Tropes in this episode:
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Ezra leads the crew through the sewers so they can get into the old Republic Senate building undetected. Ezra notes that, thanks to the Empire, the sewers practically have no water and are fairly easy to traverse.
- Apologetic Attacker: Ezra has to roughly tackle his way past Zare when the Stormtroopers show up since Zare needs to keep up his cover. He apologizes just before the hit.
- Attack Reflector: Kanan is trying to teach Ezra to accurately deflect blaster bolts. Ezra can manage the deflection part, but isn't so good at returning it to its source. When he has his vision, however, he riddled the Stormtrooper helmet they were using as a target full of holes.
- Batman Gambit: Hera picks up on hints that Trayvis is lying and does a simple but effective test by giving him an uncharged pistol. She notes that "any rebel knows when they're holding an uncharged pistol".
- Blatant Lies: After Ezra notices that Trayvis has tired out surprisingly quickly for someone used to running from the Empire, Trayvis tries to pass it off by claiming he's never had to run through a sewer before, and that he's never been quite so close to capture before. Hera later lists this as one of the things that made her suspicious of Trayvis' true allegiance.
- Bookends: In Trayvis' first appearance, the Ghost crew is lured into an Imperial trap, but manage to escape planning to spread the word so the Empire can't use it again. In this episode, the same thing happens — only this time they blow Trayvis' cover instead.
- Brick Joke: After Stormtroopers seal up the sewer tunnel that the crew left Chopper to guard, he uses his saw to remove the sealant. He's still using his saw (and has made no progress) by the time Kanan uses his lightsaber to cut the door open from below.
- Broken Pedestal: Both Ezra and Hera towards Trayvis, once they realize he is really an Imperial agent and that everything he spoke for was a lie designed to trap potential Rebel cells before they could get off the ground.
- Call-Back: Kallus remembers that Ezra gave his fake name as Jabba back in the pilot.
- Chekhov's Gunman: After appearing as a hologram in two prior episodes ("Rise of the Old Masters" and "Empire Day") Senator Gall Trayvis finally shows up in person.
- Code Name: Chopper's name turns out to be based on his serial number: C1-10P.
- Comeback Tomorrow: Invoked Trope when the Ghost crew are fleeing stormtroopers through the sewer. They have to split up, and Sabine jokes that she will track the others via their smell. Ezra is searching for an appropriate retort only for Hera to curtly tell him to think of a comeback later as they don't have time.
- Comically Missing the Point: As they're making their way through the sewers, Zeb complains about the smell, and Sabine jokes that it matches Ezra's scent. Ezra's takeaway from this?Ezra: Wait, you know what I smell like?
- Confirmation Bias: In-Universe. Kanan warns Ezra that he's likely only seeing what he wants to see in his visions, saying it could be trying to tell him something else. Ezra doesn't listen, and the Prophetic Fallacy happens.
- Continuity Nod: Kallus rather sarcastically calls Ezra "Padawan Jabba", a reference to the first episode, when he was interrogating Ezra in the Lawbringer's detention cell and Ezra responded sarcastically with "Jabba the Hutt" when asked for his name.
- Death Glare: Right before they leave, Ezra takes a moment to glare back at Trayvis. Hera's also glaring before she knocks him out.
- Dramatic Irony: Kanan has trouble getting Ezra to focus on the lesson because Ezra's mind is constantly on the near future, so he tells him to focus on the moment. Ezra then has a vision and wakes up to find that, while he was seeing the future, he deflected every single shot into the target.
- Fainting Seer: Ezra passes out while having a vision.
- False Flag Operation: The ISB is the one actually broadcasting the Voice of the Resistance.
- Fantastic Racism: When they first meet, Kallus comments on Hera's being a Twi'lek with an obvious sneer.
- Foreshadowing:
- The HoloNet broadcast that Trayvis' transmission interrupts is of Minister Tua making a statement that the rebels will soon be caught. Take particular notice of where in Tua's speech the transmission was interrupted:Tua: The insurgents terrorizing our world will soon be brought to justice. I have assurances from— [transmission hijacked by Trayvis]
- Kanan's concerned that the coded messages Trayvis puts in his broadcasts are too simple, and that the Empire could easily figure them out.
- When the Imperials first arrive, Trayvis suggests that the Ghost crew surrender, rather than encouraging them to fight.
- If you watch very closely, you'll see that not only does Trayvis have a look of disgust on his face when Ezra and Hera help him to his feet in the sewer, but he also brushes off his clothes in the exact same areas where they touched him when they're not looking.
- The HoloNet broadcast that Trayvis' transmission interrupts is of Minister Tua making a statement that the rebels will soon be caught. Take particular notice of where in Tua's speech the transmission was interrupted:
- Gun Twirling: Sabine twirls her blasters to holster them.
