History TearJerker / StarWarsTheCloneWars

** [[https://i0.wp.com/www.nerdsandbeyond.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/501st-dying.gif The panning shot in particular of all the clone helmets mounted on their graves]]. They're still individualised in a way they never will be again under the empire, many of them even decorated with Ahsoka's own markings. It pans over dozens of them before finally and chillingly stopping on Jesse's helmet. Jesse, one of the most familiar of all the brothers, who spent the episodes preceding this desperately trying to stay loyal to Ahsoka under Mauls mental attacks, and this was his final fate.

* Echo's (([[NotQuiteDead supposed]])) death in the episode. It's even more tragic when you realize that Fives is now the only surviving member of Domino squad. He's lost everyone he's grown up with.

* Echo's death in the episode. It's even more tragic when you realize that Fives is now the only surviving member of Domino squad. He's lost everyone he's grown up with.

* Like in the ''Literature/{{Ahsoka}}'' novel, Ahsoka has to leave behind her lightsaber so anyone who comes looking will think she's dead, and it clearly pains her to do it.

** More than that. When he initially checks in to see how Gor is doing, he says the animal's name in a clear state of shock, as if he cannot believe what he is seeing. After Gor does not get up, Grevious ''screams'' and smashes the console he's using with his fists. While it's not incredibly evocative, these few seconds make it clear Grevious and Gor have more to them than what we've seen.

* The tragic undercurennt surrounding Obi-Wan and Satine's romance. It's clear that they did love each other deeply and still do in the present day, to the point that Obi-Wan would have left the Jedi Order to be with her if she asked. Obi-Wan, who has dedicated his entire life to the tenets of the Jedi Code, was willing to leave it all behind for the woman he loved. And in the end they could never bring themselves to leave the roles they chose to help the Republic, no matter how much it hurt them.

** In addition, in the movie it is revealed that Yoda had assigned Ahsoka to Anakin to overcome his inhibity to let go, as he believed that by becoming a teacher Anakin would develop emotionally. He hoped that when the time came for Ahsoka to go off on her own, Anakin would understand that he need not be attached and feel so protective of those he loved.

* Former Chancellor Finis Valorum's brief appearance in the episode. Here, we see he was a good man and a good Chanchellor, unwilling to be stifled by the bureaucracy and the Senate's corruption and [[HeadInTheSandManagement refusal to admit certain problems existed]]... Who just happened to be in the way for Palpatine's rise to power, and thus was reduced to a PuppetKing that had to send Jedi on secret missions to try and get things done, and was in the end dismissed as ''incompetent''.

** The painted helmets scene really kicks you in the heart. At first its almost tears of joy at seeing this show of loyalty and respect towards Ahsoka, reminding her they still see her as one of them despite her no longer being part of the order. That feeling sours horifically though when you remember that Order 66 is coming, and those same men will soon be forced to hunt and kill her.

* Every single shot of the clones becomes this in these final episodes. We know Order 66 is coming. So after 7 seasons of getting to know the clones, getting to love them and see them as the loyal and brave soldiers they are, the knowledge that soon they will be reduced to mindless slaves for the empire makes every interaction with them, every good thing they do, feel horrifically bittersweet. These were good men, individuals with their own personalitys who loved and cared for each other and the jedi, and soon all that will be gone.

* In Issue 4, Mother Talzin sacrificing herself to Darth Sidious so Maul can escape from Dathomir. When Rook Kast arrives with Maul's personal Gauntlet fighter to help him retreat, Talzin tosses Maul aboard and orders him to flee while she tries to hold off Sidious's Force lightning. Maul begs Talzin to come with him, but she tells him she can't escape this time, and [[IWillOnlySlowYouDown if she tries, they'll both die]]. Kast and one of her men are forced to restrain Maul as he struggles to help his mother and watches General Grievous impale her. Now Maul has lost both his brother and his mother, and the only allies he seems to have left are the Mandalorian Super-Commandos (the Nightbrothers' fate is ambiguous, but the ending implies they were killed).

* Ventress and Quinlan both establish a friendly relation with Marg Krim's family, whom they're hired to rescue from the Black Sun. As they leave, after successfully reuniting the family, and getting paid double by the grateful Pyke, they still see the Black Sun arrive with a huge fleet...

-->'''Maul''': ''([[LaughingMad laughs in disbelief]])'' Too late?! For ''what''? The Republic to fall?! It already has, and you just can't see it!

-->'''Maul''': ''([[LaughingMad laughs in disbelief]]) Too late?!'' For what? The Republic to fall?! It already has, and you just can't see it!

** Think about from Rex's perspective. Really think about it. Rex knows about Fives. Fives talked about the chip. Rex saw a trooper go insane and kill his Jedi. He knows Ahsoka isn't even a Jedi anymore. Yet when he hears the order, something in him tells him to kill his best friend. He knows by all logic that, not only does he not want to do it, he doesn't have to do it to Ahsoka. Yet, everything is screaming at him inside his mind to kill her. He realizes that the chip is real, that's its controlling him. Fives was right. He fights it will everything he has and manages to scream out Fives's name before his fingers pull the triggers against his will. Then he's just gone. Rex is dead. It's as if he never existed. He's just another FN # again.

