Survivor: Guatemala Fanfic

Survivor: Guatemala
Filming location	Laguna Yaxhá, Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo National Park, Petén, Guatemala
Winner	Brandon Bellinger (4-3)
Season run	08-25-05 – 12-11-05
No. of episodes	14
No. of days	39
No. of survivors	18
Tribes	Nakúm      Yaxhá      Tikal
All-Stars: Belize	Brandon Bellinger (6th) Lydia Morales (20th) Danni Boatwright (3rd) Jamie Newton (2nd) Judd Sergeant (11th)
Fans vs. Favorites	Brooke Struck (2nd)
Season chronology
Previous	none
Next	Survivor: Exile Island Fanfic

Survivor: Guatemala - The Mayan Empire (also known as Survivor: Guatemala for short) is a fanfic based on the eleventh season of Survivor, and it is set inside of the ruins of the Maya civilization. Specifically, the series is in Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo National Park near the more popular Tikal National Park, located in northern Guatemala. The season premiered on August 25, 2005. The finale was on Sunday, December 11, 2005 on CBS. Brandon Bellinger became the sole survivor by defeating Lydia Morales by a vote of 4-3. This season also features the return of Palau contestants Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard.

This season is often described as one of the toughest seasons for a group of castaways. According to Jeff Probst, temperatures appeared to be well over 110 degrees with high humidity, as he talked about it during some of the challenges.

The tribes were Yaxhá (wearing teal) and Nakúm (wearing yellow). Both of these tribes were named after two former Mayan cities. The final nine members merged into the Tikal tribe (wearing red) from the name of the park the season was filmed in.

Brandon Bellinger, Lydia Morales, Danni Boatwright, Jamie Newton and Judd Sergeant all participated on Survivor: All Stars Belize where they started on Naranjo tribe. They finished in 6th, 20th, 3rd, 2nd and 11th respectively. Brooke Struck returned on Survivor: Micronesia Fans vs Favorites as member of Favorites tribe. She ended in second place losing to Tracy Hughes-Wolf with only gaining one vote that was nullified.

Contestants

Eighteen contestants took part in this Survivor series. Two, Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard, are returning contestants from Survivor: Palau, while the remainder are new.

Contestant	Original Tribe	Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Total votes
Amy O'Hara 39, Revere, MA	Yaxhá			1st Voted Out Day 3	5
Brian Corridan 22, New York, NY	Yaxhá			2nd Voted Out Day 6	71
Margaret Bobonich 43, Chardon, OH	Nakúm			3rd Voted Out Day 9	7
Jim Lynch 63, Northglenn, CO	Nakúm	Yaxhá		4th Voted Out Day 11	5
Bobby Jon Drinkard 27, Troy, AL Survivor: Palau	Nakúm	Nakúm		5th Voted Out Day 11	6
Brianna Varela 21, Edmonds, WA	Yaxhá	Yaxhá		6th Voted Out Day 14	5
Cindy Hall 31, Naples, FL	Nakúm	Nakúm		7th Voted Out Day 17	6
Rafe Judkins 22, Providence, RI	Yaxhá	Yaxhá		8th Voted Out Day 20	3
Stephenie LaGrossa 25, Philadelphia, PA Survivor: Palau	Yaxhá	Yaxhá		9th Voted Out Day 21	6
Gary Hogeboom 46, Grand Haven, MI	Yaxhá	Nakúm	Tikal	10th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 23	7
Blake Towsley 24, Dallas, TX	Nakúm	Nakúm		11th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 26	6
Judd Sergeant 34, Ridgefield, NJ	Nakúm	Nakúm		12th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 29	6
Morgan McDevitt 21, Decatur, IL	Yaxhá	Yaxhá		Eliminated 4th Jury Member Day 32	1
Jamie Newton 24, North Hollywood, CA	Yaxhá	Yaxhá		13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 35	13
Danni Boatwright 30, Tonganoxie, KS	Nakúm	Nakúm		14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37	62
Brooke Struck 26, Hood River, OR	Nakúm	Yaxhá		15th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38	6
Lydia Morales 42, Lakewood, WA	Yaxhá	Nakúm		Runner-Up	3
Brandon Bellinger 22, Manhattan, KS	Nakúm	Nakúm		Sole Survivor	0

The Total Votes is the number of votes a castaways has received during Tribal Councils where the castaway is eligible to be voted out of the game. It does not include the votes received during the final Tribal Council.

Note 1: Three additional votes were cast against Brian in the tiebreaker in Episode 2.

Note 2: One additional vote was cast against Danni in the tiebreaker in Episode 14.

The game

Episode title	Air date	Challenges		Eliminated	Vote	Finish
		Reward	Immunity
The Hero Twins	August 25, 2005	None	Nakúm	Amy	5-3-1	1st Voted Out Day 3
Rain, Rain Go Away	August 31, 2005	Yaxhá	Nakúm	Brian	4-4 6-03	2nd Voted Out Day 6
A Question of Loyalty	September 7, 2005	Nakúm	Yaxhá	Margaret	7-2	3rd Voted Out Day 9
Matchmaker	September 12, 2005	Nakúm	None4	Jim	5-2	4th Voted Out Day 11
				Bobby Jon	6-2	5th Voted Out Day 11
Lamb to the Slaughter	September 20, 2005	Yaxhá	Nakúm	Brianna	5-1	6th Voted Out Day 14
Invasion!	October 1, 2005	Yaxhá	Yaxhá	Cindy	4-3	7th Voted Out Day 17
Lost...For Real	October 5, 2005	Nakúm	Nakúm	Rafe	3-2	8th Voted Out Day 20
Majority Rules	October 10, 2005	Nakúm5		Stephenie	3-1	9th Voted Out Day 21
Blast From The Past	October 24, 2005	None6	Blake	Gary	7-2	10th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 23
Fallen Warrior	November 1, 2005	Blake [Danni]	Brooke	Blake	6-2	11th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 26
Family Matters	November 9, 2005	Jamie	Danni	Judd	6-1	12th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 29
Going Once, Going Twice, Going Home...	November 13, 2005	Survivor Auction	Danni	Morgan	3-3	Eliminated 4th Jury Member Day 32
More Pain, More Rain	November 21, 2005	Jamie [Brooke]	Brandon	Jamie	3-2	13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 35
The End Justifies the Means	December 11, 2005	None	Brooke	Danni	2-2 3-17	14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37
			Lydia	Brooke	1-0	15th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38
Reunion	December 11, 2005	Jury Vote		Lydia	4-3	Runner-Up
				Brandon		Sole Survivor

Note 3: The vote was initially tied 4-4 between Brian and Stephenie. In the re-vote, Lydia, Jamie, and Morgan changed their votes to Brian, making the vote 6-0.

