Day 31 - Final Tribal Council

[Jeff Probst]

Welcome, final 3!

Penner, Rocky and Stacy, you three have come as far as you can in this game. The power now shifts to nine people you had a hand in voting out:

Let's bring in our complete jury: Stephannie, Flicka, Cecilia, Cassandra, Liliana, Jessica, Nate, Rebecca and Candice voted out at the last Tribal Council.

Before we give the jury the opportunity to gather information to make a crucial vote, we will give you the opportunity to give an opening statement.

I'm posting these early to give the jury some time to process before they begin their questioning.

Good evening all. Hopefully you're all in the mood to sit down and watch me engage in my number one pastime - talking about myself. I'm going to explain what my strategy and approach coming into this game was and you'll see that I had a very specific plan in mind and that I implemented it successfully. If you think the way I've played and the work I've put in is deserving of a vote, then that would be awesome.

Strategy and philosophy
A lot of people take a really "strategic" approach to Survivor. Focus on the numbers, make sure you can get a majority in your tribe, and keep that majority into the merge. Ride out that alliance until final 6/7 and then start making moves on your own team. My problem with a strategy like this is that it's so rigid and gives you very few options to change things up. My philosophy has been one of adaptability; whatever the game throws at you, you need to be able to go with the flow and keep yourself safe no matter what. The game is called "Survivor" - you need to put yourself in a position where you have the highest chance of surviving every round. There's a reason I was never properly targeted and nobody ever cast a vote against me throughout the whole game; it's not because I was a poor player - everyone thought they could trust me and had options to work with me in the future. I was voted "most trustworthy" player in the game despite having voted out Steph, CiCi and Cass; people I was really good friends with.

The way I achieved this "adaptability" was two-fold - I wanted to have one trusted ally that I could work with until the end of the game and strong relationships with *everyone* else in the tribe. It's no use just concentrating on friendships with people in your alliance, because you're one tribe swap away from being voted out. Candice was the person I trusted completely; we discussed all of our plans together. I was able to achieve a lot of my plans without drawing too much focus on myself in the early parts of the merge by allowing Candice to be the "face" of the team for some of those rounds. With everyone else, I had some really strong bonds with people that you can only build by making a genuine and honest effort with people. I gave a lot of myself to this game - I think most people know a lot about me because I wanted people to feel like they knew me well because you can trust someone more if you have a stronger image in your head of who they are. A faceless strategy bot with just a name could flip on you in a second. Nobody ever seemed to think that I would flip on them, despite the fact that I did in constantly.

My game in stages
Everything is shiny and new - Svinoy 1.0
Svinoy was the first tribe I was on - ten people of whom six are on the jury; Steph, Flicka, Cecilia, Nate, Rebecca and Candice. I started the game just inundating everyone with PMs. If I didn't have a message to you in my Outbox, you were getting another one. I had lots of fun just shooting the breeze with people - getting to know lots about people and their personal lives. Eventually I started to bring up "the game" and slowly probing people to build a loose kind of alliance. The beginning of the alliance was Steph, Candice, CiCi and me, with a few more players loosely tied into it. The girls weren't too keen on Rebecca joining in, even though I liked her. No harm though - I would just keep Rebecca in the loop and feeling included so I would have more options down the road if I needed them.

Ozzy and Nate were both fairly inactive and I pointed them out as the early targets. Nate was originally going to get the chop, but when he got replaced shortly before tribal, I put in a huge effort to move the target onto Ozzy. At the time it really didn't make a difference to me (although I think Nate deserved a chance) but the purpose of this was to gain Nate's trust for later in the game. Ultimately Ozzy quit but Nate would remember that I had his back at the very start. He got swapped onto another tribe immediately, but once we reconnected later on, I've got someone who thinks "Penner is a sound guy, he tried to help me out at the beginning" rather than "I don't know Penner, I should probably get to know him".

Dark times ahead - the cursed Hestur tribe
I was voted most important player on the Svinoy 1.0 tribe which is something that really worried me. I knew going into the vote that I would consistently rank high in the ratings - I had made an effort with everyone at that point. I didn't realise it would result in a bright shiny spotlight being trained on me for everyone to see. "Hey this Penner guy is a bit of a threat, right??" Also fun fact: Rocky and Stacy were voted 8th and 9th out of 9 on Mykines.

Hestur sucked at challenges. I basically doomed the team in the first "Seven Sins" challenge my being picked to be the leader (more spotlight) and then performing hideously with the questions. Thankfully I was able to use my social game once again to build a lot of good relationships with people regardless of their original starting tribe. Candice, Cass and I teamed up, voting Adam out first and then managing to get Cass to vote out an original Mykines person and jump ship from Mykines to the Hestur "dream team" alliance. We then finally won a tribal immunity challenge and that completely glued us together. The feeling of struggling through adversity and then triumphing as a team is a great tool for building bonds.

Swap my bitch up - I head to Mykines 3.0 to collect the full set of buffs
One again we swap, and the Hestur "dream team" of Candice, Cass and me are placed on Mykines 3.0, along with CiCi, Nate and Stacy from Mykines 2.0 and Rebecca from Svinoy 2.0. Here's where my starting strategy from the beginning of the game starts to come into fruition. We've got a 3v3 deadlock with Rebecca as the swing vote. But Rebecca and I are still friends from the very start - so I don't need to worry about anything. Should we go to tribal, we've got the numbers. That doesn't mean that I can sit back and relax though; I get to hook up with Nate (who still remembers me as the nice helpful guy from the start) and CiCi who I was great buds with. Stacy I believe was travelling at the time so she's one of the few people that I struggled to get to know at the start.

Mykines is basically reverse-Hestur; we win all the challenges (woohoo!) but we don't get to form any strong alliances because they never get tested at tribal council. Had we gone to tribal council, we had already set in motion a plan to vote out CiCi. CiCi is really smart but has a tendency to overplay (and I think recognises this at times herself). She was talking me through a lot of her plans for the future and I could tell immediately that if she was this clued in, she would also have realised that Cass, Candice and I were a really solid trio and should be targeted ASAP. We won immunity so this plan was put on hold until we could implement the blindside once we had numbers in the merge.

