Who dies if Defenderer has the 2nd most votes?

Question

This is similar to a previous question of mine: Bodyguard vs Hunter

In this case, though, the problem comes about using the Defenderer role from One Night Ultimate Supervillain.

The rules for the role are that the Defenderer protects whoever they point to except in the case where the Defenderer herself has the most votes in which case the person she is pointing to is caught instead.

The situation we had was:

1. The Defenderer pointed to another player, let's call him Player 1
2. Player 1 received the most votes
3. Because Player 1 was protected by the Defenderer, the player with the 2nd most votes is caught
4. The player with the 2nd most votes is the Defenderer

I can see 3 possible ways of resolving this:

1. The Defenderer is caught because she can only act in one way or the other, not both,
2. Player 1 is caught because the Defenderer's only protects from being caught due to votes, not other abilities, or
3. The player with the 3rd most votes is caught

Which of these options is correct?

Answer 1

The rules for the Defenderer:

The rules for the role are that the Defenderer protects whoever they point to except in the case where the Defenderer herself has the most votes in which case the person she is pointing to is instead caught.

The situation:

• The Defenderer pointed to another player, let's call him Player 1.
• Player 1 received the most votes.
• The Defenderer has the second most votes.

The resolution:

1. The Defenderer does not have the most votes, so the exception does not apply.
2. Player 1 has the most votes, but he is protected by the Defenderer so Player 1 is not caught.
3. The player with the second most votes, the Defenderer, is next. So she is caught.