To Helen and Brian, We are at FTC where you make a cse for YOUR victory, but you seem to be a tribe of two trying to vote out, Penny, why shouldn't i reward her for having to work extra at FTC?
I think the fact that Helen and I worked so closely together means we share a lot of the same opinions about how the game went down and how strategy occurred in it. Despite Penny's opinions being different than the two of ours and her estimates of her strategic moves, this is sort of the obstacle that we were presented with concerning Penny the whole game. Neither of us felt that her moves were as beneficial to us as she is claiming, and negative results (such as Erin being blindsided at final 7 due to us picking the most obvious target and Penny trying to approach Asteria in a way that was obvious that she was faking targeting Joanna can be attributed to her plans). I think that if you were rewarding effort based on how hard that one has to work at tribal council, it would almost be me against Helen and then me against Helen and Penny because I think I'm least likely to win and essentially have to prove my points against both of them?

To Brian, it's very noble that you are loyal to Helen but are you willing to sacrifice your game for hers? I really need to be able to separate the game both of you played.
No, I'm absolutely not willing to sacrifice my own game for hers. Strategically, as Helen admitted, we discussed pretty much everything and knew what we were doing at all times. But when Helen came up with a plan, the difference was that I intentionally let her go about sending all the PMs, doing most of the tangible work to implement it. If she wasn't willing to do it or needed my help, I did it myself. But since, she almost always offered to do everything herself anyway, I capitalized on that and let her put the target on her back sending massive strategic PMs on a regular basis. That made the major weakness in Helen's game the fact that she was at risk to be idoled out or voted out most of the post-merge rounds. I didn't face the same risk. When Helen won F7 immunity, it was Erin idoled out over me. Even if Helen was voted out (and I did say there were points where I considered doing it if the potential to make end-game was still there) my game would've lived on and I still may have made it to the end --- as a "goat" essentially based on the fact that I was considered her follower. So I think that's the main difference between my game and Helen's game.

Hi Daniel! My end game changed completely when you were blindsided and it hurt me big time.

I honestly hadnt thought so far ahead. I wont sit here and tell you that you would definitely have been in the F3 with me, because I am going to be 100% honest with everybody tonight.

However, the thread that Rob started after you turned to us definitely would have helped you. To me if we had continued and Asteria grew to really dislike you, I would have absolutely taken you to the Finals with me. Because I believe that would have maximised my possibility of winning the game.

For what its worth, I didnt play you. I was completely unaware that you were even the target and you shouldnt have been voted out that night in the manner that you were. Both Erin and I wanted to keep you and we were both shocked when you got sent home.

Ill say again that voting you out was a huge tactical error by Helen and Brian. They robbed us of another vote and that cant be overstated. The two of them were at times a hindrance to me and did at times actually get in the way of the plans I was putting in place to get to the end.

I understand. I put myself in this position and was willing to risk having to enter tribal council with an extra low chance of winning based on my strategy. So I'll just try my best and hope to impress you somehow.

Why risk this though? Why not make a move at some point? Imagine how your game could have played out if you had blindsided Helen at F9?

Um, this is completely absurd. I did have a strategy, and it was solid enough to make it to the final two under this scenario and probably other scenarios that didn't actually occur. As Helen admitted, we talked strategy to an incredible great degree. Helen's strategy was semi-obvious and was out there. Mine was more complex and under-the-radar.

And those responses to your PMs (sounds good!) were again simply to make you think that I supported your plans in order to keep you with us and thinking Helios was on the same page. You sending a new plan, discarding almost everything we discussed 15 minutes before a tribal council became such a habit that Helen and I actually were nervous when the tribal council came and you didn't initiate a "New Plan" PM. Also, it was part of my strategy to seem like the loyal follower even and let Helen send all the replies disputing the elements of the plan so you'd be more likely to get annoyed and turn against her than me.

Thanks, Daniel! I really appreciate and respect your views on the game and how to assess the finalists, and I'd like to think that I'd approach it the same way in your position. Sorry that things didn't work out between us.