Note 4: In Episode 4, because of the double Tribal Council, there was no Immunity Challenge.

Note 5: Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.

Note 6: In Episode 9, because of the merge, there was no Reward Challenge.

Note 7: The vote was initially tied 2-2 between Danni and Lydia. In the re-vote, Brooke changed her vote to Lydia, making the vote 2-0.

Episode 1: The Hero Twins

16 Americans began the adventure of a lifetime. They were abandoned among the mysterious Mayan Ruins in northern Guatemala, forced to work together to carve out a new society while battling the elements and each other. They were divided into two tribes: Yaxhá and Nakum. The castaways faced a twist right from the start, as Bobby Jon Drinkard and Stephenie LaGrossa from Survivor: Palau joined the game. Jeff also informed everyone that Bobby Jon and Stephenie would have Immunity at the first Tribal Council they attended; then they would have to pass it off to another castaway. Stephenie joined Yaxhá and Bobby Jon went to Nakum. The tribes then faced a difficult 11 mile hike, where Gary revealed in a confessional that he is a former NFL quarterback. That night, Yaxhá decided to stop hiking and experienced the Guatemalan wildlife for the first time, while Nakum was split in their decision and ultimately decided to keep walking through the night. The next morning, Blake and Danni made an alliance right before finding their camp. Amy decided to step up as the leader of her tribe, but faced opposition from nearly everyone, though they also eventually reached camp. The tribes were given only a cooking pot and a crate of meager supplies. Once both tribes got to their camps, the Yaxhá tribe struggled and failed to create fire, while Nakum came together as one and succeeded on both counts. That night, Brianna annoyed her tribemates with her irrational fears of the jungle. At the Immunity Challenge, the pattern continued as the unified Nakum tribe defeated Yaxhá, and the win caused Brooke to bond with father figure Jim. After the challenge, the Yaxhá tribe continued to fracture, as the tribe members were clearly divided. Brianna, Brian, and Jamie wanted to vote Amy for her abrasive personality, while Amy, Stephenie, and Rafe wanted to vote Brian for his scheming. At Tribal Council, both Brian and Morgan received votes, but ultimately the swing votes of Lydia and Morgan sided with Brian, and it was Amy who became the first to go.

• Immunity Challenge: The tribes begin by racing through a tough-nut. They’ll then climb up and over a cargo net, continuing on until they reach the mud crawl. They'll then go under the mud crawl to the white line marked on the other side, where one tribe member will dig for a flag. They'll take the flag and move on to the next leg: They’ll paddle out to a floating buoy, where a different tribe member will dive down ten feet and unhook another flag. They’ll then continue paddling to the other side of a lake, where three tribe members must decode a puzzle using a dial of letters to numbers. The answer to the puzzle is the combination to a lock that will unlock a torch. They'll have to bring the torch to the final station where the last four tribe members will build a fire to burn through a rope, which will release their final flag. They then light their tribe’s torch and carry the lit torch and all three flags to the wok at the finish line. The first tribe to raise all three flags and light the final wok wins Immunity.

Episode 2: Rain, Rain Go Away

Yaxhá returned from Tribal Council, where Stephenie immediately tore into Morgan and Lydia for voting for Amy, while Morgan contemplated the mysterious vote against her. But the next day, everyone seemed to patch up their differences and work on the shelter, finally bringing a sense of unity to the tribe. And their shelter came just in time, as a torrential storm soon showed up at both camps. At the Reward Challenge, Gary led the Yaxhá tribe to win blankets, pillows, lanterns, and flint, which allowed them to make fire. Back at camp, Gary made an even better image of himself by starting the fire. The next morning, Lydia took Morgan and Jamie fishing, and the three continued to bond, while Brian realized that Lydia teaching others to fish now renders her useless. Meanwhile, Cindy was feeling left out of the four pairs of people that emerged at Nakum. At the Immunity Challenge, the castaways had to eat Pejelagarto, a traditional Mayan dish. It came down the tiebreaker round, where Cindy pulled through for Nakum, beating Jamie and winning Immunity for her tribe. After the challenge, new strategies and alliances were quick to form. Rafe and Stephenie made a Final 2 pact and decided to target weak link Brian, while Lydia, Jamie, and Morgan decided to target the no-longer immune Stephenie. At Tribal Council, they decided to go with their gut and the vote was tied between Stephenie and Brian. But, in the tiebreaker round, the alliance of Jamie, Lydia, and Morgan, switched their votes from Stephenie to Brian, making him the second person voted out.

• Reward Challenge: The challenge consists of a puzzle of thirty pieces scattered throughout the jungle clearing in pairs. Tribes pick one member to be their guide. The other tribe members will be blindfolded and tie togdether in three groups. The guide will navigate the pairs into the jungle clearing, which has trees, logs, and mud, as they gather the puzzle pieces. Once they have all thirty pieces, they can take their blindfolds off and start to put their puzzle together. First tribe to complete the puzzle wins Reward.
• Reward: Two pillows, two heavy blankets, one lantern, and flint.
• Immunity Challenge: One member from each tribe will come up and eat Pejelagarto, raw fish and a traditional Mayan dish. If they pass or they don’t eat or they can’t finish, they lose a point. At the end of one round, after everyone has eaten, the tribe with the most points wins Immunity.

