Welcome to Survivor Palau! This is the eighth season in the BigBen Survivor franchise which featured eighteen new castaways competing yet again for the title of Sole Survivor. The CBS version of Survivor Palau was one of my favorite seasonâs when I first started watching Survivor. Naturally, I decided to use towards my series and that I still cannot really make logos for the life of me. Unlike, the original âSurvivor Palauâ there was no instant tribal where two people were voted out immediately and there were also idols featured on this version (plenty of variations). Anyways, I expect the lot of ya are ready for the Sydney (Guigi) origin story and this is one of the seasonâs that I knew that I was going to hate writing about.
Original Tribes
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Ulong *Blue Buffs*
Darcy (Boots22)
David (PickleNoble)
Eoin (Eoin)
Glad (Gohandd)
Jaron (JarBearFTW)
Nick (NJKoda1998)
Tico (ticofernadez)
Trae (Stilts12)
Zach (Zankie16)
Koror *Brown Buffs*
Brien (justdontevictme)
Jack (Om3ga)
John (Coffeybean94)
Jon (xRAIN_shooter)
Michael (FairyBoss)
Mike (Survivor8)
Noah (Mchappy)
Sydney (Guigi)
Zyler (MJFJUNE)
PreMerge
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This should be fun reminiscing about the moments of Trae as that was legitimately the entire premerge. He was quite a character but let us hope otherâs rise to the occasion on the rewatch. Regardless, it should be an interesting ride as I am not as familiar with a lot of the cast. Itâs time to pray that I donât give up writing about a season that was rather on the âmehâ spectrum.
Final 18 â Ulong wins immunity! This challenge was âPass the Torchâ but had a twist where the last person holding the torch would be immune on the losing tribe. In that event, Zyler won immunity who could have been an easy boot based on potential inactivity. Brien is the only person to get confessionals in the episode as he starts his conquest in wanting to get John out. He feels that he has Jack, Noah, Sydney, and potentially Zyler and is fear this could turn into a color level hierarchy society. Noah declines in wanting John out and then Brien aims for trying to get Mike out. Brienâs objective was to make Brien and John both feel they had to vote the other. That failed miserably as Noah and Sydney supposedly ratted out his plans and things went onto Jack who was one of Brienâs closer confidants and the person who passed to Zyler the lone inactive. At tribal council, Zyler self-voted while having immunity and the rest of the tribe voted Jack in a 7-1-1 vote. Jack voted for Brien for being a complete mess which was fair. Also, the next RickStoneâŠ
Om3ga
go to hell and ben i will do everything to mess up your group game
Final 17 â Koror wins immunity! There was a lot more clarity on the last tribal in this episode. Apparently, Jack and Jon wanted to go for Noah because he was being extremely transparent his plans were to work with the other tribe. Noah was also being shifty with his conversations but the plan to take him out was shut down due to Jackâs craziness and the votes just not being there because of Jackâs actions. On the Ulong tribe it looks as if John, Jon, Michael are a solid three with Brien being added as a fourth. Michael also had an established a relationship with Sydney, but Jon is fearful of this as he was worried by working with Sydney it would include Mike who was viewed as a big threat early. Regardless, it looked as if Noah and Zyler were seemingly on the outs early. John looked to be in great standing with a lot of people, so Brienâs read on getting John out early was probably correct, but it looks as if damage was already done. I think something to watch is the shiftiness of Brien trying to work with potential outsiders if he can last a few rounds. There is no content on the Ulong tribe this episode other than Nick saying, âGet me the fuck out of this tribe and pray for a tribe swapâ. Darcy looked to have established an alliance of three between himself, Nick, and Tico. At tribal council, the vote was hella split 4-2-1-1-1 with half the tribe receiving votes. To my knowledge, a core four was established between Darcy, Nick, Tico, and Trae. Those three minus Tico voted for David and assuming Glad voted with them too. Tico voted Zach with Eoin which probably makes some sense? That means maybe David/Jaron voted for Darcy and/or Glad. I do not know. The Ulong tribe is a legit mess with little confessional content it is me attempting to fit pieces together as I am just under the assumption Glad was sheeping Nick. Trae begins to annoy everyone in the entire game with his antics.
