View source for Earn the Merge

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{{Gameplay
| image           = S43e6 earn the merge.jpg
| description     = The remaining castaways, without tribes, compete in an Immunity Challenge where the winning team officially enters the merge while the losing team will have to survive the vote before entering the merge themselves.
| seasonsappeared = {{S2|41}}-present
}}
'''Earn the Merge''' (also informally referred to as '''Mergatory''') is an event where the final twelve or thirteen castaways compete for a spot in the [[merge]]d tribe.
==Overview==
On brand with the "new era" of ''Survivor'', the Earn the Merge occurs at the end of the pre-merge phase of the game. The three competing tribes will abandon their tribe colors and be divided into two teams of equal numbers. These teams will compete in an [[Immunity Challenge]] where the winning team earns the right to enter the merge and enjoy the customary feast that comes with it. All members of the winning team will earn their merge [[Buff]], signifying their membership in the merged tribe, and be granted individual immunity at the next [[Tribal Council]] where a member of the losing team will be voted out. The collective group will begin living at the merge camp. Regardless of which team the castaways are on, the whole group will attend Tribal Council to vote someone out, after which the remaining players are officially merged.

In {{S|41}} and {{S|42}}, the [[Hourglass Advantage]] was introduced to possibly reverse the results of the challenge, stripping the winning team of their immunity and transferring it to the losing team, including the player who broke the Hourglass. In both seasons, the non-immune players competed in an individual Immunity Challenge.

In {{S|43}}, the Hourglass was explicitly announced to no longer be in play, guaranteeing the winning team immunity. In addition, because of the odd number of players at the final thirteen, the sit-out was given the right to bet on which team would win the challenge. If they made the correct bet, they would also receive immunity and will join the winning team on the reward; this mechanic was reused in {{S|45}} and {{S|46}}. In {{S|44}}, the final twelve was divided into two teams of six, removing the need for sit-outs.