Episode 3: A Question of Loyalty

Nakum realized the hardships of jungle living, as they found themselves running out of food and getting bit by bugs. Cindy actually opened up more to the tribe by sharing tips to keep the bugs away. But luck was on their side, as they won fishing supplies and bug spray in a very intense Reward Challenge. During the challenge, Jamie showed his aggressive side by insulting Brooke and Cindy and nearly getting in a physical confrontation with Blake. His behavior angered his tribemates, specifically Stephenie, Rafe, and Gary. On Day 8, while Nakum enjoyed their Reward, Margaret approached her tribemates with a plan to throw the Immunity Challenge to get rid of Bobby Jon for being a previous player. However, Blake soon told the plan to Danni, and they went to Brandon and Bobby Jon about Margaret's scheming. The four-way alliance decided to turn the tables on Margaret. As planned, Yaxhá won the Immunity Challenge, giving the blue tribe their first Immunity win. After their win, Yaxhá got to know each other better, as Rafe talked about his religion and Jamie revealed he had a twin. Back at Nakum, the alliance of four took in Judd to guarantee a majority. Nakum attended to their first Tribal Council, where Margaret was stunned to learn that Bobby Jon was still immune. Margaret scrambled to save herself, trying to get the votes together to boot Brandon, Bobby Jon's supposed "right hand man." When that didn't work, she tried to get everyone to vote Cindy for not showing a side. But her last-minute plotting was too late; her scheming had already cost her the game and she was voted out.

• Reward Challenge: Both tribes must navigate their way across a series of narrow balance beams to receive their tribe colored flags on the opposite end of the course. In the middle is an ‘Attack Zone’, which is clearly marked in black and gold. When two opposing tribe members meet on that bridge, there is a physical showdown. Their goal is get the other tribe member off of that bridge, and into the water. First person to hit the water returns to the start, and forfeits their flag; the winner moves on. If they are not in the ‘Attack Zone’ when they first make contact, they’re out of the game and their tribe loses one flag. Each tribe can only have two members on the course at one time. First tribe to get twenty flags from one side to the other wins Reward.
• Reward: Fishing bait, twelve hooks, and bug spray.
• Immunity Challenge: The tribes will attempt to escape from a makeshift prison. Each tribe member will be chained and shackled; they’ll have locks to open with a key: one on the wrists and one on the ankles. They’ll also have one lock on the jail door. The keys to the locks are located outside the jail on wooden posts. Using materials found within the jail cell, they have to create a way to reach out and retrieve their keys. They have to keep at least one foot on the ground, inside the jail cell at all times. They can only grab one key at a time and a key can only be used on one lock; they cannot use a key more than once. Once all tribe members have released both of their locks, they can retrieve the last key, which will unlock their jail cell. First tribe to get out of that jail, cross the finish line with all fifteen keys in possession wins Immunity.

Episode 4: Matchmaker

After a crazy Tribal Council, Cindy was livid about the second vote against her. When nobody fessed up, she broke down, while Blake revealed that he cast the vote to mess with her head and start paranoia against her.  Brooke went to go comfort a hurt Cindy, while Judd brought a more positive mood back to Nakum with a joke.  At Yaxhá, Jamie and Brianna fell asleep and let the fire go out, angering their tribemates; overall, Jamie seemed to be falling apart.  Nakum faced more drama when Blake cut open his hand when cutting fruit, and the whole tribe came together to help him through the injury. At the Reward Challenge, the castaways were shocked with two big twists. First, before the challenge started, they faced a tribe switch, where Brooke and Jim became members of Yaxhá, while Gary and Lydia switched to Nakum.  On top of that switch, Jeff also revealed that both "new" tribes would attend Tribal Council that night.  Nakum won a basket of bathroom supplies, but the win seemed almost bittersweet without Immunity. Back at Nakum, the tribe reveled in their new reward.  Blake and Danni continued to get close and flirt, which alerted Lydia as to the close bonds on her new tribe. At Yaxhá, Brooke and Jim were less than impressed with their camp, but soon after arriving new strategies quickly developed. Morgan, going off of Lydia's word at the challenge, tried to turn the tribe against Stephenie, but most of the tribe was focused on getting a former Nakum out, afraid that Nakum would vote out Gary or Lydia.  Lydia and Gary talked, and made a Final 4 deal between the two of them, Jamie, and Lydia, possibly with Brooke and Jim.  She fought to keep herself in the game and talked up Bobby Jon as a physical threat in the individual game; her thoughts surprisingly did not slide by Danni and Blake.  Before Tribal Council, Jim became ill and told Stephenie to give Immunity to Brooke.  She didn't, but the tribe still honored Jim's wishes and voted him out, leaving Brooke all alone. At Nakum’s Tribal Council, Lydia continued to talk about her usefulness and Bobby Jon's physical prowess. In the end, her plan worked when everyone except Brandon joined her and Gary in voting the former player out of the game.

• Reward Challenge: Each tribe member will have their own station with a box. Inside each box are four items. Their goal is to find another tribe member with a matching item. Peeking is allowed. There are twenty-eight matching items. They can match an item with somebody from their own tribe or somebody from the other tribe. Each time they get a match, they score a point for their tribe. The tribe who scores the most matches wins Reward.
• Reward: Toilet paper, shampoo, soap, mouthwash, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and body wash.

Episode 5: Lamb to the Slaughter

Nakum returned from a tense night at Tribal Council, Brandon still shocked at being left out of the loop with Bobby Jon's boot. Danni pulled Brandon aside and made a pact to go to the end, though both people were wary of one another. At Yaxhá, Brooke struggled to secure her position within the tribe, though Stephenie sympathized with her situation. The tribes received treemail telling them to build a chicken coop.  While Nakum all worked on it, Jamie decided to laze around, claiming to be saving his energy for the challenge.  Understandably, this did not bode well with his tribemates.  But Jamie's strategy turned out to be good when his strength led Yaxhá to win three egg-laying chickens and a rooster at the Reward Challenge. The victorious Yaxhá feasted on eggs made by the vegetarian Brianna, while Nakum had their own feast when Danni and Lydia caught a bounty of fish. Lydia's fish skills boosted her status in the tribe while also making Gary, the other former Yaxhá, feel unsafe in the tribe.  The next day, Yaxhá decided to kill a chicken, much to the sadness of Brianna.  In the Immunity Challenge,  the castaways faced their toughest physical challenge yet, and Nakum hit a bit of a stumbling block when Cindy got offended after Judd told her she should sit out.  Initially, Nakum got tangled up, allowing Yaxhá to gain a huge lead; but Nakum soon caught up to and passed the other tribe on the blown bridge, giving the yellow tribe Immunity.  Back at Nakum, Cindy, still angry at Judd's decision to sit her out, was eager to show her strength to the tribe.  When Yaxhá returned from camp, they found that the door to the chicken coop was open, and the chickens had escaped.  Rafe, Stephenie, and Jamie immediately blamed Brianna because of her feelings towards them killing the chicken before, while Brooke realized she could find her way into the tribe. At Tribal Council, Brooke was shocked when Stephenie gave her Immunity, forcing the Yaxhás to vote amongst themselves. In the end, though Brianna voted for Jamie because of his laziness, the blame on Brianna came back to bite her and the rest of the tribe voted her out.

