De Verraders (Netherlands)/Season 3

***De Verraders Seizoen 3*** is the third regular season (and fifth season overall) of *De Verraders (Netherlands)*. It was broadcast every Friday at 8:00pm on the Dutch terrestrial TV channel RTL 4 with 10 episodes total, airing from March 3, 2023 to May 5, 2023. With 20 contestants, this season contained the biggest cast yet for a Dutch season. It was also the first season in the Dutch edition to film outside the Netherlands.

## Background

It was first rumoured by Dutch celebrity gossip account Juice Channel that filming for a third season of *De Verraders* began on October 10, 2022 in France. Confirmation of a new season and the foreign filming location was provided by returning host Tijl Beckand on January 12, 2023. This marked the first time a regular Dutch season was not recorded at Erenstein Castle, which the production team previously chose to avoid logistical difficulties associated with COVID-19 protocols when filming overseas.

The cast and start date was announced on February 17, 2023, and a teaser trailer released on March 1, 2023.

### Aftershows

Two sets of bonus clips were uploaded onto RTL's website: ***De Verraders: Backstage*** for general bonus scenes and interviews, and ***De Verraders: De Weg Na De Verbanning*** (or *The Traitors: The Road After Exile* in English) interviewing the latest Banished contestant in a car leaving the filming venue.

## Unique Characteristics & Twists

* **Pre-existing Relationship:** Brothers Jordy and Sander Huisman were cast on the show together, competing as individual contestants. This is the second season in the global franchise to cast siblings after *Les Traîtres (Belgium)/Season 2*.
* **Forced Recruitment:** At the end of Episode 7, there was only one Traitor left. They could select a Faithful of their choice to forcibly recruit as a Traitor.
* **Double Daggers:** In Episode 10, there were two Daggers up for grabs in the Armoury, instead of the usual Dagger and Shield combination.
* **Traitor Clues:** For the first time in the franchise's history, explicit clues on the identities of the Traitors were provided to contestants, in this case as part of the final Mission.

## Contestants

 **Winner: Faithful**

 **Winner: Faithful**

 **Winner: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

## Voting History

1. ↑ Billy used the Dagger with his vote, making it count twice.
2. ↑ Jordy used the Dagger with his vote, making it count twice.
3. ↑ Jordy used the Dagger with his vote, making it count twice.
4. ↑ Maria used the Dagger with her vote, making it count twice.

## Season Summary

The season started turbulently, with conflicts immediately arising as Selma and Jessie sacrificed their groups' chances at visiting the Armoury, prioritising themselves instead. Host Tijl Beckand told the contestants that this season was set in France, and alliances were formed on the bus journey there. At the Round Table, Tijl selected artist Katinka, opera singer Maria and DJ Sander as the Traitors. Sander grew visibly nervous after being selected, something that many at the Round Table - including his fellow Traitors.

At their first conclave, the Traitors were presented with a surprise: instead of starting the season with a Murder, they had to put four Faithfuls on Death Row. Maria believed Sander was a liability to the group, and plotted with Katinka to have him Banished first. This plan failed as Maria did not do a good enough job convincing the others; the casualty was instead Irene, whose behaviour grew increasingly erratic. Sander was angry at his fellow Traitors for the brazen backstab but agreed to bury the hatchet and work more closely with them, as they Murdered Sunny for being a potential threat who could uncover them. The Traitors were handed another win when Giorgio, who spearheaded Irene's misguided Banishment, was sent packing in turn; they then Murdered Herman for being too guarded and inscrutable.

At this point, Selma was fed up with the groupthink and passivity, instead aggressively going after who she thought was a Traitor: the reserved Noël. Jan was also starting to catch heat, as many contestants believed his lived experience and smarts made him an ideal Traitor profile. Chahid capitalised on this distrust to spread a rumour that he suspected Jan, observing whether anyone amplified this - as Maria did. Despite Jan becoming more suspicious, Noël could not defend herself adequately, and even her allies Maria and Thomas turned on her.

