I'm not taking credit for this one, but someone at VO had posted a convincing argument for Rotu finally going to TC.
It's based on shot's of Rob voting in Ep.1, while still on Maraamu, yet being shown with a blue buff.
SurvivorNews & VO.
For those who don't wanna go there here is text and photo's:

While watching the first episode of Survivor: Marquesas (for no apparent reason other than being bored), I came across something that possibly tells us that Rotu goes to Tribal Council at least once. What I found happened at the first tribal council.

As we all know when someone is shown voting we see three different shots: 1. The person walking up the confessional, 2. A top-view camera shot of the person beginning to write down a name. 3. (if their vote is not shown) the person folding up the vote and putting it in the jar.

While watching the episode, I noticed that when Rob went up to vote he was clearly wearing a yellow buff around his wrist. But in Shot #2 when Rob is beginning to write down a name, the buff around his wrist is blue! At first, I thought it could have been the lighting, but after viewing it several times, I concluded that the buff is definitely blue. Hunter has his buff in the same place as Rob, and when they show him writing down a name, his buff is still clearly yellow. So this leads me to believe that Rotu will go to Tribal Council at least once in the next few weeks (which many people have already suspected, but this almost confirms it.)

This could have been more helpful a few weeks ago, and we would have found out that Rob was switced to Rotu ahead of time. But it still does tells us that Rotu goes to Tribal Council (which isn't that big of a deal, we knew they had to go sooner or later!)

There are a few questions that arise: Why would the editors slip in a a clip of Rob voting at TC #5 or 6, when he was voting at TC#1? Well, believe it or not, the editors have made this mistake before. In the very beginning of the series finale of Survivor: Africa, when the remaining contestants are supposed to be coming back from the TC in which Teresa was voted out, there is a quick clip of Kim Johnson wearing the immunity necklace and hugging Lex and Ethan! We all know that Kim J didn't have immunity until the TC in which Tom was voted out, 1 day later!
These 2 place Rob with a yellow buff


Whereas these two show him with a blue buff

So now we can rest assured that MB shows us scenes out of context...Alllll the time! And Rob, as a Rotu, will indeed be going to TC. Whether in Ep.5 or 6, not sure, but definately in one of them, maybe even both.

Thoughts? Anyone?

• Nope - hes got no facial hair,Maraarotu, 03:01 PM, 03-25-02
  • RE: Nope - hes got no facial hair,Kokoro, 03:20 PM, 03-25-02
  • RE: Nope - hes got no facial hair,Spidey, 03:26 PM, 03-25-02
  • RE: Nope - hes got no facial hair,tribephyl, 04:33 PM, 03-25-02
    • RE: Nope - hes got no facial hair,Spidey, 08:06 PM, 03-25-02
• RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,PagongRatEater, 04:39 PM, 03-25-02
  • RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,Bebo, 04:43 PM, 03-25-02
    • RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,I_AM_HE, 04:59 PM, 03-25-02
      • RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,Loree, 05:17 PM, 03-25-02
• hat is on opposite as well,Maraarotu, 05:17 PM, 03-25-02
  • RE: hat is on opposite as well,Spidey, 06:04 PM, 03-25-02
    • RE: hat is on opposite as well,GuessItRains, 09:08 AM, 03-26-02
• RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,bubsy, 07:26 PM, 03-25-02
• RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,Loree, 09:21 PM, 03-25-02
• RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,alleyb, 06:24 AM, 03-26-02
  • RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,kdzgon, 07:26 AM, 03-26-02
    • RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,alleyb, 07:42 AM, 03-26-02
      • RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,kdzgon, 12:49 PM, 03-26-02
    • RE: Proof that Rotu goes to TC.,SurvivinDawg, 07:42 AM, 03-26-02
• NEW THOUGHTS!!!,SurvivinDawg, 02:42 PM, 03-26-02
  • RE: NEW THOUGHTS!!!,FesterFan1, 02:54 PM, 03-26-02
    • RE: NEW THOUGHTS!!!,SurvivinDawg, 07:00 AM, 03-27-02
      • RE: NEW THOUGHTS!!!,managerr, 10:47 AM, 03-27-02
  • RE: NEW THOUGHTS!!!,Stolimadras, 10:22 AM, 03-28-02

LAST EDITED ON 03-25-02 AT 05:23 PM (EST)

Rob is missing his "attempt at growing a moustache" type of facial hair. The side of the persons face appears quite smooth.

From what is posted here, the only blue bandana shots only show his hand....the ones where you see his face are actually from that Mara TC.

(also, btw that blue looks really dark compared to the sky-blue Rotu colour but it could just be the lighting....)

----------------------------------------
Now let us never speak of S3 again.

