After having the numbers after the tribe swap, the obvious Naviti cracks saw early Survivor Ghost Island favorite Morgan Ricke’s journey cut short.
To start the third episode of Survivor Ghost Island, Morgan was visually satisfied with the swap results. Naviti was fortunate to end up with both majorities. Although she had the numbers, the situation was far from straightforward.
The old Naviti component of her tribe featured both Chris and Domenick; two tribemates that were most likely to go after each other. However, I thought this would be a problem for the two alpha males, not Morgan herself. If Chris chose to go after Domenick’s number two in fear of an idol, it would be Wendell. Chris’ apparent number two was Angela. Morgan seemed like the safest on the tribe.
The Navitis were not secretive about their division. Chris immediately tried to assemble his numbers from Malolo. Morgan also had an intimate conversation with Libby. She wanted Libby’s support, and by doing so assured her that original Malolo was not in danger. Morgan certainly trusted Libby more than she should have. This put Malolo in a position where they knew, without a doubt, that they were in control.
Malolo had all of the power, despite their minority. This is not just Morgan’s fault, but all of Naviti’s. Even if Chris or Domenick get sent packing, the numbers are 4-4 for the next Tribal Council. The best move would have been to wait until they had a 5-3 majority. The reason this did not happen is that they both guys knew they had to strike before the other. If one approaches Malolo and the other wants to vote out Malolo, Malolo has an easy decision. They both had to strike.
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Morgan was not the main reason for the Naviti downfall in Survivor Ghost Island; she was merely a passenger on a sinking ship. It would not make sense for her to stick her head out because it did not seem like she was going home either way.
When Chris draws the white rock and is sent to Ghost Island, the dynamics of the entire tribe shift. Instead of the alpha males fighting for Malolo votes, Naviti loses its majority. Malolo realizes that Chris and perhaps Angela were the minority of the Naviti tribe. There are two groups of four, and one group is entirely together.
Betsided
You see the trio of Domenick, Morgan, and Wendell all actively advocating for Angela to be booted. Angela says she would be willing to go to rocks, but there is no way the trio is doing this for Chris’s potential right-hand woman.
Wendell is worried about Libby, but Morgan is certain she has Libby. Morgan knows that all they need is one Malolo vote to send Angela home, and is confident she has it. The relationship that Morgan thinks she has with Libby is far less stronger than it appears. With that being said, it was not Libby’s plan was to immediately eliminate Morgan. Libby was willing to do it if necessary, while Morgan was not.
After Domenick reveals his fake idol, all doubt from the Malolo four is silenced. They know that Angela is voting for one of them and that the other three are voting for Angela. This gives original Malolo all of the power.
The decision to not vote Angela makes sense; they want to fracture Naviti as much as possible. James correctly read the potential of a Domenick idol play, leaving Morgan and Wendell as the two options. While Libby wanted Morgan to stay, the rest of her alliance clearly viewed Wendell as a bigger asset going forward. This would give the original Malolo the clear dominance of this new tribe.
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Morgan was voted out of Survivor Ghost Island in an epic blindside to her entire trio, and the curse of the legacy advantage continued.