first targeted due to his excessive scheming; even Towery voted for him at tribal council as a way to distance herself from her old alliance. At the Final Nine, Towery and Rector convinced Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien to side with them against the Rotu Four, but they also needed the votes of Paschal English and Neleh Dennis to ensure a majority. Both English and Dennis were against the idea, but an immunity challenge which revealed the pecking order of the game, and which showed the arrogance of the Rotu alliance, allowed them to see they were playing for fifth or sixth place. As a result, Dennis and English sided with Towery, Rector and Vavrick-O'Brien, and voted out John Carroll, the Rotu alliance leader. With the new five-way alliance holding the power, it systematically voted out the members of the broken alliance one after the other, beginning with Zoe Zanidakis, then Tammy Leitner, and finally Robert DeCanio. At the Final Five, Towery and Rector let Vavrick-O'Brien know she was clearly a swing vote as the bond between Dennis and English was too strong to be broken. Despite denying a two-way alliance between themselves, Rector and Towery stayed together and voted against Dennis. But Vavrick-O'Brien sided with Dennis and English, and Rector was voted out, leaving Towery without any allies. Obviously the next target, Towery knew she needed to win immunity and did exactly that, guaranteeing herself a spot in the Final Three. Immediately Vavrick-O'Brien, realizing she could be voted out, made a Final Two alliance with Towery. They voted against Dennis who, along with English, voted against Vavrick-O'Brien, resulting in a very tight deadlock. Having two minutes to decide, the four could not reach a decision and a tie-breaker was put in place. Because Towery had immunity, the remaining three castaways drew rocks in order to determine who was voted out. English, even though he had never received any votes against him, drew the purple rock and was eliminated. This was a very controversial move by the Survivor producers and was even admitted to being a mistake. From that point on, the drawing of rocks has never been used in a Final Four situation, with the producers opting to use a fire-building challenge instead. Once in the Final Three, Vavrick-O'Brien and Towery's alliance seemed sure to hold out, but when the former fell in the endurance immunity challenge, the latter made a deal