As "Miz's" influence grows among the Irken Empire's population, Secret Police forces are sent to the Massive to root out infiltration.
- Alien Arts Are Appreciated: A small clique among the Irkens are shown to enjoy cultural material from other species; Senior in particular leads a club dedicated to sharing their love of human things like comic books and movies. It's noted that this is frowned upon, but isn't strictly illegal.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Darth shoots down Wiyn's claims of perfection by sharing a saying he'd heard regarding how belief in perfection leads to stagnation, she sneeringly calls it nonsense and demands to know where he heard it from. He responds that it was from the late Tallest Miyuki, who all Irkens revere, which immediately shuts Wiyn up.
- Assassination Attempt: When the Consulars come aboard the Massive in search of Miz devotees among its ranks, said devotees attempt to kill them by means of first Continuous Decompression, and then smashing them with docking equipment when that fails.
- Beneath Suspicion: It's shown that there's an entire cell of Miz supporters aboard the Massive, able to operate beneath the Tallest's radar due to their low ranks and the fact that the Tallest refuse to believe anyone would rebel against their authority.
- Black Market: There's one in the Irken Empire that specializes in smuggling cultural artifacts from non-Irken species. Senior and his club make use of it.
- Chekhov's Gun: Literally. Senior shows off a pair of revolvers he got from Earth to his club, and later uses them to disarm a Miz supporter that's trying to escape capture.
- A Day in the Limelight: This chapter focuses entirely on the crew of the Massive, both the Empire loyalists and the local New Order cell.
- Didn't Think This Through: The Tallest allow their service drones full access to their chambers, which is a potential security breach even when there isn't a rebellion going on.
- The Dreaded: The Consulars are this among the Irkens, thanks to their psychic powers making it nearly impossible to hide anything from them.
- Evil vs. Evil: Bob's New Order cell vs the Imperial loyalists.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Bob started as just a Table-Headed Service Drone, the very bottom of the Irken Empire's hierarchy. Now he's leader of a New Irken Order cell operating aboard the Massive itself underneath the Tallest's noses.
- Irony: The Tallest have come to love Earth snacks and video games, but haven't conquered the planet for them because of Zim's presence. Which means Zim being on Earth has actually prevented it being taken over by his people.
- The Man Behind the Man: The Control Brains make it clear that while the Tallest lead the Irken Empire, they rule it.
- Mean Boss: Wiyn is a Drill Sergeant Nasty who rides hard on her soldiers. That said, she values their lives and is just trying to get them to do their best.
- Parental Substitute: It's noted that Tallest Miyuki was as close to being Darth's mother as was possible for a race that doesn't biologically reproduce.
- The Perfectionist: The reason Wiyn drives her soldiers so hard is because she wants them to do their best, as she believes that the Irken Empire is perfect and therefore everyone in it has to be perfect too.
- Perfection Is Impossible: By contrast, Tallest Miyuki was a believer in this, according to Darth, who shares her favorite saying that striving for perfection drives you to do better, but thinking you're already perfect leads to stagnation.
- Pet the Dog:
- As aggressive and overbearing as she is, Wiyn cares for the lives of her soldiers.
- After Dite takes out the NIO operative who's trying to blow up the Massive's bridge crew, the Tallest give her the rest of the day off. She's underwhelmed by the reward, but considering the Tallest's usual attitude, it's saying something.
- Puppet King: Downplayed. The Tallest do have real power and lead the Empire militarily, but the Control Brains are the ones that actually rule the Empire, handling day-to-day administration.
- Right Under Their Noses: Bob's New Irken Order cell operates right aboard the Massive itself.
- Shout-Out: Jayd is a fan of Green Lantern, while Dite prefers Watchmen and The Punisher.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Darth pulls this on Wiyn when she's confronting Senior's club.
- Take That!:
- When Dite is stating her love for dark, gritty superhero stories, she specifies that she however doesn't like Dawn of Justice, considering it a "bloody, nonsensical mess".
- Red derides Purple's idea of always flying in a straight line, considering it moronic. This is a nod towards the movie, and how it had the Tallest being Too Dumb to Live by insisting on always flying the Massive in a straight line, even into dangerous situations (something the author considers OOC for Red).
- We ARE Struggling Together: Darth's investigations are hindered by the fact that the Tallest and Wiyn don't like him, and view his work as insulting to their own authority.
