Jeff Probst Says He Won't Change the "No Flint" Rule on 'Survivor'

Jeff Probst during the 'Survivor 46' Episode 5 challenge

WARNING! The following article contains spoilers for Survivor 46 Episode 5. Please do not scroll any further if you do not want to learn the events of this week's episode.

"Fire represents your life." It's something that's been said on Survivor since the very beginning, as Jeff Probst instructs castaways old and new while they dip their torches into the ceremonial fires of Tribal Council, in the hopes it won't be immediately extinguished. But that phrase has truly taken on more significance in the "new era" of the hit reality series. One of the changes after the show came back from the COVID break was taking or withholding the flint from the tribe that lost that week's Immunity Challenge, putting their chance at keeping their hopes alive in the game across multiple fronts. And, according to Probst, that rule is not going away any time soon.

From its inception in 2021, the new era has put forward the notion of having to fight for everything. The castaways are divided into small six-person tribes to start, meaning there's "nowhere to hide." They aren't given their supplies from the jump, forced to compete in the premiere for just a pot, machete, and flint. And even the latter is not guaranteed to be permanent, as, during every Immunity Challenge, the tribe that comes in last place is forced to hand in their flint. It's become so customary that Probst even has a phrase to accompany the event: "Sorry for you."

Related: Everything to Know About Survivor 46

What we have seen as of late, however, is not tribes having to return their flint, but having it remain kept from them. Seasons 45 and 46 have seen two of the most disastrous tribes in the show's history, as Lulu and Yanu lost every Immunity Challenge through the first three or four episodes. And while those massive losing streaks can be credited to bad challenge performances or chaotic tribe members, fans have begun to argue that the common denominator could be the lack of flint.

With their tribe cut in half, the Yanu tribe spent most of Episode 5 lamenting their record-breaking dire straits. They'd gone over a week and a half without fire, meaning they could only eat raw coconut, papaya, and maybe the occasional ant. They spent every night cold and shivering, not helped by the rain that had plagued their season. As a result, they've been left exhausted, starved, and demoralized. Based on how bad off the purple people were, Jay Wolff was prompted to ask Probst on "On Fire: The Official Survivor Podcast" about whether watching Yanu's downward spiral had led him to rethink keeping flint away from the Immunity Challenge losers.

Probst's answer? "Absolutely not."

"Let me get a bullhorn," the host and executive producer said. "The new era is here. Earn everything, penalties for losing, expect more of that. This is what Survivor is about. If you want a 'fun' experience, go find another show. This is Survivor. This is why people want it, because there is a penalty for losing, because you have to survive without flint."

"I loved keeping their flint not because I love inflicting pain," he went on to say. "But because it's a consequence. And Survivor has a lot of consequences. The biggest one is you get voted out, and your game is over. So you lose an Immunity, you lose a player, you lose your flint, you lose your morale. Suddenly, you're hungrier. And it just makes a moment when you do win like this one so satisfying."

What Probst is referencing is Yanu finally breaking their Immunity Challenge losing streak this episode. This ecstatic and cathartic moment had the intrepid trio on the ground in celebration, and even their opponents supporting their victory. But their epic win has proven to be much more the exception to the "no-flint" rule. In the six seasons of the new era of Survivor, four have had one tribe lose three or more Immunity Challenges. In three of those cases, they lost at least three in a row, winnowing their tribe down to two or three while everyone else in the game had only been to one Tribal Council, or in some cases, not at all.

We saw the first instance of "the rich get richer" when, ironically, Survivor first went to Fiji (albeit a different region than the Mamanuca Islands where they film) back in season 14. The infamous "Haves vs. Have-Nots" twist had one tribe living in a luxurious shelter, while one was surviving on meager supplies. Unsurprisingly, the latter lost every single Immunity Challenge, only avoiding Tribal Council when the winning tribe chose to give away immunity in exchange for keeping their dream home. Indeed, the more we think about how some tribes are competing against groups with more members, sleep, and food just for the chance to get to their level, it makes what Yanu was able to pull off this episode even more astounding.

Related: Jeff Probst Reveals the Secret Theme of Survivor 46

The unique story of Yanu also prompted talk earlier in the podcast about whether the possibility of a tribe swap was brought in to help the situation. After all, the Lulu losing streak in Survivor 45 ended with a swap, the first full one in the new era. When the question was brought up, Probst said production did have the clearance to decide while filming if they could throw in a random swap at any time. But there's one large thing the team behind the camera takes into account when planning out when and whether to throw a switch-up into the game: The story.

"There's a lot of storytelling involved in a swap," he explained. "It changes everything. So now you have three new tribes. What are their stories? Who's potentially now on the bottom? What alliances just got broken up? Now who has the advantages and the idols, and who knows about it? All of that is going to take a lot of time. And we only have a finite amount of time. So we have to think through all of that stuff. And look, we've had many tribes in the new era lose a lot, and we never rescue them. It certainly sucks for the people to get voted out. That can be incredibly bonding for those who survive. And now, when you get to the merge, that bond is powerful. So we just trust the format, and we let it play out."

Fittingly enough, next week, we officially enter "mergatory" and the individual phase of Survivor 46. Will the recent victory of the remaining Yanus give them the fire (literally and metaphorically) and cohesion to take it all the way to the end, as Probst is referencing? As he says, we'll have to let it play out.

Listen above for the full episode of "On Fire: The Official Survivor Podcast." Survivor 46 airs Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Episodes of "On Fire" release shortly after, and are available on any podcatcher of choice.

Next, check out the photos, bios, and interviews with the cast of Survivor 46.