Exile Island

Exile Island is a game-changing twist used in *Survivor*. Exile Island is a small campsite apart from the actual tribe camps where as many as three contestants will be left, banished for a predetermined period of time. Though in seclusion, the banished castaway(s) will often have a "consolation prize" such as a clue to the location of a Hidden Immunity Idol or advantage that may or may not be hidden there.

Exile Island in any form has appeared in nine seasons. It has appeared as a central twist twice (*Tocantins* and *The Amazon*), as a one-time twist thrice (*Palau*, *The Congo* and *Cloncurry*) and in a variation of the twist four times (*Island of the Idols*, *Island of Secrets*, *Ghost Island* and *Shipwheel Island*).

## Premise

The premise of Exile Island is simple: To force someone (though still depending if there is another twist) to live on his/her own on an uninhabited island. The logic is that the banished player will be separated from their tribe, unable to strategise and will be out of the loop until a predetermined period of time. This twist provides more emphasis on the social aspect of the game, for which players can have an open opportunity to gossip and/or to campaign the ouster of the exiled survivor.

However, all these can backfire, as Exile Island provides clues to the whereabouts of a Hidden Immunity Idol, which may or may be not be hidden on the island. Clues will constantly be handed in every episode, though it does not guarantee the player truly finding the Idol (especially if the Idol had already been found by someone else). This will add more mystery in the game as suspicion would arise between the castaways regarding who really has the Idol. Usually after winning an Immunity Challenge, the winning tribe/s (or individual/group, if merged) will also have the power to send one person from the losing tribe/team to Exile Island.

## Advantages on Exile Island

Though players may feel alone and uneasy during their banishment, there is a silver lining about staying on the dreaded island - a clue to the whereabouts of a Hidden Immunity Idol or advantage that may or may not be hidden somewhere on Exile Island. But Exile Island has also been used as a decoy; with players discovering that the Idol is hidden back at his/her tribe's camp (if the game is still in its inter-tribal phase, players can safely assume that there are two Idols, one hidden at each camp).

## Survivor: Palau

The first use of Exile Island was a one-time exile during *Survivor: Palau*. On Day 2, Gabriel and Natalie were selected as the leaders of the cast and became the captains for the new Koror and Ulong tribes respectively. Due to the nineteen person cast, the last person left standing that was not chosen by either Gabriel or Natalie would be exiled to Exile Island until the first tribal council. Sienta was not selected and sent to Exile Island. She returned to the game on the morning of Day 4 after Ricardo was voted out and became an official member of the Ulong tribe.

## Survivor: Tocantins

For the first time in *Survivor* history, Exile Island was in play as a whole season twist during Survivor: Tocantins. During the pre-merge of the game, the winning tribe has the ability to put on person on Exile Island to find the Hidden Immunity Idol. During the post-merge, the castaway with immunity chose who went to exile, including themselves. Upon visiting Exile Island, the castaway would receive an urn containing a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol that was hidden on the island itself. Exile Island was in play until the Final Six.

## Survivor: The Amazon

During the pre-merge of the game in Survivor: The Amazon, the winning tribe had the opportunity to exile one of their members until the upcoming immunity challenge. This was where the Hidden Immunity Idol was hidden, and cause much friction between the castaways as whoever went there had great power. However, during the post-merge the winner of the immunity challenge chose who was exiled, excluding themselves. Exile Island was in play until Day 31, where it was then used as a challenge location.

## Survivor: Island of the Idols

The Island of the Idols is a variant of Exile Island that was the central twist in the titular season, Survivor: Island of the Idols. Similar to Exile Island, one castaway is sent to the Island of the Idols in the hopes of finding an advantage. Upon visiting the island, one legendary 'idol' joins the exiled castaway and they can provide them with any support needed whilst on the Island of the Idols. They are however, ineligible to win the title of Sole Survivor.

Every castaway could only visit the Island of the Idols once throughout the course of the season unless all remaining players already visited. During the pre-merge, the tribes alternated sending a castaway from the opposing tribe to IOI. During the merge phase however, the winner of the individual immunity challenge chose any player remaining in the game so long as they haven't already visited the island.