• Reward Challenge: The tribes will race out to their mat and they’ll each grab a hold of a rope which is attached to three very heavy crates seventy-five feet away. The rope has six knots: one for each tribe member to grab on to to pull those crates in closer. Every time they pull the crates fifteen feet closer, a marker will pop up showing how far they have to go and the person at the end of the rope will have to let go. Once they release all five markers, all six members will open the crates, take the puzzle pieces, run to the other side of the mud pit, and assemble the puzzle on their puzzle board. First tribe with a completed puzzle wins Reward.
• Reward: Three chickens and one rooster.
• Immunity Challenge: Four tribe members will run the first leg of a huge obstacle course tethered together. They’ll begin by racing through a log chute. They'll then continue forward, clearing several wooden hurdles, climbing over a wall using a rope, going up a rope ladder, over a cargo net, crawling under some ropes, and a lot of running. For the second leg, they’ll meet two other tribe members at the “blown bridge”, an obstacle that involves a little bit of strategy. After they’ve completed their bridge, they’ll sprint down the clearing, jump over a few more wooden hurdles, grab their tribe’s flag, and carry it down to the finish line and place it into its slot. First tribe to get all their members across the finish line and raise their flag wins Immunity.

Episode 6: Invasion!

On Night 14, both tribes had trouble sleeping.  Judd kept his tribe members awake at Nakum with his snoring, while Yaxhá dealt with the neighboring howler monkeys that tore the camp apart until Jamie scared them off.  Nakum faced more hardships the next day when Blake revealed he had huge blisters on his feet that might hinder his challenge performance.  At Yaxhá, Jamie showed a surprising work ethic when he helped move the fire closer to the shelter.  At the Reward Challenge, Nakum got off to an early lead, but quickly lost steam, allowing Stephenie to lead Yaxhá to victory and a complete picnic.  While the blue tribe enjoyed some much needed food and bonding, Gary and Lydia questioned the tribe's choice to get rid of Brianna over Brooke.  Looking for an ally, Gary confided in Lydia about being a former NFL quarterback.  Their bond strengthened, and Lydia made a pact with him until the end.  Meanwhile, Nakum's food situation was grim.  Some of their flour and corn got mold and Cindy suggested mixing in the moldy with the good food to not waste anything. When Danni fought back rather childishly, the two women bickered for quite some time, and Danni declared her the next to go.  At the Immunity Challenge, Danni and Cindy's conflicts caused a bit of a rift in the usually cohesive Nakum; as a result, they slowed down and Yaxhá went on to win Immunity and their second challenge in a row. Back at camp, Danni told Blake and Judd she wanted to vote out Cindy for personal reasons, while Cindy told Gary and Lydia the same thing about Danni.  Unfortunately for Brandon, this left him as a swing vote between two very different groups.  The farmer showed a more strategic side when he told both groups that he would vote with them.  In the end, he sided with Danni, Blake, and Judd, and voted Cindy out of the tribe, burning her, Gary, and Lydia in the process.

• Reward Challenge: Each tribe has five logs; their goal is to get their five logs to their tower, building a staircase. Because each subsequent log gets smaller, each time they bring one back to their tower, one tribe member has to stay behind. Along the way are a series of obstacles. First tribe to get all five logs to the tower and get somebody to the top, wins Reward.
• Reward: A picnic in the jungle.
• Immunity Challenge: The tribes must get three balls into a hole. They’ll have one caller and four people controlling the maze. Using a system of pulleys, they will either raise or lower. Each time they get a ball in the hole, they’ll switch out callers. First tribe to get all three through the maze and in the hole wins Immunity.

Episode 7: Lost...For Real

A cold and wet night wore down Yaxhá, while Nakum faced problems of their own when they discovered they needed to both fix their shelter and gather food. The next day, the new Nakum tribe finally seemed to come together for the first time and focused on food and shelter. Danni, Judd, and Gary repaired the shelter, Lydia went fishing, and Brandon and Blake went looking for fruit. Danni annoyed Judd with her bossiness in working on the shelter, while Brandon and Blake strayed from the trail and got lost in the jungles of Guatemala, returning to camp several hours later. Both tribes got a blowgun, spear, and a slingshot to practice with at camp, where Jamie and Blake both showed off their skills. At the Reward Challenge, the tribes competed for fruit, rice, and spices. Blake ultimately outmatched Jamie and hit closest to the bullseye, ensuring a victory for Nakum. At Yaxhá, Rafe was pointed out at as being a weak link in the challenge. Nakum celebrated their victory of some much-needed food, but Judd showed some attitude when he expressed his dissatisfaction with the rice. In a mental Immunity Challenge, Yaxhá quickly succumbed to pressure and floundered, while Blake's leadership secured another Nakum victory. Back at Nakum's camp, Danni was secretly pulling for Brooke to stay, while Lydia hoped her allies Jamie and Morgan remained in the game. Stephenie and Rafe almost immediately targeted Jamie for his bitter attitude, while Jamie saw their close alliance and knew Brooke was the swing vote. He approached Brooke and tried to turn the target onto Rafe, citing him as a weak link and talking up his mental threat in the individual game. Though Brooke questioned turning her back on the people that had just saved her, in the end Jamie’s plan worked, and at Tribal Council, Rafe was blindsided and became the eighth person voted out.