Final 16 & Final 15 â Ulong wins immunity! Immediately, the focus is back onto Zyler who is still by far viewed as the weakest member of the tribe. Mike had been establishing himself as a physical threat which people wanted to use moving forward as a shield. However, on the other side of things Brien continues to be antsy in wanting to make a big move and wants to take out a big threat in Michael. Brienâs plan was to bring Mike, Noah, Sydney, and Zyler together as a new alliance of five. Which was a decent plan as those five were not in the core three. However, word got back to Jon and Michael about this potential blindside and instead of making the easy move on Zyler they go all in on Brien in hopes the rest of the tribe will do it. The people Brien wanted to vote Michael with also opted to rather doing Zyler as he was being viewed as useless but in the back of their minds knew the plan shifted to Brien for less chaos. Noah seemingly from being a potential first boot target goes UTR this episode and works his way into an alliance with the Johnâs and Michael. He also has a decent relationship with Sydney at this stage too. The theory Mike and Sydney were close is sort of diminished as Mike illustrates that him and Sydney arenât close as Jon keeps telling Mike thereâs no way, heâd be able to get the votes to take out Sydney. At tribal council, Zyler survives after Brien stirs up the pot way too much and leaves unanimously with him voting Zyler. Darcy also quits out of nowhere in this episode. John seems to be in a decent position moving forward and to some degree Sydney though they are just being dragged along from the looks of it. Finally, Mike makes a very accurate statement about Sydney in games:
Mike (Survivor8) â âJon keeps telling me it's impossible to get Sydney out, so obviously he's working with and protecting her. A. she is usually inactive in group games. B. She sucks when she playsâ
Final 14 â Koror wins immunity! There is not content for the Ulong tribe other than people being fed up with Trae. However, the minimum game talk is Darcy leaving was sort of a big blow for Glad, Nick, and Tico. Now, their game is in the hands of Trae who is all over the place. Tico wants to get Zach out despite his alliance rather going for Jaron, so he stays the UTR. The talk of the town is still Jon and Noah forming together after #ScreenshotGate Jon blamed everything on Brien for being crazy and it looks as if Noah bought it for the most part and now feels secure in a core group of himself, the Jonâs, Michael, and Sydney. It looks like Zyler is still next to leave but Michael wants to push a Mike vote in fear Jon is getting too powerful and has sheep following him (despite being Jonâs duo). Jon is starting to pop off as a villain here. Ulong at tribal the vote is simple, and Jaron leaves unanimous who was INV/MIA and he decides to vote for Glad (who cares the reasoning). Ulong is so UTR1 while Koror looks to be a clusterfuck of emotions and gameplay. Trae continues to annoy everyone and well people might stop thinking âstrategically for their own sanityâ.
Final 13 â Koror wins immunity! Tico is hoping himself, NJ, and Glad could potentially blindside Trae. At first, Tico suggested to vote out Eoin, but Trae was quick to defend Eoin in saying to vote for Glad. This likely strikes Ticoâs last nerve and to a degree NJ as Glad is a trusted confidant. Meanwhile, Koror is fed up with Jon now thinking he can play puppet master. He has expressed dictating he can get Sydney out whenever he chooses likely next, and people view him having Mike and Zyler as his sheep. However, here comes the rise of heroic John (Coffeybean94) who shines light on the fact he is with Sydney and throwing Jon under the bus to Noah to flip him against Jon in the future. Michael and John establish a final three with Sydney. Jon looks to be on his way out if this tribe loses an immunity with Michael being a potential swing or even Noah as it looks like the âBattle of the Johnsâ is on their way. At tribal council, Trae was blindsided in a 3-2-1 vote. Not necessarily, the best strategic move but good for the souls. I am assuming Glad, Nick, and Tico voted for Trae. Trae and Zach voted for Eoin. Eoin voted for Glad. Overall, a gutsy move to take out someone extremely active but getting rid of a potential nuisance in the future is not a move to frown upon. It should be interesting with a âdouble tribal councilâ where two individuals leave in the next episode.