>Rob is missing his "attempt at
>growing a moustache"

Actually, we only catch the side of his face in the "blue buff" shots, so you can't tell if his lame moustache is there yet. But the side of his face DOES look pretty hairless.

But don't the sleeves of the (same) shirt look rolled up farther in shots 3 & 4 than in the first 2? (Esp. the right arm, not so sure about the left) Looks to me like the right sleeve is rolled to his forearm in 1 & 2, and up to his elbow in the "blue buff" shots. Also, the yellow buff seems slightly higher up his arm, like the forearm, than the "blue" one, which is low on his wrist.

For a second I also thought Rob's necklace wasn't in shots 1 & 2, but now I do think I see the necklace in at least shot 2.

Not sure this is conclusive one was or another. Can anyone enhance shot 3 to further examine the facial hair issue?

With all respect Maraarotu, I think you missed the point. Or I didn't make it clear enough. Of course in pic's 1 and 2 Rob has no moustache they are from when Rob was a Maraamu, in Ep. 1.
Whereas Rob, in Pic's 3 and 4, are while he is a Rotu. Rob has, as of yet, not been to tribal council as a Rotu. But, yet we were thrown shots of him in the blue buff during Ep.1.
Besides, he is facing away from the camera. How are we to see his "Fuzztache" from that angle. The point is the buff color. OK it seems we could have used this info earlier, to guess that there was a switch coming. But I don't see why we can't use it now to assume that Rotu heads to TC, soon.

I just rechecked the vidcap thread for Ep. 5 and noticed that Rob's "fuzzstache" covers only portions of his upper lip and chin. The sides of his face are still smooth as a baby's butt. So lack of cheek hair most definitely does not preclude this being a TC 5 or later shot.

How manly is that? 13 days and not even a bit of stubble on the cheeks? What a tool. (Ok, maybe this belongs in bashers...)

This is obvious a dark color shown in poor lighting, but is not necessarily indicative of Rob going to TC with Rotu. It could be A) post-merge and another color entirely or B) a red herring.

Either way this is a really astute observation and something to keep in the back of our spoiling consciousness.

>This is obvious a dark color
>shown in poor lighting, but
>is not necessarily indicative of
>Rob going to TC with
>Rotu. It could be
>A) post-merge and another color
>entirely or B) a red
>herring.

Wasn't there speculation that the merge color is purple? If so, then this could be proof that Rob does indeed make the merge.

LAST EDITED ON 03-25-02 AT 05:01 PM (EST)

Bebo, CBS sells the buffs in Light Blue, Magenta, and Lime.
How lime can be interpreted as yellow, i don't know...
but the caps there of Rob are definitely too blue to be magenta. however, they're too dark to be light blue either, regardless of lighting IMHO. i'm wondering if this is something entirely different that Rob brought to the island with him- a bandanna or something. otherwise, i can only think that it is digitally altered, though for what purpose, i have no idea

I'm not even sure that is a buff around his wrist. Do we have any other photos of Rob wearing anything around his wrist besides a buff? I just don't think there was a photo of Rob from the Rotu tribe voting in the first episode. It seems odd. It doesn't look like a light blue buff to me.

I reviewed the tape several times and the person (either rob or a double) have their hat on the proper way while wearing the blue buff on his wrist - Rob had his on backwards.

LAST EDITED ON 03-25-02 AT 06:06 PM (EST)

I was wondering about the hat position. So, if the hat's position is changed this is obviously not TC 1. Could be TC 2 or 3 with digitally altered buff color. Anyone have vidcaps of Rob at TC 2 and 3? If so, we might be able to determine if this is a digitally altered shot from either the 2nd or 3rd TC or one yet to come. (I agree with Loree that digitally altering the buff in ep. 1 doesn't make sense. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen...)

*Edited to make sense.

It isn't 2 or 3. In those episodes Rob wore his dark tanktop not his green shirt to TC. And in the pic you can clearly see both a bluish buff and the sleeve of his green shirt, as well as that stupid Patriots hat on forward. Seems to me clear proof Rotu does go to TC sometime before the merge, although that doesn't mean they necessarily go in E5.

LAST EDITED ON 03-25-02 AT 07:27 PM (EST)

I just watched ep1 over again when Rob votes, and i too clearly saw a blue buff on Robs' wrist.
And i do agree, that this is a foreshadowing of events to come with Rotu TC.

Okay I did some snooping around the web. I saw some photos of the Maraamus with their buffs on. The Survivor logo on the yellow buffs is a dark blue. Depending how they are wrapped around their arms sometimes only the dark blue is showing on the yellow buffs. They are wrapped so small that it is possible to not see the yellow on them.

