Redemption Island (twist)

Redemption Island is a major twist to appear on later seasons of Survivor.

Being the primary twist of and, this twist provides an opportunity for an eliminated player to re-enter the game and continue their pursuit to the million-dollar prize, and the title of Sole Survivor. In order to do so however, eliminated contestants will compete in head-to-head challenges (known as Duels) in order to remain on the island and avoid permanent elimination.

There are two re-entry points that take place whilst Redemption Island is in play. The first is at the Final 11, whereupon the winner becomes part of the merged tribe, bringing the tribe to 12 members. The second re-entry point is at the Final 4, where they'll become the Final 5. Unlike The Outcasts, that had Individual Immunity bestowed upon them, those "redeemed" would re-enter the game without any safety.

Concept
The concept of Redemption Island rooted from three foreign versions of the Survivor franchise, namely, the Island of the Dead of the Israeli version, Isla Purgatoryo in the Philippine version's second installment, and Ghost Island from the Serbian version. Instead of being eliminated for good, players that have been voted off from their tribes will be given an opportunity to re-enter the game and have a second shot at winning the game.

Comparing to the Outcasts' Twist
Survivor host Jeff Probst compared Redemption Island to the infamous "Ghost tribe" twist of Survivor: Pearl Islands. He stated that the twist received lukewarm responses from both players and fans alike, because the twist was not announced beforehand, thus deeming the incident as unfair for the remaining players.

As a solution, Probst revealed the twist of Redemption Island to the players at the very start of the game. The aim of the twist is to give a second chance for players to "redeem" themselves after making early mistakes, such as choosing the wrong alliance or having their voting strategy backfire on them.

Mechanics
Immediately after being voted out, the castaway would take their torch with them as they walk out from the Tribal Council set. Then they would be instructed to go to Redemption Island.

When the next person is voted out, that player would be sent to Redemption Island as well, meeting up with current inhabitant at the same night. They would then live together from that point, until the next morning, where they will duel to remain on the island.

Living Conditions
Similar to a predecessor twist Exile Island, players would be living alone, away from their camps and tribemates. This encampment will have meager supplies for a predetermined period of time and must fend for themselves during their stay. In Redemption Island, however, its current inhabitant will stay in a more indefinite time, as opposed to Exile Island, where the player is only banished after the Reward Challenge, but returns to his/her tribe before the next Immunity Challenge.

Upon reaching the island, contestants will have a roofless shelter and it is up to the player to make its roof and maintain it. Players will have the same amount of supplies (such as flint, lantern, machete, and fishing gear) as everyone had at their camp. Additionally, a short supply of rice will be replenished everyday.

Apparently, Redemption Island also have its own Tree Mail, which announces about the upcoming duels.

As seen on You Own My Vote, the eliminated castaway would also receive his/her luxury item from Tree Mail, to alleviate boredom.

Arena
Redemption Island also houses an Arena where contestants compete to stay longer in the competition. Much like Tribal Council, the design is based around the motif of the season, but the same features are incorporated.
 * The Duelists' Arena: Where the two (or more) castaways compete.
 * Seating Area: Those chosen back at camp will observe the duel, similar to a Jury with the exception that those attending can offer encouragement and/or strategize. When the tribes Merge, all current castaways visit and observe.
 * Fire Pit: Upon the elimination of a castaway, instead of their torch being utilized once again, their buff is tossed into a small fire which symbolizes the end of their shot at redemption.

Duels


In Redemption Island, duels are determined whoever would stay in the island and who would be permanently be eliminated. At the day of the duel, the castaways would receive Tree Mail about their duel, instructing them to proceed to the Redemption Island Arena. The arena will be a special challenge area where all duels will take place.

Upon reaching the arena, they will be welcomed by the host. Also in the arena are selected players from the competing tribes, who are there to watch the duel. After the duel, it is up to these observers if they will spoil the goings-on at the arena, or stretch the truth.

In this special challenge, the winner of the duel will stay in Redemption Island and continue their quest to become the Sole Survivor, while the loser will be permanently eliminated from the game (this is denoted by the loser tossing his/her Buff in a fire wok). Theoretically, should the first person voted off make it to the reentering stage, he/she must win all proceeding duels, meaning the castaway must defeat all subsequent castaways sent in the island.

On certain cases, there are more than two people residing on Redemption Island, with them participating in multi-person "duels." In this format, the number of eliminated castaways vary. A three-person Duel is known as a "truel", as mentioned by Mike Chiesl, Matt Elrod and David Murphy in a secret scene before the first three-person Duel took place.

​Re-entry Point
There are two re-entry points during the game. The first is the winner of the final pre-Merge duel will join the Merged tribe. The second re-entry point would be three days before the Final Tribal Council, where the winner will be part of the final five. After the Merger, all subsequent losers will complete the Jury.

Hidden Immunity Idols
In the advent of Redemption Island, many speculated that the Hidden Immunity Idol is voided once its bearer gets voted out and sent to Redemption Island (which follows the standard rules that once the person gets voted out, his/her Idol is wasted away in the process). But in an announcement via Twitter, Jeff Probst revealed that the holder's Hidden Immunity Idol is still effective, and it is still usable if the owner reenters the game.

