Survivor Edge of Extinction: Was Aurora’s behavior in the challenge valid?

A scary moment for one castaway presented an opportunity for another, but was this the right time to make a move in Survivor: Edge of Extinction?

This week’s episode of Survivor: Edge of Extinction gave viewers the most intense challenge of the season. With three people left for the fight for Individual Immunity, Lauren began to feel dizzy, and that’s when it got crazy. She shockingly fainted, dropping off of her perch.

While she was still unconscious and medical was attending to her, Aurora decided to persuade her last remaining competitor in Victoria, to drop out of the challenge. Lauren ended up being ok, and Aurora won her first Immunity Necklace fair and square, but that didn’t stop people from questioning Aurora’s actions.

Players like Julie took offense to the fact that Aurora was trying to negotiate terms while Lauren was still out cold. The way the edit portrays this scene has moved viewers to echo Julie’s feelings. Let’s take a deeper look at this moment to see what Aurora did right, and what she could have done better.

First of all, we have to ignore the edit for a second and look at this challenge from Aurora’s point of view. Her only ally in the game was just blindsided last Tribal Council, leaving her with absolutely no one to turn to, as she was betrayed by the Kama 6. Even though they tried to get her back in their fold, it’s hard to trust a group of people after a move like that.

She came into that challenge feeling that she had to win to survive another vote. Also, this challenge isn’t the most comfortable. After lasting over 25 minutes on your tippy toes in extreme heat, forcing your head against an object for that long of a time is enough for someone to lose sight and understanding of their surroundings. It’s hard to compute those factors when we’re sitting down on a comfy couch with proper heating and air conditioning.

So it’s definitely understandable that Aurora thought she could negotiate her way to a win. She is a divorce attorney back home and it’s in her nature to try to convince people. Her plea to Victoria was a brilliant one but would have benefited with better timing.

If Lauren just dropped out and didn’t faint, Aurora’s valid argument to the Kama 6 may have led Ron or Eric to tell Victoria it’s alright to step down. However, because of Lauren collapsing, the only person who was still thinking about the game was Aurora. That’s where the problem started because, at that point, everyone was so concerned about Lauren.

With Jeff mentioning the possibility of ending the challenge, I could see why Aurora wanted a quick finish to ensure that she didn’t do all this work for nothing. That being said, if she just waited a few moments until they knew what was happening with Lauren, then her plea would have come off as a little less insensitive. It just showed that she was more concerned about her life in the game than Lauren’s health, which doesn’t look good.

Overall, Aurora’s negotiation was a smart strategic move, but with unfavorable timing. As a result, this decision could very well affect her social game, making it even harder for her to find a trusted ally who isn’t on Extinction Island.