Spoiler warning: this covers The Traitors: New Blood Episode 7, “It’s Like Fighting Two Pigs Under A Blanket,” which aired on NBC on Thursday, October 22, 2026. Episode 8 has not aired.
The short answer: The Traitors murdered personal trainer Mark Zgoda. He was a Faithful. At the Round Table, a majority voted to banish Victor Vollbrechthausen. Before he could give his role, Alan Cumming introduced the Power of the Pardon. The player who banked the most money in that day’s mission can let the vote stand or keep Victor in the game. NBC has not named that player. Episode 8, “A Bad Apple Spoils the Whole Bunch,” is Thursday, October 29 (NBC Insider; TODAY).
The Faithful have still not caught a Traitor. Tomica Adams, Joe Vanella and Katie Fites are the three in the turret, and all three were still in the castle when Episode 7 ended. The full exit list is on our murder and banishment tracker. Dates without the spoilers are in the New Blood and Season 6 guide.
What the Power of the Pardon actually does
The power is new to this season. Alan told the players, during the mission, that they were each playing for something that “can turn the entire Round Table on its head” (TODAY).
He explained it only after the vote. The player who personally banked the most money in the mission gets sole discretion over that night’s banishment. They can stand with the table and send Victor home, or they can pardon him and he stays (NBC Insider).
Two things the episode did not show:
- Who won the power. NBC calls the holder “as yet unnamed.”
- Which way they play it. Victor’s exit speech never happened. His role was not revealed. Whether he is still in the game is not yet known.
How someone won it
The mission was in a field of scarecrows on the Ardross Castle grounds. Players had 15 minutes to pull unmarked bags of gold out of the scarecrows and get them into their own barrows. They did not know what each bag was worth. The person with the most gold in their barrow won the power (NBC Insider; TODAY).
Four scarecrows held black hearts. Finding one let that player eject someone else from the mission, which also took them out of the running for the power. NBC and TODAY agree on who used them:
| Player with a black heart | Who they ejected |
|---|---|
| Shane Beatty | Victor Vollbrechthausen |
| Clyde Moser | Morgan Cook |
| Abby Lee | Wyatt Gillespie |
| Ben McDonnell | Katie Fites |
Victor was already out of the mission, so he cannot be the one holding the pardon that decides his own fate. Katie, a Traitor, was ejected too.
TODAY says Alan put the prize pot at $97,000 before the mission, and that the group added $15,300. NBC says the pot gained $15,300. Neither source prints a new total, so this page doesn’t either.
Mark Zgoda: murdered
The episode opened in the turret. Tomica wanted Victor murdered. Katie argued that killing him would make her and Joe look more suspicious. The shortlist became Wyatt, Mark and Kriste. At breakfast, Mark was dead (TODAY).
In the turret flashback, Joe called Mark a “full-blown Faithful” and said nobody suspected him. Mark’s exit, as TODAY quotes it: “Oh my God, I knew this was going to happen. Oh, it’s horrible.” Then: “Damn, that sucks bro. Killing me was just really not cool but this has been such an unreal experience. I’m so grateful for meeting everyone. And at least I made it way more fun to be here. I would give the Faithful advice but I haven’t been right yet. So, you know, good luck.”
That is the ninth confirmed exit. Every one of them has been a Faithful. The other eight are on the tracker.
Why the table voted for Victor
Victor was still on “fruit-gate,” his theory that Tomica and Joe were behind Niyyah Bilal Hayes’s murder in plain sight. TODAY says several Faithfuls did not find the theory useful. Abby Lee was still on Wyatt. Ben McDonnell was wary of Katie. Kriste Lewis had started to wonder about Abby, because Abby had led several wrong banishments.
Before the Round Table, Tomica pulled Victor aside and, when he asked who she didn’t trust, named Katie. At the table, Victor repeated that Tomica and Joe were Traitors and said Tomica had thrown Katie’s name out. Tomica’s confessional, per TODAY, was that she had mixed Katie up with Kriste.
TODAY also reports that Katie turned on Tomica during the vote. It was not enough to send Tomica home. A majority voted to banish Victor. NBC calls it “a sliver of a majority.” Neither NBC nor TODAY prints a vote count, so there isn’t one here.
Victor stood in the Circle of Truth. Alan cut in with the pardon. The episode ended on that cliffhanger (NBC Insider).
What is confirmed, and what isn’t
| Status after Episode 7 | |
|---|---|
| Mark Zgoda | Murdered. Faithful. Out. |
| Victor Vollbrechthausen | Majority vote to banish him. Pardon not yet played. Not yet known if he leaves. |
| Who holds the pardon | Not yet known. Victor and Katie were ejected from the mission, so it is not either of them. |
| Tomica Adams, Joe Vanella, Katie Fites | Still the Traitors. None caught. |
| Next episode | Thursday, October 29, 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Peacock the next day. Title: “A Bad Apple Spoils the Whole Bunch.” |
The two-hour finale is still Thursday, November 19 (NBC Insider).