• Reward Challenge: The challenge consists of three rounds: first round, the blowgun; second round, the slingshot; and last round, the spear toss. For the first two rounds, the tribes will choose one person to compete. They’ll be aiming for fruit, which are either hanging or sitting on top of a vase. Any of the fruit they hit goes into a basket to be carried over to the next round. For the third round, the last three tribe members will throw one spear each. The tribe that gets closest to the bullseye when it’s over, wins Reward.
• Reward: All the fruit acquired from the first two rounds, a spice rack, and a container of rice.
• Immunity Challenge: Each tribe has a replica of a traditional Mayan temple. The temple is made up of six pieces. Each tribe also has three platforms. Their challenge is to transport their temple from platform one to platform three using all three platforms to solve the puzzle. They can only move one piece at a time, and in addition, you can never have a larger piece on top of a smaller piece. Finally, all tribe members must be inside the white ring before they can move on to the next platform. The first tribe to successfully move their temple to the third platform wins Immunity.

Episode 8: Majority Rules

Yaxhá returned from a tense night at Tribal Council; Stephenie lashed out about Rafe's blindside, specifically towards Brooke. But she knew Brooke's vote was necessary to force a tie against the powerful duo of Jamie and Morgan. The next day, she still showed animosity towards her tribemembers by refusing to socialize and eat with them. At Nakum, the spirit was quite the opposite at breakfast. The only person in a sour mood was Judd, who was beginning to feel the physical toll of the game and began to get angry when his tribemates "babied" him. The tribes received treemail instructing them to adorn themselves like Maya warriors, but they were all shocked to know the challenge would be for Immunity, which made everyone expect a merge. While the upbeat Nakum bonded before the challenge and painted each other, while Yaxhá found no use for the paint and continued to fracture. At the challenge, the tribes received a big surprise when they learned that they weren't merging, but this was actually the final challenge before the merge. In the challenge, the physical strength of Blake and Danni helped them breeze by Morgan and Brooke. And Nakum never lost their lead, leading the yellow tribe to win both Reward and Immunity, guaranteeing their place in the merge. They enjoyed a trip to the "Survivor Café", feasting on donuts and coffee, and received letters from home, which gave everyone a much-needed energy boost. At Yaxhá, Jamie and Morgan were set on getting rid of Stephenie, a definite person they knew would jump over to Nakum at a merge. Scrambling to save herself, Stephenie went to Brooke about forcing a tie and voting out Jamie, saying he will be a physical threat in the individual game. Back on Nakum, Judd, Brandon, and Blake decided to take Brooke back into their alliance with Danni at the merge, creating a strong alliance of five. Brooke decided to take her fate in her own hands and promised Jamie and Morgan that she would vote against Stephenie. Seeing Brooke's hesitancy, Stephenie went to Jamie and Morgan to instead get rid of Brooke. At Tribal Council, Stephenie continued to try to appeal to Morgan and Jamie, claiming she's not a threat and always has had her heart in the game. But after Jamie blew up at Stephenie for claiming that she deserved to stay over him and Morgan, the former player was finally voted out of the game.

• Reward and Immunity Challenge: The tribes race into the jungle, collecting pieces to build an outrigger canoe. Both tribes will start with their canoe at the lake. Two tribe members will go into the jungle, untie the frame, and bring it back. The next two tribe members will go deeper into the jungle, untie the paddles, and bring them back. Two different tribe members will go even further into the jungle, untie the outrigger, and bring it back. Once they’ve gathered all the pieces on the beach, they can begin to assemble the outrigger. Another two tribe members will then paddle out to the tribe’s flag, retrieve a colored bag, and paddle back. The tribes will then open the bag and empty it into their basket. Inside each bag, they’ll find Maya war clubs. They’ll then throw the clubs at three targets which are thirty, forty, and fifty feet away. No individual tribe member can break more than one target; they can also tag out. First tribe to break all three tiles wins Reward and Immunity.
• Reward: A trip to the Survivor Café and letters from home.

Episode 9: Blast From the Past

Nakum decided to pass the time by playing checkers and Battleship. Though the mood around camp was happy, Judd was thinking strictly about what was to come. The tribes received treemail instructing them to choose a representative. Jamie and Danni were selected to act as tribal ambassadors and traveled to North Acropolis. There, they met Jeff and learned they would be deciding the name and flag of the newly merged tribe on behalf of the two tribes. As the two feasted on steak and lobster, Jamie misled Danni by saying that him and Morgan were not close, then Danni told Gary's secret of being an NFL player to Jamie. At Nakum, Brandon suggested that the tribe pack up all their belongings in case they have to change camps. Judd refused to pack, angering his tribemates. Danni and Jamie decided to name the new tribe Tikal; Jeff then gave them a map to their new home and they set off for the opposite tribe's camp. Everyone had to pack up as many supplies as possible in five minutes, then they traveled to their new camp, thinking about the others that were voted out before the merge. They all arrived at the new camp and were surprised to learn that there was an Immunity Challenge immediately. A battle of endurance emerged; Brandon threw the challenge to be the first out to not look like a threat. Judd and Jamie struck a deal of two Tribal Councils of safety over beer and after seven hours, Blake was the last castaway left standing. As the new tribe began to construct a shelter, Danni, Brandon, Blake, and Judd decided to target Gary both as a threat and a liar. Before Tribal Council, Gary’s true identity was on everyone’s mind, though Lydia believed that what Gary did in the past should have no effect on his fate in the game. Gary continued to lie, and most of the castaways became wary of trusting him. In the end, Gary’s past came back to haunt him when everyone except Lydia voted against him and he became the first member of the jury.

• Immunity Challenge: The castaways each stand on a perch; not every perch is the same size. If they jump off, if they fall off, or if any part of their body except their feet touches the perch or the structure at any time, they’re out. The last person left standing wins Immunity.

