'Survivor: Winners at War' Finale

OH MY GOD! What a legendary end to a legendary season. First off, great job to Jeff and the art department for making a Tribal Council set even during this pandemic. Especially good job to Jeff for building that in his house.

As for the main episode, first off, wow. It's time for the battle of the players from the Edge. Natalie has 3 advantages, others like Wendell, Yul and Parvati have one. Point is, Natalie is gonna take an early lead or so I thought. Natalie struggled hard at first, giving Wendell & Yul the lead along with other players. Though she did catch up thanks to her advantages, but struggled again giving others, especially Wendell the opportunity to pull ahead. It was a tough battle full of untying and moving around ropes, digging, building a rope bridge and moving two balls through a table maze. And although Wendell was close, Natalie managed to finally get back on track and ultimately win her way back into the game.

As for everyone else, we got to hear their stories. Parvati has a child now and she played for hers. Survivor brought Tyson his own kids. Rob & Amber started out as young players and now thanks to Survivor, they've been married for 15 years and have 4 beautiful daughters. Amber didn't even come out for herself, she came out for Rob. She credits her win to the All-Stars jury's anger of Rob. But Rob brought up how Amber's the strongest woman he's known and how she fought all that time on the Edge, helping others. And Ethan, Survivor literally saved his life. He helped start a charity thanks to Survivor that ultimately paid for the drug that cured him of cancer.

Then as everyone left and Natalie rejoined the tribe, she knew she would have to fight. Then we saw more of everyone's stories. How the game of Survivor has affected all 20 of these amazing winners. Their lives have been drastically changed due to this 20 year, 4o season game that fans like me continue to love. They're taught to be better people, to forgive themselves, to love their families, to understand who they truly are. Survivor is incredibly powerful and everyone that's played I assume knows this. That's one of the many reasons that I love Survivor. It shows people who they truly are. Heck, I'm just a fan and yet I feel like I've evolved because of the game. It's amazing!

Anyway, so Natalie is back in the game and now she has to work hard. These 5 others of Michele, Tony, Denise, Ben & Sarah know that she's a threat. So, she lets them in on some information. She talks about how everyone loves Tony and would likely vote for him, seeing him as the ringleader. This obviously scares Tony and he talks with Sarah who tries to make sense of it. However, this has an opposite effect on her. The jury loving Tony doesn't make Sarah want him out, this makes her want to prove that she's just as capable as him and men aren't always the ones in control. He needed her just as much as she needed him.

At the immunity challenge, the castaways ran through a course, grabbing planks to move forward and grab a bag. Then, bring it to the top and go down a water slide and go back to the course and get another bag. After they get all 3 bags, they'd do the puzzle. First to finish wins. And at first, Michele struggled while the others prevailed. The course was run through pretty easily and Michele took longer. However, then we get to the puzzle. Everyone struggles. And then Michele finally finishes getting her bags and, having done this puzzle before, succeeds at the puzzle where everyone else fails. The other 5 watch in aww as Michele wins after about a minute. So now, Michele has won immunity making everyone else vulnerable. Though, Tony's worry is that Natalie will have an advantage like Chris did in the original Edge of Extinction season. But, we shall see. Either way, someone's dream of becoming a 2 time winner is about to come to an end. This is gonna be good.

Back at camp, Tony continues to worry about an idol but everyone denies that Natalie has anything. People think he's too paranoid and they can just vote Natalie out. But as we know, Natalie brought an idol with her that she purchased with her tokens (along with the challenge advantages). And she aligned with Michele. So now, Michele has immunity and Natalie has a hidden immunity idol, but they have to make sure Tony plays his idol. So, I doubt they're voting Tony. And Tony continues to panic, wanting to split the votes because he's certain that Natalie has an idol. But, Sarah & Ben both deny him, Ben due to his friendship with Denise and wanting a better social game than before. Sarah due to her new bond with Natalie making her believe that she didn't have one. So now, Tony's pretty much the only one rightfully concerned and it could cost Sarah or Ben the game. But knowing Tony, of course he'll play his idol. This is gonna be a fun tribal.