Haha!

1)

I'm not sane, at all lol Up until this week, I've been on break, so I've had heaps of time to dedicate to the game, which is much of the reason that many of my plans and relationships were able to be as developed as their were. I owe much of my ability to being here to the fact that my "life" hasn't resumed until this past Sunday.

I expected that if I lost the challenge, Penny/Joanna would team up to 2-2 me into a tiebreaker to make it to the final. Whereas, if I was immune, Penny wouldn't see the reason to vote out Brian over Joanna. So it was important.

It wasn't my intention to make anyone shit themselves or kill themselves, but my thinking was this: Penny spent the first few hours of the challenge trying to convince me to let her win because she hadn't yet won immunity. Knowing that she was in the AUS time zone, I also knew that she had the advantage in that she'd know how late she would need to stay up posting in order to beat me. If the number she needed to reach was at all realistic, she'd attempt it, and take advantage of the opportunity to eliminate me. I couldn't let her have that, so I spent an extra few hours listening to an audio book and clicking away (and still got eight hours of sleep). Now, after I won the challenge, she's re-scripted reality to make it sound like she prevailed by "tricking me" into trying too hard even though we all know she'd have tried to win immunity herself and take me out given the chance, and she wanted that chance badly.

2)

I appreciated Brian for being loyal to me in the game. He was always there to talk to. He had very sound judgements and was always very reasonable. It was very calming to believe that I would potentially always have his trust, because I told him practically everything to keep him loyal to me and made sure he didn't question. And I have confidence that Brian and I will continue to talk long after this game is over.

I (and I think he does too) understand that no one on the jury is likely going to realize the full extent of his gameplay over the course of the next two days, but I hope that episodes or confessionals or something will allow you guys to give him a bit more credit post-game for the intuition and intelligence that he did bring to the table.

You admit your strategy was to seem like the loyal follower. If that was your strategy then kudos, it worked perfectly. You were a loyal follower the entire game.

What strategic plans? Both yours and Helen's games will ever be described in the following:

1) Voting out Daniel because Ted asked you to, even though HE was playing in both camps and even though WE had the numbers advantage.

2) When I got us out of the hole you both dug us into there, then you decided to obsess over the Immunity Idol some more, even though I told you Rob wouldnt play it. But no, we had to vote Christy, who did what? She pulled the Idol didnt she? I told you both all day to vote Rob but you didnt. I bended to your judgement that time, how can you say I was uncompromising when I did that knowing that Rob was the move we had to make.

3) Then after I dug us out of THAT hole I told the two of you to vote for Rob because he was voting for Christy. But no, the two of you wanted to vote for Joanna instead. I had to actually verbally assault the pair of you at Tribal Council in order to get you to actually make the right decision for once. You both nearly ruined not only my existence in the game, you would have ended your own existence in the game, three times.

At F9, the dynamics were too complex, and I feared you working with Joanna and Erin/Penny over me along with fearing that Asteria would reunite and I'd lose Ted's support if I took out Helen. I aimed for safety at that point. I slightly elaborated on it, but at final 7, if we could've taken out Christy successfully, immediately at final 6, that was the first time I legitimately thought and detailed a plan to take Helen. I discussed it in my confessional during the final 7 round, but I was going to approach Erin after the vote and tell her that she COULD NOT warn Penny about this plan (since Penny might warn Helen), explain all the sub-alliances that Penny was involved in with Helen and sell-out other aspects of Helen's game to make Erin trust that she might not have known in order to get her trust. I discussed a way to get Helen out that round, potentially being idoled (if the idol hadn't been wasted the round before), or even with the majority. I felt that then, I could've gone to the end with Penny and Erin (being safe at final 5 with Helen gone) and been responsible for taking out the biggest threat.

But the way the game worked out, she won immunity at all points where I had a chance to take her out, so I couldn't. And at final 6, I wouldn't with the 3 Asterians left in the game.

Alas. If Daniel is in finals with you and Erin, I'm not.

Alright, thank you guys. Good luck. :)