* HarsherInHindsight: It's bad enough when we learn that Eloise's reward for wining the contest is to serve the Tripods in their City. It's even worse when we learn that she serves them [[spoiler: as a stuffed specimen.]]
* SerialNumbersFiledOff: The Tripods are inspired by the fighting machines from ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', as is the appearance of the Masters as giant tentacled heads.
* TakeThat: ''When the Tripods Came'' is supposed to have been inspired by an actual critic complaining that the Tripods could only scan in the visible light region.