challenge loss on Day 9, this quartet had the numbers and eliminated Kameron for his reputation as a flipper. On Day 11, Ellis was selected by Lairo to visit Island of the Idols and he was joined by Dion, notorious idol finder originally from *Survivor: The Australian Outback*. The pair were unfortunately unable to find an advantage for Ellis. With their numbers now in their favour, the Old Schoolers were in the majority to eliminate infamous villainess Flick.

### The Switch: Vokai

At the tribe switch, Old Schoolers Bethany, Ellis and Penny remained on Vokai. Their alliance extended when *Micronesia* Old Schoolers Emma and Jaclyn joined forces with them. After losing the immunity challenge, the Old Schoolers wanted to get rid of Tatianna but felt that she was more likely than Fabian to have an idol. At tribal, Fabian played his own idol for Tatianna who he felt was the primary target but the Old Schoolers eliminated Fabian. On Day 17, Lairo selected Emma to visit Island of the Idols and she was joined by *Survivor: The Australian Outback* legend Aida. Together, the pair were successful in finding a vote blocker. Following the second consecutive loss of the Vokai tribe, the Old Schoolers voted out Tatianna.

The Old School Woman were a super tight group and considered Ellis their fifth number. They readily agreed however, when he suggested that they throw the next immunity challenge to eliminate Dre because of her connection to Ika, Sasha and William on the rival Lairo tribe. On Day 19, Jaclyn was selected by Lairo to visit the Island of the Idols. She was joined by *Survivor: Palau* winner and her husband Jon. Jon reassured Jaclyn that she was in a good position, and they found a Hidden Immunity Idol together. After losing three consecutive immunity challenges, Vokai only contained the five members of the Old School Alliance but lost again and was forced to turn on each other. Ellis was under the impression that the Vokai Old Schoolers were in the majority and would vote for Jaclyn. However, Bethany and Penny agreed they were closest to Emma and Jaclyn, and the group united to eliminate Ellis.

### Leo's Lairo Allies

Meanwhile, Leo was switched to the orange Lairo tribe. As an alliance of four was forming between castaways who shared a previous relationship, Leo brought in Henry, Luke and Natalie into a counter alliance. This 4-4 split divided Lairo, but their alliances were never tested because Lairo won all immunity challenges they had together.

When the tribes merged on Day 23, Bethany and Penny reunited with Leo. The original Vokai Old Schoolers combined their alliances from the switch to create a majority on Lumuwaku. At the first merged tribal council, Emma played her vote blocker from Island of the Idols to prevent Sasha's vote. With their alliance firmly in the majority, Bethany, Emma, Jaclyn, Leo, Luke, Natalie and Penny voted out Henry and Jose over the next three days. Bethany and Penny in particular were becoming concerned that Leo was more connected to Luke and Natalie than themselves. The girls spoke to Leo and reasoned that he had to vote with them for either Luke or Natalie in order to prove his loyalty, leading to Luke's elimination.

### Dwindling Numbers

Back at camp, the Old School Alliance assured Natalie they wanted to work with her but secretly felt she was an unnecessary number. After winning immunity on Day 30, Leo elected himself to visit Island of the Idols and he was joined by his fellow *Survivor: San Juan Del Sur* castaway Domenic. The pair however, were unable to find an advantage. Upon his return to camp, he agreed to vote for Natalie with Bethany and Penny voted whilst the rest of the Old Schoolers voted for Ika and the minority trio voted for Bethany. At the revote, the votes were deadlocked when no one switched their vote. This rendered the three women immune along with Leo (who won the immunity challenge) and the remaining five castaways were forced to draw rocks, which led to Jaclyn's elimination.

With the fear of another deadlocked tie, the Old Schoolers from Vokai agreed to offer to vote for an unconnected Emma with the rest of the tribe. After winning immunity on Day 32, William elected to send Bethany to the Island of the Idols as a sign of his commitment to eliminate Emma and because he was convinced she would not find an advantage. She was met by *Survivor: Redemption Island* villain and her arch nemesis Mandy. Following their season, the girls resolved their differences and were able to work together to find Bethany an Idol Nullifier. At tribal council, the Old Schoolers and the Pairs Alliance worked together to unanimously vote for Emma. The Old Schoolers were hopeful that Natalie would remain loyal to them, but she considered working with Ika, Sasha and William. Ika spoke with the Old Schoolers and was concerned that Natalie was in control of the tribe and suggested they vote for her. Seeing this as an opportunity to have the majority, the alliance voted with Ika to blindside Natalie.

Ika's choice to work with the Old Schoolers annoyed William and he approached them with the intention of getting rid of Ika. The alliance saw this as an opportunity to further fracture their adversaries and they readily agreed, though Bethany was wary of William's eagerness. At tribal, the Old Schoolers voted for Ika and William played an idol on her. However, Bethany could forsee this move and played her Idol Nullifier against William which meant Ika was still voted out with the majority of votes. The Old Schoolers appeared to be in the majority and were planning on voting for William after he doubled crossed them the previous vote. However, Leo flipped on the women and Penny was blindsided at tribal council. This move put Bethany on the bottom of the tribe, but she won the final individual immunity challenge and forced Leo to work with her. She decided that William's moves the last few tribals were building his resume and she convinced both Leo and Sasha to get rid of him.

### Historic Tie

At the Final Tribal Council, the jury members from the Old School Alliance criticised Leo for not remaining loyal at the very end of the game. He was given the title of Second Runner-Up after earning zero of ten jury votes. Bethany on the other hand, was praised for her intuition when playing her Idol Nullifier at the Final Six and for overcoming the odds against her that occurred in subsequent tribal councils. For the first time in *Survivor* history, there was a tie at the Final Tribal Council when Bethany received five jury votes from the Old Schoolers and the others voted for Sasha. Zero vote finalist Leo was forced to break the tie and he decided to award the title of Sole Survivor to his Day 1 Old School ally, Bethany.