The Survivor 48 finale began with five players still clinging to dreams of glory, that they could have their name etched into history as a Sole Survivor and their bank account increased thanks to the $1 million prize.

Joe Hunter had challenge wins and leadership skills to flaunt should he make it to the end. Eva Erickson had idol and advantage procurements to show off. Kyle Fraser and Kamilla Karthigesu had a stealthy partnership that influenced key votes they could point to. And Mitch Guerra had the underdog card to play — a card that often works well with juries who respect players able to get to day 26 without power in the game.

But, in the end, there could be only one. And that one winner of Survivor 48 was Kyle Fraser.

The finale began with Kamilla making a furious comeback in the last portion of the first immunity challenge, dominating the fire puzzle to win after being in last place for the entirety of the competition. That set the stage for a unanimous vote-out of Mitch, who was told straight up by his jury-managing tribe mates he was next to go. And go he did.

It was at this point that day one secret duo Kamilla and Kyle began to split, with Kamilla informing Kyle she would be putting him into fire if she won the final immunity contest. Of course, that gave Kyle license to do the same thing to her should he win, which he did on the classic Survivor contest of Simmotion.

Kyle’s plan was to bring Joe to the final three and force Kamilla and Eva to battle at fire, but those plans became complicated when Eva broke down in screams and tears while getting frustrated when she could not get a flame while practicing at camp. Joe offered to take her place in the fire-making competition, while Kyle also began to rethink the personal consequences of his decision. “It’s hard to hear somebody go through something like that and know you have a part to play in it,” Kyle said. “What I thought was going to be an easy decision and what I treated as an easy decision is anything but that.”

Kyle even proclaimed he was prepared to put himself in the fire-making to spare Eva, but the secret PhD candidate was insistent on fighting through the situation herself. “This has to be me. I have to learn to do it myself. I have to do this.”

And she did exactly that, defeating Kamilla in fire at Tribal Council — but not without some additional drama when Eva’s huge lead evaporated at one point, sending her temporarily spiraling before she rebounded to seal the deal and earn her spot in the final three next to Kyle and Joe.

All three finalists performed well in front of the jury at final Tribal Council as the momentum swung back and forth between the finalists, but a key moment was when Kyle (with a huge assist from Kamilla) was able to undercut Eva’s argument that she and Joe had made a big strategic move in voting out Shauhin, when it was in fact Kyle’s deception over a non-existent Shauhin idol that made the move happen.

The jury responded most to Kyle’s story, giving him a 5-2-1 victory over Eva and Joe and making him the franchise’s latest winner.

Keep your eyes peeled for all of EW’s Survivor 48 finale coverage, including interviews with the final five and Jeff Probst, an exclusive deleted scene, as well as your first look at Survivor 49. Plus, for tons more intel and insight, make sure to check out our interviews with the jury and the final five.