Thread:Sinjoh/@comment-5002930-20190405195714

Okay, so as to prevent an edit war over the idol Rick was given for being the Edge of Extinction returnee, I thought I'd lay out my logic here. The note that came with it said:

"Congratulations! You have earned your way back in. Staying in may not be as easy. This may help.

You MUST give one-half of this immunity idol to another player.

If you are both still in the game after the next Tribal Council, these two pieces, when used together, become one idol with full power.

This may be the only bargaining chip you have to help you stay in the game.

This idol has no power until AFTER the next Tribal Council." (emphasis made by production in the note)

This makes it clear that this idol (and yes, it is an idol, I am not disputing that fact), for it to have any power, must satisfy two essential requisites:

1.) that the holders of the two-halves must survive the following Tribal Council, held on Day 19; and

2.) that the idol only has power when the two halves are used together.

The first requisite has clearly been met. The second has not because, as of the ending of the most recent episode on Day 22, the two halves were still kept separately by David and Rick, with David making it clear that he would not yet be giving back his half to Rick even after Rick asked for it. Not to mention that this is a featured point in the preview for the next episode, so this will most likely be explored even further then. Therefore, there exists the possibility that the two halves are NEVER brought together after the Day 19 Tribal Council, thus never having any power, especially since either Rick or David could go home with their half in their possession, or either half being discarded (because you can never count out the possibility of someone desperately wanting to create a made-for-TV moment like Mike Zahalsky *shudders*).

Now, the question that I have is this: "Can a two-part idol considered to be an idol if the two halves are held by separate people, therefore not having any powers?" (i.e., is it an idol if it has no powers because two different people own the two halves). In settling this, we'd have to look at past precedent.

You mentioned Lauren's two-part idol in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, which upon rewatching that episode, made it clear that the two halves had no power on their own unless Lauren was able to retrieve both (and for the record, Donathan's two-part idol in Ghost Island also had pretty much the same thing). This is, as you will note, the same as the second requisite mentioned above for the EoE returnee's idol.

HOWEVER, neither Lauren's nor Donathan's two-part idols came with the first requisite, as both immediately became idols with full powers the moment both halves were retrieved and held by the same person, which was the only requisite attached to them. (Perhaps you're confusing the first requisite for the one attached to Lauren's Extra Vote, which did have a similar requisite attached to it?)

Thus, I would summarize it as this:

LAUREN: idol came into effect when she obtained the second half; ceased to be an idol with powers the moment she transferred possession of one of the halves to Mike, while keeping the other for herself (and not when Mike threw it in the fire, which merely precluded the possibility of the two halves being brought back together, instead of being the cause for the idol to lose its powers, which Lauren herself caused when she gave half of it to Mike)

DONATHAN: idol came into effect when he obtained the second half; was an idol with powers the entire time it was in Donathan's possession as he never transferred possession of either half to another player until the time he used it

IDOL GIVEN TO EoE RETURNEE: idol has NOT yet come into effect because only the first requisite has been met, whereas the second one has not because David and Rick are currently at a stalemate over who gets to keep both halves, hence the two halves not having any powers by themselves

Thus, I would argue that neither Rick nor David should be credited with an idol as of yet because neither have satisfied both essential requisites. Again, there exists the possibility that either could be eliminated with their half in their possession, which would render the idol powerless (as we saw with Aubry's idol earlier this season). There also exists the possibility that it is a third party who fulfills the second requisite if they somehow manage to obtain the two halves from Rick and David. Regardless, the idol should only be credited to the person who fulfills the second requisite of bringing the two halves together, the first requisite already being fulfilled (and not necessarily simply crediting it to Rick, who was simply given the idol halves as a starting point for the twist).

Why am I contesting this? For factual basis, for starters. The Hidden Immunity Idol page is replete with statistics, including crediting idol finders and idol players. Another reason would be to set a standard. If we can figure out a standard and settle how to handle this situation now, we can prevent confusion in the future. Future seasons might include similar twists of this nature, so it would be handy to have precedent for that should it occur. And if other editors get overzealous in the future and haphazardly edit the page according to their own interpretation, then we can simply refer to this standard instead of ourselves being confused.

That's my reasoning anyway. I'd of course be interested to hear out your logic, Tyler. :) 