{Duke}

[Wes Anderson]

Jury questions from Duke will go here.

[Duke]

Hi Richie,

Congratulations on making it to FTC! My initial question is going to be something very specific to me, which I hope you don't mind - I imagine you'll get inundated with questions about your general strategy anyway :)

I note I wasn't mentioned at all in your speech. It did feel like we kind of both knew we were at opposite ends of things and most of our conversation was out of politeness, so I understand it, but I would like to know where I stood in terms of how you saw the game playing out, given my medevac was not something that could have been anticipated.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Hey Duke!  Thank you so much!  Of course I don't mind, in fact I'm happy that you asked.  In trying to write a concise speech I did understand I was leaving out any specific mention of some jurors.  It certainly doesn't mean you had no impact on my game, nor does it indicate any ill will.

There was an element in our overall communication throughout the game and especially after the merge of politeness and understanding that we were simply in different factions.  However I was always considering how and when a connection between us could come into play.  I asked Royal to approach you with his own individual alliance offer in the hopes that it would lead to the three of us working together, which it eventually did... except it didn't really, since you created that trio chat for us only to target Royal that very round.  The assessment I gave you in our private correspondence after the votes tied there was honest.  I admired the game you were playing and the positioning you achieved.  If I'm understanding your question correctly though, you mean where you stood in terms of what my plans would be following the resolution of that tie.  It is really dependent on how the tie resolved.

My goal that round was to lock in the alliance of four that would soon be named the Khaki Scouts with Margot, Madame and Suzy, which would include Suzy flipping on the revote in exchange for which the rest of us would let Royal go at seven.  If that comes to fruition, then you would would while Gustave joins the jury, but otherwise my plans wouldn't be any different.  The eventual blindsiding of Margot isn't likely to go any differently. Knowing that the connection between you and Oracle was much closer to being unbreakable than that between Oracle and Gustave, the move I made at five isn't going to be such an easy thing to pull off if it's a question of convincing one of you and Oracle to agree to voting against the other.  It's a real possibility though that the game could follow the course it did and you would be sitting in the final tribal council seat M. Gustave currently occupies.

I like to imagine that the timeline we do occupy is what would have happened if that vote went to rocks and you were the victim of the bad rock.

Your friend,
Richie

[Duke]

Thank you for your reply! I didn't take it as ill will, I just figured I didn't figure into your gameplan very much :P And I think your view on how the game would play out is a reasonable one.

I have a couple more questions rising from it:

- Based on what you're saying, I assume Royal's pitch to me of 'you keep the target off me, I'll keep the target off you' was your doing, then? That pitch was very out of the blue for me, and it was absolutely something that changed the way I played, even if I eventually ended up going for him anyway.
- Was that three-way alliance something you genuinely wanted to go the distance with, or was it something to stop me targeting you while you pursued other plans?

Also (completely irrelevant to this conversation but I note it came up elsewhere), Oracle did tell me about the F10 vote on Madame a few hours before phase went through.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

It was my suggestion that he approach you at that time.  I wanted something between the three of us to keep you from targeting either of one us, and if it even delayed that eventuality then it's something that worked for us.  At the beginning of the merge you were the only person who I was not in with nor had ever been in a group with.  I did not intend to go the distance with it.

[Duke]

Hey Richie,

I'd like to say thank you for your responses. I've learned a lot in FTC that I didn't know beforehand, and I think you put on an impressive strategic display through the game.

I don't think you were particularly aiming for my vote, so hopefully this won't come as much of a shock. Looking at everything that's been said, it's fair to say I was the most distant player from you in the postmerge - potentially even the only distant player from you in the postmerge. There were points I considered taking the group with yourself and Royal seriously, but I never really trusted you after the mutiny situation and so there was always a solid distance between us, even when you eventually owned up to it (after I made it clear I already knew :P ). Ultimately I greatly respect the strategy and the moves you pulled off, but my inclination was always going to be giving my vote to someone I had some kind of friendship with, and at this point I'm convinced I'm not going to see anything that will change that.

Based on what I've heard in jury chat and in FTC so far I think you have a solid shot at the win even without my vote, though. I wish you the best of luck!

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Thanks Duke.  It is fair to say yours was the vote I assumed wouldn't go in my column under almost any circumstance.  I know friendship is a strong consideration for jurors and I know I'm here with the ones who you were closest to.  I appreciate your kind words and also your frankness here.

I may not be your best friend, but I still remain

Your friend,
Richie