Thread:Sinjoh/@comment-5002930-20190405195714/@comment-5002930-20190406092144

I get where you're coming from, but I disagree with the notion that it was "intended to... Rick". Yes, it was "given to Rick", but it was not intended for him to automatically have it upon discovering it in his bag. The intent, as clearly laid out in the note that came with it, was for a new twist to be introduced with the idol, in the form of the two mentioned requisites. As neither had been fulfilled at the time Rick found it in his bag, it cannot be properly credited to Rick yet because the idol was conditional.

It is what is called in Obligations and Contracts a "suspensive condition". For Rick (or anyone) to acquire the rights to the idol, they must first fulfill the conditions attached to it. The first has been fulfilled, while the second has not. Hence, no one (not Rick, David, or any other player) has acquired rights to the idol until they have fulfilled the second essential requisite for the acquisition of such rights.

The comparison to Lauren's idol stops at the point where the second requisite comes in. Again, Lauren's (and Donathan's) idol came with only the first requisite, hence they acquired the rights to their respective idols once they fulfilled that sole requisite, which was retrieving the second half.

Corollary to this is the notion of ownership in Survivor. We've seen with past idols how ownership of idols is determined. It has always been the first one to physically find the idol who is determined to be the sole owner, until and unless they transfer ownership to another player. For example, when Terry showed his idol to Danielle in Panama around the time of the merge, he let her physically touch the idol, but did not allow her to keep it, so he still owned it. On the other hand, Sugar gave Ace her idol in Gabon, which constituted a transfer of ownership, then Ace did not object and even consented to it when Sugar took back the idol from his bag, which constituted a second transfer of ownership.

The tricky thing with two-part idols is that the halves are more clearly delineated, thus being easier to pass around. In Lauren's case, upon giving the shell to Mike, she explicitly told Mike that he could have that half, constituting a transfer of ownership which gave Mike full rights to decide whatever he wanted to do with that half, which was what made it legal when he threw it in the fire. On the other hand, the situation between Colton and Bill in One World when Bill threw Colton's idol into the ocean in an attempt to get rid of it without Colton's consent was not legal because the idol was rightfully Colton's, hence Bill could not merely attempt to discard it. Remember that idols are counted as being among a castaway's personal possessions.

In the case at hand, Rick was required to give half of the idol to David, which constituted a legal transfer of ownership within the rules set by the note that came with the idol. As David is the present owner of that half, he can do whatever he wants with it, save for actually playing the idol at Tribal Council because he, much like Rick, is limited by the fact that the second requisite has not yet been met.

In sum:

-The idol should be credited to whoever fulfills both essential requisites attached to it for the acquiring of rights to the idol.

-If no one fulfills the second requisite, then no one should ever be credited with the idol. We should only leave a note on the side of how the idol came to be introduced and the twist attached to it, explaining that no one ever fulfilled the requisites that made the idol rightfully theirs.