[Jonathan LaPaglia]

This is Mat's Final Tribal Council Thread.

All other Jurors should remain in their own threads. Final 3, remember... this is not for you to address each other, but to talk to the jury. In-fighting amongst the Final 3 should be reserved for the Live Final Tribal Council on Sunday.

Jury, you have until Saturday at 8c/9e to post your statements/questions to the Final 3. Remember not to take up too much of their time as they have 10 other jurors to get to. Please no listing or questions requiring novels for answers. You should post all of your statements/questions in your opening post in this thread. There is a live Final Council on Sunday where you will get to address everyone live about the statements they have made and ask follow-ups.

[Mat]

Many congratulations for making it to the end. Fantastic job by the both of you and I could not be more proud that two Impanas did in fact make it all the way. I am going to channel my inner Sue Hawk, cause that is how old school I am, for this tribal and try to give you both some animal metaphor bullshit. I think this final 2 comes down to the Chameleon vs the Opossum (not to be confused with its adorable Australian cousin the Possum).

Jarrad you turned out to be the North American, dumpster diving, playing dead to survive (Was telling me over and over that you had no chance to win and zero agency in the game a strategy or how you really felt)? …anyhow you were the Opossum of the season. It’s what has kept them alive and thriving all these years and it clearly worked for you.

Dave you were this seasons Chameleon and a damn good one. Changing your color, temperament, attitude to reflect both your actual place in the game and your perceived status by your tribemates. You adaptability was impressive to me from afar as we sat on opposite swapped tribes and you continued to survive and thrive. Once we hit the merge you used the Chameleon 360 degree eyesight to keep tabs on every corner of the tribe. And then a great endgame run, but I’ll let you and others go over that in greater detail.

-Both the Chameleon and Opossum are not the most dominant of the Animal Kingdom, but they are fucking survivors, can’t argue that.

Jarrad – I tell myself every time I do one of these not to be bitter and I almost always end up bitter. I was at peace with my elimination and it made total game sense for pretty much everyone involved. Great game, I’m out, zero bitterness. Then I read your parchment and fuck if it all didn’t come back. Jarrad, who betrayed who first??? As a person that ended up playing a fairly cutthroat game to survive (I respect the shit out of that if you would have owned it), why did you play the victim so often/disappear for rounds/let the game happen around you? I think they jury would have loved to root for, root against, hate to love, love to hate the unapologetic and killer version of Jarrad (aka Sharn). It’s beyond too late to pivot to that strategy now, so why play like such a whiny puss?

Dave – You were paying attention my friend and I think you realized what is most important in this game to me and a few others sitting here next to me.. Each juror will have their own specific reasons to want to vote for you or Jarrad, but when I stack you two against each other, for me personally, you X every box that I would want X'd off for the winner of the season. You won more, betrayed less and made changes to your strategy if/when necessary. If it has not already been asked, what was the hardest move for you to make emotionally and if it has been asked, take my Chameleon comparison one step further please.

***To wrap up my forced animal metaphor, lets do as nature would do with the Chameleon outlasting the Opossum as the more adaptable species and better survivor:***

[David]

Hey Mat!

Appreciate the kind words, and the incredible reference. I'll answer your question two-fold:

The hardest move for me to make on an emotional level was taking out Sharn. It was really difficult to see Kylie get voted out, and I had a few other moments of weakness as well. This was the most difficult one that I had been personally involved in. It added such a high level of seriousness to the game on the last day before F2. I knew that once I took the shot, there was no going back. We developed a really close connection, and to hear in the moment that we would likely not speak after the season was over, it put a dark cloud over everything. It felt akin to the end of Old Yeller somewhat. For me though, it was a decision that I knew I would need to make individually for my game. Sharn might not have had rabies (arguable), but it became too dangerous to let her stay around.

I enjoy the comparison to the Chameleon, and I think it is apt. You hit the nail on the head, I was very adaptable to each situation, both with my gameplay and how I managed my perceptions. I want to flesh out the eyesight that you brought up though; I think this was key. I constantly maintained oversight into multiple different critical dynamics throughout different stages of the game. I had blind spots, but insured them through joint efforts with close allies. Here is a great metaphor:

"The chameleon’s ability to switch freely between synchronous and uncoupled saccadic eye movement is like having two movies playing in your head, and if you wanted to only watch one, you could." I think this is quite a hilarious comparison, considering I have expressed to a few of you how I feel like my mind is constantly going like a hamster wheel; sometimes requiring me to hone in on the one specific thing that I want to think about. It's a blessing and a curse, since my read and react system is usually turned up pretty high. Being able to juggle multiple situations and dynamics simultaneously can give you a leg up on the competition. It is exhausting though, especially within the confines of this game. Over-analyzing a situation or person can end up leading to analysis paralysis. This is something that I work hard to try and avoid in my life and in the game, but know that I falter on sometimes.

The chameleon might not be indigenous to Australia, nor is it the most dominant in the animal kingdom. But within the confines of this season, its characteristics provide a successful disposition.