Final 12 & Final 11 â Jon wins immunity! Jon has the sole decision on who gets immunity on the other tribe. Jon selects⊠NICK! Nick also wins immunity! The plan to potentially take out Jon is off the table and now the focus is on Mike and Zyler. Jon offers up Mike despite their being a push for Sydney who is being viewed as useless by most (even her allies). Mike is too strong at competitions for him to continue moving forward in the eyes of Jon. It is probably a mistake for Jon to offer Mike so willingly then again, he is in a situation where he probably needs immunity the entire merge. Mike sends a fake confessional to the Johnâs about potentially having an idol, so the target shifts off him. But that fails and he is voted out unanimously by the tribe. Noah still looks to be a key cog on this tribe as everyone is unsure who he will side with between John/Sydney or go back to Jon. Again⊠Ulong has no content but Zach seemed useless at this stage while Eoin was a bigger name and was a bigger target than Zach moving forward. Zach leaves unanimously meaning it looks like a strong three of Glad, Nick, and Tico with Eoin as an outsider. The merge is next and hopefully gets better as this season does not have a ton of pop to it. However, Ulong looks to be coming in with a numbers disadvantage early.
Merge
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Final 10 â Nick wins immunity! This upcoming tribal it was clear it would be Koror vs. Ulong (an Ulong member was going home). Jon wanted to vote for Tico as he feels he could keep Eoin close as he was an outside on Ulong. However, John and Sydney did not want Jon to gain anymore traction in this game and would rather gun for Eoin who was a lone wolf. They also preferred to work with Nick and Tico moving forward instead. At tribal council, the vote tied 5-5 adding some real life in the game between Tico and Eoin. The people who voted Tico were Eoin, Jon, Michael, Noah, and Zyler. The people who voted Eoin were Glad, John, Nick, Sydney, and Tico. On the revote, Noah flipped to avoid rocks in 5-3 split leaving Jon, Michael, and Zyler on the outs for this round. It is an interesting thing to watch as John is close to another Jon and Michael as they were a trio and states he wouldâve flipped on Tico till Noah said he wanted to vote Eoin on the revote which was better for Johnâs game. However, other than that relationships out there were kind of obvious looking back whether it was preexisting or game-wise. It made a lot of sense.
Final 9 â Glad wins immunity! Jon becomes the center of attention quick after he failed getting Tico out. There was a lot of calling out people on gameplay and Jon was not doing himself any favors regarding making himself less of a target. It seemed there would be at least three firm votes on Jon which would come from Glad, Nick, and Tico. The trio of Jon, Michael, and Zyler look to be sticking together this round out of necessity even though Zyler had been courted numerous offers for the final three if he flipped on Jon. That leaves John, Noah, and Sydney in the middle to decide the vote. John had a strong kinship with Jon so he felt decent that he would not come after him if he stayed and was a big target. Jon did screw up though with Noah trying to target him this round, but it seemed as if he would be the saving grace. In the end, Glad self-voted but regardless it did not matter as Nick was voted out 5-3-1 with John, Jon, Michael, Sydney, and Zyler stuck together. The other three voted Jon. Looking back, it was probably the correct move for John and Sydney duo as it gave them room to operate as swing votes. However, it exposed John as a huge social threat moving forward which people began to pick up on.
Final 8 â Michael wins immunity! Once again, Jon becomes the center of attention who to vote out despite the failed attempt from the previous round. Glad and Tico are obviously coming for him as the lone members left on the Ulong tribe along with Noah. The three of Jon, Michael, and Zyler seem to be sticking together with John and Sydney in the middle. There is also the threat this vote would tie if John and Sydney were to separate this round as John wanted to do Glad, but Sydney was likely floating all options. At tribal council, there was two self-votes which were Noah and Sydney. Two votes were cast for Jon by Glad and Tico. Finally, the other four voted for Glad as John directed them as he stated in confessional âthe only person he wasnât connected to was Gladâ so he would be in a great position at final seven. John looks to be driving the game while using another Jon as a shield. Noah has a disdain taste for Jon since âscreenshot gateâ from the first episode which is revealed in this episode.
