De Verraders (Belgium)/Season 2

***De Verraders Seizoen 2*** is the second season of *De Verraders (Belgium)*. It airs on VTM every Sunday at 8:00pm, starting from September 17, 2023.

## Background

On May 24, 2023, HLN reported that VTM was making preparations to air the second Flemish season in the autumn of 2023. On August 16, 2023, this second season was officially confirmed to air in fall 2023, with the first nine of 20 contestants announced. The rest of the cast and the official launch date was then announced on September 6, 2023.

### Aftershows

    To capitalise on the show's success from last season, two aftershows were produced. In ***De Verraders: De Ronde Tafel*** (or *The Traitors: The Round Table* in English), Vincent Fierens moderated a discussion on the week's events with a panel including celebrity fans, former contestants, the recently-eliminated and experts. This aired immediately after each episode on VTM.

    In ***Het Uur Van De Waarheid*** (or *The Hour of Truth* in English), former contestant Loïc Van Impe chatted with the most recently Banished and Murdered contestants immediately after their eliminations, allowing them to process and talk about their experiences over a meal he prepared for them. He would also reveal the Traitors' identities to them. This was a VTM GO exclusive available immediately after each episode.

Unlike other editions of the show, there is no prize at stake for the contestants, nor do their mission performances have any effect on a monetary award. Instead, Flemish viewers stood a chance to win €5,000 by playing along to the show weekly and guessing what would happen next.

## Unique Characteristics & Twists

* **No Prize Pot:** Unlike all other versions of the show, the winner(s) would not be receiving a prize fund that varied depending on contestants' performance during Missions. Consequently, there was no money up for grabs in Missions, which only determined Armoury access.

## Contestants

 **Winner: Traitor**

 **Winner: Traitor**

 **Finalist: Faithful**

 **Finalist: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

## Voting History

1. ↑ Elodie used the Dagger with her vote, making it count twice.
2. ↑ Martine used the Dagger with her vote, making it count twice.
3. ↑ Hendrik used the Dagger with his vote, making it count twice.

## Season Overview

### Episode 1

*Airdate: September 17, 2023*

* **Mission Synopsis:** Bluff Call
The 20 contestants were divided into 10 pairs of 2, facing off against each other for an Armoury key. One contestant would pick from 1 of the 2 boxes available and check its contents, while the other had two minutes to decide if they wanted to swap boxes, based on their mutual interactions.
* **Traitors Selected:** Bart, Klassje & Walter
* **Armoury Access:** Aagje, Andy, Bart, Charlotte, Guy, Hans, Klaasje, Liliane, Sarah & Walter
* **Shield:** Sarah

### Episode 2

*Airdate: September 24, 2023*

* **Death List:** Charlotte, Hans, Nora & Véronique
* **Mission Synopsis:** Name That Tune
The 20 contestants were divided into 4 groups of 5, with each group containing someone on the Death List. 3 per group travelled to the Le Théâtre Saint-Bonnet in Bourges, where a musical ensemble played popular Dutch and Flemish tunes (but sung with French lyrics from another song). Once they were confident about identifying a tune, they then conveyed this information to the 2 at the chateau, who would grab 1 of 40 boxes (the contents of which they had 10 minutes to memorise) containing the right song title and artist. The team that collected the highest number of correct boxes gained access to the Armoury.
* **Armoury Access:** Bart, Charlotte, Guy, Jelle & Klaasje
* **Shield:** Charlotte
* **Dagger:** Bart
* **Banished:** *Andy* (9-4-3-2-1-1)

### Episode 3

*Airdate: October 1, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Nora*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Ring Catch
The 18 contestants were divided into 3 teams of 6, with 2 rail bikers, 2 ring catchers and 2 team members who stayed on the chateau grounds. Along the rail bike course were 3 pictures containing items located back in the chateau, which the ring catchers then needed to describe. The teammates back at the chateau then had to locate the correct item, which had a question attached to it. The rail bikers would later encounter a station with 6 possible options (with rings attached to them), and guess which of their fellow contestants was the right answer to the question by retrieving their ring. A correct answer would grant 2 minutes off the team's timer, and an incorrect answer a 2 minute penalty instead. The team that completed the rail bike course with the fastest overall time would gain Armoury access.
* **Armoury Access:** Bart, Céline, Imke, Klaasje, Sarah, Véronique
* **Shield:** Bart
* **Dagger:** Véronique
* **Banished:** *Walter* (10-4-2-1-1)

### Episode 4

*Airdate: October 8, 2023*

* **Recruitment:** Guy *(Accepted)*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Pétanque XXL
The 17 contestants were split into 4 teams of 4, plus an extra person the group chose to gain direct access to the Armoury. Each team had to transport 3 giant inflatable balls through the woods and past 2 checkpoints back to the château. The fastest team gets an extra ball, while the slowest has a ball taken away. The teams then play a modified giant version of pétanque, taking turns to pitch a ball into the playing area based on their order of arrival. The team whose ball came closest to the jack gained access to the Armoury.
* **Armoury Access:** Bart, Franky, Guy, Hendrik & Klaasje
* **Shield:** Franky
* **Dagger:** Bart
* **Banished:** *Klaasje* (13-2-1-1)