At Tribal Council, the conversation starts with Natalie and her coming back. Including how she gave the information about Tony. This lead to having to trust her word because they wouldn't know otherwise. Then it went to Sarah calling Natalie a blessing since it brings up gender bias. This lead to Sarah talking about how tough she was on herself for what happened in Game Changers. This helped her realize that was only due to gender bias and she played perfectly that season. This also shows how men can be praised for actions that women are scolded for doing. This includes lying, cheating and stealing, like in Survivor. But now Sarah realizes she did deserve that win and just because she's a woman doesn't make her less worthy than Tony. Everyone agreed and Jeff even acknowledged his faults of not recognizing women as much as he should. So now, Sarah is now referred to as Lacina, an honor that Jeff gives players he loves. Sarah Lacina is Lacina now.

And after they voted, Natalie played her idol. Tony was right. This leads to Tony getting up, playing his. And then, Ben gets up, plays his. So now, Michele has immunity, Natalie, Tony & Ben are safe due to idols. All votes negated. Which means a revote between Sarah and Denise. If it's another tie, those two battle with fire making. And ultimately, the four of Ben, Michele, Natalie and Tony make their decision and Denise is voted out. Goodbye, Denise, you played hard but fell just short.

So, now final 5. Ben apologizes and Tony goes on the hunt for an idol. He hunts all night, finds nothing. Everyone wakes up, now everyone searches. Does anyone find anything? Not at first. But then, Natalie finds it! Ben, Sarah & Tony are in trouble. Michele & Natalie have power. If one of them wins immunity, the other will be safe with an idol and the trio of three will be in big trouble. And most likely, the target would be King Tony Vlachos. But, we haven't had the challenge just yet so, we'll see what happens.

At the immunity challenge, the castaways fought to swim, climb, grab bags, jump, head back and throw those bags. Natalie and Ben lead this challenge with their physical prowess. But then, Sarah & Tony caught up somewhat, though Ben & Natalie made it to the bags, I believe. And Michele struggled but made it to the bag station as nobody had landed either of their bags on the barrels left. Then, it became a battle. Ben landed one. Tony landed one. Both of them needed just one more. Ben on and off. Tony on and off. Nobody else landed a bag. The intensity built up until....HE LANDS IT! TONY WINS IMMUNITY AND A SPOT IN THE FINAL 4! What a legend. So now, Tony is immune but his two allies, Ben & Sarah could be in trouble. They have to figure out who to vote and whether Natalie or Michele will play Natalie's idol. This is gonna be insane. I'm excited!

Before Tribal Council, Michele & Natalie came up with a plan to talk to Sarah. If they got her to flip, that could make everything a lot easier. Knowing they'd try, Tony talked to Sarah about making a spy nest to watch her and Natalie and find out the information. Sarah agreed and she spoke with Natalie who showed her idol. This made Tony so happy to know. Plus, Natalie finally trusts Sarah. Now there's a new plan. Vote Michele out since Natalie will play the idol for herself. Sarah can convince her that they're voting her so she'll play it. Michele worries about them voting her after Natalie mentions showing Sarah the idol. And that actually is the plan. But something changes everything. Ben knows Sarah really wants to win. He heard her amazing speech. So, he gave her permission to vote him out. That way, Sarah doesn't have to say she was dragged along. He knows Sarah having her own game is more important to her than anything. So, he gives her a way to do that. He didn't care about the money, he wanted a friend and he got one. So now, Sarah has a choice. Vote Michele and keep the alliance together or vote out Ben and prove that she wasn't dragged along and she made her own game.

At Tribal Council, the thought came up. Survivor is a growing experience. It's an experience that makes you face your own worst self and helps you to grow into a better person. The castaways all acknowledged this, especially Ben who wanted real friendships this time. So, the talk continued about what happened after and then the vote. Seemed simple enough. But then Natalie, being worried, played the idol for herself. And while it was assumed to be Michele, Sarah did it. She made the big move. She sacrificed her friend, Ben for 2 million dollars. She proved herself to be more than Tony's 2nd in command. And Ben happily went home, no anger, just grace and acceptance.

At the final immunity challenge, the final four battle with a classic. They have one hand tied behind their back and at regular intervals, place balls into a mechanism that goes down and they have to grab it, put it back in and add more balls every now and again. It got pretty close. And unfortunately for their alliance, Tony and Sarah both lost. It came down to the 2 underdogs, Natalie and Michele. And while Michele has previously won this challenge, this time, the ultimate underdog, Natalie Anderson who returned after getting voted out on Day 3 won the final immunity challenge, guaranteeing her a spot in the final tribal council and choosing who sits with her and which 2 will make fire to earn that 3rd spot. Like the last Edge of Extinction season, the Edge returnee wins final immunity. Question is, just like Chris Underwood before her, will Natalie make the risk of battling against the biggest threat and making fire herself or will she keep her protection. And bigger question, now that she's gonna be in the final 3 and that challenge is known to be won by winners, is Natalie gonna win the title and 2 million dollar prize? We shall see.