My FOURTH tribe - merge time
Here's where I need to make a lot of decisions and change things up a little. My ideal alliance, looking at the merge tribe, would have been: Candice, Cassandra, Cecilia, Nate, Rebecca and Steph. All my closest allies, all people I trusted and all people who (I think) liked me as a person. The problem was that I soon realised that was never going to work. The "Svinoy 5" seemed really solid (Steph, Flicka, Rocky, Lil and Rebecca) and Jessica didn't get along with them at all. CiCi wanted to stay with Jessica, Jessica comes with Stacy and it all just couldn't work that way. Cassandra was closer to the Stacy/Jessica grouping rather than the Svinoy 5 so she would want to lean that way. Joining with the Svinoy 5 would make Candice and I a two-person alliance on a group of seven (not a good idea, folks!) so we chose to align with Jessica, Stacy, Cass, Nate and Cecilia.

I was the one who created this alliance, though few will remember it that way. I had realised that I had been "tribe leader" for challenges too much, and Jessica in her introduction to me mentioned the fact that I'd been voted number 1 on Svinoy way back when. My focus shifted to going "deep undercover" and trying to seem as passive as possible. I suggested to Candice, CiCi, Cass and Jessica individually that maybe that group of seven would work well. I sold it as a good mix of Male/Female, Svinoy/Mykines, Svinoy 2/Mykines 2/Hestur so that nobody would feel they were on the bottom of the totem pole. I put that idea out there and then retreated in my bunker until I get the message that they've all set up the alliance for me. Nobody would sit there and go "Penner is the head of the alliance" which is exactly what I wanted.

This left me open to making friends with the "other side" of the tribe - Rocky, Lil and Rebecca to be specific. This is going to become super important later on.

The vote-offs
Steph
Steph was one of my besties from the very start. I was crazy excited to meet up with her once we got to the merge, and then slightly devastated to hear about all the drama that went down on Svinoy 3.0. There were so many burnt bridges between Steph and the others that I couldn't find a way to work with her without putting myself into the minority immediately. Steph was public enemy number one with Jessica and co. so she was definitely the first one that was going to be voted for by my alliance. And funnily enough - she nearly managed to stay by convincing Jessica and Stacy to swap their votes with her fake idol AND Rocky failing to get a vote in at that tribal council.

Flicka
Flicka seems really nice, but I truly never managed to get to know her. I don't know if she just found me super boring but we never really "clicked" over PM it suited me for Flicka to go this round. This was the period where I was out sick for two back-to-back tribals so I was happy to just keep up to date on PMs and let the alliance manage this round.

Cecilia
Now we finally get to put into place a plan that originated with Cass, Candice and me four rounds ago. Everyone had begun to become slightly wary of CiCi and despite the fact that she was probably one of my favourite people in the game for chats and general banter, from a game perspective I knew she'd be coming straight for me. Now we get into the crazy 5-blindsides-in-a-row stage of the game.

Also - I used the knowledge of CiCi's impending doom to hook in with Rocky, Lil and Rebecca and create and alliance with them, me, and Candice. Thus begins "5 guys blindsides and fries"; Liliana's spectacular contribution to alliance naming. Now I'm aligned with everyone on the tribe, I'm nobody's number one target and I have a majority with whatever alliance I choose to run with until the end of the game.

Cassandra
This one felt pretty shitty. I like Cassandra a lot and I really had high hopes for the Hestur 3. I was approached by Stacy and Jessica with panicked messages - "Cass wants to turn on you and Candice! We're telling you to protect you, will you help us vote out Cass?"

There's smoke coming out of my bullshit detector at this point, it's beeping so much. I don't believe that at that point, Cass was willing to vote out me or Candice, knowing the other one could flip to the other side and create a tie in the next round, or bring someone along with them and put Cass in a minority.

However, I had to play along. I didn't want people to believe that Hestur was unbreakable and that I'd prioritize Cass over anyone else. I messaged them back saying how awful it was that she wanted me out, and how disappointed I was because I trusted her. I needed them to think I felt "wronged" and that this was making me trust them more and more.

Liliana
Another one that didn't really feel too good - Five Guys Blindsides and Fries was a really fun, positive alliance of people I really liked working with. Unfortunately, I was on course to vote myself into the bottom two of a five-person alliance. Liliana, being the person out of the three I was least close to, was the person who had to go. My original alliance was deciding between the three, and I steered them away from Rocky and Rebecca so that I'd be able to keep my two closer allies together in the game. Now that I have a strong four person majority, it's time for me to stop surviving and start controlling the game.

Side note: When Liliana was voted out, she said how disappointed she was because she had believed in the alliance. I actually messaged Rocky and Candice at the time to say how bad I felt about that when I read it.

Jessica
Jessica was very unpopular with some members of the jury and also a huge comp threat. It was really hard to tell if people would praise her strategic play or condemn her for the harsh words she had with some of the other players. Regardless of this, I knew that voting out Jessica would a) prove I had more strategic control than people thought and b) make the jurors happy. It was a near-perfect blindside until Rocky creates a group message with me, Nate, Candice and JESSICA asking to confirm if Jessica was the target tonight. The tribal council was pretty hectic but we managed to pull it off in a 5-2 vote, with Stacy being the other one to vote with Jessica.

Nate
Someone, I can't remember who, mentioned to me the next day about how Nate had masterminded the plan to vote out Jessica. I had spoken with him about it fairly early on in the day (thanks, time zones!) but I had been planning it for some time. Nate went to bed, and woke up to a whole alliance agreed and dead set on voting Jessica out.

I was a little bit irked by the fact that someone seemed to be trying to take credit for my move. I figured "if people didn't believe that I had made the previous game move, I guess I'll just have to make another one?". In tandem with this, Candice is stressing out that she's the number one target (she is) and I'm putting in a huge effort to keep her in the game for the time being. I managed to achieve three things in this round:

1) Build a bond with Stacy, after voting out her number one ally, that would last until the end of the game
2) Keep a 100% loyal ally, Candice, in the game, despite people fearing her as the number one jury threat
3) Vote out one of Rocky's allies. I knew Rocky was close to Nate, but had no relationship with Stacy, so I wanted Stacy and Rocky to remain isolated and dependent on me, rather than fear Nate teaming up with Rocky and flipping the game on me at a later stage.