## Survivor: Island of Secrets

Another variation to Exile Island and the Island of the Idols, selected castaways on *Survivor: Island of Secrets* were be banished to the titular Island of Secrets. Unlike Island of the Idols, the exiled castaways were not greeted by a former player but would be offered twists and advantages from previous seasons that were unsuccessful or poorly executed. Also unlike IOI, these castaways could visit the island as often as they were chosen.

During the pre-merge, each winning tribe would elect one player to visit the island and the exiled castaways would compete in a challenge to win the advantage. During the post-merge, challenge performance would determine which castaways would visit the Island of Secrets. On Day 28, only the four castaways who had yet to visit were eligible to be considered for the island. A list of the advantages obtained can be found in the table below.

## Survivor: The Congo

The original version of Exile Island returned for a single round during *Survivor: The Congo*. During the tribe switch on Day 12, Aliza was sent to Exile Island after being the only castaway from the Final Fifteen who was not assigned to the Bemba or Lunda tribes. There, she was given the opportunity to find the Vote Steal. Aliza successfully obtained the advantage and joined the new Bemba tribe after they lost the next immunity challenge and voted out Rio.

## Survivor: Ghost Island

*Survivor: Ghost Island* introduced a third variation of Exile Island, known as Ghost Island. At the conclusion of every pre-merge immunity challenge, each tribe will send one member to Ghost Island. These players will compete in a Ghost Island duel for an advantage, where the winner of this advantage will be told anonymously. The players from the winning tribes will then leave Ghost Island (whether they win the duel or not), whilst players from the losing tribe will remain on Ghost Island. However, players from the losing tribe who also lose the duel will be ineligible to vote at the next tribal council they attend. As a result, no player can make consecutive appearances to Ghost Island without visiting tribal council.

The rules were slightly amended following the Day 16 and 18 reward challenges, where one castaway from each tribe was sent to Ghost Island and all players returned to their respective camps before the immunity challenge the following day. With this rule change, players were allowed to make a return or even consecutive visit to Ghost Island, and the losers of the duel did not lose their vote at the following tribal council.

## Survivor: Shipwheel Island

*Survivor: Shipwheel Island* introduced a fourth variation of Exile Island, known as Shipwheel Island. Castaways from different tribes were taken to another island where they were given a choice between protecting or risking their vote on their next visit to Tribal Council. If all of them chose “protect”, they kept their votes. If all of them chose “risk”, none of them were able to vote at their next Tribal Council. If there was a split decision, those who chose “protect” get to keep their vote, but those who chose “risk” obtained an Extra Vote.

## Survivor: Cloncurry

The single visit to Exile Island returned during *Survivor: Cloncurry*. During the Tribe Switch on Day 13, Doug was sent to Exile Island after being the only castaway from the Final Fifteen who was not assigned to the Brains or Brawn tribes. There, he was given the opportunity to find a Tribal Council Pass. Doug successfully obtained the advantage and joined the new Brains tribe after they lost the next immunity challenge and voted out Karlos.

## Trivia

* Exile Island was only used as a central twist in seasons set in Brazil where a red tribe was present. The seasons that implemented a variation of Exile Island always had an orange and purple tribe, although this pattern was broken by *Survivor: Shipwheel Island*.
* Nine players have competed on two seasons with a variation of Exile Island - Christopher, Doug, Gabriel, Harmony, Jaclyn, Jacob, Julia, Luisa and Wyatt.
	+ Doug is the only one of these players to be sent to an 'Exile Island' on both of their seasons.
	+ Conversely, Luisa and Wyatt have never been sent to an 'Exile Island'.
* Sienta was the first person to ever visit Exile Island.
* Doug, Heather and J'Tia hold the record for the most visits to any version of Exile Island, with four.
	+ Heather holds the record for obtaining the most advantages on the island, with three.
	+ J'Tia was also the only returning player on *Island of Secrets* to obtain an advantage on the island.
* Hunter and Bethany are the only winners to visit a variation of Exile Island in the season they won.
	+ Marina won the game and then competed in an Exile Island season.
* Penny was the first castaway to previously play with the castaway she was exiled with on Island of the Idols. Her and Marina previously played together on *SJDS*.
* Malika is the only woman to visit Ghost Island twice and the only player to make consecutive visits.
* Tariq is the only man to visit Ghost Island twice and the only player to obtain an advantage on their second visit.