Survivor: David vs. Goliath: An Idol Nullifier works on one idol play

When Dan’s Hidden Immunity Idol was nullified, it was an impactful moment in Survivor: David vs. Goliath. But could he have been safe if he had another idol?

Ahead of the second Tribal Council of the Survivor: David vs. Goliath jury phase, Dan Rengering was adamant about not using a Hidden Immunity Idol on Angelina. Her standing in the game was at an all-time low, and she proved herself to be way too sketchy with the way she told Elizabeth the plan to vote her out. Yet, with Davie playing an idol on Christian, Dan made a desperate move based on Angelina’s pleading.

It set the stage for the next Tribal Council, where Nick Wilson used a Vote Steal on Alison and Dan used his second idol on himself. What he could not prepare for was the Idol Nullifier, which destroyed his idol’s power and caused the decisive votes to eliminate him from the game. However, because he had two idols at one point, it left many wondering if he could play a second idol to save himself had he held onto it?

Both Entertainment Weekly’s Dalton Ross and Gordon Holmes for Xfinity had the opportunity to ask Survivor host and executive producer Jeff Probst to clarify the Idol Nullifier rules. When asked if Dan could play a second idol after the first was nullified, Probst replied that he could.

“The Nullifier blocks the use of one specific idol played for one specific person,” Probst explained to EW. “If Dan had a second idol, he could have played it, and barring another Nullifier with his name on it, he would have been safe. So that attempt to save Angelina by playing his first idol, thus maintaining the numbers advantage for the Goliaths, proves very expensive.”

It makes absolute sense and falls in line with what I wrote about the Idol Nullifier after the episode aired. The advantage changes so much about the balance of the game that it adds social and strategic worth of sharing information about idols, helps make it easier for that information to be held close to the chest or used strategically.

Now that people know of the Idol Nullifier’s existence and know all the rules, we could see some interesting Survivor game theory evolve from this advantage.