Episode 10: Fallen Warrior

After losing her closest ally Gary, Lydia surprisingly found a comrade in Brandon as the two worked at camp while the rest of the tribe slept in the shelter. In general, it seemed like a lot of the tribe chose to do nothing, leaving the necessary chores to people like Lydia and Brandon. The two went fishing together, and Lydia tried to work her way into the powerful Nakum alliance. At the first individual Reward Challenge, the castaways engaged in an intense physical competition for a breakfast. Blake won, and chose to take Danni with him on the reward. Danni and Blake enjoyed their breakfast, while back at camp, Judd vented about Blake not picking him to go on the reward, which Brandon subliminally rubbed in his face. This gesture was part of Brandon's plan to get rid of the big physical threats before it's too late in the game. After returning to camp, Blake and Danni reaffirmed in Brandon and Judd the plan to get rid of Jamie next. But before the Immunity Challenge, a new plan was conceived when Brooke, Brandon, and Judd decided to take out Blake first in the challenge and prevent him from winning Immunity so they could vote him out. The challenge was a test of knowledge about Guatemala and Mayan culture. Jamie, Morgan, and Lydia were the first to be eliminated from the challenge, then Danni and Blake were taken out; ultimately, Brooke prevailed over her tribemates and won Immunity. With Tribal Council looming, Blake and Danni started to become wary of Brandon's lack of trustworthiness. At Tribal Council, Blake felt extremely confident in his alliance, openly stating that he would not be leaving that night. But he was sorely mistaken; he was voted out, completely blindsiding him and Danni, and became the second member of the jury.

• Reward Challenge: The first two rounds will put two people on opposite sides of a giant eight foot ball. Both pairs will push the ball against each other to maneuver the ball over their own goal line. The first round will be two heats of two versus two; each pair consists of one male and one female. For the second round, the winners of the two heats will square off. Finally, the winning pair of the second round will move on to the finals and compete against each other, one on one.
• Reward: Breakfast buffet.
• Immunity Challenge: Jeff asks the castaways a series of questions about Guatemala, about the Maya, and about survival. Each time they answer a question correctly, they get to take a torch and light another castaway’s ceremonial mask on fire. If more than one person answers correctly, they draw numbers to determine the order in which they’ll go. Each tribe member only has three masks: when they’re out of masks, they’re out of the game. Last person standing wins Immunity.

Episode 11: Family Matters

Tensions built after a shocking Tribal Council. Brandon put most of the blame for Blake's blindside on Judd, and Danni felt extremely betrayed and hurt, questioning if she wants to still remain in the game. Brandon took sympathy on Danni, seeing in her what he had felt after Bobby Jon's blindside. She confronted Judd about the vote, but he refused to tell her who he was targeting next. Jamie's involvement in the conversation made it even worse, and it was clear that one of the two former Nakum members had to go to keep the camp sane. The next day, Judd continued to get on his tribemates’ nerves with his constant comments and complaining. At the Reward Challenge, the castaways competed for a visit from their loved ones in a test of knowledge about how each tribe member is perceived. Jamie and Danni took the brunt of many of the negative quations, but with nine out of ten correct answers, Jamie won the Reward and his twin brother Ramie spent the day at the Tikal camp. The atmosphere at camp was positive with a new temporary member, but Lydia had a difficult time accepting her loss and losing the chance to talk to her son. As the tribe (especially Morgan) got to know Ramie, Judd became aggravated with Morgan's constant questioning. The Immunity Challenge was a game of strategy where Danni was the last castaway standing, guaranteeing Judd's worst enemy safety in the game. Back at camp, with Danni immune, Brandon, Brooke, and Judd were confident that the Nakums would stick together to vote off Jamie. But Danni told Brandon that she was definitely voting for Judd with the Yaxhás, putting her in a swing vote position. It came down to voting in her alliance or voting personally. At Tribal Council, tempers flared between Judd and Danni over Judd's apparent bullying. In the end, his outbursts cost him the game and he was unanimously voted out of the tribe. However, before getting his torch snuffed, he lashed out at Danni once again, guaranteeing her she would not win the game.

• Reward Challenge: Jeff asks the castaways a series of questions from a questionnaire they filled out previously about their tribe mates. Their answer should be based on how they think the majority of the tribe answered. Everytime their answer matches what the tribe said, they score a point. After ten questions, whoever has the most points wins Reward.
• Reward: A 24 hour camp trip from their loved one.
• Immunity Challenge: Each person will stand on one piece of the puzzle. Each turn, they’ll step off that piece, moving in any direction, onto another piece. They’ll then flip over the one that they were just on, revealing green; they can never step back onto that piece. Once they’re boxed in with green all around them and they can move no more, they’re out of the game. Last person standing on this board wins.

Episode 12: Going Once, Going Twice, Going Home...

In the aftermath of Judd's outburst on Danni, Danni felt a huge sense of relief, while Brandon began to have some moral issues with the strategic portion of the game. The next day, the women bonded by having a fashion show. This led Jamie to question his position in the tribe, contemplating a possible female alliance building against himself and Brandon. Despite the bonding, both alliances were even with three members each, struggling for the majority. Knowing Danni and Brandon would never take each other out, Jamie went to Brooke for a possible fourth vote. In place of a Reward Challenge, the castaways attended the "Survivor Auction," where everybody got a taste of some food. Jamie, who had the most money left at the end of the auction, was offered the chance to open a mystery box. He won tickets to watch a movie that night. Jamie chose to take Lydia with him on the Reward, but she was not the biggest fan of his choice of film, "Old School". While Jamie and Lydia were away, Morgan found herself in a tough situation when Brandon and Danni tried to get her to turn on her two former tribemates, but she was quick to give up an alliance of four in favor of an alliance of three. When Jaime and Lydia returned from their Reward, they saw Morgan acting strangely and Brooke spread the rumor she was voting for Jamie. When they confronted her, Morgan was apalled that they didn't trust her and they reaffirmed their alliance. At the Immunity Challenge, Jeff threw the tribe a tiwst when he told them they would be heading to Tribal Council right after the challenge. The castaways’ fire-making skills were tested and for the second time in a row, Danni won Immunity. At Tribal Council, the two alliances stuck and the vote was deadlocked between Jamie and Brooke. As a result, Brandon, Morgan, and Lydia had to draw rocks to see who was safe. Morgan unfortunately drew the purple rock and was eliminated.

• Immunity Challenge: Thirty feet in front of the castaways are a bunch of materials used for building fire. They’ll gather as much as they can, bring it back, and put it in their fire circle. They each have a small canister of matches to make fire. If they run out of matches, and don’t have fire, they can’t win and are out of the game. The goal is to get their flame high enough to burn through a wick, which will drop the bag, and raise their flag. Only the flame can touch the wick. First person to raise their flag wins Immunity.