Final 7 â Jon wins immunity! The fight continues to brew between Jon and Tico but now on a more public platform as they argue about Zyler being manipulated and supposedly each other being the âplagueâ for coming after one another hard core. It was not a personal fight, but it was nice to see some controversy on a game-level which was not too gruesome as todayâs tengaged society. Anyways, there is a lot going on with this round more than any other as Jon winning immunity put a wrench into a lot of peopleâs plans. There was plenty of talk of a John blindside between Noah, Sydney, and Tico learning that John had an idol despite being loyal to that group they worried about him as a threat to win. I am pretty sure Jon and Zyler planned on voting Tico for the public fights in the forums. While John and Michael wanted to stick closer with Noah and Sydney and vote off Jonâs right hand in Zyler. It is a very weird tribal and not sure if the worldâs greatest moves were made. However, the John blindside comes into fruition in a 3-2-2 vote which was great entertainment value but I donât think it was the worldâs best move leaving Jon, Michael, and Zyler intact when John was more likely to side with Sydney moving forward. Either way, Tico was spared which seemed to be Sydneyâs choice. I think Zyler leaving here is a much better move.
Final 6 â Jon wins immunity! Looking back, I knew Jon was a villain but man looking back the guy was arrogant and a loose cannon. He was very entertaining but yeah, he did not have that âdynamic playerâ mentality and was more on the scale of delusional at best despite his strong efforts in the game. Anyways, the John vote now looking at this stage seems like a very bad move as the trio of Jon, Michael, and Zyler have the advantage here and indirectly Johnâs idol out of the game which couldâve helped the Sydney side is gone. The Sydney sideâs plan was to pit Michael and Zyler against one another after voting each other last round which is not a terrible idea. However, it was sort of an exposed party after last round Michael got played by Sydney and realizes now at least for this round working with Jon and Zyler is his best move. Also, it helps with the fact Noah leaked the plan to the Jon side making things a lot easier. At tribal council, the vote was 4-2 with Tico leaving putting Sydney in the minority. I guess the lesson here is sometimes the most entertaining moves are not the smartest ones. Moving into finale episode we have an interesting âfinal fiveâ as it is all Koror members, and nothing looks completely set in stone. The question now⊠is Sydney next out or will a new plan arise.
Finale
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Final 5 â Michael wins immunity! It becomes the Jon vs. Sydney show after numerous fights in the past. It looks like Noah & Sydney vs. Jon & Zyler with Michael in the middle. Honestly, I thought Michael and Jon were this dynamic duo but man Michael âhated himâ with a burning passion like Denise hating Abi Maria Gomes. At tribal, the vote tied 2-2-1 with Noah self-voting and the vote being between Jon and Sydney. On the revote, it was 2-1 with Jon leaving at the hands of Mike and Noah. Not gonna lie, this was an awful move by Michael who had played extremely well to this stage, but I get his hatred for Jon after reading it back. It just was not a good move strategically. I am not sure if Jon could even win a jury vote as reading it back, he had âawful jury managementâ and made some questionable social moves. Noah self-voting a second time really hurt his image as everyone in the cast felt he was playing masterfully minus the self-votes. Either way, Jon was an interesting character, nonetheless.
Final 4 â Noah wins final immunity! It really comes down to Zylerâs decision. Noah respected Michael way too much to let him make the end as he had zero votes against all season and Noah had zero votes against excluding his self-votes. In the words of FairyBoss, "Sydney was backstabby and was willing to betray their friendships for prize despite being inactive for pretty much 80% of the game". In the end, this became a simple matter of âwho you can or cannot beatâ and Michael had a really good shot of winning over this jury despite his fuck up at the final five which he understood the repercussions. We have our final three of Noah, Sydney, and Zyler.
