"Look, we can point fingers all we want, but the fact is we're stuck together. So like it or not, we're just gonna have to learn to get along."
— Vala Mal Doran
After Daniel and Vala discover that they're still linked together despite having removed the kor mak bracelets, they decide to get some answers from Arlos Kadawam, the man she stole the bracelets from in the first place. Unfortunately, Arlos wants something in exchange for the information, and the team end up cutting a series of increasingly difficult deals with various people Vala has conned over the years.
First appearance of the Lucian Alliance.
"The Ties That Bind" provides examples of the following tropes:
- Affectionate Pickpocket: Vala asks Daniel for a parting hug before she leaves at the beginning of the episode in order to steal back the artifact he's just confiscated from her.
- Badass Longcoat: Mitchell, Daniel and Teal'c all wear long duster-style coats while posing as traders.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: When Daniel is seeing Vala off during the opening scene:Vala: Came to see me off. That's sweet.Daniel: Well, we've been through a lot together and I just wanted to come here myself and make sure you were... thoroughly searched.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Walter trying to make sure Landry keeps on top of his paperwork.
- Blatant Lies: Played with. Though she doesn't literally lie, Vala gets mad at Daniel for assuming she obtained the bracelets by dishonest means...when she'd stolen them and had already told him that.
- Bumbling Henchmen Duo: Tenat and Jup, the two incompetent smugglers Vala tried to sell the Prometheus to in her first appearance.
- Cargo Cult: One of the team's stops includes a monastery where the worshippers pay their respects to faulty power coil that Vala supplied, claiming it was an object of religious significance.
- Chain of Deals: The basic premise of the episode has the team cutting a series of deals with people Vala has conned over the years in order to find out how to sever the residual link between her and Daniel.
- Chekhov's Gun: Caius states that he needs his ship back because of a series of custom modifications that he made to it, which come in handy when the team has to escape from Lucian Alliance.
- Compensating for Something: Vala suggests that the reason the Chairman of the Appropriations Board is so eager to build more ships is because he's compensating for an "insufficient manhood". Landry is not amused.
- Confession Deferred: Inverted. Vala tries to make Dr. Jackson believe that she acquired the kor mak bracelets through legal means. She forgot she's already told him she stole them.Dr. Jackson: He's the guy you stole the bracelets from, right?
Vala: How dare you assume that I acquired those bracelets through anything but honest means! I may have a less-than-perfect reputation -
Dr. Jackson: You told me you stole them!
Vala: I did?
Dr. Jackson: Yes! - Continuity Nod:
- Tenat and Jup still have a grudge against Daniel and Vala after the events of "Prometheus Unbound".
- Daniel complains that if it wasn't for Vala he would be in the Pegasus galaxy by now.
- Dangerous Phlebotinum Interaction: Dr. Lee speculates that the lingering bond between Daniel and Vala even after they've removed the bracelets could be due to an interaction with the Ancient communication device.
- Fetch Quest: The entire premise of the episode.
- Gunpoint Banter: Mitchell chatting to Jup about football while they're pointing guns at each other.Mitchell: So who you liking in the NFL this year? You kinda strike me as a Raiders fan.
- Hauled Before a Senate Subcommittee: Landry, Teal'c, Daniel and Vala are brought before the Senate Appropriations Committee to try and justify keeping the program at its current level of operation due to plans to slash their budget by 70%.
- Hero of Another Story: "Hero" may be a stretch- but it's implied that one of the guys in the Chain of Deals (the one who wants the obsolete power coil back) needs the item for his own chain of deals.
- Humanizing Tears: Subverted and lampshaded by Vala when Daniel rejects her offer of sex and delivers a fairly cutting analysis of her character. She starts crying and talking about her Dark and Troubled Past, and Daniel is genuinely remorseful until he realizes halfway through his apology that she's putting it on.Daniel: Are you messin' with me?Vala: Is it working?Daniel: Get out. Go.
- Ignore the Fanservice: Daniel's response to finding a scantily-clad Vala in his bed is to order her out of his room so he can sleep.
- I'm Standing Right Here: When Dr. Lee is trying to figure out a way to sever the link between Daniel and Vala:Vala: This is a waste of time.Daniel: Shut up.Vala: It's not like I wanted this to happen. Anyway, I'm being realistic, he has no idea what he's doing.Lee: I'm standing right here.
- Kicked Upstairs: Referenced when Landry threatens to promote Walter so that he can go to meetings in his place.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The Pentagon wants to shift focus from the SGC, which has effectively wrapped up the Goa'uld and Replicator threats, and put more emphasis on the Atlantis expedition which promises much better return on investment. The chairman at the hearing sarcastically points out that this new Ori threat has conveniently come out of nowhere just as the SGC is becoming irrelevant.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Most of the interaction between Daniel and Vala, who are well and truly sick of being stuck with each other by this point.
- May–December Romance: Vala's apparent past relationship with Arlos, the old man she stole the bracelets from, though she was using him in order to steal said bracelets.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Jup claims that Mitchell can trust him and Tenat to uphold their end of the bargain as they have a reputation to uphold, only for Tenat to reveal to Daniel and Vala that they plan to screw him over. Fortunately, the team expected this, and came prepared.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: The Senate Appropriations Committee only seem to be interested in funding the Atlantis project and the development of new ships and refuse to take the Ori threat seriously after eight years of fighting the Goa'uld.
- Ready for Lovemaking: Vala tries to seduce Daniel by waiting in his bed and throwing back the covers when he enters the room to reveal her skimpy pink nightwear.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Daniel gives one to Vala after rejecting her advances.Daniel: I know what you're doing, with the whole "sexual" thing, it's a defense mechanism.Vala: Really?Daniel: Yeah. You live a solitary existence, you move from place to place, you never form any lasting relationships, you use sex as a weapon to prevent yourself from forming any real emotional bonds.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: After the team succeed in completing a series of ever-more dangerous deals to get the necklace that Vala stole back to Arlos, he reveals that he has no idea how to sever the link between Daniel and Vala, but he suspects it will eventually fade by itself.
- Space Pirates: The Lucian Alliance, who Vala describes as a "coalition of former smugglers and mercenaries who've banded together to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the demise of the Goa'uld".
- Stock Footage: The Establishing Shot for Arlos Kadawam's homeworld is recycled from "The Broca Divide". Similarly, Inago's planet is established with a stock shot from "Need".
- Too Much Information: Arlos describing his torrid love affair with Vala to Daniel and Mitchell.Arlos: I remember it like it was yesterday. Some nights, we would steal away from the city, strip off our clothing and bathe in the springs of our garden. We would chase one another across the mossy hills and then... lie naked under Edora's moons and Vala would—Mitchell: Okay! That's great, thanks. We got the picture. The very vivid, very disturbing picture.
- Volleying Insults:Inago: Vala. You cowardly, back-stabbing, sorry excuse for a woman. How have you been?Vala: Inago. You filthy, double-talking slug. Nice to see you too.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: It looks like Daniel might finally be about to catch a break when Vala leaves without complication at the beginning of the episode, but obviously it's not going to be that easy.
- You Remind Me of X: Teal'c states that Mitchell sometimes reminds him of O'Neill. Mitchell replies that he's going to take that as a compliment; Teal'c doesn't seem so sure.
