At Ua, Ricard and Shan return to camp. Shan laments having to vote Genie out, knowing she can't fully trust Ricard. Shan is bothered that Ricard kept the extra vote. Shan maintains that she has saved Ricard multiple times.

The following day, Shan asks for her advantage back. Ricard gives it back.

At Yase camp, Evvie and Liana bring back tree-mail, announcing what sounds like a merge. Xander feels strong with his four tribemates, but Liana is still wary of him.

At Luvu, Naseer feels strong with the Luvu. In a confessional, Deshawn tells us he believes it will be impossible to keep the Luvu six together.

Jeff speaks to the camera, teasing us with what's to come. The twist will be so big that this is a two-part episode -- no tribal tonight. The players will run a challenge. One group will believe themselves to be safe, but they will be forced to send one player away -- that player will receive an enormous amount of power. 

The three tribes enter. Jeff gets them to drop their buffs. They are "not quite merged" yet, merely buffless and tribeless. They will have to earn their way into the merge. They will draw to be in two teams. They will push a boulder, retrieve keys, climb a tower, and use the keys to unlock a puzzle. The first team to finish gets a meal and is guaranteed into the merge, and they won't have to participate in the first immunity challenge. The losing tribe gets no meal, will have to participate in the immunity challenge. Two players will draw grey rocks, and they will not be allowed to participate. The winning team will decide their fate.

The players draw their rocks. Naseer and Erika draw the grey rocks. The Yellow Team is Xander, Heather, Liana, Tiffany, and Shan. The Blue Team is Danny, Ricard, Sydney, Deshawn, and Evvie.

Blue digs their boulder out first. Yellow takes some time but eventually makes it out. Blue continues to lead, but Yellow stays in it. Ricard and Danny start working on the puzzle for Blue. Yellow does not give up. They catch up. Blue wins by solving the puzzle, despite Yellow being very close behind. 

The Blue Team must make a choice. One of Erika or Naseer will join them, and the other will live alone on an island with nothing for two days. They decide to take Naseer with them and send Erike to Exile. 

Erika is upset but not surprised. Jeff bids Erika good luck and sends her away. 

The Blue Team enjoys the merge feast. Evvie is so happy to eat. Naseer is thrilled to be immune. Ricard asks if they like Erika. Danny remarks that many men have been voted out, and they wanted to keep their numbers. 

Erika arrives at Exile Island. She keeps a positive attitude at first, but she's not excited to be left alone. She finds rice and water. She collects firewood. She reflects on her childhood and her immigrant parents' sacrifices. She starts a fire for herself. 

The Yellow Team returns to Luvu beach with a small amount of rice. Xander is worried about his status and knows he'll have to win immunity to stay in the game. Tiffany mentions Liana's advantage in front of everyone.

Liana and Shan get together for a chat. Liana tells her about the Knowledge Is Power advantage. They discuss getting the idol off of Naseer or Xander.  After a rice dinner, Tiffany and Liana walk off. Liana tells Tiffany about her advantage. Liana now considers Tiffany a threat. TIffany is concerned about trusting Liana now as well.

The Blue Team joins the Yellow Tribe at the Luvu camp, now officially merged. Everyone is excited to meet each other -- Naseer and Xander chat. Naseer assures Xander that he's got his back. Xander is concerned as he's the only man who isn't immune, but he still does have an idol and an extra vote. Danny suggests voting out Erika to Xander and Naseer. Sydney suggests voting out Erika to Evvie and Tiffany. 

Evvie relays this info to Shan. Shan is fine to vote Erika off but thinks they need to be prepared for her having an advantage. Shan trusts Liana, Danny, and Deshawn and wants a POC alliance with the four of them. Deshawn is all for it.  

Jeff arrives in a boat to Exile Island. They talk through how she's doing, the emotions of it. She says keeping the fire kept her sane. He gives her an hourglass. She is allowed to go back in time and change the events of the previous challenge. She is allowed to leave things as they are or change them so that the Blue Team becomes vulnerable instead of the Yellow Team. Jeff leaves her with an hourglass. If she chooses to change history, she must smash the hourglass.