Lumuwaku

**Highest Placing Member**: Bethany (Sole Survivor/20)

Lumuwaku was the merged tribe from Survivor: Island of the Idols.

Despite being controlled by the Old Schoolers originally, they were then forced to overcome an uphill battle with the Pairs followed a deadlocked tie during the mid-merge. However, mistrust and advantages meant that one Old Schooler ended up victorious after a tied vote at the Final Tribal Council. Their tribe colour was blue.

## Tribe History

The purple Vokai and orange Lairo tribes merged on Day 23 into the blue Lumuwaku tribe. From both the original and switched tribes, a large Old School Alliance was formed that contained Bethany, Emma, Jaclyn, Leo and Penny. On the other hand, *Kaôh Rōng* veterans Sasha and William formed an alliance with Ika and Jose, a dynamic duo from *Mamanuca Islands*. Floating in the middle of both alliances were Henry, Luke and Natalie, who were forced to chose an alliance to work with. Natalie and Luke decided to work with the Old Schoolers but Henry pledged his allegiance to the combined Pairs Alliance. At the first merged tribal council, Emma played her vote blocker that she found whilst on the Island of the Idols to prevent Sasha from voting. With a 7-4 numbers advantage, the Old Schoolers voted out Henry and he became the second member of the jury.

Though they previously worked with the Old Schoolers, Luke and Natalie wanted to try flipping between both alliances in order to encourage their rivalry and keep the target of their backs. After Bethany won immunity on Day 26, she chose to send Luke to the Island of the Idols as a sign that she trusted him. He was joined by *Survivor: San Juan Del Sur* legend Vanessa, but the pair were unsuccessful in finding an advantage. Upon his return to camp, Luke voted with the *Mamanuca Islands* veterans for Sasha whilst Natalie voted with the *Kaôh Rōng* men for Jose after the pair spread some lies. This left the Old School Alliance with the majority and Jose was voted out. When Ika won the Day 28 immunity challenge, she sent herself to the Island of the Idols and was joined by *Survivor: The Australian Outback* and *Survivor: India* winner Ashleigh. The villainesses were unsuccessful in finding an advantage, but Ika was given new ideas on how to break the majority. Meanwhile, Bethany and Penny in particular recognised Luke and Natalie's dirty tactics from the last vote and asked Luke if he was willing to blindside Leo as a sign of his trust. When he agreed, they knew he wasn't a trustworthy ally and he was voted out at tribal council.

With her closest ally gone, Natalie had to pick an alliance to remain loyal to and chose the Old School majority. The alliance agreed that Ika was the target, though Bethany, Leo and Penny wanted to blindside Natalie because of her earlier betrayal with Luke. When Leo won individual immunity, he sent himself to the Island of the Idols and was joined by *Survivor: Panama* villain Domenic but the pair were unsuccessful in finding an advantage. At tribal council, a three way tie occurred when the remnants of the Pairs Alliance voted for Bethany, the Lairo Old Schoolers and Natalie voted for Ika but the Vokai Old Schoolers voted for Natalie. At the revote, none of the six castaways who were eligible to vote switched from their original votes and there was a deadlocked tie. This made Bethany, Ika and Natalie immune with Leo, and the remaining five castaways were forced to draw rocks. Jaclyn drew the odd rock and was eliminated from the game.

The relationships within Lumuwaku greatly shifted following this rock draw because no veteran wanted to have their fate decided by rocks again. Ika built a strong personal relationship with William, but was wary of the connection between him and Sasha. Bethany and Penny were arguably the closest connection left, with Leo as their firm third. Both trios wanted Natalie on their side, which left Emma on the outs of the tribe. The groups agreed to set aside their differences for the moment and get rid of Emma as the 'safe vote'. When William won immunity on Day 32, he decided to send Bethany to the Island of the Idols. He reasoned this would show his allegiance to their plan and believed she wouldn't be able to find an advantage. Bethany was joined by *Survivor: Redemption Island* winner and her arch nemesis Mandy. The pair made amends following their rivalry and were able to find an Idol Nullifier for Bethany. Emma was suspicious that William sent Bethany to IOI, but was assured by Penny that this was because a plan was formulating to blindside Leo. At tribal, Emma voted for Leo but she was unanimously voted out.

Natalie, as the perceived swing vote, felt she would make it further with the Pairs Alliance and aligned with them. Ika recognised Natalie's power and decided to join forces with the Old School Alliance to get rid of her. Natalie, Sasha and William at tribal voted for Ika because they were questioning her loyalty, but the Old Schoolers and Ika had the numbers and Natalie was voted out. At the Final Six, there was a clear divide between the remaining three Old Schoolers and the trio left of the Pairs Alliance. William wanted to ensure the Old Schoolers weren't going to come after him and agreed to vote for Ika with them. At tribal, he voted with the trio for Ika but played a Hidden Immunity Idol on her as a sign that he was still loyal to the Pairs Alliance. This move proved fruitless however because Bethany used her Idol Nullifier against William and Ika was still voted out with the highest number of votes.

It appeared that Bethany, Leo and Penny would make it to the Final Three together as the Old School Alliance were in the majority over Sasha and William. However, they told Leo he was clearly at the bottom of his trio and the girls would get rid of him at their first opportunity. This worried Leo and he agreed to vote with the boys to blindside Penny. The men now made a pact to the end, but were forced to turn on each other when Bethany won the final individual immunity challenge. She wanted to take Leo to the end as a sign on her loyalty and because of his flipping reputation, where they decided that William was the bigger strategist between him and Sasha. At tribal council, Bethany, Leo and Sasha voted for William and he became the final member of the jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, Leo's erratic gameplay the final few days was heavily criticised because he didn't fully commit to the minority despite burning bridges with the Old Schoolers. He received no jury votes. Bethany was praised by the Old Schoolers for playing her Idol Nullifier successfully and weaving her way into the Final Three despite appearing to be in the minority. Sasha was also praised for his strong social game and excelling strategically despite never gaining an advantage by visiting the Island of the Idols. The Old School Alliance voted for Bethany whilst the Pairs Alliance voted for Sasha, which led to a 5-5-0 tie at the Final Tribal Council. Leo, with zero jury votes, became the eleventh member of the jury and true to form, flipped by voting for his original ally Bethany to win the title of Sole Survivor.

## Trivia

* Lumuwaku is located at the former Vokai camp.