Rebecca
The tribal council that never happened - Rebecca had been struggling with the time zone for a while at this point, and I think losing her internet was basically the final straw. This was a slightly unplanned knock to my game; I wanted to be in the final 4 with Candice AND Rebecca so I could trust to be able to swing the votes whatever way I wanted. It was a little bit more up in the air with Rebecca gone, so I had some work to do.

Candice
This vote off was actually much harder to pull off than you would think. Candice is amazing at convincing people that her plan of action is the best route to take. Candice, no less than two rounds ago, was voted most likely to win the game. That should be a massive red flag to anyone that wants to win. Somehow, she manages to convince Stacy that Rocky is a huge jury threat and has a bunch of votes locked down. Stacy is dead set on Rocky - and I agreed with her for the whole day preceding tribal council. I couldn't allow Candice any more time to pick apart my arguments or talk one-on-one to Stacy because she could flip things on me really quickly.

Once the challenge is over and I know Candice doesn't have immunity - I have five minutes to convince Stacy to vote for Candice. I had saved up a bunch of arguments for voting out Candice that I unleashed on Stacy right before and during tribal. I knew if there was enough "new" arguments, that Stacy wouldn't have adequate time to properly consider and potential reject these arguments. Once again, I managed to control who went home and ended up in the final three of my choosing.

I just want to reiterate how much it sucked having to actually vote Candice out. Playing the game with Candice was awesome, but the final four tribal council was basically a question of "do you want to win Survivor or not". Candice and I would have been fighting for a lot of the same jury votes and I couldn't deal with that level of unpredictability.

Vote for Penner!
So we finally get to the closing argument of my opening argument. I'll keep it brief as I'll have lots to say during tribal also and you will get sick of listening to me. Here's some bullet points of facts that should help convince you to vote for me:

1) Of the final three, I'm the only person who knew who was going home every round in Eysturoy. Every person I voted for is the person that went home.
2) I've never missed a tribal council vote in this game.
3) I did finally manage to win a competition. Not only did I win it, I overcame someone who had an advantage and I finished long before most people even got to the final stage.
4) I've worked incredibly hard to keep up with this game. I have to get up at 6.30am my time to go to work, while the challenges start at 2am my time here in Ireland. I've been on PMs all day every day and I've made most of the tribal councils. Every day, I go to work, get home at around 7pm, eat my dinner, go to bed from 8/9pm until 1.30am and then get out of bed for challenges and tribals. Go back to bed around 4.30/5am and get up less than two hours later for work. My commitment to playing this has been really, really high and I'm absolutely exhausted right now from this whole process. I've thoroughly enjoyed playing it though and getting to meet everyone in the process.

Looking forward to hearing your questions. I also would be totally down with some gifs.

Hey fellas, it's your boy ROCKSTAR, still awestruck that I could somehow manage to pull myself into the finish line. I'm not even going to lie, my knee's have skid marks from all the dick I've had to suck to get here, but all that effort wasn't for nothing as I've managed to muscle my way here. I'm giving my thanks to Poody. I thought it was hard for me to keep up with the game, but Poody had to keep up and host all of our shit this season, and I really appreciate all he's done. I can't imagine the time commitment he gives. Also a solid thanks to whomever helped him out with moderating, except for Vitinho. IT'S CALLED SOCCER!!!

Alright now let's bring the tears down a bit and talk about some hard hitting facts, and my stance in this game. I know how I was perceived in this game. Stupid, lolsy, maybe I was brutally honest? Regardless, I'd like to think I was underestimated. I was trying to portray myself as a stupid person, because I'm really not all that smart, so I tried to utilize my negative as my positive. I think that pursuing this joker reputation really helped me when I merged in the minority, as I believe it helped me stick around longer than my friends who were perceived as more threatening and smarter.

At merge, I recognized my lowly position in the overall game. I merged without numbers, and with a solid alliance that was aired out and stood out. The only logical thing I could do was... still play dumb. I typed in poorly phrased sentences and sometimes short responses for two main reasons, it made me look stupid and it was monumentally easier for me. I knew that I couldn't lead, so instead I lowered my threat level in hopes that it would pay off... which I think it did. As the merge drudged onwards and I lost allies, I attempted to sell myself out to new people (hence the skid marks). I began to integrate myself as much as I could, offering partnerships to quite a few people, promising my loyalty if they kept me around. As the game passed the half way point, I integrated myself with some real alliances that actually stuck with me through the game. I continued my attempt at highlighting my stupidity, even accidentally sending a group private message to Jessica... talking about voting out Jessica, at final 7. Even with the difficulty of losing half of my main allies before final 10, and my last main ally being someone who never logged on, I still managed to muscle my way here, avoiding the spotlight, and ideally gaining that title of sole survivor.

Now, why should I win over Penner or Stacy? What makes my game different, and more impressive, than theirs. For starters, I had to work harder for my place in this game. I feel that Stacy and Penner merged with a much easier journey than myself. Despite this difficult place I was put in, I still managed to achieve final four without recieving ANY votes until final four. I really believe this is because of the reputation I built, and the relationships that I tried to iron out as the merge continued.

Of course, I shat on my game the entirety of the final four tribal council with Candice. Sad part is, a lot of it holds true. Did I make moves? Aside from gunning for Jessica, and even THAT is a questionable example, I dont feel that the game was owned by me. However, I was unable to own this game. I wasn't put in that position. I knew that. So while Nate, Penner, Jessica, and Candice were hustling this game into shreds, I was trying to retain favorable graces. Why is this a better strategy than Penners, or Stacy's? I believe it's because of the difficulty I had at being able to accomplish it. ALL of my allies fell early on aside from Lil, who fell soon after Flicka and Stephannie did. My position in the game caused me unable to hustle, however I believe I played a winners game in a different aspect. My ability to survive in a merge FILLED with people who I had to form new relationships with is way more impressive than Penner or Stacy's games.

I adapted more. I survived harsher conditions. Did I run the game? No, but I believe I did enough to merit respect and gain the title of Sole Survivor. Thank you for reading, and good game everyone!