Episode 13: More Pain, More Rain

After a crazy Tribal Council, Jamie realized how truly lucky he is after being the target for nearly every Tribal Council he's been to, but found him and Lydia up the creek without a paddle as the last two members of their alliance. The next day, the whole tribe decided to go fishing together, and a fish made a deep cut in Lydia's hand. Meanwhile, Danni and Brooke decided their best chance in the Final 2 was against each other, and they made a deal, putting Danni in two different Final 2 alliances with her alliancemates. Lydia and Jamie continued to focus their target on Brooke. In a tough final Reward Challenge, it came down to Danni and Jamie. In the end, Jamie won a new car and a trip to a spa resort. He decided to take Brooke with him, and the two enjoyed a relaxing day, but they had a good amount of strategizing when Brooke proposed taking out Brandon next. Back at camp, Danni and Brandon debated whether voting off Lydia, the popularity threat, or Jamie, the challenge threat, would be the right thing to do. The next day, Brooke and Jamie returned from the reward, and Jamie injured himself by dropping a pot of boiling water on his foot. At the Immunity Challenge, Lydia was randomly given the opportunity to eliminate someone and chose Danni over their next target Brandon. The challenge, a test of memory, negated Jamie's injuries, yet Brandon took home a crucial Immunity and stopped any plotting against him. Back at camp, Lydia freaked out when she realized she chose the wrong person to sit out. Jamie attempted to get in Brandon's good graces by telling him about Brooke's scheming against him at the reward. At Tribal Council, Jamie outed Brooke's plan to the rest of the tribe, which she quickly denied. Brandon realized he was caught between voting with Jamie and Lydia or Danni and Brooke. Ultimately, he sided with his former Nakum tribemates and Jamie was finally voted out.

• Reward Challenge: The castaways begin by making their way through a tough-nut, where they must literally break through a maze of jungle timber. They’ll then cross a narrow balance beam and make their way underneath a mud crawl, where they’ll come to a puzzle station. When they've finished the puzzle, they’ll go up a wooden ladder, make their way across the rope bridge, and down the rope net. Finally, at the last station, they’ll use Mayan war clubs to break any tile with their name on it. First person to break their tile wins Reward.
• Reward: A 2006 Pontiac Torrent and a trip to a spa resort.
• Immunity Challenge: For the first two rounds, the castways will be given one minute to study and memorize a board containing nine emblem glyphs. After the minute’s up, for the first round, they’ll have thirty seconds to match up as many of the nine symbols to the city names as they can. For the second round, they’ll be matching names to symbols. At the end of each round, the person with the least amount correct will be eliminated. When two are left, they go to the final round. They’ll be given another board to study, and will be asked to show a specific symbol. First person to miss one is out. Last person left in the challenge wins Immunity.

Episode 14: The End Justifies the Means

The Final 4 came back to camp. Lydia tried to convince herself she had a chance, but knew she was on the chopping block. Jeff came to camp the next day and told the castaways they would be going on a canopy tour of the Guatemalan rainforests. They spent the day taking a break from the game and enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. On Day 37, Lydia approached Brandon about possibly voting out Danni because of her threat in jury votes. In the always-fun Fallen Comrades Immunity Challenge, Brooke proved she knew the most about her fellow castaways. At Tribal Council, Brandon agreed with Lydia about Danni's status as a threat and forced a 2-2 tie between her and Lydia. In the re-vote, Brooke also turned on Danni to avoid the tiebreaker, and Danni became the next member of the jury.

• Immunity Challenge: Jeff asks the castaways ten questions about the members of the jury. At the end of ten questions, whoever has the most points wins Immunity.

On Day 38, Jeff once again came to the Tikal camp, guiding them along their final Rite of Passage. They then faced their Final Immunity Challenge. However, in a twist, the jury members sat in on the challenge and had an opportunity to exercise revenge when they could literally weigh down the Final 3. The jury ended up giving the least bags to Lydia and the most weight to Brooke, over 130 pounds. Brooke dropped out of the challenge first and got to pick the final mystery box; she ended up winning $10,000 from it. After three hours, and some Lydia support from the jury, Brandon and Lydia finally struck a deal and the farmer gave the fishmonger Immunity. Back at camp, Lydia contemplated her deal, noticing Brooke's hate on the jury. But at Tribal Council, Lydia honored her deal and saw Brooke for her potential ability to convince the jury; she voted her out and left her and Brandon as the Final 2.

• Immunity Challenge: The castaways step up barefoot onto two logs. Their feet have to stay touching the logs. If at any time their foot comes off the log, or they lose their balance and fall off, they're out. The jury members are each given three fifteen pound bags of sang. They have to assign their three bags to the Final 3 in any way they seem fit. If a castaway drops their pole holding the bags, they are also out. The last person standing wins Immunity.

After 39 days, Brandon and Lydia had reached the Final 2. They faced their Final Tribal Council; in their opening statements, Lydia made the case that she played the game strategically, while Brandon stressed playing the game without losing his integrity. In their questioning, the Nakum jurors questioned whether Lydia deserved to win the game. Judd in particular lashed out at Lydia for getting the Final 2 on luck alone and chastised her for playing under the radar. The Yaxhá jury members, meanwhile, questioned Brandon's true integrity in the game. Danni also confronted Brandon about her blindside. In the end, tribal lines once again came into play. Though Gary, Morgan, and Jamie voted for Lydia, Blake, Judd, Danni, and Brooke voted for Brandon, making him the Sole Survivor in a 4-3 vote.

