Aryan is the more easily manipulated of the two, and Amanda can and has controlled Aryan. Surely that makes Amanda the more target-worthy.

Actually, Aryan is more easily influenced by whoever gets to be HoH, she just wants to get through it without getting "blood on her hands". So that gives not unnecessarily burning what's left of a bridge with her some (at least a little) importance.

Aryan and Elissa despise each other, but so do Elissa and Amanda. Elissa stands a much better chance of obtaining some cooperation from Aryan than she does from Amanda.

And diplomacy between enemies can indeed be lies. So Elissa didn't need to express her true feelings, in fact I think she was ill served by doing so.

But it was satisfying to hear Elissa give Aryan a shot. It felt good, and was probably about as strong as the producers would allow. Much better than the stale old “Nothing personal, just gameplay” speeches.