Exile Island is a twist that featured in Survivor: Jordan, Survivor: Reclamation and Survivor: Bhutan, as well as a brief appearance in Survivor: Moral vs. Merciless, Survivor: Entitled vs. Earned and Ragnarok. It is a small campsite apart from the actual tribe camps where a single contestant will be left banished until after the next Tribal Council. Though in seclusion, the banished castaway may be given a clue to the location of a Hidden Immunity Idol that may or not be hidden there.
Overview[]
Exile Island forces one castaway to live on his/her own on an uninhabited island. While on this island, they do not go to Tribal Council, therefore they cannot vote at Tribal OR be voted out. During Tribal phase, if a division or switching of tribes is taking place with odd number of castaways, the player that ended up not being selected by any tribe will be automatically banished to Exile by the host. The player will re-join the game after the following Tribal Council, where the loosing tribe looses a member. As they are not on any tribe, they cannot vote or being voted out at that respective Tribal Council. The banished castaway is reunited with their tribe in time before the next Immunity Challenge.
History[]
Jordan[]
In Survivor: Jordan, an upside to Exile Island was that it provided clues to the whereabouts of a Hidden Immunity Idol, which was hidden on the island. Clues were constantly handed in every episode, though it did not guarantee the player truly finding the Idol (especially if the Idol had already been found by someone else). The person who went to Exile Island each day was chosen FROM the loosing tribe, BY the winning tribe. The twist continued into the merge, with the Individual Immunity winner getting sole decision over who goes to Exile Island.
Moral vs. Merciless[]
The twist returned for a short period in Survivor: Moral vs. Merciless. This time, the power of who went there was in the hands of the viewers, who had to decide one person from each tribe to send there. The chosen castaways remained there until the beginning of the Jury phase at Final Twelve, guaranteeing them at least a spot on the Jury. They were unable to vote or be voted out at Tribal Council during this time.
Reclamation[]
The twist returned in full for Survivor: Reclamation, this time in conjunction with the Viewer's Chieftain twist. The Chieftain from the winning tribe each day had the ability to select one person from the second placed tribe to go to the island, and remain in seclusion for the next Immunity Challenge and Tribal Council, keeping them safe but stopping them from competing for their tribe. The twist continued on after the merge in the standard post-merge format, seen in Jordan, without the influence of the Viewer's Chieftain twist.
Bhutan[]
The third main appearance of the twist was in Survivor: Bhutan, in conjunction with the Viewer's Voice twist. The viewers had the power to select two people to play-off in a duel. The winner was able to send themselves or their opponent to Exile Island, and whoever was sent picked an extra person to come along too during the pre-merge. There were three idols hidden on Exile Island through the course of the season, although only two were found.
Entitled vs. Earned[]
The fourth appearance of the twist was in Survivor: Entitled vs. Earned, under the new name of "Exile Roadkill". The "roadkill" aspect of the twist allowed the winner of a secondary competition to secretly decide who goes to Exile. The twist began on Day 9, and lasted only for three rounds, ending on Day 12. There were no extra Hidden Immunity Idol hidden on exile this season.
Ragnarok[]
The fifth and final appearance of the twist was in Survivor: Ragnarok, where Trey C. was send to a surprise Reward Exile Island on Day 10 after being unpicked in the tribe switch, where he chose to have three goes at Blackjack Idols. Then later on Day 14 at the Survivor Auction, Alex C. won the power to exile someone, and chose James S., who handed the immunity he'd already won over to Tim T.