As I told Poody when I started this game, and as I have now told some of you, I have played online reality games before and when I play them, I try to employ a very similar strategy every time. Perhaps it's because that is the most authentic version of myself that I can bring to the games. I'm competitive, but I still try to play with as much integrity as possible. That strategy, to sum it up briefly, is to talk to everyone I can before making any decisions about the vote, that way I can generally avoid being blindsided and I can do my best to make something of a bad situation. I will admit that I had to adapt my strategy to the personalities of this game and that I didn't talk to some of you as much as I wish I had and I would say I regret that to the extent that I could have gotten to know some of you better. But that strategy worked in getting me to this point, despite never winning an individual immunity and often being the underdog. I played a wholly social game and I hope that is ultimately what I can convince you, the jury, of.

The last game I played was in 2010 and afterwards, I hung up my hat and said "never again" because they get to be very stressful and it was hard to remember that they are supposed to be fun. This game helped me remember the fun side of these games and while it was stressful strategizing day and night with some of you just to survive another vote, it was worth it and I don't regret a thing about applying to play this game. I never told anyone this, but I was a last-minute filler in this game for someone who dropped out of the cast and, because of that, I wasn't fully prepared to commit the amount of time needed to play this game. I had already booked a trip to see my partner who lives approximately 500 miles away from me and, as I said during that time in the game when I wasn't as active as I could have been, real life had to take precedence because I hadn't seen him for months.

What I'm trying to say is that I began this game thinking it would just be a fun bit of nostalgia to remind me of the good old days playing online reality games, but what I got out of it was so much more. Before the merge, I had been strategizing a bit with my "BP" Alliance (Beautiful People). This was how I first became attached to Jessica, Cass and Cecilia and when the tribe swap happened after Papa Smurf was voted out and Yau-Man dropped, I was genuinely afraid for Jessica because I had the closest bond with her and watching some of our allies go home made me think she'd be next.

And then we merged and once we merged, it became an individual game and that's when my goal shifted from just making the jury to making the Final 3 and winning. Jeff reminded us constantly at tribal that there are two types of dangers in this game: "Threats" and "Goats". I figured those who could avoid both labels would be most likely to succeed in this game, but it wasn't an easy thing to do. I had surrounded myself with "Threats" (Jessica, Cass, CiCi) and so I could easily be seen as a Threat by association. I had also missed a couple of challenges at that point so I was seen as a Goat by the opposing alliance during the first tribal council after the merge.

So my first obstacle was to convince enough people that I wasn't a Goat and that I was there to play without then becoming a Threat. In the process, I befriended Candice and Penner and strengthened my alliance with Nate. I managed to convince just enough people to keep me and survived that Tribal Council by just one vote. If anything had gone differently, I might be sitting on the jury right now, but I chock that week up to the fact that I took the time to talk to the right people to keep myself in the game.

In the weeks that followed, it would be a constantly battle to avoid being seen as "The Next Big Threat" while still making the big power plays I needed to to get to the Final 3. When CiCi won immunity, I made the pitch to Cass and Jessica that I was suspicious of the fact that CiCi was so desperate to spare certain people, one of which was Flicka. It made me think she might create a group of those people who were outside of our majority alliance and try to turn the tides in the game. If we wanted to maintain the power we had, we couldn't let that happen, so we tried to target someone who we suspected she might use to do that. In the process, I got to know Flicka better and, as I said previously, she was one of the people I regret not talking to sooner because she seemed sweet and like she had just gotten the short end of the stick in the game. The group of us did, however, still suspect that because of her lack of ties to anyone else in the game, she'd be easy for CiCi to sway and so, since CiCi had immunity, we voted out Flicka and I think, part of that, was based on the intel I had gathered from CiCi and the suggestion I had made to take out part of that group while we still had the chance. I have Cass and Jessica to thank for pushing that agenda too.

The next week, CiCi was wide open and although her elimination was a blindside for her and perhaps for those watching, it seemed to be a foregone conclusion for the rest of us. CiCi was great to talk to but from everything I had been hearing, people were getting conflicting stories from her and it's hard to know who we could trust. CiCi was paranoid and she was making everyone else paranoid, so we turned our attention to her while we still had the chance. No offense to you CiCi, but you were definitely playing the game hard and that was what worried me most.

The week after, Jessica and I went straight to work on deciding whether it was time to take out Cass. We had a feeling that, eventually, Cass might strike first and take out us so we had to do something to ensure that didn't happen. Like CiCi, Cass was one of the more vocal players and so she had become "The Next Big Threat" and pitching her elimination to Candice, Penner and Nate wasn't hard. I assumed the players who weren't in the majority alliance would be on board with it too because they saw Cass as a threat and it also meant they wouldn't be targets that week. I see that as the first big blindside of the game.

The week after, I had spoken to Penner about a potential "implosion" of our alliance that might lead to the group fracturing and others making the Final 3. I did not know, at that time, the way the later weeks would play out, but I figured that voting Lil out was a good way to reaffirm that our alliance was still together. Lil was also a strong player so we were worried that she could, eventually, win an immunity and make it harder to vote her out.

Then came the week where Jessica was voted out. That was described as a blindside and everyone thinks that the moment we all realized what was going on was when Rocky accidentally CC'd Jessica on a message that he shouldn't have, but that's not true. Jessica, Candice and I suspected much sooner that Nate and Penner would turn on us and target Jessica that week. My goal, then, was two-fold: Try to save Jessica, if possible, because she was my ally and also a bigger threat than me and if she went home, I could be next. And also try to make sure I wasn't the backup plan if Jessica won immunity. Well, she didn't win immunity, but I also wasn't able to save her.

Candice and I quickly went back to the drawing board because we knew if the Penner/Nate alliance remained in power, we were the next two to go and I knew that if Candice won immunity, which was a possibility, it would be me unless I crafted an alternative plan. So I talked to as many people as much as I could that week and found an angle I could spin. Both Nate and Penner wanted credit from the jury for taking out Jessica, but if they both made the Final 3, there was a distinct possibility that they would split the votes of the people who wanted Jessica to go home. When I pitched that idea to Penner, he bought into it. Sure enough, Candice won immunity that week, so I knew if my plans weren't solid, I was a goner and sure enough, in another close vote, I was safe and Nate was going home. I took that as a sign that I was making the right moves in this game to keep myself safe and on the road to the Final 3.