In {{S|47}} and {{S|48}}, the Reward and Immunity Challenges were played separately. The thirteen castaways first divided into two teams to play in a Reward Challenge, which determined who would advance to compete in an individual Immunity Challenge. A [[Challenge Advantage]] was also available for one player to sit out of the Reward Challenge (while still earning the reward) and automatically advance to the Immunity Challenge.
==Strategy==
==Twist History==
{{Empty section}}
===Survivor 41===
===Survivor 42===
===Survivor 43===
===Survivor 44===
===Survivor 45===
===Survivor 46===
===Survivor 47===
===Survivor 48===
===Summary===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; text-align:center; font-size: 8pt; line-height:18px;"
! rowspan="2"| Season
! colspan="2"| Challenge
! colspan="3"| Sit-Out(s)
! rowspan="2"| Voted Out
|-
! Title !! Winners
! Castaway(s) !! Stipulation !! Granted Immunity?
|-
| rowspan="2"| '''{{S|41}}'''<br /><small>{{nowrap|{{Ep|4106}},<br />{{Ep|4107}}}}</small>
| rowspan="2"| ''[[Rock n' Roll|Keep Digging]]''
| rowspan="2" {{tribebox-tr|5|none|S41 danny t.png|60px|Danny McCray|S41 deshawn t.png|Deshawn Radden|S41 evvie t.png|Evvie Jagoda|S41 ricard t.png|Ricard Foyé|S41 sydney t.png|Sydney Segal}}
| {{tribebox-pt|viakana|S41 erika t.png|60px|Erika Casupanan}}
| rowspan="2"| The winning team would choose one of the two sit-outs to join them, sending the other player to [[Exile Island (twist)|Exile Island]], where they were presented with the [[Hourglass Advantage]].
| {{yn|y}}<br />Exiled, Broke Hourglass
|rowspan="2" {{tribebox-pt|none|S41 sydney bw.png|60px|Sydney Segal}}
|-
| {{tribebox-pt|none|S41 naseer t.png|60px|Naseer Muttalif}} 
| {{yn|n}}<br />Chosen, Reversed by Hourglass
|-
| rowspan="2"| '''{{S|42}}'''<br /><small>{{nowrap|{{Ep|4206}},<br />{{Ep|4207}}}}</small>
| rowspan="2"| ''[[Rock n' Roll|Rolling Stones]]''
| rowspan="2" {{tribebox-tr|5|none|S42 hai t.png|60px|Hai Giang|S42 jonathan t.png|Jonathan Young|S42 lydia t.png|Lydia Meredith|S42 maryanne t.png|Maryanne Oketch|S42 tori t.png|Tori Meehan}}
| {{tribebox-pt|kulakula|S42 rocksroy t.png|60px|Rocksroy Bailey}}
| rowspan="2"| The winning team would choose one of the two sit-outs to join them, sending the other player to {{Dab-twist|Exile Island}}, where they were presented with the [[Hourglass Advantage]]. The winning team was also given the option to exile one of their own members instead.
| {{yn|y}}<br />Exiled, Broke Hourglass
| rowspan="2" {{tribebox-pt|none|S42 lydia bw.png|60px|Lydia Meredith}}
|-
| {{tribebox-pt|none|S42 lindsay t.png|60px|Lindsay Dolashewich}}
| {{yn|n}}<br />Chosen, Reversed by Hourglass
|-
|''' {{S|43}}'''<br /><small>{{Ep|4306}}</small>
| ''[[A Crate Idea|No Quarter]]''
| {{tribebox|gaia|[[File:S43 dwight t.png|60px|link=Dwight Moore]][[File:S43 gabler t.png|60px|link=Mike Gabler]][[File:S43 jeanine t.png|60px|link=Jeanine Zheng]]<br />[[File:S43 jesse t.png|60px|link=Jesse Lopez]][[File:S43 karla t.png|60px|link=Karla Cruz Godoy]][[File:S43 ryan t.png|60px|link=Ryan Medrano]]<br />[[Dwight Moore|<font color=black>Dwight</font>]], [[Mike Gabler|<font color=black>Gabler</font>]]<!--Gabler is taken by his first name with the tribebox-tr template-->, [[Jeanine Zheng|<font color=black>Jeanine</font>]], [[Jesse Lopez|<font color=black>Jesse</font>]], [[Karla Cruz Godoy|<font color=black>Karla</font>]], [[Ryan Medrano|<font color=black>Ryan</font>]]}}
| {{tribebox-pt|gaia|S43 noelle t.png|60px|Noelle Lambert}}
| If the sit-out guessed the winning team correctly, they would join the winning team.
| {{yn|y}}<br />Chose Winning Team
| {{tribebox-pt|none|S43 elie bw.png|60px|Elie Scott}}
|-
|''' {{S|44}}'''<br /><small>{{nowrap|{{Ep|4406}}}}</small>
