The Maple Leaves

**Highest Ranked**: Lemon (4/20)

The Maple Leaves was an alliance from Survivor: The Congo.

This alliance was aptly named by its three Canadian founders on the green Bemba tribe. The women formed various relationships throughout the pre-merge, which they used to their advantage in order to reach the merge. However, their demise began when the Canadian trio reunited at the merge and isolated their potential allies, who formed a faction against them.

## History

### The Canucks Connect

The green Bemba tribe was formed on Day 1 of *Survivor: The Congo*. As the tribe was setting up camp, Ilona shared her experiences as the first First Nations castaway on *Survivor*. This helped Ilona create a bond with Lemon and Priyanka, as the only other Canadian women on the tribe. The trio called themselves The Maple Leaves in honour of this identity. When Bemba lost the first immunity challenge of the season, the girls managed to convince Aliza and Estelle to join their alliance and eliminate Da'Vonne for her erratic campaigning. When Bemba lost the following immunity challenges, the Maple Leaves had the majority and wanted to split their votes between Estelle and Jeana. Kari from the minority alliance switched her vote to Estelle, which caused a 3-3-3 tie between Aliza, Estelle and Jeana. At the revote, the Maple Leaves once again held the majority and decided to eliminate Jeana.

Despite working closely with the Maple Leaves up until this point, Aliza wanted to forge her own path in the game. This led to her finding a clue to the Bemba Hidden Immunity Idol that would be hidden at the next immunity challenge, which she would find. Meanwhile, Lemon and Priyanka wanted to reassure Janelle she was a valued member of the alliance so she wouldn't flip to work with Estelle, Kari and Rio. This bonding made Ilona paranoid because she felt like her spot in the alliance was being taken by Janelle. At the tribes next loss on Day 11, the Maple Leaves voted for Kari but Aliza and Ilona flipped and Janelle was voted out.

### The Switch: Bemba

A Tribe Switch occurred on Day 12, where Priyanka was the only member of The Maple Leaves to remain on Bemba. She stayed on the tribe with Estelle, Kari and Rio, whilst being joined by Alisha, Catherine and Erica from the rival Lunda tribe. Although the original Bemba women held the majority, Priyanka wanted to target Kari and Rio before they grew more powerful as the merge approached. When this didn't work, she tried to get the tribe to turn on The British Invasion by voting for Catherine when Bemba lost their first challenge on Day 15. However, Alisha, Catherine, Erica and Estelle had the numbers to eliminate Rio. The tribe returned to camp from tribal council with Aliza, who was not originally assigned a tribe and therefore sent to Exile Island. Priyanka felt vulnerable on Bemba, but was comforted by Aliza's presence. Her strategy was to avoid being viewed as a target in order to make the merge with Ilona and Lemon, which worked successfully because Bemba won the following two immunity challenges.

### The Switch: Lunda

Meanwhile, Ilona and Lemon were switched to the pink Lunda tribe with Annaliese, Ashley, Helena, Sophie and Sue. The pair realised their position at the bottom of the tribe, though Ilona was openly campaigning for the original Lunda women to turn on each other. Sue quickly told The Maple Leaves she was on board with them and that Helena was the swing vote, because she was the clear outsider on The British Invasion. When Lunda lost their first immunity challenge on Day 18, Ilona, Lemon and Sue agreed to vote for Ashley because she seemed like an easier target than Annaliese or Sophie. At tribal council, Helena decided it was in her best interest to split the majority alliance and voted with The Maple Leaves to blindside Ashley.

The Maple Leaves privately celebrated the success of their blindside, and felt confident they would make the merge over Annaliese and Sophie should Lunda lost another challenge. When Lunda lost on Day 22, Ilona and Lemon suggested the alliance split their votes between Annaliese and Sophie in the event that either of them had an idol. However, Sue was adamant that splitting the votes was unnecessary and the previous confrontation between Annaliese and Sukhvinder about idols was over nothing. The girls believed that Sue understood the dynamics of her tribe better than them and decided to only vote for Annaliese. At tribal council, The Maple Leaves were unimpressed when Annaliese played an idol and feared that listening to Sue would be their downfall. By sheer luck, Annaliese and Sophie decided to target Sue instead of Helena, Ilona or Lemon and she was voted out with the only two votes that counted.

### The Merge

The founders of The Maple Leaves reunited when the tribes merged on Day 23, where they began configuring numbers to form the majority. Ilona and Lemon shared they worked closely with Helena during the switch, though Priyanka failed to make new relationships because she was constantly in the minority. The alliance told Helena they wanted to vote for Catherine at the first merged tribal council, though they failed to reassure Helena she was a valued member of their alliance. The trio voted for Catherine, but Helena worked with a new alliance created by Aliza called The Faction to blindside Ilona. Lemon and Priyanka felt responsible for causing Ilona's blindside because they did not reassure Helena enough. The pair spoke to Helena, but she was clear in her allegiance to The Faction. This new group of six had the numbers at the next two tribal councils, where The Maple Leaves worked with The British Invasion to eliminate Estelle and Erica.

### Two Become None

As the only Maple Leaves left in the game, Lemon and Priyanka came into the Final Nine with the intention of working with The British Invasion to eliminate either Aliza, Helena or Kari. In the lead up to tribal council, this group agreed to split the votes between Aliza and Helena to null any advantages and still hold the majority in the event of a tie. The Maple Leaves voted for Helena as planned, though she played an idol. The pair assumed this would create a tie between Aliza and whoever The Faction voted for. However, The British Invasion switched their votes to eliminate Priyanka because they were threatened by her bond with Lemon. This move shocked and frustrated Lemon, who lost her closest two allies already whilst The British Invasion remained a tight unit. Although The Maple Leaves were separated and no longer a functioning alliance in the game, Lemon used her relationships with The Faction and The British Invasion to make the Final Four before being voted out.