And then came the Final 3 eliminations of this game. Had Rebecca not dropped out, Penner had said to me that he wanted her and I in the Final 3 with him. He could tell the jury that he had bonded with Rebecca. That was true, but there was still the risk that he and I would be in the same situation as India's Final 3, so I knew we needed a backup plan and when Rebecca essentially dropped out, the race was on. There were 3 slots and 4 people and I knew that I needed to make sure I was one of those 3 that made it. I found it interesting that at the last tribal council, my name never came up as a possibility on who to vote for. Part of me thought it was because I did a good job of convincing everyone that I wasn't the biggest threat to win. Rocky and Candice were bigger threats for the reasons that they spoke about. I had the power in that Tribal Council to force a tie where, on a revote, I knew Penner wouldn't change his mind and we'd likely end up drawing rocks or forcing a challenge between Candice and Rocky. It was a risk to vote for Rocky and not a risk I was willing to take because I knew Candice, despite being one of my closest allies in the latter half of this game, was the one to beat. Her popularity in challenges and otherwise had proven that. She had convinced Rocky to give her immunity. She had gotten the most votes for most likely to win. Taking her to the Final 3 would be to ignore all those warning signs, so I took the vote into my hands and put myself in the best position I could to win this game. It was an impossibly hard decision because I truly do like Candice and, if I wasn't so sure she would do phenomenally when faced with the jury, I would have taken her from a personal standpoint. But from a strategy standpoint, I stand by my decision.

I did what it took to avoid being seen as both a Threat and a Goat. I did what it took to save myself from two near-miss votes. I convinced Penner to vote out Nate or risk sharing the credit for Jessica's elimination and bought myself another week which proved to be enough to get me here, to the Final 3. I offered an alliance to Rocky long before the Nate blindside, which led to him coming back to me after that and taking me up on that offer. I put myself in a position where my name wasn't even brought up at the last tribal council. And I did all this while not ever winning an individual immunity. I played a wholly social game that got me to the Final 3. At this point, you may not agree that it was the best strategy, but I ask that you keep an open mind. Tonight is about all of us trying to convince you that we played the best game and that we are the person who deserves the title of Sole Survivor. I hope by giving you honest, well-thought out answers about how I played this game, I can do that. It's been great to play with all of you and I look forward to your questions.

[Jeff Probst]

Alright, Stephannie, you've had to stay quiet the longest, why don't you start us off!

[Jeff Probst]

What a game!
I'd like to start by congratulating the final 3. I may not respect all three of you, but you beat me. I can't stand up here and be bitter or sanctimonious about it, because you're sitting there and I'm up here. The game you played allowed you to get to the end, and here you are.

I didn't last very long past the merge, so the impression of you all I have right now is the impression I had when I was voted out combined with what I have heard from other jurors and what I have observed at tribal.
This means that if we didn't talk much, the responsibility is ON YOU to prove to me why you deserve my vote.

This is how my questioning period will work: For each of the three of you I've prepared a little "blurb" with questions intertwined. At the bottom of that "blurb" will be the questions re-stated in a concise form so that you can ensure you're answering everything.
Please attempt to answer all of my questions directed to you. If you fail to do so, you will not get my vote tonight.

So without further adieu, here we go!

Stacy
I look at you in the final 3 and the only reaction I can muster right now is this:


Personally I just found it a slap in the face that you didn't even bother to message me more than 1 or 2 times at the merge.
And don't pull the old "I was out traveling" BS because in the MORNING you read my PM, and I saw your name online MULTIPLE times throughout the rest of the day... actually I feel like it wasn't even that same day I feel like you ignored it for multiple days.
So you made the conscious decision to ignore my PM.
And from the sounds of it, there were multiple people on the jury that you didn't even bother to message because they were on the bottom. Liliana's name comes to mind, and she told us that when she got to Ponderosa.
How could I in good conscience give you my vote tonight? You can talk all you want about how you "were secretly a strategic mastermind" (newsflash: everyone thinks they were, so try something else) and how you "Played a good strategic game" but like... everyone in the final 3 played a good game due to where they're sitting right now.

I want you to give me a valid reason that will make ME will want to give YOU my vote. The answer needs to be something unique to me, because there are plenty of things Rocky and Penner have done throughout the game to impact me on a one-on-one level.

I'm struggling to find that with you. Can you give me a good reason why my vote should go to you?

I mean... there's one question for you to answer.


Next on the list... you were ranked #9 on Mykines 1.0 when we did the first tribe swap.
Do you know who was ranked #9 on Svinoy 1.0? Nate BEFORE the rep replacement... i.e. someone who didn't PM a single person for 3 days.
Can you give me a rationale behind why you were ranked that low? We never worked together pre-merge. Did you improve that #9 ranking on Mykines 2.0 and Mykines 3.0?

As an early-merge boot maybe I'm biased towards playing a strong pre-merge game, because that's where most of my game was played. I worked my ass off every single day to make it to the merge... and the impression I'm getting is that you hardly even bothered to log in for the first half of this thing.
So you can tout all the bells and whistles of whatever it was you did post-merge... but how can I give you my vote if I feel you didn't make much of an effort for over half of this game?
I'm giving you the floor to prove me wrong with those statements. Tell me what I'm missing.

Last question.
What three things did your rep do in Survivor Fiji that you enjoyed the most? You don't have to give reasoning because the question is getting long, but if you have time feel free.


summary of questions:
(1) What reason do I have to give you MY vote? Not just getting a vote out of "respect for the game" or that BS... but why do you deserve my vote?

(2) Do you think it was fair to be ranked #9 on Mykines 1.0? Also I've gotten the impression that you put in little-to-no effort in the pre-merge and early merge. Can you prove that statement wrong?

(3) Give me your 3 favorite Stacy moment from Survivor Fiji.

Rocky
Rocky... I feel like I have a lot less to say to you.

I guess I do appreciate you sticking by me at the merge and 2nd swap. So we had been together on 3 tribes... but other than that I really don't know what to say.
You were someone I really liked talking to on a personal level, and I'm happy to say I think we'll be good friends after this experience. But as far as allies go you were not the most reliable in terms of getting into contact with, strategizing with, pre-voting ( ), etc.

