Pairs Alliance

**Highest Ranked**: Sasha (Runner-Up/20)

The Pairs Alliance (also known as the *Mamanuca- Kaôh Rōng* Alliance) was an alliance from Survivor: Island of the Idols.

Despite being divided at the very beginning of the game, two halves of the Pairs Alliance formed a whole group of veterans with past relationships. This however, increased their threat level and they constantly suffered loss against the Old Schoolers during the merge. At the Final Tribal Council, the alliance remained loyal to their sole representative and forced a tie on Day 39.

## History

### Pre-Formation

The Pairs Alliance, despite only meeting at the tribe switch, was talked about from the very beginning of *Survivor: Island of the Idols*. On a season of returning players, past relationships put huge targets on various castaways. On Lairo, Jose and Sasha were able to slip under the radar because the castaways they had connections to were on the rival Vokai tribe. On Vokai, Dre, Ika and William formed a tight trio with the intention of bringing in Jose and Sasha whenever they met up later in the game.

### Origins

At the tribe switch, Ika, Jose, Sasha and William were placed on the orange Lairo tribe whilst Dre remained on Vokai. Ika and Jose immediately rekindled their connection following *Mamanuca Islands* whilst Sasha and William reunited from *Kaôh Rōng*. The Pairs on Lairo were not in the majority of their tribe however, because the other four castaways formed a counter alliance. On Day 19, Vokai selected William to visit Island of the Idols where he was joined by *Survivor: Worlds Apart* winner Byron. Together, the men were able to find a Hidden Immunity Idol for William. Despite the 4-4 divide on Lairo, the tribe won all four immunity challenges they had together and did not have to go after each other. However, the Pairs suffered with the loss of Dre on Day 20 as the only member of their alliance on Vokai.

### The Merge

Lairo and Vokai merged into the blue Lumuwaku tribe on Day 23. The Pairs Alliance were able to bring in Henry, but their rivals from Lairo joined forces with the Old School Alliance in order to have the numbers. The Pairs suffered another setback, when Emma used her vote blocker against Sasha at the first merged tribal council. In the minority, the alliance could only watch as both Henry and Jose were voted out over the next few days. After winning individual immunity on Day 28, Ika elected to send herself to the Islands of the Idols where she was met with *Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains* and *Survivor: India* winner Ashleigh. They were unsuccessful in finding Ika an advantage, though she was given crucial advice from Ashleigh about fracturing her rivals. At the following tribal, the alliance was then given a break when the Old Schoolers turned on their own affiliate, Luke.

Ika, Sasha and William were the only castaways remaining from their alliance by the Final Nine and only had one idol between themselves. They voted for Bethany and were given a lucky break when the Old Schoolers split the votes between Bethany, Ika and Natalie. When no one switched their vote at the revote, Ika was rendered immune and the remaining castaways drew rocks. Luckily for them, the Old Schoolers lost an ally when Jaclyn drew the odd rock. Fearing another deadlocked vote, the Pairs Alliance agreed to work with the Old Schoolers to unanimously eliminate a now unconnected Emma. William sent Bethany to the Island of the Idols as a sign of his loyalty and because he felt she wouldn't find an advantage.

### Uphill Battle

With the two alliances vying for Natalie as the crucial swing vote, William was upset when Ika betrayed the alliance to blindside Natalie. He thought he had a stronger bond with Ika and she would remain loyal and concocted a plan to ensure she would avoid working with the Old Schoolers in the future. He agreed to vote for Ika at tribal, but played his idol on her. However, his plan was thwarted when Bethany played her Idol Nullifier and Ika was still voted out with the majority of votes. Now in the minority of the tribe, William spoke with Leo and convinced him that he was at the bottom of his alliance. With Leo, Sasha and William blindsided Penny at the Final Five in a 3-2 vote. The men solidified their bond with a Final Three deal, but were forced to turn on each other when Bethany won the final individual immunity challenge. As the bigger strategic of the two, William was voted out on Day 38.

### Historic Tie

At the Final Tribal Council, the jury members 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. Sasha on the other hand, was praised by his Pairs Alliance for his under the radar social game. 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 Sasha received votes from his allies. Zero vote finalist Leo was forced to break the tie and he decided to award the title of Sole Survivor to his ally, Bethany which left Sasha as the seasons Runner-Up.