Line #22 DarkestHour/WesternAnimation


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6	{{Darkest Hour}}s in western animation TV.
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8	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'':
9	** Season Four Finale "The Disaster" involved Rob using the reality-warping Universal Remote to systematically ruin Gumball's life by [[spoiler:tearing his family apart with Darwin running away, Richard and Nicole arguing into a ''divorce'', making Gumball lose track of Anais, and then breaks his girlfriend Penny's heart before ''pushing her from the upper floor into her likely death'' just as Rob paused the moment to rub it into Gumball]]. Then he drops the bombshell to Gumball on [[spoiler:the world they are in not being real for it is a TV show and uses the remote to try to send him into the Void.]] After their fight, [[spoiler:Rob throws his thought-to-be-dead remote to the Void to get rid of Gumball... with the latter able to reach it and rewind to the beginning to prevent the disaster from happening.]]
10	** Season Five Premiere and Part 2 "The Rerun" has the DarkestHour of the series get even ''darker''! [[spoiler:Gumball travels back to the beginning with the knowledge of the last episode to stop Rob by successfully warning Darwin and Anais of him. However, things go FromBadToWorse when Rob uses the Universal Remote to rewind Nicole and Richard into babies. This leads to a time paradox that causes the Watterson kids to cease existence from youngest to oldest as they wouldn't be able to raise them as children. Anais ceases to exist despite fighting Rob, Darwin who was adopted by Richard in "The Origins" and evolved because of his bond with Gumball turns back into a normal fish and because he is out of water when it happens... he ''dies'' out of suffocation in front of a horrified Gumball who teared up. When Rob taunts him about it, Gumball goes BerserkerTears on him... only for Rob to dodge and use the remote to Fast Forward ''crashing into Penny and pushing her into her death'' before Rob pauses into that moment. Even Gumball admits this is worse than the last time he tried to stop Rob.]]
11	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has two potential candidates.
12	** One is the [[WhamEpisode "Crossroads of Destiny"]] where Zuko does not complete his HeelFaceTurn, Azula backshoots Aang with lightning, nearly killing him, and the previously impenetrable Earth Kingdom Capital Ba Sing Se falls to the Fire Nation.
13	** Another is the [[HopeSpot "Day of the Black Sun"]] where Sokka [[GondorCallsForAid tries to lead an invasion]] of the Fire Nation during a solar eclipse. Instead, we learn that Azula knew about the invasion all along and the Fire Nation was ready. The end result was that the invasion failed, virtually all the troops were sent to prison, and the few remaining children had to hide out in the Western Air Temple. But it wasn't all bad--the thing keeping it from being a total downer (as opposed to the fall of Ba Sing Se) was [[spoiler: Zuko's long-awaited real HeelFaceTurn, heralded by an epic CallingTheOldManOut scene and badass lightning redirection.]]
14	** SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' has one in Book 1 when Amon and his Equalists have taken over Republic City, and benders are having their bending taken away. Korra and her friends have to hide from the invasion, and the help they receive from General Iroh II goes haywire.
15	** Book 2 is even more heartwrenching. Unalaq has managed to fuse with the ultimate dark spirit Vaatu, becoming a Dark Avatar, and he and Korra duke it out. But then...Vaatu pulls Raava out of Korra and brutally kills her, shattering Korra's connection with her past lives. As if that wasn't enough, Unalaq then [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever grows to enormous size]] and starts wreaking havoc on Republic City.
16	* Happens a lot in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'':
17	** The first season premier has the massive breakout of the 4 super villain prisons, forcing all of the superheroes to unite against them.
18	** Then Kang's massive invasion forces has swarmed all over the Earth, which forces Ant-Man to use his Ultron army.
19	** After that Ultron nearly succeeds in a global nuclear apocalypse. Whew!
20	* The last episode(s) of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' where an ''asteroid is about to come hurtling towards Earth''. Several attempts to create a HopeSpot occurs when the world sends missiles towards it, but they ultimately fail and the planet is left to bide their time till their doom. The protagonist and titular character has gotten rid of his ghost powers and the villain offers everyone another hope spot...in return for being named ruler of the world.