[Jarrad]

I appreciate the passion, Mat; hopefully we can get some things cleared up here. I also just want to mention before I get into things that you were THE first person in the game that I potentially saw an end game with. We started off the game, and we did the whole final 2 thing, and we talked a lot and got really close, and I meant every word of it until it slowly started to dissolve. I sent you coins to show you I trusted you and you shared the clues with me. Out of the Imanpas, I was always closest with you, but it quickly became evident to me once we merged that you were not seeing the game as a Mat and Jarrad thing the way that I once was, and I saw yourself seeing it as High King Mat and the Royal Court. Both of our faults, but the relationship that we had fostered at the beginning quickly dwindled once merge started. I'm not sure if you just got too comfortable with me or the Bananas or what, or if it was the opposite and you started to get suspicious of me, but it was never addressed. And so in my reality, once merge started, I was never your number 1. I think you know by now that perception is reality, and that in this game, the reality of the game you're playing might not match up with the realities of others.

I tell myself every time I do one of these not to be bitter and I almost always end up bitter. I was at peace with my elimination and it made total game sense for pretty much everyone involved. Great game, I’m out, zero bitterness. Then I read your parchment and fuck if it all didn’t come back. Jarrad, who betrayed who first???

I betrayed you first. But, keep in mind, perception is reality. My parchment said this. "It's time for me to realize what I have at stake. You and David both lied to me last round after giving me your loyalty, and so that ruined it. You are arguably the biggest threat to win here so far and it would be dumb for me not to do this. Good game, buddy." At this point, I don't know how much you know, or what you think of me, or anything. For me, this is painting the picture that I am getting back at you for what you just did to me, which was correct, but also much more. Up until this point, we had voted together every single round, and although I knew that you knew I was close with other people, I didn't think you knew just how close I was. So I can see from your POV, knowing that I was already wheeling and dealing and having side things going on at all times, how this seems like I'm "taking the moral high ground," but I want you to know that I used that parchment as a way of CONTINUING what I'd already been doing, which is self preservation. The name of the game is SURVIVOR, as in, one who SURVIVES. To think that anyone could sit here and have executed a game in which their insight was 100% correct all of the time would be dumb, but I was acting with the insight of me salvaging a relationship with David after the vote with you, just in the same way that I tried to do with you after you, David, and Sharn, had just voted for Michelle against me. It seems completely logical and was successful. I could have said something neutral on the parchment but I decided not to, as a game decision.

But absolutely I did betray you first. I betrayed you as soon as I willingly made a final 3 with Michelle and Tegan, and I betrayed you after Michelle, Tegan, and me decided that it was the night Kylie would leave, and I gave them my word that it was cool to do and that I was going to vote in the minority for the benefit of the three of our games. That did benefit the three of us, but it benefited me the most, because I was still able to remain close with you, David, and Sarah. I betrayed you again once I got closer to Sharn after Tegan's vote out and spoke specifically with Sharn about the threat that you stood in this game. What's a bit confusing to me is where you think I'm not owning the betrayal? The proof is in the pudding. I've already stated where my loyalties lied and how they were never closely aligned with the Imanpas, because I truly didn't see myself in any of y'all's plans either.

Also, this next part, where you say I played the victim so often, disappeared for rounds? When did I disappear for rounds? I disappeared for I think two days total out of the entire game, and I did it intentionally at a time where I had the ability to, which is when I went camping. I knew specifically based on how every weekend prior I pretty much just sat online all day waiting for something to happen and nothing happening that it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal, and so I really think that's lame to be using against me. Never did I let the game happen around me or take an approach where I was not being proactive in the game, or discussing the vote, or letting people do my dirty work. I was the one doing everyone else's dirty work, and ultimately leading to their demise. I painted targets on several people here, and can honestly say I've done nothing but put all of my spare energy and free time into this game for the past 30 days. There was one single challenge where I didn't try as hard as I could have, and that was the rock stacking challenge. Quite frankly, I could have won that challenge. You'll see after the game I had a practice thread that topped Michelle's score, but I decided against going for it, for the very same reason that Ben was labeled as a challenge beast. I already was looked at as someone skilled in challenges, so I made the calculated approach to say that I was exhausted. There was another challenge that I did not finish, and that was due no part to my own for just simply overestimating my ability to complete it at work, and then conversely getting in trouble and having to get back to work.

Obviously you would have loved to see a more vicious and cutthroat and nasty version of me, but I wouldn't be here if I played that way. If I did play that way, and I have before, I end up in a late jury spot or where Sharn is, so close and yet so far. I took the opposite approach and INTENTIONALLY drug my name through the mud so that it would give me the best odds of ending up here at the end with a shot to win. I was that confident in my ability to know that I could make myself look weak even though I was the strongest player here and that's exactly why I never received a single vote to leave this game. I knew exactly what I was doing to ensure that myself and myself only was protected above all else. I covered my bases every single round to make sure that there were not going to be many or preferably, if any, votes on me at all, and there never were.

And just to prove that perception really is reality:




David's game is in no ways this astronomically better game than mine. We both had ways of surviving, and mine was the most secure. I have never tried to back away from my own betrayals other than when I was IN the game, and that's because I knew that was going to keep me safe and keep you guys painted as the bad guys with more blood on their hands. I played a game I'm very proud of, and I trust you to see the value in the game I played and reward me with it. My survival was never an accident.

[Mat]

Great answers and good luck fellas!