Elimination notes

• Amy - Although she was a stronger tribe member who tried to keep a positive attitude, she was eliminated because her tribe felt that she was too bossy and overbearing, which made her difficult to work with.
• Brian - Stephenie was the target, but when the vote was tied between Brian and Stephenie, Lydia, Jamie, and Morgan switched their votes to Brian because he was perceived as the tribe's weakest link.
• Margaret - Misunderstanding an early twist in the game, Margaret incorrectly believed that Bobby Jon was not immune from the vote. She tried to convince her tribe members to throw a challenge to eliminate him, but her tribemates felt that she couldn't be trusted so they turned the tables on her and eliminated her from the game.
• Jim - Jim, who fell ill shortly before Tribal Council, was eliminated for being the weakest link of the members of Nakum who had swapped tribes. The team had 5 Yaxha and 2 Nakum, leaving Brooke severely outnumbered on her new tribe.
• Bobby Jon - Bobby Jon was voted off after Lydia made an emotional plea to the former Nakum members and convinced them that Bobby Jon was too big of a threat to keep around at the merge. The new Nakum team had 6 Nakum and 2 Yaxha.
• Brianna - Brianna was voted out in a 5-1 vote after she was blamed for letting the tribe's chickens go. She was also an outsider in the tribe's major alliances.
• Cindy - Cindy was one of the original Nakum members, but after an argument with Danni about cooking corn, she defected to Lydia and Gary. The three tried to align with Brandon to oust Danni, who was seen as manipulative and controlling, but Brandon remained true to Danni and his original Nakum tribe when he helped vote Cindy out.
• Rafe - Although Brooke was the only former Nakum member, Jamie and Morgan aligned with her in order to break up Rafe/Stephenie. Jamie viewed Rafe as a mental/strategic threat and the reason that Yaxha lost the Immunity Challenge.
• Stephenie - After Rafe's elimination, Stephenie was in a vulnerable position. Yaxha lost another challenge and Stephenie made a last-minute plea to Brooke to cause a 2-2 tie against Jamie, but Brooke sided with Jamie and Morgan to vote out their biggest threat.
• Gary - The tribes merged, and Danni revealed to her new tribemates that Gary was a former NFL player. Gary denied this accusation, but his trust was questioned and he was viewed as a physical threat, which led to him being voted out.
• Blake - Blake won the first two individual challenges and his alliance members thought he would be too strong to go against at the end. Judd and Brandon joined with Lydia, Morgan, and Jamie to vote Blake out of the tribe.
• Judd - Danni knew she was next on the chopping block but when she won Immunity, she convinced the rest of the tribe that Judd couldn't be trusted. After a heated Tribal Council where Judd and Danni both confronted each other, he was voted out in a 6-1 decision.
• Morgan - The tribe was split along original tribal lines and there was a deadlocked tie between Jamie and Brooke. Morgan chose the purple rock and was eliminated from the game with only one total vote against her (from Episode 1).
• Jamie - Jamie was eliminated in a 3-2 decision. The original Nakum members (Brooke, Brandon, and Danni) decided that he was a bigger physical threat than Lydia.
• Danni - Danni was betrayed by Brandon, in part because of an earlier betrayal and because Brandon thought she could possibly win the game. The vote was originally a 2-2 tie between Lydia and Danni.
• Brooke - After Lydia won immunity, she felt she could most likely win against Brandon because Brooke was a lawyer and would be able to convince the jury to vote for her, so she voted Brooke out of the game.
• Lydia - Lydia decided to take Brandon to the final two instead of Brooke. Lydia got votes from her allies Gary, Morgan, and Jamie who believed that she played a loyal and honest game.
• Brandon - Although he had played a more cutthroat game and backstabbed some jurors, Brandon's original Nakum tribe members respected his decisions and believed that he had played a much better strategic game than Lydia. His strong work ethic also earned him some favor with the jury. Blake, Judd, Danni, and Brooke all voted for Brandon to win the million dollars. At least one vote (Judd) was also cast against Lydia because Judd felt that she was undeserving of being in the final two.

Voting history

	Starting Tribes				Switched Tribes						Merged Tribe
Episode #	1	2		3	4		5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Eliminated:	Amy 5/9 Votes	Tie3	Brian 6/6 Votes3	Margaret 7/9 Votes	Jim 5/7 Votes	Bobby Jon 6/8 Votes	Brianna 5/6 Votes	Cindy 4/7 Votes	Rafe 3/5 Votes	Stephenie 3/4 Votes	Gary 7/9 Votes	Blake 6/8 Votes	Judd 6/7 Votes	Morgan 0/6 Votes8	Jamie 3/5 Votes	Tie7	Danni 2/2 Votes7	Brooke 1 Vote
Voter	Vote
Brandon				Margaret		Lydia		Cindy			Gary	Blake	Judd	Jamie	Jamie	Danni	Danni
Lydia	Amy	Stephenie	Brian			Bobby Jon		Danni			Danni	Blake	Judd	Brooke	Brooke	Danni	None7	Brooke
Brooke				Margaret	Stephenie		Brianna		Rafe	Stephenie	Gary	Blake	Judd	Jamie	Jamie	Lydia	Danni
Danni				Margaret		Bobby Jon		Cindy			Gary	Jamie	Judd	Jamie	Jamie	Lydia	None7
Jamie	Amy	Stephenie	Brian		Jim		Brianna		Rafe	Stephenie	Gary	Blake	Judd	Brooke	Brooke
Morgan	Amy	Stephenie	Brian		Jim		Brianna		Rafe	Stephenie	Gary	Blake	Judd	Brooke
Judd				Margaret		Bobby Jon		Cindy			Gary	Blake	Jamie
Blake				Cindy		Bobby Jon		Cindy			Gary	Jamie
Gary	Morgan	Brian	Brian			Bobby Jon		Danni			Danni
Stephenie	Brian	Brian	None3		Jim		Brianna		Jamie	Jamie
Rafe	Brian	Brian	Brian		Jim		Brianna		Jamie
Cindy				Margaret		Bobby Jon		Danni
Brianna	Amy	Brian	Brian		Jim		Jamie
Bobby Jon				Margaret		Lydia
Jim				Margaret	Stephenie
Margaret				Cindy
Brian	Amy	Stephenie	None3
Amy	Brian

Jury Vote
Finalist:	Lydia 3/7 votes	Brandon 4/7 votes
Juror	Vote
Brooke		Brandon
Danni		Brandon
Jamie	Lydia
Morgan	Lydia
Judd		Brandon
Blake		Brandon
Gary	Lydia

Note 8: Because the vote was deadlocked, the Survivors had to draw rocks in order to determine who would be eliminated. Morgan selected the purple rock, and therefore became the thirteenth castaway to leave the game. She is the fourth member of the jury.