"Evil has raised a great many unbelievers in a far-off place. They must be shown the Path."
— The Doci
Daniel and Vala learn of a new threat posed by the Ori, a race of ascended beings that force people to worship them or die, and who waste no time in sending their missionaries to spread the word of Origin in the Milky Way after learning of its existence from the duo. Meanwhile, General Landry meets with Gerak, the newly-elected leader of the Free Jaffa Nation, who Teal'c distrusts for his traditionalist ways.
"Origin" provides examples of the following tropes:
- Arc Words: "Hallowed are the Ori."
- As the Good Book Says...: Mitchell interrupts a Prior's sermon with a Bible quotation:Mitchell: "And a man has no greater thing under the sun than to eat, drink and be merry." Ecclesiastes, my favorite. My grandma was a bit of a Bible-thumper.
- Blatant Lies: Vala trying to persuade the Priors that she's converted to Origin as she and Daniel are dragged off to be executed.Vala: The Ori are great! I love the Ori! I'm a believer! What's the matter with you people? I'm telling you, I've seen the light! (to Daniel) I don't think they're buying it.Daniel: Well, I've heard you do better.
- Bring It: General Landry's response to the Ori threat.Landry: Let 'em bring it. We'll use our strengths against their weaknesses. That's a pretty good strategy for any kind of business you're in.
- Burn the Witch!: Both Daniel and Vala are burned at the altar this time around, though fortunately Mitchell and Teal'c manage to destroy the Ancient communication device and get them back in their own bodies before any permanent damage is done.
- Call-Back: Mitchell states that Teal'c is keeping count of how many times SG-1 has saved the world, and mentions it quite often.
- Commuting on a Bus: O'Neill briefly shows up at the end to give Daniel a pep talk and take Mitchell flying, though this is his last appearance for some time.
- Conflicting Loyalty: One of Gerak's followers accuses Teal'c of being torn between his loyalty to the Tau'ri and his loyalty to the Jaffa, despite Landry pointing out that they're all on the same side.
- The Confidant: After his experiences in the Ori galaxy, Daniel confides in O'Neill and says that he's actually scared for the first time ever, though he'd never admit it to anybody else.
- Continuity Nod: Daniel tells O'Neill that Mitchell wasn't too appreciative of his last "surprise".
- Destruction Equals Off-Switch: When all other attempts fail to deactivate the communication device and it appears that Vala and Daniel are about to die, Mitchell and Teal'c hurl the device into the unstable vortex of the activating stargate, forcibly severing the connection.
- Evil Counterpart: The Ori are this for the Ancients; both are powerful ascended beings, but the Ori use their power to force humans to worship them.
- Evil Power Vacuum: Gets discussed quite a bit, with various characters pointing out that there will be plenty of opportunists looking to rise to power following the collapse of the Goa'uld empire.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Fannis risks being exposed as a heretic in order to help Daniel and Vala, claiming that he's long known he might be killed for rebelling against the Ori.
- Holy City: Daniel and Vala are taken to Celestis, the "City of the Gods".
- It's All My Fault/Never My Fault: Daniel and Vala's respective reactions to finding out that they've alerted the Ori to the presence of humans in the Milky Way; Daniel's guilt complex kicks in immediately, whereas Vala refuses to accept responsibility for the situation.Daniel: The problem is, the Ori now know our galaxy is inhabited by humans because of us!Vala: I refuse to accept the blame for that. Curiosity is part of human nature!
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Vala displays her softer side for the first time and is clearly horrified by the actions of the Ori. She also makes good on her promise and removes the kor mak bracelets from Daniel and herself at the end of the episode.
- Loophole Abuse: The Ori are unable to directly interfere with the mortal plane without breaking the ascended non-interference clause and risking the wrath of the Ancients, but they get around the problem by bestowing the otherwise-human Priors with special powers to do their bidding.
- The Missionary: The Ori waste no time in sending Priors out into the Milky Way to spread the word of Origin after learning of its existence from Daniel and Vala.
- New Era Speech: The Doci gives one of these at the end of the episode.Doci: Great holy armies shall be gathered and trained to fight all who embrace evil. In the name of the gods ships shall be built to carry our warriors out amongst the stars, and we will spread Origin to all the unbelievers. The power of the Ori will be felt far and wide, and the wicked shall be vanquished.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Daniel and Vala's meddling alerts the Ori to the fact that there are humans living in the Milky Way, which had previously been shielded from them by the Ancients, causing them to launch a crusade. On a smaller scale, their actions also lead to Harrid and Sallis, the two presumably-innocent villagers whose bodies they inhabit during their time in the Ori galaxy - being burned for heresy.
- Path of Inspiration: Origin is frequently referred to as the "Path to Enlightenment" and purports to help its followers achieve ascension.
- Psychic Strangle: One of the Priors kills Fannis this way after he's discovered helping Daniel and Vala.
- Quote-to-Quote Combat: Landry and Gerak engage in this while they're sizing each other up during their first meeting, with Landry quoting George Washington and Gerak quoting a Jaffa leader who he killed.
- Sacred Scripture: Daniel spends some time studying the Book of Origin.
- Shout-Out:
- Spontaneous Human Combustion: The Prior who comes to Earth bursts into flame in the middle of the briefing room once Landry makes it clear that he won't be allowed to leave the base.
- Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: Discussed; Daniel states that while he won't deny the Ori are immensely powerful, that doesn't make them gods, to which the Doci responds that what is a god if not a being of great power that's worshipped by the masses.
- Tempting Apple: Vala rather suggestively bites into an apple and offers it to Daniel while he's reading from the Book of Origin, evoking imagery from a certain other holy book.Vala: What? I'm starving.
- They Killed Kenny Again: Daniel's physical body suffers a brief, clinical death when his consciousness in Harrid is burned, though his life signs come back on their own once the communication device is destroyed. Vala managing to temporarily die for the second time in as many episodes is also noteworthy.
- Touched by Vorlons: The administrator is turned into a Prior when he looks on the holy fires of Celestis at the end of the episode.
- Willing Channeler: The Doci allows the Ori to briefly take control of his body so that they can speak directly to Daniel.
- Wham Episode: The formal introduction of the Ori dramatically increases the show's HSQ following the defeat of the Goa'uld and the replicators in the previous season.
