Love Conquers All

Love Conquers All is the ninth episode of Survivor: Marquesas.

Day 24 (Night)
After Ryan became the first member of the jury, the final eight return to camp, all feeling particularly on edge after a tense night. The group stand by the fire as they begin to put their belongings away in silence, waiting for someone to speak up to break the awkwardness.

Lotus takes Duana off to make sure she's ok, and is slowly followed by Ashley and Daisy. Ibrahim looks over at the Rotu three and shakes his head, walking over to the shelter in order to get some sleep. The three sit around the fire, feeling as though they truly may have made a million dollar mistake by trying to play without Ryan and Ibrahim.

Day 25
Ibrahim stands over the fire, having gotten up early in order to pray and tend to the fire. He looks disheartened due to his new found placement in the game, having timed his attempted game changing move badly, costing him trust in his fellow contestants. As the others begin to awaken, Ibrahim gestures for Lotus to come over and speak with him.

Out in the woods on their way to collect tree mail, James and William discuss the previous nights events, concerned that they're now waiting to be picked off by the other side.

The pair grab tree mail, heading back to camp in order to read it to the other six contestants. The tree mail informs the group that they will be randomly put into pairs, competing for a chance to have a day trip to Marquesan tribe for a feast. The group head off to the challenge, hoping that a challenge may help bring the group together and to take down any hostility brewing between people.

Challenge: Coconut Juice The castaways would be split into pairs and would gather coconuts. They would split open the coconuts and let the coconut milk run into a tube to raise a ball. The first pair to raise their ball to the top would win.

Reward: An authentic Marquesan feast.

Winner: Ibrahim & William After the challenge, the group return to camp pleased for both Ibrahim and William, who wont leave for their day trip until the following morning. Rather than to dwell on the challenge, William suggests that the group start to get on with their daily chores, not wanting to fall behind after taking the previous day off. William and Tish stay behind to tend to the fire and boil some water, whilst the others go off to complete other chores. After the others leave, Tish continues to talk about the challenge with William, citing her frustration with ending up alongside Duana.

Day 26
On the morning of Day 26, Ashley and Daisy sit together on the beach watching the sunrise, talking about how they're surprised to have both made it this far in the game. Daisy admits that she initially believed she would be out early, and is impressed that as girls they've managed to become the "biggest threats" in a game usually dominated by men. Over in the shelter, Ibrahim and Lotus lie together as they talk about Ibrahim's upcoming trip.

After waiting for an hour, the helicopter arrives to collect both Ibrahim and William in order to take them to the mountain summit. The pair say goodbye to the group before departure, both excited to take what will be their first helicopter ride in their lives. The group all wave them off as it flies away from camp, leaving just six individuals to get on with their island chores. Tish looks over at James, not looking forward to a day surrounded by her four in game adversaries.

Daisy decides to approach James and Tish whilst the group is together, wanting to try and have a calm day whilst the others are out of camp.

Tish goes back to the shelter, not wanting to socialize with the people against her in the game, leaving James to go off alone with the girls to the waterfall. After the group leaves, Tish sits alone at the camp, looking particularly annoyed at her solitude.

After swimming and lounging by the waterfall, the girls begin to compliment James on keeping his mood positive despite his setbacks in the game, all criticizing Tish on her obvious negativity. James defends Tish, saying that she simply doesn't appreciate being lied to by the others after promises were made, aiming his comment towards Duana. The conversation turns away from gameplay, leaving James and Daisy to continue talking to one another about their personal lives, causing the other girls to assume that the pair are flirting.

Reward
Ibrahim and William look out the window of the helicopter as it flies over the island, taking them to the mountain summit where they'll begin their day trip to a Marquesan tribe for an authentic feast. The two men laugh and cheer in happiness as they look at the islands from above, clearly taking in the once in a lifetime opportunity.

After leaving the helicopter, the two men head towards awaiting Marquesan tribesmen and their horses, who tell the pair that they will be their guides to the nearby village. Ibrahim is somewhat reluctant to get on his horse, concerned that he's too big to ride on its back.

The tribesmen lead the horses down the mountain towards the village, keeping both William and Ibrahim on their rides. William sings as the horses make their way down, unable to continue with the typical subdued attitude he's expected to show when at camp. Upon arriving at the village, both men are led by two young women towards a cooking pit with different meats inside. As one of the tribesmen blesses the food, both William and Ibrahim are invited to do the same, each carrying out a Christian and Islamic prayer in thanks for the meal they are about to enjoy. The men are able to take what they want from the feast, using their time to speak with different members of the Marquesan tribe. Both are questioned on their different religions, with lots of the tribe interested to learn more about Ibrahim's Islamic faith, being the first Muslim the group have ever met in their lives.