Before Tribal Council, Natalie took time alone. She reflected on what her decision would be. Though, she did consider Michele due to her impressive fire making skills. Speaking of her said skills, Michele practiced all day and dominated in fire making. Meanwhile, Sarah and Tony practiced together. Sarah did well, Tony did not. But he did try and kept trying, knowing that he'd likely go up and fight to build the fire. He fought hard and now, it comes down to who Natalie chooses. Either way, we all know Tony's gonna have to be a lot better since he's gonna be making fire. He's the biggest threat.

At Tribal Council, the discussions were made. Natalie let the other three make fire. Sarah preferred to go up against Tony because she'd rather fight her partner to the end than let someone else do it. Michele preferred to make fire against him since she wanted to prove herself and show she could take down the biggest threat in the game. Ultimately, Natalie made her decision. Sarah and Tony, Cops R Us who ran the game for so long and seemed to be the frontrunners to get to the end, now have their alliance destroyed as they build fire against one another.

And they fought. Sarah was the clear frontrunner in this challenge. She had a giant fire very quickly. She almost won right away. But then her fire went down. And Tony built momentum and his fire went back up. And then Sarah's fire went back up. It was a neck and neck battle between two cops. But ultimately, Tony Vlachos, one of Survivor's best managed to beat another of Survivor's best, Sarah Lacina by burning his rope before she could burn hers. It's sad, but at the same time, he did it. Tony cried after losing his ultimate partner in crime, but she was proud. Sarah Lacina played a hard game but unfortunately, that fire had other plans. So now, we have our final 3. Natalie Andersen, the first person voted out who fought and returned. She's truly the ultimate underdog. Michele Fitzgerald, another underdog but due to constantly being on the outs of every vote but managing her way to get there. And finally, Tony Vlachos, the cop on probation who managed to play an incredibly strong game once again and when the time was right, played incredibly hard, hid in all the spy nests he could and made all the big moves he could make. He played really hard and became a clear frontrunner to win. And it's all down to this. Natalie vs. Tony vs. Michele for 2 million dollars and the title of Sole Survivor.

And then, we get to Day 39. The final 3 enjoy their breakfast and look back on their journeys. Each of them played differently but managed to get to the end. And at the Final Tribal Council, they all fought hard for the win. Beginning with the Outwit portion, they were all questioned on mistakes, Natalie coming from the Edge, Michele and her journey, Tony and his gameplay, though having backstabbed still strong. And the questions continued with the Outplay. Talking about twists. How Tony had his spy nests and how the Edge kept targeting him such as Extortion and Natalie putting a target on him. And how Natalie fought through the Edge getting all those advantages and how Michele fought from the bottom. Also how Tony & Michele managed to get their immunity wins as well as Natalie's wins on the Edge through everything. And Outlast, one last attempt to woo the jury for their votes. And then the clap. The jury was so impressed that the finalists all got a standing ovation and a clap.

And now the vote, it was a tough season. But now we're gonna get a winner. This has been an amazing season, one of Survivor's best. But now it unfortunately comes to an end. But here it is. The votes. Seemed clear that it was a battle between Tony and Natalie for the win. And as Jeff read, I felt amazed and happy that we got such an amazing season and now, we're getting a wonderful winner, no matter what. Though, I did love Michele this season, Tony and Natalie were definitely the frontrunners of the game and the Edge, respectively. But there can only be one winner. And in the end, he did it. TONY VLACHOS WON! WOOOHOOO! Great job, Tony. You earned your win and your 2 million dollars. Tony is truly the King of Survivor and he proved it tonight.

Overall, this has been an amazing season of Survivor. Survivor: Winners at War was set to become a legendary season and after everything, it became one. With so many twists and turns, fire tokens and spy nests, the Edge of Extinction and all the blindsided players that were sent there. This finale has proven that despite everything that's happened, we can all work together and Survivor stays strong. I cannot believe how good this season was but it may just be the greatest season of all time. Truly, I love it so much. Thanks and can't wait to see Season 41. Call me, Probst. I'm waiting.

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