Fake Merge

A  is a game-changing twist, where the remaining contestants are led to believe they are merging tribes, however, in reality, they are not.

About
In the first four seasons of Survivor, a merge happened when there were only ten contestants remaining. In the fifth season, Survivor: Thailand, this fact left contestants assuming of its advent and prematurely devising strategies and schemes they would use once they merge, completely forgetting that the game of Survivor is always in a state of change. Introduced after two consecutive seasons with tribe switches, the fake merge became a key plot in its debut season.

Twist History
It has only happened thus far in Survivor: Thailand, where the Sook Jai tribe were instructed to migrate to the Chuay Gahn camp. The ten remaining castaways already assumed that the tribes merged, and immediately created their tribe name "Chuay Jai." One Sook Jai member, Shii Ann Huang even went far as plotting with the Chuay Gahn members. The tribes met the host at the next Immunity Challenge, where he stated that the tribes were not yet merged. The two tribes only coexist with each other, but never merged. Sook Jai lost, and immediately disposed Huang for her premature scheming.

In subsequent seasons, the possibility of a merge has oftentimes lead to late tribe switches as a twist, thus delaying the actual merger.

The concept of two tribes living together on the same beach was later used for Survivor: One World.