Final Tribal Council
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I think it is safe to Zyler had a 1% chance of winning over this jury. There was plenty of talk on this jury how Noah was viewed as someone who played a fantastic strategic game, but the self-votes were an obvious hindrance. While Sydney despite being viewed as the least active (self-vote included) of the three was just generally nice to people and had built or had some preexisting friendships on the jury. John was a decent advocate Sydney whether it was because of their friendship or genuine belief they deserved to win is besides the point. I think it helped Sydneyâs case a tad. Noah broke a lot of deals so there definitely was some hard feelings towards him. I think both had a relatively bad âFinal Tribalâ but I think Noah took a lot more ownership for his faults while Sydney did end up attacking the guy saying he was a âfloaterâ and what not. Either way, both would likely be frowned upon as weak winners based on the self-votes and or potential activity levels. I joke about Noah being the real winner but reading it back he was very impressive, and I think he was the best player in the final three. I get why Sydney won based on the people who voted them to win as he had good relationships with them and that's credit to their social game. Regardless, it was a mediocre endgame all those years ago.
Final Synopsis
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Overall, I think this season lacked a lot. There was plenty of people who just did not care nor brought a ton to table (fillers). Not to mention, the people who did return did not have a ton of impact except for John and Tico (eventual winner). I think this season is pretty like Myanmar but to a lesser extent. It is not Jordan level bad as there was some entertainment value mainly at the hands of the Johnâs. However, the actual winners in Ben and Sydney are not really that strong and made some controversial decisions. Either way, a lower tier season as the premerge was still meh but the merge had some juice which puts it just above Jordan. That being said letâs move onto the next season as itâs arguably one of the best. It was cool though that no idols were played this season despite having the potential to be out there (David & John being voted out with one each). Finally, Sydney you have made a significant impact on the series despite being the messy villain you're so don't take offense to this!
Jury Votes
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Eoin - Noah
Nick - Sydney
Glad - Sydney
John - Sydney
Tico - Sydney
Jon - Zyler
Michael â Noah
DVD Cover
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Noah â Sydney - Michael
Jon â Tico â John
Season Ranking
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1. All Stars I
2. Nepal
3. India
4. Hawaii
5. Iceland
6. Myanmar
7. PALAU
8. Jordan
Winner Ranking
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1. Rhys (AndThenThereWasOne) â Iceland
2. Jimbo (sahmosean) â Jordan
3. Brandan (Maladus1) â Nepal
4. Joe (jharrin7887) â India
5. Cole (Cole91) â Hawaii
6. FireDragon (AlaskanFireDragon) â All Stars I
7. SYDNEY (GUIGI) - PALAU
8. Ben (aceman509) â Myanmar
18th: Jack ( Om3ga) [Koror] (7-1-1)
17th: David ( PickleNoble) [Ulong] (4-2-1-1-1)
16th: Brien ( justdontevictme) [Koror] (7-1)
15th: Darcy ( Boots22) [Ulong] (Quit)
14th: Jaron ( JarBearFTW) [Ulong] (6-1)
13th: Trae ( Stilts12) [Ulong] (3-2-1)
12th: Mike ( Survivor8) [Koror] (6-1)
11th: Zach ( Zankie16) [Ulong] (4-1)
**Merge**
10th: Eoin ( Eoin) [Ulong/Peleliu] (5-5/5-3) *1st Member of the Jury*
9th: Nick ( NJKoda1998) [Ulong/Peleliu] (5-3-1) *2nd Member of the Jury*
8th: Glad ( Gohandd) [Ulong/Peleliu] (4-2-1-1) *3rd Member of the Jury*
7th: John ( Coffeybean94) [Koror/Peleliu] (3-2-2) *4th Member of the Jury*
6th: Tico ( ticofernandez) [Ulong/Peleliu] (4-2) *5th Member of the Jury*
5th: Jon ( xRAIN_shooter) [Koror/Peleliu] (2-2-1/2-1) *6th Member of the Jury*
4th: Michael ( FairyBoss) [Koror/Peleliu] (3-1) *7th Member of the Jury*
**Final Tribal Council**
2nd Runner-Up: Zyler ( MJFJUNE) [Koror/Peleliu] (Received 1 vote to win)
Runner-Up: Noah ( Mchappy) [Koror/Peleliu] (Received 2 votes to win)
Sole Survivor: Sydney ( Guigi) [Koror/Peleliu] (Received 4 votes to win)
Our next season is the birth of some future BigBen Survivor legends as it is⊠Survivor Barbados â Battle of Generations. Also, you are welcome Sydney for your origin story.
PYN if you want to be tagged for future overviews!
