Survivor: Edge of Extinction

Survivor: Edge of Extinction is the thirty-eighth season of .

Production
As has been the case for a decade, this season was filmed back-to-back with its predecessor,.

Due to the nature of this season, the castaways were not allowed to do exit press until the end of the season.

Twists/Changes

 * Four Returning Players: Four previous castaways will compete with a group of 14 new castaways.
 * : After being voted out and departing Tribal Council, those who were voted out will be given the choice to permanently leave the game or go into the unknown for a chance to come back. After the merge, all castaways remaining on Edge of Extinction that did not quit would form the eventual jury.
 * Advantage Menu: A clue hidden at the marooning would lead one person to find the Advantage Menu, giving them one of three advantages. The finder can either steal the reward from the winning tribe, use the parchment as an Extra Vote, or use it for individual immunity, which works similar to a Hidden Immunity Idol. The Advantage Menu expires after the third Tribal Council.
 * Hidden Immunity Idol: A Hidden Immunity Idol is hidden at each camp. In addition, the first Edge of Extinction returnee was gifted a Hidden Immunity Idol upon their return. However, this idol has two halves, one of which must be given to another castaway before the next Tribal Council. If both castaways remain after Tribal Council, the two halves combine into an idol with full power.
 * Tribe Expansion: With 15 castaways left, a tribe expansion occurred introducing the tribe.
 * Extra Vote: On Days 13 and 21, an Extra Vote was hidden on the Edge of Extinction. The person who found the extra vote would have the right to gift it to someone currently in the game. The Extra Vote hidden on Day 13 had the addition stipulation that it could only be gifted to someone attending the next Tribal Council.
 * Joint Tribal Council: The two tribes who lost the sixth Immunity Challenge on Day 16 were both sent to Tribal Council as one group, but unlike a standard Double Tribal Council, they would vote as a group and only one person was voted out.
 * Early Merge: This season merged with thirteen castaways in the game; twelve in the main game and one from the Edge of Extinction.
 * Simplified Final Four Tribal Council: Instead of a traditional vote, the person who wins the final four Immunity Challenge will get to choose one person to take with them to the Final Three. The remaining two castaways would compete in a fire-making challenge to determine who would be eliminated.
 * Final Three: Instead of the conventional Final Two facing the jury of seven, the Day 39 Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing a thirteen-person jury.
 * Reformatted Final Tribal Council: Instead of having each jury member speak one by one, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists.

Trivia

 * Edge of Extinction marks the first time a country is used for six consecutive seasons.
 * This is the first 18-player season with a 13-person merge.
 * In addition, this is the first season to have 14 people on the merged tribe, albeit non-simultaneously.