### Episode 5

*Airdate: October 15, 2023*

* **Recruitment:** Charlotte *(Accepted)*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Kidnapped
4 contestants selected by the Traitors were 'kidnapped'. The remaining 12 contestants divided themselves into three groups, with each group travelling to the city of Moulins. They each possessed a mobile phone, through which they received further voice message instructions from the hostages on how to rescue them, as they were driven around different spots in the city. The team that located the hostages first gained access to the Armoury, alongside the hostages if they were rescued within 45 minutes.
* **Armoury Access:** Aagje, Bart, Charlotte, Elodie, Hans, Hendrik, Imke & Jelle
* **Shield:** Bart
* **Dagger:** Charlotte & Hendrik
* **Banished:** *Aagje* (10-6)

### Episode 6

*Airdate: October 22, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Imke*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Find the Murderer
The 14 contestants were split into 2 teams of 7. The teams were then divided into 5 detectives and 2 analysts to deduce which suspect out of 10 possibilities (portrayed as dressed dummies) committed a murder, based on clues scattered across five locations. The detectives would search the locations for clues and convey them back to the analysts, who would compete to select 1 dummy on a first-come-first-serve basis. Each team only had one guess, and the team that guessed correctly would gain access to the Armoury.
* **Armoury Access:** Charlotte, Elodie, Guy, Hendrik, Jelle, Martine & Sarah
* **Shield:** Martine
* **Dagger:** Hendrik & Martine
* **Banished:** *Céline* (9-5-1-1)

### Episode 7

*Airdate: October 29, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Liliane*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Target Practice
The 12 contestants were first asked to paint portraits of themselves. The group then rated the portraits, with the 4 highest scorers receiving 2 pastries, the next 4 highest receiving 1 pastry and the bottom 4 with no pastries. Those with pastries then took turns throwing them at a portrait of their choice. If a portrait is hit by a pastry, its owner loses Armoury access.
* **Armoury Access:** Bart, Charlotte, Elodie, Guy, Hendrik, Martine, Sarah & Véronique
* **Shield:** Sarah
* **Dagger:** Hendrik & Véronique
* **Banished:** *Bert* (11-1)

### Episode 8

*Airdate: November 5, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Jelle*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Baker's Assistants
Out of the 10 contestants, 4 of them will take and pack 12 orders in a bakery. The other 6 then form 3 pairs the bakery assistants assign order deliveries to. The group as a whole would gain access to the Armoury if 3 or fewer errors were made with the orders (correct items packed, and delivered within 6 minutes).
* **Armoury Access:** *No one*
* **Shield:** *None*
* **Dagger:** *None*
* **Banished:** *Hendrik* (6-3-1)

### Episode 9

*Airdate: November 12, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Martine*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Gross Foods
The contestants were driven to La Cuisine d'Hervé in Moulins, where they entered its dining room one at a time. Each contesant was given an 'exotic' item that they could choose to take a bite from (or decline). They also had to guess if the contestant after them would finish eating their assigned dish - and if they guessed correctly, they gained access to the Armoury.
* **Armoury Access:** Sarah
* **Shield:** Sarah
* **Dagger:** Sarah
* **Banished:** *Charlotte* (7-1)

### Episode 10

*Airdate: November 19, 2023*

* **Murdered:** *Hans*
* **Mission Synopsis:** Navigating the Woods
* **Armoury Access:** Bart, Elodie, Sarah & Véronique
* **Dagger:** Bart & Elodie
* **Banished:**
	+ *Sarah* (4-2)
	+ *Elodie* (3-2-1)
* **Runners-Up(s):** *Franky & Véronique*
* **Winners: *Bart & Guy***

## Viewership

Despite a slower start compared to the first season, this season began to steadily pick up viewer numbers as the weeks progressed. The show did well enough that a third-season renewal was announced before the reunion episode aired.

## Trivia

* This is the first season in the international franchise where:
	+ the contestants were not playing for a final prize fund,
	+ Missions only determined Armoury access, rather than add to the prize fund,
	+ and there has been more than one LGBTQIA+ Traitor (Bart Appeltans and Guy T'Sjoen).

## References

1. ↑ (NL) Help! De tv-zomer is al begonnen | TVvisie.be — May 25, 2023
2. ↑ (NL) TV-hit De Verraders keert binnenkort terug met een nieuw seizoen en deze 9 laten zich van hun meest duistere kant zien | VTM — August 16, 2023
3. ↑ (NL) 20 bekende Vlamingen, 17 bondgenoten, 3 verraders: De Verraders is terug vanaf zondag 17 september | VTM — September 6, 2023
4. ↑ (NL) Na het succesvolle einde van ‘De verraders’, keert het programma terug met een nieuw, derde seizoen | Het Laatste Nieuws — November 23, 2023