"The Ori used me to sneak one of their own over the border. This child is their way of cheating the ascended rulebook."
— Vala Mal Doran
The team are left scattered in the wake of the first Ori incursion into the Milky Way; Carter is still drifting in space, Teal'c is taken prisoner by the Lucian Alliance, Mitchell escapes the destruction of the Korolev in an F-302 and Daniel rings aboard one of the Ori warships. Vala gives birth to a daughter whom she christens Adria; the child begins to age rapidly and is revealed to be the Orici, a human with the knowledge of the Ori who will lead their armies to victory against the "unbelievers".
First appearance of Adria and last appearance of Colonel Chekov.
"Flesh and Blood" provides examples of the following tropes:
- Ace Pilot: Emerson praises Mitchell's flying skills after he successfully maneuvers Carter — who is still floating in space — onto the Odyssey while its beaming capabilities are offline.
- Almost Out of Oxygen: Carter mentions at the start of the episode that she only has a few hours of life support left in her spacesuit. There's a ship-wide concern for the Odyssey, as she's taking on survivors from the other destroyed ships and overtaxing her life support system.
- Badass in Distress: Teal'c is taken prisoner by the Lucian Alliance immediately after the Ori ships depart.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Vala, when attempting to scold Adria into "no leading of these ships and armies on a mass-murdering crusade. Or else!"
- Beware the Nice Ones: Daniel is typically the nicest guy in the room. His main regret at the end of the episode is not killing Adria, a visibly 8 year old child, in cold blood. Granted, she is the superpowered Dark Messiah of a Religion of Evil, so he's arguably justified.
- Blatant Lies:Adria: Contrary to what [the Ancients] told you, the Ori most certainly do ascend their followers, and the Ancients are the ones sapping energy from humans in this galaxy to empower themselves.
- Calvinball: A variation. When Mitchell complains about how Adria's Loophole Abuse is technically cheating, Daniel (i.e. the resident expert on the Others) admits the Ascended Rulebook's getting a little hard to understand at this point. Mitchell thinks there isn't really a one.
- The Cavalry: Bra'tac arrives with three motherships to drive the Lucian Alliance away as they're about to fire on the Odyssey.
- Chekhov's Gun: Although Vasir fails to fix the Asgard beaming technology in time to save Carter, it does come in handy for a last second rescue of Teal'c.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Netan tortures Teal'c, coldly noting that he's only doing so because he's angry over the damage done to his forces and causing pain will make him feel better.
- Continuity Nod:
- Woolsey claims that the IOA are considering taking the ZPM from Atlantis to power the Ancient control chair in case the Ori decide to attack Earth.
- Vala mentions that the Prior's powers only work if their concentration is focused.
- Continuity Overlap: The Season premiere takes place just prior to the events of the Stargate Atlantis episodes "Allies" and "No Man's Land". This (and Woolsey's appearance in the next episode) explains in-universe why Woolsey's already present at SGC when Weir's forced to return to Earth.
- Atlantis reciprocates the Overlap on their end, using the Ori Crusade and the Battle of the Supergate to justify why the SGC has no ships available to intercept the inbound Wraith Hives.
- Contrived Coincidence: Not only does Daniel manage to ring aboard the same Ori ship that Vala happens to be on, he also finds her remarkably quickly given the size of the ship.
- Creepy Child: Adria definitely counts, with her red-gold eyes and formal, emotionless way of talking about destroying the unbelievers.
- Dark Messiah: It's revealed that Vala's daughter is the "Orici", destined to lead the crusade to victory with the powers and knowledge of the Ori in the body of a human.
- Darkest Hour: Made clear by Mitchell's rather depressing speech at the end of the episode, as the team are gathered in the Odyssey's infirmary after their most crushing defeat yet.Mitchell: In a war you got two sides fighting; all we have is a lot of winning by the bad guys. They have troops and ships in our territory and a supergate to bring in more any time they need 'em.Carter: I remember when we first opened the gate: the Goa'uld had total domination over the galaxy and massive technological superiority over us. A lot of people didn't think we had a chance.Mitchell: I'm not saying we should give up. I'll fight to my dying breath. I just think we need a new plan... A damn good one.
- Dead Guy Junior: Vala christens her daughter "Adria", claiming it was her mother's name. She later tells Daniel that it was actually the name of her stepmother, a "witch of a woman".
- Didn't Think This Through: When Woolsey tells Landry the IOA's 'Bring back the Atlantis ZPM to Defend Earth' plan, the General rightly points out the crucial flaw of said plan. As the SGC can't open a wormhole to Pegasus on their end, it would take over a month and a hyperspace capable ship (which they don't have access to now thanks to the Ori invasion) to reach Pegasus and make the round trip (or 18 days for Daedalus, which is already on station at Atlantis due to events over in the spinoff). And even if the ZPM could be brought back in enough time, the Ori are on the same technological levels as the Ancients at their peak. There's no guarantee the Antarctic outpost's weapons would be effective against the Ori Motherships.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Vala resorts to this to distract Tomin before he can realize an enemy of the Crusade (Daniel) is chatting with her in their quarters.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Vala urging Daniel to hide under her bed so Tomin doesn't see him is awfully reminiscent of two people having an affair trying to avoid being caught by the wronged spouse.