So it's just conflicting to me because you were nice all along, and perpetually "^_^" and someone who disliked the same people I disliked ( )... but what else is there for me to go on?
I feel like you were viewed as a non-threat at the merge, and from what I've seen you have just been able to slip through the cracks when all the big talkers took each other out.
Am I wrong there? Anyway... I wouldn't spend too long on that because I'm sure you'll address it in your opening statement.

You can touch on the above if you want and you have the time, but I have a couple shorter questions for you.

(1) Who would you have voted for on Svinoy 2.0 if we lost one of our 3 tribal immunity challenges? Don't feel pressured to lie to me just to make me feel happy. I'll appreciate the truth here.

(2) There has been a lot of talk about "goats" in this game. Out of the 11 merge contestants ( 11 because you can't answer yourself): which player was the biggest goat and why? Which goat was the biggest player and why?

Penner
The obvious contrast in this final 3 is that Rocky&Stacy were ranked #8/#9 on Mykines before the first swap, and you were ranked #1 on Svinoy. So I think the fact that nobody really ever tried to get rid of you in spite of that is a huge accomplishment.
Because I mean seriously... and this is no offense to any of my fellow jurors but look at the final 6:
Stacy - 9th
Nate - 9th
Rocky - 8th
Rebecca - 8th
Candice -5th
Penner - 1st
So far and away... you were the ONLY player in this game who was able to overcome that early threat status. Looking at the top 3 on each tribe: Jessica, Cassandra, Liliana, you, me, Cecilia... Jessica, Cecilia, Cassandra, Liliana, and I were ALL voted off, and all viewed as "Giant Threats" after the merge.
To the point where it was pretty much stated by everyone in the game that none of us could make it to the end... and you were the only person who managed to completely eliminate that target.

But at the same time you were so quiet during those early merge rounds. Was that 100% due to the food poisoning, or was it part of your strategy? I'm wondering whether you had made a conscious decision to lower your activity for the sake of the game, or if it was just a coincidence? Because from what I hear it wasn't just my elimination round during which you were inactive. What's that about?

Anyway... I appreciate that the two of us were able to have REAL and GENUINE conversations in half our PM, and then the other half was talking about game. I felt that I really got to know you on a personal level during this game, and I feel like you got to know me as well.


So I just have a couple questions here for you to answer:
(1) How much of your early-merge inactivity was strategy to lower your public threat status, and how much of it was just you not being able to come online?

(2) Please tell everyone in attendance tonight what I'm studying at post-secondary school, how many years I have left, and what country I incorrectly thought the British Open was held in.


In Closing
Thank you for your time tonight. I wish you all the best of luck.

[Rocky]

so we answer it right now and then move onwards to the next person, right?

[Jeff Probst]

so we answer it right now and then move onwards to the next person, right?

Correct

[Jeff Probst]

I'm assuming the final 3 are answering publicly now, but I don't see them replying.

[Penner]

Hey Steph :D

1) It was a bit of both really. I was genuinely sick for a bit, so I missed the tribals and challenges - I just couldn't stay awake so late in the day. But I was online on PMs every single day (outside of one or two Saturdays which are really quiet). I don't think anyone on the jury can say they went any amount of time without me checking in with them on a regular basis.

2) Oh God, I'm gonna get this so wrong, my memory is so garbage. I remember having lots of real talks with you about college and your thoughts for what you'd like to do after and travelling and stuff. I think you told me you're studying engineering, I know you're only back a week or so. Didn't you think the British Open was in Ireland? That's a major faux pas over in this side of the world! Mega apologies if I'm misremembered something

[Penner]

Edit: on question 1, you'll see from my opening statement (and my confessionals afterwards) that there was a large strategic element to it also

[Jeff Probst]

We're coming up on 20 minutes in after 1 juror, so we will have to move on in a minute.

[Penner]

[Jeff Probst]

Flicka, if you are ready, could you please post your questions now.

[Rocky]

Rocky
Rocky... I feel like I have a lot less to say to you.

I guess I do appreciate you sticking by me at the merge and 2nd swap. So we had been together on 3 tribes... but other than that I really don't know what to say.
You were someone I really liked talking to on a personal level, and I'm happy to say I think we'll be good friends after this experience. But as far as allies go you were not the most reliable in terms of getting into contact with, strategizing with, pre-voting ( ), etc.

So it's just conflicting to me because you were nice all along, and perpetually "^_^" and someone who disliked the same people I disliked ( )... but what else is there for me to go on?
I feel like you were viewed as a non-threat at the merge, and from what I've seen you have just been able to slip through the cracks when all the big talkers took each other out.
Am I wrong there? Anyway... I wouldn't spend too long on that because I'm sure you'll address it in your opening statement.

You can touch on the above if you want and you have the time, but I have a couple shorter questions for you.

(1) Who would you have voted for on Svinoy 2.0 if we lost one of our 3 tribal immunity challenges? Don't feel pressured to lie to me just to make me feel happy. I'll appreciate the truth here.

(2) There has been a lot of talk about "goats" in this game. Out of the 11 merge contestants ( 11 because you can't answer yourself): which player was the biggest goat and why? Which goat was the biggest player and why?

Hello Stephannie! I would like to touch on the above and echo that yes, I was absolutely viewed as less of a threat. That weekend we did start was a horrible weekend for me time wise, so it's probably why I was inevitably so low on the list. Reliability was a huge issue for me haha, mostly in your round specifically. I do feel horrible but NO EXCUSES!

You are right in the fact that I was just slipping by, trickling past threats and uber persona's. I was going the personal route, since I knew I couldn't have a TEAM after our merge predicament, I knew I could at least set up some solid partnerships and see if I can nustle my way past the big riders of this game.

As for your questions...

1) If we went to tribal at Svinoy 2.0, it either would have likely been you. I had an idea in my mind where Yau would play his idol, you would leave, and Yau's threat level would go down massively. He was the first person I wanted to sit next to in the finals. Rebecca was the second. Spot the trend? :P

But yes, if we had gone to tribal, I would've gone the route that involved Yau playing his idol on himself, and us two voting for you, and I believe I told Flicka and Rebecca about the plan and collaborated with them on it. I knew Flicka didn't trust Yau and his idol.