Survivor: Redemption Island
In the first appearance of Redemption Island, the pre-merge cycle was always a one-on-one showdown. But when Redemption Island was restarted after the merge, "group duels" were used, where more than one person may win.

Survivor: South Pacific
For this season, the twist was incorporated to only have no more than three at Redemption Island and mainly focus on two player duels as opposed to Survivor: Redemption Island. Additionally, only one person could survive each round.

Overview
For the remaining contestants, eliminating other players would be a more difficult burden. Given that they would be voted out from their tribe, chances are that player they chose to vote may come back. In theory, if a player was removed from a tribe after a blindside vote, and returns after winning the final duel, a more unpredictable series of events would complicate the game. For instance, voting out a physically strong player can be potentially risky, as that player might win subsequent duels and will just come back on a later time. Also, if the contestants are chosen as observers, any divulging of the goings-on at their camps is potentially fatal, because this will be substantial to the strategies of the returnee, and worse, to the rival tribe.

As for the Island's current inhabitant, he/she can have a longer time to rethink strategy and how he/she will re-assimilate with his/her former comrades. The "resurrected" player may forgive the same people who double-crossed him/her, or might show bitterness by making bolder and more rebellious moves, to avenge his/her untimely departure, such as creating a counter-alliance with the rival tribe, though all rethinking may all be wasted if they lose a duel. Furthermore, re-assimilating back into the game will be difficult because the inhabitant is oblivious to the happenings at the tribe camps. Additionally, a "resurrected" player is not guaranteed free immunity, making him or her vulnerable from getting voted out once again, so winning immunity is crucial.

Once the Redemption Island cycle restarts post-merger, inhabitants will have the perfect time buying Jury votes, gaining their sympathy as they share similar sentiments, stipulated they are all disposed from the tribe.

Execution
During the events of, Survivor veteran Ozzy Lusth hatched a plan in order to defeat the current champion of Redemption Island, Christine Shields Markoski; their tribe would intentionally throw an Immunity Challenge so that their strongest member would then be eliminated with the intention of defeating Markoski. This plan came to fruition, and although the Savaii Alliance believed it to be a "game-changer," Coach Wade panned the strategy - believing it to be insulting that the Upolu tribe would find it believable.

Reception
Redemption Island received mixed to negative response from the fans, stating that this deviation has watered down the show's premise and Jeff's usual opening sentence on every first Tribal Council—having lit torches symbolizes the contestants still in contention, while those who have extinguished torches are out of the game. Also, the Redemption Island returnees were both disposed right after re-entering the game, thus having little to no effect on the endgame. Additionally, many fans found the multi-person duels pointless, because more than half of the cast members were still in the game during the finale, and would be eliminated anyway. Though multi-person duels in Survivor: South Pacific were rehashed by having a "win-or-go-home" mechanism (only the first-placing contestant stays, eliminating the others), the same disadvantages of having Redemption Island still arose. Fans also castigated the "dead airtime" Redemption Island gives, with the goings-on in the Redemption Island camp and Arena having nothing to do with strategy, given that only one person stays there at a time. With little to no social interaction, the driving point of the game, human relationships, is compromised.

Other fans panned the twist because the type of challenge they would perform may have the tendency to not suit the participants' abilities, and would result into a mismatch (e.g. performing a physically-punishing challenge with a bodybuilder and a physically weak person as competitors). Another speculation is that, the twist became the producers' way of "saving" a contestant whom they liked, such as returning contestants, or contestants who would bring high ratings for the show.

Although not present in the other seasons following South Pacific, Jeff Probst has stated that Redemption Island may still be used in the future.

Trivia

 * With the advent of the Redemption Island duels, most of the challenges held in Survivor: Redemption Island and Survivor: South Pacific are for both reward and immunity. The reward challenges returned in One World.
 * Francesca Hogi is the first person to ever live on Redemption Island and also the first person to lose a duel.
 * Matt Elrod is the first person to win a duel, and currently has the most wins, winning ten of eleven duels.
 * Ozzy Lusth and Andrea Boehlke share the record for best winning percentage, both never losing a duel. But Lusth won 6 duels, compared to Boehlke's 2.
 * In Survivor: Redemption Island, both people who returned from Redemption Island (Matt Elrod and Andrea Boehlke) were voted out as soon as they returned.
 * If fact, the three people who returned from Redemption Island were voted out in the first Tribal Council they were vulnerable in.
 * Duels are scaled-down versions of challenges which are used in past seasons. Additionally, the challenge props are colored in greyscale.
 * Having the other contestants as viewers in the duels was a last-minute addition decided by Mark Burnett.
 * Brandon Hantz is currently the last contestant to be sent to, and also eliminated from, Redemption Island.
 * In both seasons, the person who won the first duel was the second person voted out of the game.
 * In both seasons, the first person sent to and eliminated from Redemption Island was an African-American woman.
 * Ozzy and Christine are the only ones to win a duel in Survivor: South Pacific
 * Ozzy is the last player to win a Redemption Island duel