- Doomed Hometown: For Teal'c and Bra'tac, as the Ori swiftly stage an invasion of Chulak.
- Dressing as the Enemy: Daniel dresses as an Ori soldier to avoid detection on the ship.
- Fauxdian Slip:Landry: (to Woolsey, about the IOA) You know, if I had the salaries they pay those idiot blowhard politicians to put into my budget... I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?
- Flashback: Used to show how Mitchell and Daniel escaped from the Korolev before it was destroyed.
- Genetic Memory: Adria claims that the knowledge of the Ori is contained within her genetic code, bringing her up to speed with the current situation despite the fact that she's only a few hours old.
- Healing Hands: Adria heals Vala after she gives birth, and then again when Tomin accidentally shoots her with his staff weapon.
- History Repeats: At the end of the episode, Carter more or less observes that despite all of Earth's advances, the SGC is basically and ironically right back where they started with the Goa'uld a decade earlier: Up against a nightmarish, technologically superior alien foe and with laughable odds of actually being able to beat them.
- Honor Before Reason: Bra'tac attempts to ram the group's ha'tak into an Ori mothership over Chulak in a desperate attempt to at least try and destroy it, rather than retreating. Mitchell subverts this for him by having him beamed to the Odyssey along with SG-1. Tellingly, the ramming does nothing.
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Informed Wrongness: Landry is very dismissive of IOA plan to bring the Atlantis ZPM to Earth to power the Ancient weapon on the basis that it’ll take some time to put into effect and might not work. Landry’s plan is to just hope the Ori don’t attack Earth. - Insufferable Genius: The Asgard Kvasir.
- Killed Off for Real: It seems reasonable to assume that this is Colonel Chekov's fate following the destruction of the Korolev; it's mentioned that six unidentified people managed to beam off the ship and we don't see him die, but he's never seen or mentioned again.
- Loophole Abuse: The Ori use Adria, a human with most of their powers and knowledge, to get around the ascended non-interference clause that keeps them from interfering directly in the mortal plane.
- Lost in Transmission: Teal'c's message to the Odyssey at the beginning of the episode, which cuts out abruptly as he's taken prisoner by Netan.
- Mega-Maw Maneuver: Mitchell pulls one of these, using the open docking bay of the Odyssey to "swallow" Carter onto the ship while she's free-floating in space.
- Old-School Dogfighting: The Ori vs. the Jaffa over Chulak.
- Outrun the Fireball: Mitchell outflies the fireball from the Korolev exploding after he escapes in an F-302, though the percussive force of the explosion briefly knocks him unconscious.
- Ramming Always Works: Subverted; Bra'tac sets a ha'tak on a collision course with one of the Ori motherships over Chulak, with the heroes beaming out before it hits, but it just crashes into the shield and causes no damage whatsoever to the ship itself.
- Rapid Aging: Adria ages several years every time Vala sees her, going from a newborn baby to a preteen in the space of a few hours.Vala: I'd heard that children grow up quickly, but this is ridiculous!
- Spare a Messenger: The Ori don't slaughter the survivors of the battle, as their main goal is conversion not annihilation. And they want the survivors to spread the word about how unstoppable the Ori are.
- She Is All Grown Up: Lampshaded by Vala, who comments that if Adria continues growing at the current rate and takes after her mother, "Origin is about to become a lot more appealing to the males of the galaxy."
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Like the Harsesis, Adria was sired by evil beings claiming to be gods and is born with their Genetic Memory.
- Taking the Bullet: Vala takes a staff blast meant for Daniel after Adria orders Tomin to kill him.
- The Main Characters Do Everything: Mitchell apparently knows how to expertly helm the Odyssey, a gigantic space vessel that operates more like a naval ship than the fighters that Mitchell's background is in. He takes over the helm control from Marks, whose only purpose as a character is to drive the ship.
- Where It All Began: Bra'tac suggests that this is the reason for the Ori attacking Chulak first, since it's where the Jaffa rebellion against the Goa'uld first started.
- "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Vala hopes to invoke this with Adria, insisting that part of her is still a human girl that wants approval from her mother, and there must be some way they can use that to their advantage.Vala: She has the knowledge of ascended beings, twisted though it may be, but I sense that there is a part of her that is just like any other kid that wants her mother's approval, so I'm hoping I can use that somehow. I mean, why else would she care what I think, right?
- Where's the Kaboom?: Bra'tac and SG-1 use the rings to transport a nuke onboard an Ori mothership. After a few seconds, they remark the bomb should have detonated by now. It is never directly confirmed why the bomb didn't explode, but events seen later suggest a prior used his powers to stop it.
- Would Hurt a Child: Discussed; Daniel claims that he should have shot Adria when he had the chance, but Carter doesn't think he has it in him.Carter: Daniel, you couldn't have killed a child!
Daniel: She's not a child. She's an Ori in the body of a human.