2) I would say Rebecca and Stacy were the biggest goats of this season. I can't name a single time when Stacy tried to lead this game, she just sat idle by and NEVER approached me with a solid plan until final 4 - to vote out Penner had Candice been immune. That plan wasn't even HERS persay, but I can give it to her haha.

Rebecca well... the reasoning for Rebecca is obvious. She simply didn't have the time to dictate anything.

Well I'd like to say I was the biggest player/goat. I STARTED THE GOAT'S ALLIANCE BABY, (G)reatest (O)f (A)ll (T)ime!!! I spent my entire merge making people think I would be a vote in their pocket. I tried to be everyones goat, and I think that's what differs me from the typical "goat" label and I think it actually makes me a bit more dignified and organized and respectable in strategy.

[Flicka]

Alrighty! It's been a long wait for me to get to address the three of you. I want to start off by saying congratulations to the three of you. I am a firm believer that no matter you get to the final 3, you deserve to be there. No matter what you did or did not do, the three of you are here and deserve it and fuck anyone else that says otherwise.

Some jurors may say that their vote is open for anyone and are just bullshitting to get some information, but with all honesty, I can tell you that my vote is quite open tonight because this is probably one of the last final three scenarios that I would have expected. It seemed like everytime the next juror came to Ponderosa, it was someone I was planning on voting for if they were in the final 3. So, congrats on that too, because there's probably 5 or 6 people with me on the jury I was planning on voting for if they were in the final 3 with any combination of the 3 of you. So, as much as I dislike it, you made the right decisions of who to get rid of during this game.

Rocky, you were definitely the person I was aligned with the closest in this final 3 and one of my closest allies in the game. We got pretty close on Svinoy 2.0 talking about shit that wasn't even game related. In fact, back then we rarely did talk game if ever because we kept winning immunity. I got to know you and thought you were a pretty fuckin' rad dude. #FLOCKY! However, I truly do not want to vote based solely friendships. Love ya, Rock, but in terms of gameplay, while I was in the game and we were aligned, anyway, it seemed like me or Stephannie was always the one to tell the plan to you and/or tell you how to vote and, although I'm glad that's what you always did, someone who just does what they're told when they're told is not someone I want to represent our season of Stranded. Also, it really does suck to know that your #1 boy in the game voted you out when it was clear you were being the one voted out anyway.

Penner, we started on the same tribe and were seperated until the merge. So, I was very excited to get to know you more once the merge happened, but then something happened; you were hardly ever online, so that chance never came. I understand that because of your timezone and just like everyone else, you have a life outside of this game that it was difficult for you to be online some/most of the time. But, pretty much everything I know about Penner, is based on what the other jurors have told me and the rare times I've observed you in challenges and tribal councils while I was on the jury and I didn't see much. You made me a laugh a shit ton of times, but that's not what I'm basing my vote on tonight. Even though we were on the same tribe collectively for about two weeks, I sincerely feel like I don’t know you at all. I made attempts to PM you during the game and you never really got back to me.

Stacy, we didn't even meet until the merge, so I only had so much time to talk to you and get to know you before being voted out. I understand that time was very limited and there was only so much you could do with 11 people in the game, but moments before the tribal council I was voted out at, I made a deal with you that if there was any way that you could save me from being voted out that night, you would 100% have my jury vote in the final 3 even if I was voted out the next night. I ended up being voted out not more than one hour later unanimously.

Now to my question:s

I'm going to pay homage to Aras in season 27 of Survivor while he was on the jury and ask his jury question.

I want each of you to imagine that this is a final 2 between the other 2 players sitting with you at this final tribal council and I want you to tell me who of the two of them you would vote for to win Stranded in the Faroe Islands if you were on the jury and please tell me why you would vote for that person.

So,
Penner, who would you vote for in a final 2 between Rocky & Stacy and why?
Rocky, who would you vote for in a final 2 between Penner & Stacy and why?
Stacy, who would you vote for in a final 2 between Penner & Rocky and why?

It may seem strange, but I truly do feel that the answers to these questions will help me make my decision when voting for a winner.

Thanks.

[Rocky]

Some jurors may say that their vote is open for anyone and are just bullshitting to get some information, but with all honesty, I can tell you that my vote is quite open tonight because this is probably one of the last final three scenarios that I would have expected. It seemed like everytime the next juror came to Ponderosa, it was someone I was planning on voting for if they were in the final 3. So, congrats on that too, because there's probably 5 or 6 people with me on the jury I was planning on voting for if they were in the final 3 with any combination of the 3 of you. So, as much as I dislike it, you made the right decisions of who to get rid of during this game.

Rocky, you were definitely the person I was aligned with the closest in this final 3 and one of my closest allies in the game. We got pretty close on Svinoy 2.0 talking about shit that wasn't even game related. In fact, back then we rarely did talk game if ever because we kept winning immunity. I got to know you and thought you were a pretty fuckin' rad dude. #FLOCKY! However, I truly do not want to vote based solely friendships. Love ya, Rock, but in terms of gameplay, while I was in the game and we were aligned, anyway, it seemed like me or Stephannie was always the one to tell the plan to you and/or tell you how to vote and, although I'm glad that's what you always did, someone who just does what they're told when they're told is not someone I want to represent our season of Stranded. Also, it really does suck to know that your #1 boy in the game voted you out when it was clear you were being the one voted out anyway.

Hey sister! You're right, I think that throwing my vote on you at the time was rationalized with "FUCK, I gota make sure I dont piss anyone off" and it may be cowardice reasoning, but it was what I was thinking at the time. I tried to save face and save grace with everyone left in the game, and I actually began to connect with Cici that night, so I felt that... if I vote you, then I keep some trust within Cici. It was tough, and I'm sorry, but it's my reasoning. It absolutely wasn't intended to kick you while you were down, and I'm sorry it ended up being the case for you, but please know that I was just trying my best to keep on with the people sticking around.

You're also right about Steph and you making a lot of the decisions in our alliance, but at the same time... I dont want to be condescending, but the two first people of the merge out were you two ladies. I feel like my strategy was really pushing me forward and laying low/creating the other tribal connections were my best avenue to stick around. I think that my strategic force wasn't in the alliance collaborating, but rather the ability to adapt in this game, get as close to the end as possible, and be brutally honest so that my eventual white lies were more hidden.

