Mandy's Womens Alliance

**Highest Ranked**: Mandy (Winner)

Mandy's Womens Alliance was an alliance from Survivor: Redemption Island.

Created by arguably the biggest villainess in *Survivor* history, this alliance held majority of the power on the Zapatera and merged Murlonio tribes. Mandy, the leader and strategic powerhouse of the alliance, won the season after majority of the jury respected her control over her own allies and rivals.

## History

### Early Dominance

Following the creation of the purple Zapatera tribe on Day 1 of Survivor: Redemption Island, the castaways began forming relationships. Mandy aligned with the women (Cindy, Isobel and Summer) whom she considered naive and physically weaker than her. The quartet originally were threatened by the trio of Bethany, Jett and Ryder who are siblings of castaways who competed in the previous season. At the Day 3 Double Tribal Council, Mandy's alliance had the numbers and they sent Ryder to Redemption Island. To solidify her role as the leader on the alliance, Mandy formed personal bonds with each woman and made individual Final Two deals with Cindy and Summer. Mandy was fearful that Bethany and Jett would join forces with the rest of the tribe and threaten her female alliance, so she used her persuasive social game to bring them to her side. At the next two tribal councils Zapatera attended, this new majority sent Scott and John to Redemption Island.

### The Cracks Emerge

Now with her alliance firmly rooted in the majority, Mandy's next course of action was to split up the duo of Bethany and Jett. She spoke with her original alliance of Cindy, Isobel and Summer at the well about blindsiding Jett, unaware that Bethany was walking up close behind them. She overheard Mandy explaining this plan and then spoke with Jett, where the couple agreed Mandy needed to be the next one voted out. At Zapatera's next loss, the pair appeased the female alliance by voting for Dave as planned but Mandy's Womens Alliance brought in outsider Dave to get rid of Bethany.

Jett and Dave were now seen as disposable members of Zapatera to Mandy, and she told the women that Dave was the next target. However, Isobel became wary of her position amongst her core alliance when Cindy mistakenly told her that she had a Final Two deal with Mandy. When Zapatera attended tribal council on Day 14, Mandy told the women to vote for Dave but Isobel flipped and voted for Summer with the men. At the revote, Jett realised this was his opportunity to fracture the female alliance and switched his vote to Dave which sent him to Redemption Island. The following morning, the castaways on Redemption Island competed in a duel where the winner would re-enter the game. Bethany won the duel and returned, which caused some tension between her, Jett and Mandy's alliance. Despite their own conflict, the tribe came together and won the remaining three immunity challenges they had together.

### Working with the Enemy

Following Ryder's return from Redemption Island, the two tribes merged. This meant that Mandy's rival alliance from Zapatera now included Bethany, Isobel, Jett and Ryder to her trio of women. To ensure her alliance wasn't targeted at the first merged votes, she approached Katniss and Peeta from the Ometepe Alliance and convinced them to join forces with her in order to overthrow the Redemption Island returnees, who were seen as the biggest threats. The two alliances joined forces to send Isobel and Jett to Redemption Island.

The original course of action for the two alliances was to target Bethany or Ryder next. However, Mandy became cautious of giving the Ometepe Alliance too much power, especially considering they were a group of five on a tribe of ten. She spoke with Bethany and Ryder and tried to get them to vote as a Zapatera tribe to get rid of Virgil. The duo however, could see through Mandy's scheming and flipped to the Ometepe Alliance to get rid of Cindy. Mandy and Summer appeared to be on the outs of the tribe, though Mandy felt she had a good working relationship with Katniss and Peeta. She appeased the pairs thirst for power and convinced them Jeremiah was the biggest physical threat left, and they sent him to Redemption Island next.

At the Final Eight, there was an even split amongst the original Ometepe and Zapatera tribes. Despite their conflict, Mandy and Summer agreed to work with Bethany and Ryder to all vote for Katniss whereas the Ometepe Alliance voted for Bethany. At the revote, Virgil and William flipped to Mandy's alliance to eliminate Katniss followed Peeta the following night. With only six castaways remaining, Mandy felt it was more appropriate to flip on Bethany and Ryder once again because Virgil and William were weaker strategic and physical players. With the Ometepe men, Mandy and Summer sent Bethany back to Redemption Island.

### The Finish Line

At the Final Five, Mandy and Summer were willing to work with the Ometepe men once more in order to get rid of Ryder. However, Mandy became concerned when Virgil won individual immunity. She then spoke to Ryder and told him that the Ometepe men wanted him gone, so he voted with the women to blindside William at tribal council. A final duel occurred between Bethany, Katniss and William to secure the final place in the new Final Five. Bethany's return impacted Mandy and Summer, who felt they had Ryder in their back pocket. When Bethany won individual immunity, the pair set aside their differences with Bethany and Ryder to get rid of Virgil.

After Mandy won the final individual immunity challenge, her and Summer had to decide whether they wanted to bring Bethany or Ryder to the end. They felt it was a no brainer because Bethany's path to the end and two returns from Redemption Island would be extremely impressive in front of the jury. Now at the Final Tribal Council, Summer was praised for her strong social game. Though Mandy's manipulative behaviour was deemed unnecessary by the jury, they were impressed by her scheming and loyalty to Summer. Mandy was awarded the title of Sole Survivor over Summer and Ryder after earning four of nine jury votes from Katniss, Peeta, Virgil and William.