| ''[[Rock n' Roll|No Quarter]]''
| {{tribebox-tr|6|vava|S44 brandon t.png|60px|Brandon Cottom|S44 carolyn t.png|Carolyn Wiger|S44 carson t.png|Carson Garrett|S44 frannie t.png|Frannie Marin|S44 jaime t.png|Jaime Lynn Ruiz|S44 matt t.png|Matt Blankinship}}
| colspan="3" | ''None''
| {{tribebox-pt|none|S44 josh bw.png|60px|Josh Wilder}}
|-
| '''{{S|45}}'''<br /><small>{{nowrap|{{Ep|4506}}}}</small>
| ''[[Super Ramp]]''
| {{tribebox-tr|6|dakuwaqa|S45 austin t.png|60px|Austin Li Coon|S45 bruce t.png|Bruce Perreault|S45 drew t.png|Drew Basile|S45 julie t.png|Julie Alley|S45 kendra t.png|Kendra McQuarrie|S45 sifu t.png|Sifu Alsup}}
| {{tribebox-pt|dakuwaqa|S45 katurah t.png|60px|Katurah Topps}}
| If the sit-out guessed the winning team correctly, they would join the winning team.
| {{yn|y}}<br />Chose Winning Team
| {{tribebox-pt|none|S45 jmaya bw.png|60px|J. Maya}}
|-
| '''{{S|46}}'''<br /><small>{{nowrap|{{Ep|4606}}}}</small>
| ''[[Super Ramp]]''
| {{tribebox-tr|6|nuinui|S46 ben t.png|60px|Ben Katzman|S46 hunter t.png|Hunter McKnight|S46 kenzie t.png|Kenzie Petty|S46 q t.png|Q Burdette|S46 tevin t.png|Tevin Davis|S46 tim t.png|Tim Spicer}}
| {{tribebox-pt|nuinui|S46 tiffany t.png|60px|Tiffany Nicole Ervin}}
| If the sit-out guessed the winning team correctly, they would join the winning team.
| {{yn|y}}<br />Chose Winning Team
| {{tribebox-pt|none|S46 moriah bw.png|60px|Moriah Gaynor}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| '''{{S|47}}'''<br /><small>{{nowrap|{{Ep|4706}}}}</small>
| ''[[Feel the Earn]]''
| {{tribebox-tr|6|none|S47 kyle t.png|60px|Kyle Ostwald|S47 rachel t.png|Rachel LaMont|S47 sam t.png|Sam Phalen|S47 sierra t.png|Sierra Wright|S47 sue t.png|Sue Smey|S47 teeny t.png|Teeny Chirichillo}}
| {{tribebox-pt|none|S47 genevieve t.png|60px|Genevieve Mushaluk}}
| colspan="2"| A Challenge Advantage allowed one player to sit out and advance to the individual Immunity Challenge. They also automatically earned the reward.
| rowspan="2" {{tribebox-pt|none|S47 rome bw.png|60px|Rome Cooney}}
|-
| ''[[Bow Diddley]]''
| {{tribebox-pt|beka|S47 kyle t.png|60px|Kyle Ostwald}}
| colspan=3 | ''None''
|-
| rowspan="2"| '''{{S|48}}'''<br /><small>{{nowrap|{{Ep|4806}}}}</small>
| ''[[Feel the Earn]]''
| {{tribebox-tr|6|none|S48 chrissy t.png|60px|Chrissy Sarnowsky|S48 david t.png|David Kinne|S48 kamilla t.png|Kamilla Karthigesu|S48 kyle t.png|Kyle Fraser|S48 mary t.png|Mary Zheng|S48 star t.png|Star Toomey}}
| {{tribebox-pt|none|S48 saiounia t.png|60px|Saiounia Hughley}}
| colspan="2"| A Challenge Advantage allowed one player to sit out and advance to the individual Immunity Challenge. They also automatically earned the reward.
| rowspan="2" {{tribebox-pt|none|S48 charity bw.png|60px|Charity Nelms}}
|-
| ''[[Over-Extended]]''
| {{tribebox-pt|niunai|S48 kyle t.png|60px|Kyle Fraser}}
| colspan=3 | ''None''
|}

==Reception==
==Trivia==
*As of {{S|46}}, every sit-out of an odd-numbered "Earn the Merge" has correctly guessed the winning team.
*Excluding the variants with no sit-outs or one person winning immunity, every episode with the Earn the Merge twist shares the record for most castaways with individual immunity at a single Tribal Council.
*The first two times the Earn the Merge challenge was played for individual (and not team) immunity, a man named Kyle ended up winning immunity: [[Kyle Ostwald|Ostwald]] in {{S|47}} and [[Kyle Fraser|Fraser]] in {{S|48}}.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{GameplayNav}}
[[Category:Gameplay]]
[[Category:Twists]]
[[Category:Survivor (U.S.)]]
[[Category:Survivor 41]]
[[Category:Survivor 42]]
[[Category:Survivor 43]]
[[Category:Survivor 44]]
[[Category:Survivor 45]]
[[Category:Survivor 46]]
[[Category:Survivor 47]]