Nineteen days ago, twenty castaways were marooned in Funafuti, Tuvalu, Polynesia. Six people from the first original eight seasons (Canada - All-Stars) returned to make up the "Past" tribe and squared off against six people from the most recent four seasons (Turkey - Vietnam), who made up the "Present" tribe and six brand new contestants who had never played before, who made up the "Future" tribe. Several twists were unleashed into the game, as well: returning from the "past" was the Viper Idol. Returning from the "present" was Exile Island. And a twist that has never been used before, the "black vote", was also in play. After the first challenge, it was clear that the Past tribe would be history. An intense tribal where Anthony was harshly judged for past comments led to his vote off, putting Nick & Dan in the minority, and Laura/Ryan/Sean in power. After another loss by the Past, Dan was easily voted off, but when Anuta lost the next challenge too, and Nick was sent to Exile Island, the bond between Sean/Ryan was too strong for Laura to overpower. When the Past finally won a challenge, the Present tribe was sent to tribal for the very first time. Andrea quickly went to work on voting out Nathan, but she underestimated his social strength, and her torch was snuffed once Jeremy & Ollie flipped. A tribe swap brought all the physical competitors together, so NuPileni lost the next three challenges. Nick was voted out in the first, leaving Sean & Ryan as the only Past representatives. Matt was voted out in a 4-2 vote in the second, despite trying to flip the vote on what he believed was the tribe's weakest member; Nathan. Nathan was an easy vote in the next tribal, but when he was sent to Exile, the outsiders banded together to vote off one of the people that flipped on Andrea: Ollie.

The tribes then merged, and it was immediately split into two sides. However, when Sagar threw a vote at Jeremy, and did not re-vote, rocks were drawn and Dinkle's torch was snuffed as the first member of the jury. Sagar then joined Dinkle, his right-hand man, at Ponderosa when his own alliance flipped on him. Despite a clear minority and clear majority, one side was afraid of a potential idol by Chloe, who had been to Exile one too many times. So, they split the vote, but what they were not expecting was for Violet to flip. A blindsided and angry Sean's torch was snuffed later that night, leaving Ryan as the highest placing member of the past. At the auction, a duo twist was unleashed; splitting everyone up into pairs. Ali & Mika were at Exile, and Will & Violet were immune, leaving only two possible voting options: Ryan & Jeremy and Chloe & Nathan. What should have been another rock draw, was actually a surprise 4-2-2 vote for Chloe & Nathan, when Ryan convinced Violet to flip again and throw her double vote at Nathan. Rocks were not needed, as the system was outplayed. At the next challenge, Mika attempted to throw the challenge so that she could idol out Ryan. However, her plan was too obvious, and the idol play failed as the rest simply voted for Ali, a weak link.

Now, only five remain... who will take home the title of Sole Survivor?