Samatau Alliance

**Highest Ranked**: Anneliese (3/16)

The Samatau Alliance was an alliance on *Survivor: Australia II*.

A trio of castaways from the original Samatau tribe created this alliance, constantly worried that anyone who would join their alliance any later was untrustworthy. Though they had the numbers at the merge, the fears of the core alliance proved to be true as they were eliminated in quick succession.

## History

### Two Flaky Allies

The pink Samatau tribe was formed on Day 1 of *Survivor: Australia II*, where a three person alliance of AK, Jarrad and Tessa was created. In addition to this trio, Tessa formed a close friendship with Peter where they promised to look after each other. When Samatau lost the first immunity challenge, Tessa wanted to target Ziggy first because she was a former Olympic athlete. Ziggy's target only increased when Peter told Tessa that his majority alliance wanted to vote for her. At the first tribal council, Peter flipped to work with Tessa's alliance. To avoid forcing a tie, Anneliese also flipped out of fear and the new Samatau Alliance had the majority to eliminate Ziggy.

Anneliese and Peter returned back to camp after tribal council and apologised to Locky and Tara for turning on them. This caused the Samatau Alliance to question whether or not they could fully trust their new allies. When Samatau lost the second immunity challenge, the Samatau Alliance weren't sure who they wanted to target. Anneliese then shared with the group that Peter had tried working with Locky and Tara again in order to get rid of AK. Though Tessa had a strong relationship with Peter, the Samatau Alliance voted him out because he was too untrustworthy.

The Samatau Alliance appeared to have lost an ally in Peter, but the alliance itself grew in their loyalty to each other. In particular, AK and Anneliese bonded through their strategic talks. On Day 9, the Asaga and Samatau tribes were forced to attend a Double Tribal Council. The Samatau Alliance decided to vote for Locky because he was a greater physical threat than Tara. However, Locky and Tara convinced Jarrad and Tessa to blindside Anneliese because she was as untrustworthy to the Samatau Alliance as Peter. In a shocking twist, Anneliese was only switched to Asaga and decided to bring AK with her.

### Asaga Couple Gone

The Samatau Alliance on Samatau was joined by Henry, Jacqui and Michelle after Jacqui was voted out at the Asaga tribes Mock Double Tribal Council. The alliance appeared to be in the minority on this new tribe because Locky and Tara formed a close relationship with the newly switched Asaga castaways. However, Michelle confided in the Samatau Alliance that Henry and Jacqui were viewed as a power couple back on Asaga. When Samatau lost their first immunity challenge as a new tribe, Jarrad and Tessa voted with Michelle and Tara in order to eliminate Jacqui.

This second iteration of the Samatau Alliance clearly had the majority on this new tribe. However, Michelle continued to bond with Henry in an attempt to ensure she was never targeted. Henry revealed to Michelle that he found the Asaga Hidden Immunity Idol, which prompted Michelle to proceed with caution. After losing their fourth immunity challenge in a row, Michelle pretended to work with Henry and Locky against Jarrad. However, Michelle shared all her information with the Samatau Alliance in order to blindside Henry. Meanwhile on the new Asaga tribe, AK and Anneliese allowed the original Asaga castaways to turn on each other. The pair voted with Luke and Sarah in order to blindside Kent.

### Broken Foundations

On Day 17, the two tribes merged with only eleven castaways remaining. AK, Anneliese, Jarrad and Tessa reunited as the core of the Samatau Alliance, whilst also being joined by Locky, Michelle, Odette and Tara. This left the Asaga Alliance of Jericho, Luke and Sarah on the outs of the new merged tribe. At the first merged tribal council, the larger Samatau Alliance decided to split the votes between Sarah and Jericho. AK also played his idol because he wasn't sure he could fully trust this larger alliance. This was merely a precaution because the alliance remained loyal and Sarah became the first member of the jury.

Though the Samatau Alliance was a majority of eight on a tribe of ten, the four Samatau founders decided it was in their best interest to go after one of their own. They decided to vote for Odette, who they thought was more closely aligned with her original Asaga members. At tribal council, AK, Jarrad and Tessa voted for Odette but Anneliese gathered the rest of the tribe together in order to blindside Jarrad. This move left AK and Tessa in the minority of the tribe, but they were still confident in their relationships with Anneliese, Michelle and Tara from the pre-merge. The pair tried to get their previous allies to vote for Luke, but Anneliese voted alone for Michelle and Tara voted for AK with Locky. This gave the smaller Asaga Alliance the majority to eliminate Tessa.

Tessa's elimination on Day 23 effectively broke the Samatau Alliance. The only remaining loyal member of the alliance was AK. However, the tribe decided to work together at the following tribal council and he was unanimously voted out. After AK's elimination, Michelle remained loyal to the Asaga Alliance until she was cut at the Final Four whilst Tara remained fiercely loyal to her Day 1 ally Locky and her most recently formed alliance with Jericho.