Manipulating Is A Fun Game, Amirite?

 is the sixth episode of Survivor: Lithuania.

Day 16
After the major blindside on Neb, Bubs was hurt and frustrated by Frog and Samb going behind their back to vote Neb. Frog and Samb both tried persuading Bubs by mentioning Neb’s poor challenge performances, but Bubs nonetheless left the alliance. Kam and Evan, meanwhile, were simply happy to still be in the game.

Ąžuolas were gobsmacked by the now Neb-less Rūta, with many members of the original Ąžuolas unsure about tribal lines mattering anymore. At the Reward Challenge, the two tribes were educated on the history of Lithuania’s name and an assortment of other topics, using many alliterations on the letter L. One hell of a tongue twister, I must say. The challenge itself was Scattegories, where the cast were asked to give answers to questions about the letter G.

During the challenge however, Bubs - who had been struggling with non-ORG related matters - requested to be evacuated. To the sadness of all five hosts, this wish was ultimately granted, and Bubs left Lithuania. Rūta won this challenge, but nobody was in a rush to celebrate after the news. Matty, in particular, dedicated his game to Bubs from then on.

Bubs, if you’re reading this, we love you.

The new idol clue for Rūta was:

Your idol clue is a two-word phrase (without spaces), in neither Lithuanian nor English.

Day 17
Day 17 did not occur, as the Immunity Challenge and resulting Tribal were both cancelled after the evacuation.

Day 18
With the Immunity Challenge being cancelled after Bubs’ exit, the cast immediately began a new Reward Challenge. The challenge in question was Ztype, where they had to type words before aliens blew them up. It sounds pretty damn odd when I say it without context, doesn’t it?

Ąžuolas quietly returned to their winning streak, and were thusly rewarded an idol clue:

''Clue 3. It consists of only boys and men.''

Day 19
After a relatively uneventful Day 18, Day 19 proved to be quite impactful. Nemo, unsure about the standings of Rūta and wishing to protect Samb, suggested the idea of throwing the coming Immunity Challenge and voting off either Pendant or Piper. Matty and Ryan were both keen, and the latter was added to an alliance with Nemo, Pendant and Piper as a cover. Ryan was slightly worried about this development, as voting off either of the two former Rūta members after making an alliance would be considered snakey.

This Immunity Challenge was live, which predictably made Isaac shit himself. The challenge, Codenames, required both tribes to nominate a Spymaster to preview a board and then communicate codes to the rest of the tribe, trying to avoid three special black pieces. Anubis served as the spymaster for Ąžuolas, while Samb served as the spymaster for Rūta.

Despite Ąžuolas planning on throwing, the bad luck streak of Rūta reared its ugly head for the final time. Rūta hit a black square on their third guess, much to the rage of Matty and Anubis, and the fear of Ryan.

Before the night was over, however, Nemo got a consolation for his failed plan. After weeks of trying and failing to crack the Ąžuolas idol puzzle, he got his answer in Choras Ąžuoliukas. Nemo had the idol!

Day 20
With Tribal on the horizon, the four Rūtans prepared to become a paltry three. Kam and Evan both planned on remaining in tribal lines and voting Samb, with Frog electing to join them instead of forcing a tie. Frog believed this would be best for his game, as it put him on the OG Rūta’s good side and made his POV of the Neb boot the only one available to the former OG Ąžuolas members.

However, the Royal Choice striked again. Samb, as the Spymaster, was given access to the three urns. Choosing the third, he was given… an idol clue!

The phrase is in Latin.

The Yellow Fellows (trademark pending) went to Tribal that night, and Samb’s fate seemed pretty tied. Less than five hours before the results, however, the madman did it. Samb correctly guessed Ruta graveolens, and the idol was his. Samb, exhilarated, played the idol on himself and sent Kam to her fate, a cruel twist of irony for someone who had done the same to Neb at the previous Tribal Council.

Challenges
Reward Challenge #1: Scattegories

In this challenge, the tribes were asked to name a group of nouns and verbs based on the letter the word started with; in this challenge, the letter was G.

Winners:

Reward Challenge #2: Ztype

In this challenge, the tribes were tasked to play this classic game. Aliens come to attack, and the only way to destroy them is to type words.

Winners:

Immunity Challenge: Codenames

Winners:

Final Words
"ruta"

- Alrighty! Well good luck to you all! Samb, you’re playing cowardly and lied to everyone multiple times and I hope everyone can see you for the player you actually are. To Frog and Evan, best of luck to you both!

Trivia

 * The name was titled by Evan in VL, in reference to the fact that he was somehow still in after the Neb vote.