Each week Inside Survivor contributor Rob Brodeur will be collecting various Survivor related statistics and information based off the latest episode of Survivor: Winners At War.
Merge/Jury
- Koru is the 15th black tribe in Survivor.
- It is the 14th black merged tribe.
- The merged tribe name “Koru” is a Maori word meaning “loop” or “coil,” and it’s based on the spiral shape prominently featured in Maori art.
- The merged tribe is on the former Sele beach.
- 4 out of 5 of the women on the merged tribe are wearing a black merge buff for the second time.
- Sophie is the only one to never wear a black merge buff.
- This is the first 12 person merged tribe on a 20 player season since Caramoan, 14 seasons prior.
- Every season to have a black tribe was represented in Winners at War except Panama, China, and Worlds Apart.
- Pearl Islands – Balboa – Sandra.
- Cook Islands – Aitutonga – Parvati & Yul.
- Tocantins – Timbira – Tyson.
- Heroes vs. Villains – Yin Yang – Sandra, Parvati, Rob, & Tyson.
- Redemption Island – Murlonio – Rob.
- One World – Tikiano – Kim.
- Philippines – Dangrayne – Denise.
- Cagayan – Solarrion – Tony & Sarah.
- Kaoh Rong – Dara – Michele.
- Millennials vs. Gen X – Vinaka – Adam.
- Ghost Island – Lavita – Wendell.
- 12/20 winners this season have previously worn a black buff. Amber, Ethan, Danni, Natalie, Jeremy, Nick, Ben, and Sophie have never worn one previous to Winners at War.
- Jeremy, Nick, Ben, and Sophie are the only players on the merged tribe who haven’t previously been on a back tribe.
- 12/20 winners this season have previously worn a black buff. Amber, Ethan, Danni, Natalie, Jeremy, Nick, Ben, and Sophie have never worn one previous to Winners at War.
- This is the first merged tribe that Parvati hasn’t been on in all four seasons that she participated in.
- This is the longest gap between black buffs since Pearl Islands – Panama.
- There have been three seasons since there has been a black buff, with the most recent one being on Ghost Island.
- Jeremy, Sarah, and Tyson are the 9th, 10th, and 11th players to be a member of a merged tribe at least three times in their Survivor career.
- Amanda – China, Micronesia, Heroes vs. Villains.
- Andrea – Redemption Island, Caramoan, Game Changers.
- Cirie – Panama, Micronesia, Game Changers.
- Jeremy – San Juan del Sur, Cambodia, Winners at War.
- Joe – Worlds Apart, Cambodia, Edge of Extinction.
- Ozzy – Cook Islands, Micronesia, South Pacific, Game Changers.
- Parvati – Cook Islands, Micronesia, Heroes vs. Villains.
- Rob – Marquesas, All-Stars, Redemption Island.
- Rupert – Pearl Islands, All-Stars, Heroes vs. Villains.
- Sarah – Cagayan, Game Changers, Winners at War.
- Tyson – Tocantins, Blood vs. Water, Winners at War.
- Amanda, Andrea, Jeremy, Joe, Ozzy, and Sarah are the only six players who have played 3+ times and have made it to the merge every time.
- This is the first time in five seasons that Rob is a jury member.
- Marquesas – Voted out pre-jury.
- All-Stars – Runner-up.
- Heroes vs. Villains – Voted out pre-jury.
- Redemption Island – Winner.
- This is also the first time in three seasons that Ethan is a jury member.
- Africa – Winner.
- All-Stars – Voted out pre-jury.
Tribal Council
- Wendell was voted out 9-3.
- This is the second 9-3 vote in Survivor history. The first was in episode 8 of Cambodia.
- This episode, however, is the first 9-3 vote in which all votes were counted, as Kelley negated 9 votes against her in Cambodia.
- Jeremy was one of the 9 votes in both Cambodia and Winners at War.
- This is the second 9-3 vote in Survivor history. The first was in episode 8 of Cambodia.
- Wendell received votes in the past three episodes.
- He received more votes in this episode (9) than he did during the entire season of Ghost Island (5).
- Wendell has been both the lowest-ranking member of a merged tribe and highest-ranking member of a merged tribe. He was the highest-ranking member of Lavita in Ghost Island and the lowest ranking member of Koru in Winners at War.
- Aras, JT, Rob, and Sarah hold this distinction as well.
- Aras was the highest-ranking member of Gitanos in Panama and the lowest-ranking member of Kasama in Blood vs. Water.
- JT was the highest-ranking member of Forza in Tocantins and the lowest-ranking member of Yin Yang in Heroes vs. Villains.
- Rob was the lowest-ranking member of Soliantu in Marquesas and the highest-ranking member of Murlonio in Redemption Island.
- Sarah was the lowest-ranking member of Solarrion in Cagayan and the highest-ranking member of Maku Maku in Game Changers.
- Aras, JT, Rob, and Sarah hold this distinction as well.
- Adam received votes at the first merged tribal council in both seasons he played.
- Both times, the person who went home was voted out with 9 votes, and Adam received the remaining votes.
- Wendell is the 23rd male who was the merge boot in Survivor.
