Always Night: Umbara is perpetually shrouded in darkness.
Arc Villain: General Krell serves the role as the true antagonist of this story arc after the Separatist Alliance.
Avenging the Villain: For Senator Mee Deechi since he was murdered by Lolo Purrs, and Sly Moore, Palpatine's secretary. note Although she does not appear in the series, despite being from the planet itself.
Cerebus Syndrome: The Umbara arc is almost completely devoid of the traditional humor inherent to Star Wars, and lacks any real "breaks" from the harsh realities of the Clone Wars. The third installment is comparatively Lighter and Softer than its sibling episodes but there's still a heavy foreboding atmosphere which persists throughout.
A Day in the Limelight: This arc focuses on the troopers of the 501st legion, with Rex and Fives serving as the main characters.
Demoted to Extra: Obi-Wan and Anakin make appearances at the beginning of "Darkness on Umbara", and then are kicked offstage, with Anakin disappearing for the rest of the arc and Obi-Wan only making cameo appearances.
Fantastic Flora: Umbara's surface is blanketed by strange plants with leafless, twisting stems dotted with luminescent patches.
Fantastic Racism: Krell loathes the clone troopers and refuses to call them by their names or even acknowledge them as something beyond soldiers to be thrown at a problem.
Glowing Flora: Umbara's native trees bear various rectangular or circular patches on their trunks, as well as pronged, trident-like structures on top of taller stems, that glow with lilac or red light, making them easily visible in the planet's perpetual night.
Killed Off for Real: Hardcase, who popped up for a brief time in season 2, and Waxer, who had a couple of episodes where he was in the spotlight, meet their ends in this arc, with Hardcase sacrificing himself to save his brothers and Waxer dying senselessly when he's gunned down in a friendly-fire incident.
Mid-Season Upgrade: This arc properly introduces the Phase II armor for the Republic Clone Army as a result of the third season marking the transition of The Clone Wars into the aesthetic that is seen in Revenge of the Sith.
Ahsoka doesn't appear in this story arc at all, presumably because it's so dark and serious that she wouldn't fit well with it. She does appear in the opening narration in "Darkness on Umbara", however, and was presumably off-screen in the space battle for most of the story arc.
Despite Umbara being a Separatist-aligned planet, no comedic B1 Battle Droids appear in the arc whatsoever. Given the Darker and Edgier story, they wouldn't fit well in it.
Downplayed with Jesse and Hardcase. The duo get some good cracks in, but Jesse also spends a good chunk of his screen time being deathly serious, and Hardcase's comically violent tendencies end with him dramatically sacrificing himself to turn the tide in favor of the Republic.
War Is Hell: The battle featured in this story arc is among the harshest battles shown in The Clone Wars.
