Survivor has been making some changes to its return from the pandemic, using the post-Winners at War seasons to usher in a new era of the iconic reality competition. The game is now shorter, going from 39 days to just 26, and it has been experimenting with a ton of new twists. Moreover, some of those twists, like the infamous hourglass, are already gone. Others are here to stay. The new merge is one of those wrinkles that is here to stay.
The new era of Survivor is here
Instead of simply merging tribes, this new era of Survivor is making players earn the merge. Halfway through the game, players are split into two random teams, with the winners getting a merge feast and the losers voting someone out. While speaking to EW about the new season, Survivor host and producer Jeff Probst confirmed that “earning the merge” is the new way to merge going forward.
“The most important idea of the new merge is that you must earn it,” Probst said. “That’s one of the core principles of this new era of Survivor. In the past, you “made” the merge, but now you “earn” the merge. It’s the same for every layer of the game. There are very few rewards, there are penalties for losing, and there is an emphasis on earning it every step of the way. So yes, count on this being the new merge moving forward.”
The hourglass is history
In Seasons 41 and 42, the new merge came with an hourglass twist that allowed the one player left off of both teams the opportunity to change the entire game. By smashing an hourglass, they were able to flip the winners and losers of the merge challenge, sending the winners to tribal council. This twist was met with frustration from both fans and players, and Probst has already announced that the hourglass is dead.
As the new era of Survivor continues, there will be more twists and experiments introduced to the game. Some will stick around, and others will be sent to the Survivor graveyard.
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