The Traitors should give themselves the cliffhanger dagger for one key reason

The Traitors is about the enter its final week, where every decision could have a huge effect on who wins the show.

Interest in the BBC show is at an all-time high, with 8.1 million peak viewers watching last week’s explosive Harriet-focused episode that saw Rachel escape banishment.

Season four’s latest major twist, following on from ‘The Secret Traitor’, the connections between Ellie and Ross, as well as Roxy and Judy, saw the Traitors being given a dagger. While the TV show has not quite reached the point where they are being asked to genuinely stab someone to murder them, the dagger is a pivotal part of the endgame.

Traitors Stephen and Rachel have been given the dagger, and they need to assign it to a player, who will then get two votes at the next roundtable.

If you really look at the maths behind it though, Stephen and Rachel should give the dagger to one of themselves.

The Traitors were offered the chance to give someone two votes (BBC)

Online discourse has all pointed towards the fact that Stephen and Rachel should give it to a Faithful they want to pin things on, like Jade or Matthew, or one of the more erratic players, like James.

Ultimately though, the voting so far on this season has shown just how important it is to give themselves the dagger, and with it the double vote.

Episode five’s roundtable is the clearest example of why the dagger should stay within the Traitors, with Amanda and Reese being deadlocked at five votes each.

While the Traitors would probably have been happy with Amanda being the one to go home, the closeness of the votes means that a single double vote could have decided who goes home.

With heat on Stephen in particular, his survival could come down to just a vote or two, particularly with how few people are still in the game. There are just eight people left, meaning a total of nine votes at tomorrow night’s roundtable.

Rachel should give the dagger to Stephen (BBC)

If Rachel and Stephen combine their votes together on a particular target, and they have the dagger, they realistically only need one more person to vote with them in order to banish a Faithful. If they give the dagger to someone like James or Jade, they may be able to benefit from that, but there is just as much chance that even if they aim it at a Faithful, they aim it at the wrong one.

Ultimately, the strategy is simple: if they give it to someone else, it becomes out of their control, and if they keep control of it, they can guarantee a Faithful getting three votes.

If the Traitors succeed in their banishment, recruit Matthew or another Faithful, and then banish one more person, they will have won the game by becoming equal in numbers with the Faithful.

While the counterargument is that it becomes too obvious if they give it to themselves, 90% of this season has been people saying 'It would be too obvious if I were to do that, I’m not stupid', and they can just as easily be blamed for it whether they have the dagger or not.

Whatever decision they make the endgame of The Traitors is sure to be a fascinating watch.

The Traitors returns tomorrow night, January 21, on BBC One.