So, Sam's powers never came from demon blood (according to Ruby)...

[SVfan26]

Or put another way, he was born with his powers - the demon blood just enhanced them.

That could make for some pretty interesting ramifications for next season, if Ruby wasn't lying yet again.

[Lexgirl33]

What I got from it was that it was all a mind game. She made him think he needed it but he didn't. It had no affect on him physically, it was all a mental.

[TheANIMAL (marcus)]

Well we already knew this because of Jake from Season 2, yes?

[Lexgirl33]

Totally misread what you typed...Sam wasn't born with them, YED bled into his mouth to make him "special"

[TheANIMAL (marcus)]

Yes but Rubie's blood didn't really do anything; only Azazel's blood did the trick.

[Lexgirl33]

Yup!

[SVfan26]

Hmm... I took what Ruby said as that even the Azazel blood in baby Sam's mouth wasn't even needed, Sam was just born naturally with the powers he has.

But Azazel's "blood-drops starter kit" makes complete sense too.

[He Who Lurks]

So far, what I've pieced together leads me to believe that there was something special about Sam even before Azazel fed him his blood. Lucifer said that he needed a special child to free himself. If the demon blood is what made him special, then Azazel could have just picked any random kid. Why go to all the trouble of the whole tournament-style elimination rounds if it was the demon blood? No, I think that the whole "feeding kids demon blood" thing was to find the special child that Lucifer needed. He knew that Lucifer needed a certain type of kid, but he didn't know who it was exactly, so he had to go to certain lengths to pare down the contenders, until he had just one. Feeding the kids his blood did something, obviously. Maybe it strengthened their powers, or tied their powers to Azazel or the demons somehow. Or maybe it just gave Azazel some measure of power over them. Maybe that's how he abducted them to Cold Oaks.

It would also explain the whole "Croatoan" thing. The demon told his boss (probably Azazel) that Sam was immune to the virus. Could that be why Sam was Azazel's "favorite"? Was the whole Croatoan incident to find out if Sam could be the one he needed?

[SupermanRox]

So far, what I've pieced together leads me to believe that there was something special about Sam even before Azazel fed him his blood. Lucifer said that he needed a special child to free himself. If the demon blood is what made him special, then Azazel could have just picked any random kid. Why go to all the trouble of the whole tournament-style elimination rounds if it was the demon blood? No, I think that the whole "feeding kids demon blood" thing was to find the special child that Lucifer needed. He knew that Lucifer needed a certain type of kid, but he didn't know who it was exactly, so he had to go to certain lengths to pare down the contenders, until he had just one. Feeding the kids his blood did something, obviously. Maybe it strengthened their powers, or tied their powers to Azazel or the demons somehow. Or maybe it just gave Azazel some measure of power over them. Maybe that's how he abducted them to Cold Oaks.

It would also explain the whole "Croatoan" thing. The demon told his boss (probably Azazel) that Sam was immune to the virus. Could that be why Sam was Azazel's "favorite"? Was the whole Croatoan incident to find out if Sam could be the one he needed?

This is the impression that I got too while watching the whole story unfold. I think that Sam was special before he drank Azazel's blood. I think that Azazel's "blood-drops starter kit" (good phrase) may have been the catalyst that started Sam's special powers. The powers were perhaps dormant before and might would have stayed that way had he not dranki Azazel's blood.

[WhamBamThankUSam]

What I took from it was that he overall didn't need the extra demon blood to get those powers, however, he needed the blood to make his powers strong enough to take on Lillith, who would presumably hold more power than Sam would have without the demon blood. Thoughts?