Rites of Passage

The Rites of Passage is a ceremony performed by the final contestants before the Final Immunity Challenge. It occurs while the final three,four, or the final two contestants (depending on whether there is a Final Two or a Final Three) travel to their Final Immunity Challenge. The contestants walk past the torches of their eliminated competitors, in the order of their elimination, and recite a few words about that player. They then collect items, or the torches of the contestants as they go. By the end of their journey, they burn the items as a way to pay respect. The most recent Rites of Passage shown was during. The Rites of Passage in wasn't aired, but was available on the CBS website.).

Trivia

 * The Rites of Passage in was the first time that eliminated contestants spoke of their journey themselves.
 * Although torches are usually used to represent the eliminated castaways during the Rites of Passage, in, the final four castaways were asked to instead make wreaths (as part of Thai culture) for each of their fallen comrades.
 * The Rites of Passage in is the only event that did not occur on the penultimate day of the game, rather an impromptu Rites of Passage was held by the Final Two contestants of the last day of the game. Like in Thailand, torches were not used. Instead, the names of the eliminated contestants were written on the side of a crate.
 * Osten Taylor from was the first castaway to not be included in the Rites of Passage due to the fact that he quit. However, during the Rites of Passage scene, the show cut to a shot of Osten's torch lying down at Tribal Council where he withdrew from the game, before airing footage of his time in the game (including his torch getting snuffed). In subsequent seasons, quitters had their torches laid down because they were not properly voted out.
 * Jonathan Libby and Wanda Shirk from were not included in the Rites of Passage because they were eliminated without being chosen to be on a tribe, thus not having the chance to go to Tribal Council.
 * was the first time that four castaways went to the Rites of Passage rather than three seen in seasons prior as it was the first three-person Final Tribal Council.
 * ,  and  are the only seasons thus far to not have televised the Rites of Passage.
 * Sandra Diaz-Twine, Dawn Meehan, John Cochran and Aras Baskauskas are the only returning players whose torches were never used in a televised Rites of Passage.
 * The Rites of Passage in and  were never televised.
 * Sandra has made it to the Final Tribal Council both times she has competed.