Upon review my tape of Ep.1, I think it clearly shows a blue buff, which at first I dismissed as probably being a yellow buff with the blue Survivor logo prominently displayed. When looking at the Ep.1 tape I realized that both the survivor logo and the surrounding color were visible, and the other blue color is clearly Rotu blue (despite how purple it looks in the vidcaps above). Seeing Hunter's similarly placed buff in the footage of his vote in Ep.1 only further confirms the incongruous color of Rob's buff.

So...I think this gives clear evidence of Rotu going to TC before the merge. Now the question is...does Rotu throw a challenge or two to solidify their lead before the merge? I fully expect to see Rob's Rotu-blue wearin' ass voting at TC very soon, and hopefully he'll be on the wrong end of the vote when it happens. (Or do I really hope for that? Every reality TV show needs a good villain to root against, after all).

While I believe that Rotu will go to TC at least once in the next two episodes, and I agree that this is an editing slip, I do have a question - didn't Brandon say that the color of his buff was edited in Survivor-Africa? I seem to recall reading this more than once. Therefore, we know they can change the color on an image, so this is either intentional foreshadowing, or a simple oversight, even if it is a stand-in in the photo. Either way, I don't believe you can just dismiss the appearance of the color. And, yes, it might have been more helpful earlier, but it still serves to confirm spoiling is possible, and MB's toying with us is highly probable.

Yes, we had vidcap evidence of just such a manipulation. Vidcaps were put side-by-side proving that the exact same shots were shown with two different buff colors. However, why would they intentionally put the wrong buff color in the very first episode? Previously instances of this were used to make the interviews reflect the current tribal make-up (regardless of how wrong the actual timing of the interviews were). But the shots of Rob wearning Rotu blue in the first episode seem like simple negligence to me. My big question for those who doubt--why wouldn't the editors color-correct to make the shot look like it really was from the first vote, rather than from Rob voting when on the Rotu tribe? They've proven they have the technology to believably change buff colors when they felt the need before.

alleyb, I was agreeing with you, that I believe the color is blue (thus, an oversight or less likely, an intentional "hint" from MB), because we know they could change buff colors while editing. I was actually responding to an earlier post claiming it "couldn't be" blue. (and I know there were vidcaps, too, but didn't reference them 'cause I didn't want to search).

It was more than Brandon saying it. There was picture proof all over the place showing Brandon's edited buff. I'm not going to go research it for a link, but some places might still have the comparison pics.

*** Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

I have speculated in the past that the merge color will be in the dark red/crimson/magenta range. I base this on some of the little banner flags flying during water reward challenges: they were blue, yellow, and that dark red. It also makes sense based on some other factors and theories.

Rob's buff is hard to see in that semi-darkness of firelight, and sometimes these vidcaps can distort the true color a little bit, especially in low light (my digital camera did that to my outdoor Christmas lights when I tried to take a pic).

According to my poor eyesight, I don't think that buff in the lower pictures is light yellow OR light blue. It DOES look purplish to me.

Rather than Rotu going to IC, do you think this might be an indicator of an EARLY MERGE?!?!

*** Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Dawg, I see you workin', but I watched my tape last night and the buff is clearly Rotu blue. I felt the same as you just based on the vidcaps (my computer's shading is a bit off), so I checked the tape to satisfy my own curiosity and there was no doubt in my mind that the buff on Rob's wrist is a Rotu buff.

Now, we can speculate as to whether it was "edited" to look like a Rotu buff, but IMO, it wasn't. In addition to it's color, it is also noticeably closer to his wrist than the Maraamu buff he's wearing as he approaches the podium.

It was either a simple matter of the editors needing a shot or an MB clever plant to test the spoilers, but I have no doubt that the footage was taken from a future TC.

Fester

Thanks for the info, Fester! That's good info to know.

And here I was complaining last week about color distortion in still shots, then trying to make something out of said color in this week's still shots. 40 lashes with wet noodle for this dawg. That, or I'll have to submit to a severe beating about the face and shoulders from Sarah's fluffypillows...

*** Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

I posted this in the voting thread as well, but take a look at this vidcap:

He is wearing the blue buff in the same position as in TC.

Normally that might not mean much, but if you look at various episode vidcaps, it seems like Rob is wearing his Buff in different positions almost every day. Imho, that cap is before the challenge and Rotu goes to TC that night.

LAST EDITED ON 03-28-02 AT 10:23 AM (EST)

>Rather than Rotu going to IC,
>do you think this might
>be an indicator of an
>EARLY MERGE?!?!
>

I think the thread of what is believed to be the IC this week, show that the merge isn't until after this vote. There are two sets of people trying to perform the tasks.