With the Survivor: Winners at War episode 9 press photos showing off two challenges this week, we get a tease of alliance dynamics in play.

These Survivor: Winners at War episode 9 press photos will showcase the Reward Challenge and Immunity Challenge from this week’s show titled “War is Not Pretty,” as well as camp life and events on the Edge of Extinction.

The hardest part of these press photos pieces is making sure to get everything included from the previous episode, especially when the Edge of Extinction is in play. The fact that we only get so many shots to avoid spoilers means we miss out on a whole lot, and the fact that there are so many photos to look at this week indicates that we have a lot of work to do.

Without further adieu, let’s take a look at the Survivor: Winners at War episode 9 press photos first since they were just released recently. After that, we’ll end with a gallery of some portraits and shots made available only after the merge episode aired. There’s a lot to get into when it comes to volume, even if there doesn’t seem to be many clues to dive deeper into.

The Edge of Extinction continues to be a miserable place with nothing but downtime, and you can see it in the sunken faces of those who have been there for weeks and even one from someone who’s been there for less than a full day.

It looks like the seasoned veterans are showing the newbie the ropes, including going to the top of the island to get rice each day. If it’s the same location as Ghost Island, then this might be a familiar trip for the winner of that season.

There’s no need for Mike White to be asking, “Is she doing yoga,” as Parvati certainly is leading a yoga class early one morning on the Edge.

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Parvati and Ethan’s friendship has been one of the bright spots on the Edge of Extinction, as getting an Ethan wellness check has been almost necessary since his early troubles in the log challenge. Still, we could do more to focus on the actual players playing the game, and this week seems to finally get that idea.

I mention that in earnest because we have a Reward Challenge in the merge, and because we’re playing an individual game now in Survivor: Winners at War, it probably won’t be skipped like the pizza reward back in the tribal phase. Tyson, Adam, and Tony are the known players on the red team, while Sarah, Kim, and Ben are the known players on the blue team.

The first part of this challenge involves players from each tribe swimming out to untie a net of fish puzzle pieces tied up to posts in the ocean. Here’s Tyson after swimming out to an early lead on his team.

Once tribes have untied their net, the first three team members need to carry it to shore in order to complete the next stage of the obstacle course.

The next part involves placing them on hooks in some order later to be determined, as Adam is getting to work on that phase while Tyson and Tony grab the rest.

Here are the three taking the fish on a hook to the last part of this Reward Challenge. This is a replication of the Game Changers Reward Challenge that also took place right after the merge boot, so maybe Sarah Lacina has some experience with this test.

Finally, we have a good look at the Koru tribe flag from the merge, with the players giving their name and number of their winning seasons. Wendell put his name in the center, as did Tony. Could there be a simple layer of strategy in just staying on the edges of the tribe flag, akin to hiding your name as a voting target?

No, you are thinking too much about it!

There’s nothing that unites the players of Survivor: Winners at War quite like food, even if one of these people pictured didn’t vote for the same person at Tribal Council last time.

Of course, the time to eat with others is a time to strategize, as Kim is serving mean (read: powerful) looks while she and Jeremy discuss the game.

Could the Wendell swing log be this season’s version of the power hammock? Sitting in the hammock in seasons like Game Changers reflected players’ level of comfort and power before they were inevitably targeted. These two seem to have the power early on at the merge.

Denise made it clear that she’s ready to cut Adam if need be, and the previews for this episode so far have indicated chaos swirling around him. Tony’s giving him a hard look while Adam spins some sort of yarn.

Sometimes, the best challenges are simple and self-explanatory, as the Survivor: Winners at War castaways listen on to Jeff to see if multiple competitors will win immunity or not.

Whether you call it Sea Legs, Set Adrift, Balance of Power, or Bermuda Triangle(s), it’s the “balance on a floating platform at sea for as long as possible” challenge. At intervals, the players will need to stand on increasingly narrower platforms, ending on the very top. I’d like to qualify this as an homage to Vecepia Towery, as this debuted in Marquesas.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a great deal of Survivor: Winners at War episode 9 press photos. Additionally, the extra photos from last week’s Immunity Challenge, merge, Tyson’s return, the Edge of Extinction Challenge, and Tribal Council are also available for episode 8.