If Stacy and Penner was in a final 2 together, I would vote for Penner. He and I connected much better than Stacy and I did. Purely for social reasons, I would side with good ol Penner.

[Penner]

Hey Flicka - firstly, I don't think we were even on the same tribe for a full week - just the three days on Svinoy 1.0 and the beginning of the merge. That being said, I did note in my opening statement that I really failed to build a proper bond with you. I just couldn't really click on a personal level so I struggled to keep the conversation flowing. That's on me though, I certainly should have tried harder with you specifically. The period in the game where we were playing together, I was really trying to keep a low profile. So it's unfortunate that we only really had that overlap.

In a final 2 of Rocky and Stacy, I'd vote for Rocky. Rocky is a fun, chill guy and has a much better social game than Stacy. The best thing I can say about Stacy is she's nice, which where I come from is the blandest compliment you can get. Neither of them played particularly strong games, and were sitting idly by and waiting for someone else to do the work for them; in Stacy's case it was Jessica and in Rocky's case, it was me and Candice who dragged him back into the game.

Having read Stacy's opening statement, her grasp of what was truly going on is ludicrously poor. The idea that she and Candice worked together to get Nate out is just so inaccurate; Candice was doing anything to stay and even thanked me afterwards for flipping the vote onto Nate. She also says "Candice and I quickly went back to the drawing board" after we voted out Jessica. You realise Candice voted for Jessica too, right? She was part of the plan.

With Rocky, I disagree that he was disadvantaged by being down in the "numbers" by the merge. There were enough swaps etc to make sure that you could give yourself some options for alliances rather than just relying on the pre-made alliance offereed to you by your tribe. That being said, Rocky at least knew what was going on, even if he had little control of what was happening. That, and he's a much more fun guy.

[Jeff Probst]

Okay, I think Stacy is mobile at this point and we don't have time to wait for her to answer so she'll have to play catch-up.


Nate is staying up late for this, so let's let him go next.

[Rocky]

We had more swaps Penner absolutely but when we were on our first tribe for only 3 days, like you said in the beginning of your answer, I didn't gain much of a connection with anyone. Not to mention, it was a difficult weekend for me to start a game.

Tribe number 3 consisted entirely of my tribe number 2.... PLUS JESSICA. Anthony and JP didn't make the merge to be involved in this.

Were there really enough swaps to warrant me knowing enough people? Because I dont think there were.

[Flicka]

Alright. Thanks, guys. The fact that Stacy is not here and therefore cannot answer my question means that this is, to me, a final two between Penner & Rocky, so one of you will be receiving my vote tonight. Good job again, guys.

[Penner]

I built an alliance with Jessica and Stacy that lasted five rounds. I hadn't met them before the merge. You create the options yourself, you can't wait for them to come to you.

[Nate]

Final Tribal Council Speech

I find it fitting that the largest example of the species of goat found on the planet earth are native to the Faroe Islands, because of the fourth largest goat of the Faroe Islands, it’s nice to see a group of my own species make it to the end of the game.

Only kidding guys, I’m not actually bitter (or that cliche) and I feel like that I respect all of your games because you did what you must to get to where you have gotten. The winner is sort-of decided at this point, but if somebody has a massive fuck up or does surprisingly well in the Final Tribal Council the vote can probably swing to them. And speaking of fucking up.



I set a pre-vote randomly, just in case I wouldn’t be able to wake up in time or fall asleep to early depending on your perspective so I don’t prevent or aid a massive trainwreck or an inspiring comeback. I’ll address each of you individually and ask you three questions each – one actually relevant question, one question for the sole purpose of stroking my massive ego, and one question pulled directly out of my anus. I’d like for all of you to answer your questions, or butt in on each other questions, or not because I’m not your boss. If you don’t answer all my questions directed to you and I stay awake, I’m not voting for you though. It’s not going to be particularly hard though.

Rocky
Hey Rocky, I’m torn because I feel like from a strategic perspective you would be the hardest person for me to vote for, but from a personality and “how well I got on with you” perspective it would probably be the easiest to vote for you. There’s also the #yoloswag random.org option, which did say you, so sorry for the other two if I don’t stay up late enough and that somehow costs you the win. But I feel like the strategic perspective in an ORG probably is the biggest factor in this case. So, on that topic I would like to ask you:

1. What would you say was the move that led you to get to this point in the game that can be credited to you?

2. My facebook fan page currently has 183 members. Upon the reveal of my identity, how much effort will you put in to be the 184th member?

3. Rank the following Kanye West songs by emotional resonance and how much they relate to your life with explanations. There is a correct answer. “Through the Wire”, “Hey Mama”, “Black Skinhead”, “Champion”, “Slow Jamz”, “Stronger”, “We Don’t Care”, “Mercy”, “Runaway”, “N****s in Paris” and “Stronger”.

Stacy

Hey Stacy, If you are reading this just keep in mind that I am considering voting for you and any argument between us is water under the bridge. The problem I have is I have absolutely no idea how active you were or were planning on being in the game. I don’t know if you were willing to lose with me to Jessica or at the Final whatever to step up as a major threat and start blindsiding people here and there and me voting off Jessica stomped on that plan. Now, that leads to my question which is:

1. Who was the main cause behind my eviction? Rebecca says you and Candice says Penner. Break the tie.

2. As the only “female” (well it is Stranded, the only actual girls are Anthony and CiCi) in the final three, who’s hotter, me, Ryan Gosling or Aladdin?

3. The Spanish Civil War of 1935-1939 was caused by two factors – long term social divide and short term economic problems. In 300 words or less, to what extent do you believe in this statement?

Penner

Yo JPenn, you probably think you got this game wrapped up. Not so fast though, there’s a sizable portion on the jury who doesn’t like you very much so you better be prepared to kiss so much ass tonight. So my questions are:

1. Why didn’t I fucking play the idol?

2. Now that I’m in London, I realized how much beer is in this country and I figure that not accepting your offer of a pint is kind of ridiculous. How can Irish people afford to be drunk all the time if beer is that expensive? Also why am I so awesome?

3. In Pokemon Generation 5 Little Cup, my favorite Pokemon to run was Mienfoo. Assuming a Jolly Nature with the moves U-turn/Drain Punch/Earthquake/Knock Off what would be the best EV spread to utilize on this Pokemon?