Jabeni (originally Goliath) is a tribe from Survivor: David vs. Goliath. Its members are defined as privileged in life, having been on top of their respective fields for most of their lives, in contrast to the underdog David tribe.
This description thematically reflected on the tribe's overall performance throughout the game, initially overwhelming the other tribe in challenges and in numbers, but slowly lost momentum come the tribe switch and merge phases due to interpersonal strife and falling victim to the perfectly-timed use of game advantages. Their tribe color is purple.
Contents
Members
Tribe History
Original Goliaths
The already formed Goliaths tribe arrived on a large boat alongside their rival tribe the Davids. Before the first Reward Challenge took place, each tribe was given advantages to use; the Goliaths getting to pick who to compete, while the Davids get to pick which part of the course each tribe would run. John and Alison volunteered to compete and chose to compete against Christian and Lyrsa. In return, the Davids had John and Alison do the plank bridge, the rope tunnel, and a fifteen-piece puzzle, while they themselves would do the overhanging balance beam, crawl under the net, and do the slide puzzle. Although John and Alison had the lead, they lost after Christian and Lyrsa blazed past them on the puzzle. Therefore, the Goliaths lost the challenge.
Once landing on camp, the tribe began putting together the shelter. Dan and Kara began to bond as the former felt an attraction to the latter, while Natalie's bossy attitude over the construction of the shelter rubbed people the wrong way, particularly Natalia. Mike immediately rose red flags when he went searching for a Hidden Immunity Idol for himself, leading everybody to search for it themselves. Dan, Kara, and Natalia managed to find it first, but the former claimed it for himself. In the first Immunity Challenge, the Goliaths had the lead for most of the challenge, and even though the Davids caught up to them, they finished their puzzle first and won immunity and flint.
Over the next few days, Dan and Kara continued to bond, but their relationship caused people to deem them targets. However, most of the animosity went towards Natalie as her blunt and rude attitude was grating on everybody's nerves. Jeremy tried to get Natalie to change her ways, but failed and made him more eager to vote her out. However, this would not happen as the Goliaths won the second Immunity Challenge along with a fishing kit.
Over time, Jeremy began to grow paranoid over the different groups talking amongst themselves and issued a meeting to stop them. However, this only caused everybody to grow weary of his attitude, especially Mike who had grown close to him when Jeremy tried to go through the tribe's belongings to find a Hidden Immunity Idol. When the Goliaths lost the third Immunity Challenge, they had to prepare for their first Tribal Council. Natalia targeted Natalie due to screwing up on the puzzle, while Jeremy bluntly tells the latter that trying to win back the tribe's trust was an uphill battle. However, Angelina secretly pitched to the rest of the tribe that Jeremy should go first as she saw him more of a threat than Natalie, even though Natalia and Alec argued that Natalie would be more willing to flip sides on the chance a tribe switch occurred. Come Trial Council, Jeremy continued to attack Natalie for her bossy attitude, while the latter claims she was "Goliath Strong" even if a tribe switch occurred. In the end, Jeremy's paranoia got the best of him and was unanimously voted out 9-1.
Tribe Switch
On Day 10, a tribe swap occurred with a third tribe, Tiva, being created in the process. Now renamed Jabeni, the new tribe consisted of former Goliath members Angelina, Mike, and Natalie, and former David members Lyrsa and Nick. Although in the minority, Nick managed to form a bond with Mike, creating the Rockstars alliance, while Natalie continued to bark orders at everybody, secretly wanting the two former Davids gone. In their first Immunity Challenge as a new tribe, Jabeni managed to secure second place over Vuku in the last minute, winning immunity.
In the next Reward Challenge, Jabeni managed to beat Tiva out for second in a close race, winning a dozen eggs in the process. However, when they returned to camp, Lyrsa and Natalie argued over how the eggs should be handled. When Jabeni lost the next Immunity Challenge, the Goliath trio agreed to target Lyrsa. However, Nick got offended when both Angelina and Natalie tried to ask him for his jacket in exchange for safety, causing him and Lyrsa to try and convince Mike in joining them. Come Tribal Council, Mike joined the Davids and voted Natalie off 3-2.
Feeling that she was on the bottom after Natalie's blindside, Angelina claimed that her vote against Lyrsa was nothing more but to try and get Natalie's jacket. However, nobody believed her. Despite that, Jabeni claimed second place in the next Reward Challenge after overtaking Vuku. They won two kebabs. However, come the next Immunity Challenge, they would lose horribly as they kept spilling water during the course, leading them to go to Tribal Council again. Back at camp, another argument between Angelina and Lyrsa occurred over camp chores, leaving Nick and Mike to debate over who they should trust more. Come Tribal Council, the men sided with Angelina, and Lyrsa was voted out 3-1. On Day 18, Jabeni moved to the old Tiva camp for the merge.
Gallery
Trivia
- All three members of post-expansion Jabeni that made the merge made it to the Final Tribal Council.
- Goliath/Jabeni's camp was previously used as the camp site for Takali in Millennials vs. Gen X, Mana and Maku Maku in Game Changers, Soko in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, and Naviti and Lavita in Ghost Island.
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