- Wendell is the first new school player voted out since Natalie in episode 1.
- The three remaining new Sele members are the only players that voted for Adam in this episode.
- Ben and Denise are the only players who have voted for the player that was eliminated at every tribal they attended.
- Ben, Jeremy, Michele, Sophie, and Tony are the only players without any votes against them this season.
- Rob was the only player voted out while on the Yara tribe pre-merge this season.
- Everyone else was voted out of either Dakal or Sele.
- Yara is the 10th tribe to have only one player eliminated/voted out (Rob) while on the tribe. The others are as follows:
- Rotu in Marquesas (Gabriel).
- Manihiki in Cook Islands (Sekou).
- Aparri in Cagayan (Alexis).
- Hunahpu in San Juan del Sur (Drew).
- Masaya in Worlds Apart (So).
- Bayon in Cambodia (Monica).
- Chanloh in Kaoh Rong (Liz).
- Ikabula in Millennials vs. Gen X (Michaela).
- Lesu in Edge of Extinction (Rick).
- There was a five season streak of one-player tribe eliminations from season 28 (Cagayan) to season 33 (Millennials vs. Gen X).
- Sarah is the only player left this season who was previously the first player voted out at the merge.
- She was voted out during the merge episode of Cagayan, with Tony being one of the votes against her.
- Rob was also the first merge boot in Marquesas, but he’s currently on the Edge of Extinction.
- An even number of original Dakal and Sele members have been voted out so far this season.
- Dakal – Amber, Tyson, Sandra, Yul, Wendell.
- Sele – Natalie, Danni, Ethan, Rob, Parvati.
- With Wendell being voted out, everyone that attended the pre-season EW panel has been voted out except for Sophie.
- Amber, Ethan, Parvati, Rob, Sandra, and Wendell have been voted out.
Re-Entry Challenge – “Back in the Saddle”
- Tyson won the re-entry challenge
- Only men have won the re-entry challenges for the Edge of Extinction.
- Chris and Rick won in Edge of Extinction.
- This challenge was previously used as the re-entry challenge in Edge of Extinction.
- Both players that won it were voted out in episode 4.
- Rick was voted out in episode 4 of Edge of Extinction.
- Tyson was voted out in episode 4 of Winners at War.
- Both players that won it were voted out in episode 4.
- Tyson is the first returning player from the Edge of Extinction to not be automatically given a hidden immunity idol.
- Tyson is the 11th person to be voted out and return to the game through a twist.
- Burton & Lil in Pearl Islands.
- Matt & Andrea in Redemption Island.
- Ozzy (twice) in South Pacific.
- Laura B, Laura M, and Tina in Blood vs. Water.
- Rick & Chris in Edge of Extinction.
Immunity Challenge – “Get a Grip”
- Jeremy joins Boston Rob and Andrea as the third player to win individual immunity in three different seasons.
- Jeremy is the only one of the three who wasn’t on Redemption Island.
- Jeremy and Denise won individual immunity in this episode.
- They also won individual immunity which made them safe at the first merge tribal council they attended in both of their first seasons.
- The first time Denise won the first individual immunity challenge, she was the last woman standing and won alongside a male.
- This challenge has previously been used in Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Tocantins, Heroes vs. Villains, South Pacific, Blood vs. Water, Worlds Apart, and Game Changers.
- Tyson has won this challenge before.
- This challenge has appeared in every season Tyson was on.
- He was eliminated before this challenge in Heroes vs. Villains, and it was used as a Redemption Island challenge on Blood vs. Water.
- This challenge has appeared in every season Tyson was on.
- Tyson and Sarah have competed in this challenge before.
- Tyson has won this challenge before.
Edge of Extinction/Fire Tokens
- Amber gave Rob one fire token.
- Rob and Natalie bought an advantage for the re-entry challenge and an idol, spending 4 tokens each.
- Danni, Ethan, and Tyson bought an advantage for the re-entry challenge, spending one token each.
- Jeremy and Denise earned one fire token each for winning the immunity challenge.
- Wendell gave one fire token to Michele and one token to Nick after being voted out.
- Michele and Nick are the second and third players to receive fire tokens from more than one person that was voted out.
- Parvati was the first, earning fire tokens from Ethan and Rob.
- Michele and Nick are the second and third players to receive fire tokens from more than one person that was voted out.
- None of the players left on the Edge of Extinction have any remaining fire tokens.
- The only other player currently without any fire tokens is Tyson, who was previously on the Edge of Extinction.
- Michele has the most fire tokens with 4.
Confessionals
- Adam, Ben, Jeremy, and Tony had the most confessionals this episode with 3 each.
- Michele had the least confessionals this episode with 0.
- Amber, Ethan, Yul, and Parvati also had 0 confessionals.
- Michele is the only player left in the game who didn’t have a confessional this episode.
- Adam has the most confessionals this season with 28.
- There hasn’t been an episode where he’s had less than 2 confessionals.
Ratings
- The eighth episode received 8.2 million viewers and 1.6 in the Adults 18-49 demo.
Episode Title
- The episode title “This Is Where the Battle Begins” is a take on a line that was said by Ben during a confessional. He said “This is where the battle starts” when talking about the merge.
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