Many more contestants - primarily including Billy, Noor and Selma - began to suspect Maria was a Traitor, as she was acting unnaturally and making slip ups. She even suggested to her fellow Traitors to Murder her number one ally Thomas, believing it would make her look less suspicious. Selma, angry at having wrongly accused someone the previous round and seeking to redeem herself, attacked Maria at the next Banishment. In her desperation, Maria even tried throwing Sander under the bus again, but at the end of the round, the group managed to Banish their first Traitor. The fallout from Sander voting against Maria led to a heated argument between Katinka and Sander at the next conclave, before the two begrudgingly agreed to Recruit the heavily-suspected Jan into their ranks.

Although the inital plan was supposedly to throw Jan out as a scapegoat during the next Banishment, Sander hatched a scheme with Jan to eliminate Katinka instead, capitalising on inconsistencies with her behaviour and fanning others' suspicions of her. In spite of Selma once again leading the charge against Jan, he narrowly survived as the group Banished their second Traitor in a row - Katinka. In an attempt to halt Selma's influence and lower his defensive posture, Jan proposed the Traitors Murder her. However, the others became even more suspicious of him, and a slip-up on his end quickly ended his game.

As the last Traitor standing, Sander now had to forcibly Recruit a Faithful to join his ranks. He settled on his brother Jordy, and the two vowed to have each others' backs till the end. They almost mess up on their next Murder as they eliminated someone who had been in the Armoury: Ferri. However, the others then became suspicious that Ferri was Murdered by someone else who had also been in the Armoury - in this case, previous Shield owner Jessie, who was then Banished even as many doubted if she was a Traitor.

The brothers grew bolder about their control over the game, next Murdering Pernille as she had been vocally accusing them. In fact, close allies Billy and Noor had also suspected the brothers since Jordy's recruitment, but decided to lay low in order to avoid getting targeted. After the next Mission, only Betty and Jordy got to visit the Armoury. Again fearing the lack of protection from a Shield, Billy and Noor decided to defer attacking Sander and Jordy, voting to Banish Betty despite knowing she was a Faithful and having the votes to eliminate Sander if they wanted.

Their plan to reach the finale worked: the brothers dismissed Billy and Noor as being ignorant about the game, instead Murdering Nathan for speaking against them at the last Banishment and voting for Sander. Jordy and Sander felt confident about having leverage with Chahid, whom they felt owed them after escaping Banishment against Jessie. The stakes were further raised during the final Mission, with up to two Daggers potentially up for grabs, and three Armoury keys handed out - two of which went to the Traitor brothers. The final Round Table was crucial, as the Faithfuls needed to Banish both remaining Traitors within the last two rounds to win.

Noor finally went on the offensive and called out the brothers, while Chahid appeared to doubt her due to her sudden change in behaviour. In the end, the brothers' luck ran out: they failed to obtain both Daggers, and Chahid was sufficiently persuaded by Noor to side with her and Billy, Banishing Sander. Jordy's game essentially collapsed after that and he was swiftly dispatched, leaving Billy, Chahid and Noor as the Faithful winners of 30 silver bars.

## Trivia

* This is the first season of *De Verraders (Netherlands)* to film outside of the Netherlands.
* It is the first season internationally:
* with four people On Trial instead of three,
	+ where both members of a pre-existing relationship served as Traitors at the same time,
	+ to have both the Shield and Dagger stored in the same Armoury spot at least once,
	+ to have multiple Daggers available in a single episode,
	+ and for multiple Daggers to be played at a Banishment.
* It is the first Dutch season:
	+ where the Dagger was used,
	+ and to feature the Death List.
* With five Traitors total (three original and two recruited), this is the Dutch season with the most Traitors.
* It is also the first (officially licensed) season where the first boot was Banished rather than Murdered.

## References

1. ↑ (NL) ‘Nieuw seizoen De Verraders in het buitenland’ | Showbizznetwork — October 11, 2022
2. ↑ (NL) Startdatum en locatie van nieuw seizoen De Verraders bekend | RTL Boulevard — January 12, 2023
3. ↑ (NL) Nieuw seizoen ‘De Verraders’ bij RTL: verrassende elementen zorgen voor weer een bloedstollend seizoen | RTL — February 17, 2023
4. ↑ (NL) Seizoen 3 van De Verraders van start bij RTL 4 | YouTube — March 1, 2023