Survivor: Palau

***Survivor: Palau*** is the twelfth season of the reality show *Survivor: The Sims*. This season was filmed on Koror island in Palau. *Palau* premiered on September 4, 2021 with a special two-hour premiere covering two visits to Tribal Council.

33 year-old general contractor Deonte Paul was awarded the title of Sole Survivor in a 4-2-1 jury vote against 30 year-old bartender Cody Graf and 40-year-old dean of admissions Kimberly Velazquez.

## Production

To pay homage to the canon U.S. *Survivor*, the location for this season was announced to be Palau at the *Vanuatu* reunion. Palau was chosen for its beautiful beaches, and because in the original *Survivor*, *Vanuatu* (*Survivor* season 9) was followed by *Palau* (*Survivor* season 10), so production decided to give a nod to the original series and chose Palau. Initially, returning players were considered for this season, but the idea was ultimately scrapped to make way for new players.

Some players considered for this season were Maci Kressin, Santi Reyes, and Xavier Anderson. However, all three were cut after production announced the season was "going in a different direction." Brittani Reynolds was also approached to return, but declined due to her pregnancy.

Production for *Survivor: Palau* began a few days after *Survivor: Vanuatu* finished airing. Casting began on September 3, 2021, with 40 semi-finalists being flown out to Los Angeles for official interviews. From those semi-finalists, the 18 finalists were chosen and flown out to Palau.

## Twists/Changes

* **Schoolyard Pick:** Similarly to *Survivor: Chile*, the tribes were chosen based on a schoolyard pick. When the castaways were brought in, they were instructed to each stand on a circle, and flipped them over; two of these circles were red underneath. Those with red circles became tribe leaders, picking each member of their tribes.
* **Exile Island:** After a reward or immunity challenge, a member of the losing tribe will be sent to Exile Island. The banished player will have a choice of two bottles: one for comfort, and one for a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol. If the player chose comfort, they would get a key to a shelter with some fruit, but not be able to look for the idol, and if they chose the idol clue they would be forced to sleep outisde of the shelter.
* **Hidden Immunity Idol:** A Hidden Immunity Idol was hidden on Exile Island, as well as during the second tribe switch. Rules for idols remained the same, as in them being eligible up until Day 36.
* **Double Tribal Council:** On Day 21, both tribes were subject to a visit to Tribal Council to vote out ff one of their members.
* **Two Tribe Switches:** The first tribe switch occurred on Day 10, and the second tribe switch occurred on Day 22.
* **Late Merge:** Because of the second tribe switch, the merge was delayed by three days. The tribes merged on Day 27 at the immunity challenge.
* **Final Three and Jury of Seven:** Similarly to *Survivor: Mauritius* and *Survivor: Vanuatu*, the final three faced a jury of seven. For the first time in the show's history, the jury phase began one cycle before the merge.

## Castaways

**^1** Because of the odd number of players during the tribe switch, Ian, the odd person out, was sent to Exile Island. He rejoined the game as a member of Koror, replacing Kachelle and evening the tribes at 7 members each.

## Season Summary

**^1** Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
**^2** There was no reward challenge due to the tribe switch.
**^3** Because of the odd number of players during the tribe switch, Ian, the odd person out, was sent to Exile Island. He rejoined the game as a member of Koror, replacing Kachelle and evening the tribes at 7 members each.
**^4** Because of a Double Tribal Council on Day 21, the remaining castaways competed in an individual immunity challenge. Ian won the challenge, and was instructed to give immunity to anyone on the opposing tribe; he chose Deonte.
**^5** Because of the second tribe switch, there was no reward challenge. In addition, nobody was exiled.

## Voting History

**^1** Alexis played a Hidden Immunity Idol on Kachelle, but did not negate any votes against Kachelle.
**^2** Because of the odd number of players during the tribe switch, Ian, the odd person out, was sent to Exile Island. He rejoined the game as a member of Koror, replacing Kachelle and evening the tribes at 7 members each.
**^3** Ian played a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 1 vote against him.
**^4** Tomas played a Hidden Immunity Idol on Conor, negating 3 votes against him.
**^5** Jennifer played a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 2 votes cast against her.

## Trivia

* *Palau* is the second season to feature a schoolyard pick to divide the tribes, following *Survivor: Chile*. However, *Palau* is the first schoolyard pick that did not end in an elimination.
	+ By extension, *Palau* is the second season where the castaways divided up the tribes themselves.
* When the castaways of *Palau* are sorted into alphabetical order, they go in opposing order of tribes (Koror, Airai, Koror, Airai...).
* *Palau* is the season with the most LGBTQ+ contestants, with 4 overall (Alexis Finch, Grant Callan-Farley, Jana Pierson, and Shawn Cooper).
	+ Coincidentally, none of these castaways made it to the merge; however, Jana did make the jury.
* *Palau* is the first season where the jury cycle has began before the merge. Jana Pierson became the first member of the jury who was not a part of the merged tribe.
* *Palau* features the latest merge in the show's history, on Day 27. With only 12 days left, the merge was shortened.
* *Palau* is technically the first season to merge with nine castaways remaining. The tribes became one with nine left on *Survivor: Chile*, however *Chile* featured an absorption rather than a traditional merge.
* *Palau* is the first season with two tribe switches that did not feature the introduction of a third tribe.
* *Palau* is the first season where one castaway played an idol on someone else's behalf. Alexis Finch played an idol for Kachelle Wiley on Day 6, while Tomas Cardona played an idol for Conor Kinsella on Day 24.
* *Palau* is the first season to feature a tribal reward challenge in the same episode as the merge.
* *Palau* is the first season where castaways were eligible to win individual immunity pre-merge. On Day 21, the day of the Double Tribal Council, Ian Haupt won individual immunity.
	+ In addition, *Palau* is the first season where a castaway gave individual immunity to the member of the opposing tribe. Ian was given the task to do so, and chose Deonte Paul.
* The merged tribe, Alii Alii, means "Hello Hello" in Palauan.
* *Palau* is the second season with a green merged tribe, following *Survivor: Cook Islands*.
* *Palau* is the third season with an orange pre-merge tribe, following *Survivor: Samoa* and *Survivor: Chile*.

## References

1. ↑ Jack Jones's Twitter: We Are On Koror Island!
2. ↑ Pre-Planning of Palau.
3. ↑ Interview with Brittani Reynolds.
4. ↑ https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/palauan.htm#:~:text=Hello%20(General%20greeting),Hello%20(on%20phone)