{Opening Speech}

[Wes Anderson]

Opening speech will go here.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

{Read it back to me so far, Pietro}

Dear Jury,

I'm here in the finale and it is surreal.  This is a game I inquired about immediately when it was announced.  I've never played a game before with a theme this meaningful to me.  This had a profound impact in the way I approached strategy and gameplay.  My intent from the start was to align myself with people who shared my enthusiasm.  My play was based in loyalty to my chosen few.  Suzy Bishop and Young Writer, my Wes Fanderson Club.  Royal Tenenbaum.  Madame D.  In every phase of the game I was playing deliberately towards my desired endgame, but I capably branched out in different directions at those moments when things went against it in ways that stayed true to my overarching intent.  I played confidently and took the greatest advantage of every opportunity presented.

{New paragraph}

Three major events before the merge demonstrate what I mean by confidently maximizing opportunities.  Confident in my position on Ivanhoe I bid for and won two major items at the Auction, the Heist Notebook and the Rings.  Following the Notebook instructions I took a strategic role in the Train Brawl, allowing me to grab the Idol unsuspected.  Confident that my influence over Ivanhoe's next move would hold, I voluntarily mutinied and seized the initiative in building relationships on Rushmore.

I drove the elimination of two players in the premerge who would have been distinct threats to me.  Before the mutiny I worked hard to ensure a supermajority existed against Sam, who was throwing shade my way and trying to target Young Writer.  By volunteering to mutiny I could potentially block his only escape off the tribe.  Even with the support of my mutineer counterpart Peter and his double vote Sam could not escape his fate.  When I arrived on Rushmore my goal was strategically involving myself with the known majority from the preceding Steve vote.  Though Foxy approached me to offer safety in exchange for loyalty, I stuck to my plan and worked behind their back to do so.  Knowing Foxy was an incendiary player with a vengeful streak, I finished the job at the swap before they could learn what I had done and become a major adversary at the merge.

I carefully managed my alliances before the merge, cultivating the right relationships and prioritizing the right alliances.  Ivanhoe had a complex alliance structure which I was squarely in the middle of.  The Fan Club was the majority within the majority of the Crossed Keys.  I had important secondary trio deals with both Suzy and Writer.  I identified the players I needed to work with on Rushmore and was successful in ensconcing myself among that majority.  I bonded deeply with Royal and I built trust with Madame D. by sharing Ivanhoe's secrets.  On Grover Cleveland I helped build a cross tribal alliance including Peter that controlled the tribal majority.  I entered the merge in a position of strength with maximum flexibility to change direction.

Integral among Ivanhoe alliances and trusted among Rushmore I was very influential in deciding the merge vote.  Royal's gift of the second set of Rings and the binoculars (the purpose of which remain a mystery to this day) provided insurance against the growing pressure on Young Writer.  When Writer's game collapsed at 10 I leveraged the Crossed Keys alliance to douse the potential that votes would be split onto me and to keep the target off of Royal.  This was a fast moving vote but I should have looped Royal in completely.  Ironically Madame D. was blindsided by the tie vote possibility because I had been open about the existence of the Ivanhoe fivesome during the tribal phase.  Losing Writer meant lights out for my first desired endgame, but with death in Survivor comes rebirth.

Arguably the rounds of 10 and 9 are where I should have been receiving votes.  That I was able to come away from both of them cleanly speaks to my ability to pivot and reestablish myself.  Like an NFL running back I kept my feet moving and this is the point in the game where I picked up the toughest yardage.  My esteemed opposition in this finale would have liked to target me here, but it was unachievable because of my strong relationships.  Herman and I were both left on the wrong side of the tiebreaking vote, but I was the one protected in the aftermath by Suzy, Royal, Margot and most crucially by Madame D. herself.  With Writer gone my original Zissou rings went extinct, and I was allowed to activate the second set.  I set the stage carefully to make my offer to Madame.  With my position at its lowest point of the game, the reward of cementing a new ironclad alliance far outweighed the risk that she could expose the offer and target me. But it was my honest communication with her, and appreciation of her, that truly made this possible.

In private I tracked and strategized around who could possibly have the Heist Notebook and it's resultant Idol from the Rushmore Auction.  This was a factor in my decision to cut Peter instead of working with him in the merge.  It was also a factor in my converse decision to build an endgame alliance with Margot.  At this stage Margot was the only person who could have the potential idol.  If I set myself against her when she was likely to know she was a big target because of her challenge strength it was a danger that she could idol me or one of my important allies out of the game.  Instead I decided to move forward under the assumption that she and I would both be playing idols at the final five.

The Khaki Scouts, our endgame threats alliance, came together during the lead up to and resolution of the tie vote at eight.  Suzy and I discussed it in depth, while I carefully worked to support a rebuilding of relationships among Suzy and Madame D.  Suzy's decision to tie the votes so she could further think things through lent authenticity to the difficult time she was having wrestling between her loyalties among the remaining Ivanhoes.  Cementing this alliance was the path that would lead to my desired endgame of a final three with Suzy and Madame, with Royal's offramp at final seven proving I had no split loyalties.  The fact that I couldn't achieve this endgame was even more difficult for me than the loss of Writer in the early merge.

The final six vote is the center of gravity around which the finale you see in front of you orbits.  After being left in the dark by my closest allies on the Margot blindside, the final three I desired was no longer congruent with the cardinal rule of playing to win.  I could and indeed wanted to go to the end of this game with these players who I knew who would be strong competition in front of the jury.  But I could not go to the end with players whose very resumes were being built on their ability to undermine me and create differentiation points at my expense.  So I hardened my heart and did what I had to do.  I buried them both.

At no point was my game wholly reliant on winning an immunity challenge.  I took every opportunity in the premerge to strengthen my own position whether it hurt tribal immunity chances or not.  I worked hard to have strategies deployed prior to each round of immunity results in the merge which could keep me safe without immunity.  At eight I was too close to Suzy to be a viable target for the group that tied the votes on Royal.  At six I had the Khaki Scouts and I had the stronger relationships within it than Margot, in addition to still being an invalid vote for Madame D.  At five I had the covert immunity idol I was saving all game up until it's expiration.  At four I had a deal with M. Gustave to vote with me in the event I lost the immunity challenge in exchange for my promise to vote for him as a juror if I were to lose fire making.  This deal was made when I revealed that I would play the idol on him, but was independent of that decision.  The idol play was a move which dictated the elimination and which I was able to accomplish by influencing the decision of the majority to target Gustave.

This game did not play out to either of the ends I long desired, but it did live up to my expectations.  Every one of us played our hearts out.  You all made this the most unique, special and meaningful game I have ever had the pleasure to participate in.  The moderators gave us an innovative and elegant design full of unexpected twists and turns, each of them opportunities I was eager to capitalize on.  My genuine enthusiasm to be here and play with you grew with every passing day.  If I can claim the title of Sole Survivor, in a game that I eagerly awaited from the moment it was announced, playing as a character that I feel so personally connected to and which served as the very icon of the forum, I cannot put into words how happy that would make me.  Akin to something I said recently to Madame D. as we discussed how much it meant to both of us, performing this well in this particular game feels almost fated.  If I was ever going to win a game, this one was my game.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Your friend,
Richie