After the meal, the two men continue to socialize with the indigenous Marquesans, intrigued to hear more about their day to day lives. Despite the language barrier, the group appear to be acting in good faith, smiling and laughing with one another throughout the evening. As the day draws to a close, the two men are escorted out of the village and back to the helicopter in order to be flown back to the Soliantu camp. The men ensure that they sneak some food into one of Ibrahim's clean socks, taking it back on the journey with them so that they may supply it to the other six Soliantu members. When arriving, the pair are welcomed back by all their tribe mates, eager to hear what the two got up to during the reward. Before telling the long story of their day, Ibrahim supplies the group with the food they managed to bring back with them, much to everyone's delight. They spend the rest of the evening enjoying the story of the pairs adventure, as well as quickly eating the meats brought back with them.

Day 27
The final eight get ready for their next individual immunity challenge, feeling as though the four-four split in the tribe means that any of them could go home at the next tribal council, leaving everyone desperate to win immunity for themselves.

Challenge: High Stepping Contestants would face off rounds. While on stilts and would try to keep their balance. The first contestant to fall would be out, and the other contestant would move on to next round. This would continue until the final round. In this round, the last contestant to fall would win.

Winner: Lotus The group return to camp, congratulating on Lotus for securing individual immunity and a spot in the final seven. Without needing to sneak away discretely, the two groups of four split up at camp, each going to decide on their target for the evenings vote. The Rotu three and Ibrahim get together in the jungle, talking back and forth as to who they want to target, knowing they cant doubt each others loyalty if they want to survive the vote.

Back on the beach, the girls sit and discuss who they want to vote. The unanimous decision is quickly arrived at that Tish will be their vote, with all the girls stating they'd rather keep the three boys in order to have a harmonious tribe. They also suggest that by voting out Tish, they'll have a better chance of getting the boys to turn on one another. As the other four arrive back at camp, people begin to have individual conversations. James and Daisy stand by the shelter to speak with one another, packing their bags so as to not arouse suspicion.

Going against the advice of his tribe mates, William joins Duana on the edge of the beach, looking out at the sunset as they talk together.

William puts his arms around Duana, hugging her tightly as she cries into his chest. He tells her that she shouldn't have ever felt she couldn't have been open with him, and that despite his strong Christian faith he choses not to judge people for simply loving someone other than the opposite gender.

The group head off to tribal council, sitting down in their two groups of four. Ibrahim smiles as Ryan walks in, winking to his friend who is now apart of the jury. Jeff asks the group how the last vote changed the game, causing a very emotional Tish to speak up about the "lies" spread by Duana, attacking her for her gameplay and betrayal of the original Rotu members. Duana defends herself by pointing out that she and the others had a majority of the votes, but failed to unite it, and have no one to blame but themselves. Jeff questions the group on a lighter topic, quizzing the final eight on their personal relationships with each other. Lots of the group point out the flirting going on between James and Daisy, but the pair deny liking one another, simply saying they get on as friends. For once, the group openly talk about the vote being a four-four split, and that much of the strategy has come down to who can win a tiebreaker. Ibrahim, James and Tish admit to feeling somewhat confident about the vote, suggesting a tiebreaker will work in their favour. Duana and Daisy confirm that they both feel at risk, with Tish intervening in their speeches by telling Duana she should "pray for trivia", hinting that if the tiebreaker is on past votes that one of the girls' alliance will be going home. During the vote, only William appears hesitant, standing for several moments over the ballot, wiping tears from his face as he places it in the urn. He sits down next to James, who reassures him by placing his hand on William's shoulder, knowing it would be hard for him to vote out Duana. Jeff collects the urn, giving Daisy and Duana a final moment to wish one another luck.

Everyone's mouths drop in astonishment, looking at the Rotu three and Ibrahim for a clue as to which of them flipped their votes. Tish turns violently, glaring towards the three men in her alliance.

James stands and hugs Tish goodbye, both in shock that after twenty seven days William flipped to vote one of them out the game. Duana silently cries in shock, grateful that her relationship with William is what saved her. Lotus and Ashley look at each other in disbelief, trying to contain their excitement at miraculously surviving another tribal council. Tish takes her torch over to Jeff, wishing James luck as she leaves the tribal council area. Before the group depart, William continues to keep his head down, trying not to turn and acknowledge the glares both James and Ibrahim are burning into the back of his head.