* Yoda hangs his head in shame, looking as though he is thinking [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone "What have I done?"]] Or more specifically, "what have I ''not'' done", as Yoda was one of the few who ''did'' believe Ahsoka, and yet he did very little to help her because he felt overruled by the majority of the Council. And as a result, the Order is losing one of its most promising Padawans... or in Tano's case, the potential Jedi Knight who had just got through the toughest challenge yet.

* Doubles as a meta-example, as this episode not only marks the end of the series (at least on television), as Disney said "no" on continuing it (even though Lucasfilm Animation would release new story arcs of ''The Clone Wars'' in the form of a Netflix-exclusive season and unfinished animatics), but it also marks the end of Lucasfilm's collaboration with Creator/CartoonNetwork, as future Star Wars animated programs will be airing on Disney XD or Disney+.

* [[KillEmAll The poor colonists on Raydonia]] (including women and children) that are brutally murdered by Darth Maul in "Revenge". It also doubles as NightmareFuel.

* Yoda hangs his head in shame, looking as though he is thinking [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone "What have I done?"]] Or more specifically, "what have I ''not'' done", as Yoda was one of the few who ''did'' believe Ahsoka, and yet he did very little to help her because he felt overruled by the majority of the Council. And as a result, the Order is losing one of its most promising Padawans.

--->'''Ahsoka:''' I know you believe in me, Anakin, and I'm grateful for that. But this isn't about you. I can't stay here any longer... '''not now.'''

** [[https://i0.wp.com/www.nerdsandbeyond.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/501st-dying.gif The panning shot in particular of all the clone helmets mounted on their graves]]. They're still individualised in a way they never will be again under the empire, many of them even decorated with Ahsoka's own markings. It pans over dozens of them before finally and chillingly stopping on Jesse's helmet. Jesse, one of the most familiar of all the brothers, who spent the episodes preceding this desperately trying to stay loyal to Ahsoka under Mauls mental attacks, and this was his final fate. That one had this troper sobbing.

* Similarly seeing Anakin and Obi-Wan’ friendship in this show makes his turn to the dark side even more painful. Anakin was indeed a good friend, but the war and Palpatine’s manipulations slowly corrupted him to become Darth Vader.

* [[https://preview.redd.it/vgu8h3g0jow41.png The final shot is loaded with symbolism]]: after years of bloodshed, [[AllForNothing the legacy of the Clone Wars]] was one of complete and utter failure to protect the Republic, with a tyrannical empire — literally represented by Darth Vader — marching away to enforce a new system of oppression. Vader walks away from a helmet representing his former student, with [[ThatManIsDead that part of himself dead]]; all that remains of the once-proud [=332nd=] Company is a mass grave on a dead moon, with the heroic deeds of some of the Republic's greatest soldiers forgotten in the wake of their betrayal.

* [[https://preview.redd.it/vgu8h3g0jow41.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=9cb497d6840a7f73901d433349085800dd02e566 The final shot is loaded with symbolism]]: after years of bloodshed, [[AllForNothing the legacy of the Clone Wars]] was one of complete and utter failure to protect the Republic, with a tyrannical empire — literally represented by Darth Vader — marching away to enforce a new system of oppression. Vader walks away from a helmet representing his former student, with [[ThatManIsDead that part of himself dead]]; all that remains of the once-proud [=332nd=] Company is a mass grave on a dead moon, with the heroic deeds of some of the Republic's greatest soldiers forgotten in the wake of their betrayal.

** The panning shot in particular of all the clone helmets mounted on their graves. They're still indivdalised in a way they never will be again under the empire, many of them even decorated with Ahsoka's own markings. It pans over dozens of them before finally and chillingly stopping on Jesse's helmet. Jesse, one of the most familiar of all the brothers, who spent the episodes preceding this desperatly trying to stay loyal to Ahsoka under Mauls mental attacks, and this was his final fate. That one had this troper sobbing.

* The final shot is loaded with symbolism: after years of bloodshed, [[AllForNothing the legacy of the Clone Wars]] was one of complete and utter failure to protect the Republic, with a tyrannical empire — literally represented by Darth Vader — marching away to enforce a new system of oppression. Vader walks away from a helmet representing his former student, with [[ThatManIsDead that part of himself dead]]; all that remains of the once-proud [=332nd=] Company is a mass grave on a dead moon, with the heroic deeds of some of the Republic's greatest soldiers forgotten in the wake of their betrayal.

** There is, however, a HopeSpot—he sees that [[ThereIsAnother there is another Skywalker]], and it's implied that he gets at least a glimpse of the events of the Original Trilogy, leading up to his own death, the [[HeelFaceTurn redemption of Anakin Skywalker]] and the fall of the Galactic Empire. At the end, Yoda, now with knowledge of the secret to eternal life, infers to Obi-Wan and Mace Windu that while they may not win the war, by becoming one with the Force—a technique that the Sith can never master—they will be able to sow the seeds of [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi victory over the Dark Side once and for all]], showing that even in darkness, [[HopeSpringsEternal there is hope.]]