- Hope Spot: Looks like the Ghost crew has a new ally in the form of the senator, right? Nope.
- I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: Chopper suffers a couple near-misses in this episode. During his deflection training, Ezra nearly wings him with a stun bolt. Later, when Chopper's trying to cut open a sewer hatch the Stormtroopers welded shut, Kanan nearly impales him with his lightsaber when he cuts it open from the other side. Chopper is displeased, to say the least.
- It Works Better with Bullets: Trayvis tries to shoot Hera after showing his true colors, but it turns out that the blaster was not charged, and Hera proceeds to knock his ass out.
- Jurisdiction Friction: There's a hint of it between Kallus and the Grand Inquisitor. He thinks the Grand Inquisitor is overly focused on capturing the Jedi, to the detriment of actually capturing the Rebels as a whole. When he has the opportunity to set a trap for them, he does so without involving the Inquisitor, believing he can get the whole group then hand over the Jedi. This also applies to Minister Tua and the other Inquisitors.
- The Load: Gall Trayvis slows the team down with his complaining and tendency to get exhausted. Turns out this was intentional; he was only acting that way so Kallus could catch up to them.
- Lured into a Trap: Just like Trayvis' first appearance. And just like back then, the Ghost crew escapes to spread the word about said trap.
- Meaningful Background Event: Ezra's Trying Not to Cry in the background while Hera faces down Trayvis.
- The Mole: Trayvis turns out to be one.
- Mythology Gag:
- Ezra's vision has the same effects on the edges of the screen as Anakin's visions of Padmé's death in Revenge of the Sith, Ahsoka's visions about Aurra Sing targeting Padmé in The Clone Wars episode "Assassin", and Asajj Ventress' Troubled Backstory Flashback in "Nightsisters".
- After finding the senator's shuttle absent from its pad, followed by an Imperial shuttle rising up to greet them, Kanan references one of the most iconic scenes of A New Hope.Kanan: And, that's not the ride we were looking for.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: If Kallus had followed standard protocol for a Trayvis meeting, they could have attempted to follow the Ghost crew and capture them without blowing his cover.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Kanan tries to teach Ezra how to deflect blaster bolts by making Zeb, Sabine and Chopper fire at him, and he has to reflect it back at a stormtrooper helmet, which he seems unable to do. Then his vision starts, which is shown to the audience. What's not shown is that, during the vision, Ezra managed to reflect every single blaster bolt fired at him by the three right back at the helmet, leaving it charred black. Without even being conscious of it. He initially thinks he got stunned and passed out, but Kanan tells him what he did and how impressive it was.
- Oh, Crap!: Kallus when he realizes that Trayvis blew his cover.
- Plausible Deniability: This is how Trayvis can scope out Rebel cells without anyone being the wiser. Usually, he only gets a line on them, allowing the Empire to watch them and potentially take them out later. He's only forced to reveal himself this time because the crew of the Ghost has proven particularly troublesome.
- Properly Paranoid: Kanan thinks Trayvis' coded message is too simple and the Imperials are likely to catch on. After Ezra checks in with Zare, his paranoia is justified.
- Prophetic Fallacy: Ezra has a Force vision early in the episode of him and the rest of the crew saving Senator Trayvis from the Imperials and the Senator telling Bridger that his parents were very brave. What ends up happening instead is that Trayvis reveals himself as an Imperial agent after they seemed to have escaped, and his praise of Ezra's parents is followed by deriding them as foolish. Kanan actually tried to warn him of this, but at the time Ezra was too excited to really listen.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Trayvis is astonished to learn that the Phantom crew are alone on Lothal, given how much trouble they've brought the Empire on the planet. Of course, Hera made it a point not to tell him about Fulcrum.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Trayvis gives one to Ezra about his parents, saying that he joined the Empire to survive, that Ezra's parents should have too if they had valued his and their lives, and that their rebellious nature brought them nothing but suffering. Hera promptly shuts him up.
- Secret Police: The Imperial Security Bureau and COMPNOR figure heavily in this episode, and it provides a chillingly realistic portrayal of how such organizations operate to stamp out dissidents.
- Shout-Out: After waking up from his vision, Ezra tells the Ghost crew, "You were there... and you were there!"
- Spotting the Thread: Hera picks up on Trayvis' suspicious actions which he tries to play off, and ultimately gets the better of him.
- Voice of the Resistance: Subverted. This voice of resistance is merely a ploy to entrap Rebel cells by the ISB.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: A pretty brutal one at that; just as Ezra was starting to have real hope for the Rebellion he finds out one of his idols, the Voice of the Resistance no less, is actually an Imperial Agent. Needless to say, Ezra's faith in the cause and self-confidence take a beating.