21	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'':[[spoiler:By the end of season 1, everyone in Dreamland has been turned to stone, Bean is kidnapped by her [[EvilAllAlong mother]], Luci is also captured, and poor poor Elfo is [[KillTheCutie dead]].]]
22	* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Dragamonz}}'' episode "The Beginning of the End" has Grimserver reclaim the crystal of the Five Corners after he had main character Dax's best friend brainwashed to bring it to him. With his power restored, Grimserver awakens his army of Grimwraths to lay waste to all of Dragamar.
23	* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'':
24	** A line of dialogue from Little Cato in Season 2 indicates that he considers the events of Season 1, Episode 7 his "darkest hour" - he lost his father shortly after reuniting with him the prior episode. This episode saw him attempt to blow up one of the Lord Commander's incinerators in retaliation (unsuccessfully) and he nearly blips himself and KVN out of existence when he tries to hijack Nightfall's ship to go back in time and save his dad.
25	** The show ''freaking ends'' on one, with [[BigBad Invictus]] breaking out of his prison and getting ready to [[OmnicidalManiac wipe out all of reality]]. Not only are the remaining Crew completely unprepared to fight him, but he has captured Mooncake, the only Titan left who isn't under his control, and Ash has also pulled a FaceHeelTurn.
26	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' movie "Bender's Big Score", the Darkest Hour comes when the scammer aliens manage to buy out the Earth and exile its inhabitants to the moons of Neptune. The Earthicans end up [[EnemyMine teaming up with Robot Santa]] to take back their home.
27	* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'':
28	** In the season one finale "Gideon Rises", Gideon Gleeful takes over the Mystery Shack and plots to turn it into an amusement park dedicated to himself, Dipper and Mabel not only fail to get it back but lose Journal 3 in the process, and Grunkle Stan is prepared to send the twins home because he won't be able to take care of them over the summer.
29	** "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future" takes it up a notch, [[spoiler:with Bill Cipher starting the apocalypse by tricking an emotionally compromised Mabel into giving him the Rift]].
30	** "Weirdmageddon" takes it even further. [[spoiler:Bill has turned Gravity Falls into a weird apocalyptic wasteland, captured a large number of people, including Ford, the only one who knew of Bill's weakness, and destroyed the Journals, the only other source of information on Bill, before sicking his lackeys on Dipper.]]
31	* ''WesternAnimation/IHeartArlo'': In the Season 1 finale "The Uncondemning", [[spoiler:the Bog Lady has separated Arlo from his friends, having tricked Bertie and Alia with a fake doppelgänger and sinking Ansel's yacht, lured Arlo to her domain of the Heart of the Swamp where she has Edmée locked up as bait, and finally hypnotizes him into never leaving her while his former home is still under her thorny curse. It's only when Bertie and Alia call out to Arlo and swing into the Heart that Arlo snaps out and gains a HeroicSecondWind to fight the Bog Lady and save Edmée.]]
32	* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' has several, particularly with numerous specials and TheMovie:
33	** [[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS1E13OperationGROWUP Operation G.R.O.W.U.P.]] has Numbuh One subjected to RapidAging, and has to leave Sector V. [[ArchEnemy The Delightful Children]] also destroy their treehouse to boot.
34	** [[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS2E13OperationEND Operation E.N.D.]]: All of the Sector V operatives besides Numbuh One have been wrongfully decommissioned, [[TheLeader Chad]] is revealed to be a [[TeensAreMonsters teenager]], and he is holding Tommy for hostage while [[HurlItIntoTheSun sending the Moonbase to the sun]]. [[TakingYouWithMe With everyone, including himself, in it.]]
35	** [[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS3E9GRADUATES Operation G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S.]]: Tommy [[DespairEventHorizon learns the hard way]] that being an operative is not an easy job - when nearly every other operative, including his brother, is turned into an animal.
36	** [[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS5E13IT Operation I.T.]]: [[BigBad Father]] becomes the Supreme Leader of the KND. No further details required.
37	** WesternAnimation/OperationZERO has to be the worst of the bunch so far: [[AncientEvil Grandfather]] has turned [[AbsoluteXenophobe every villain, every KND operative, and pretty much every freaking living creature on the planet]], [[MisanthropeSupreme all of whom is either a kid or used to be a kid]], into [[BrainwashedAndCrazy mindless,]] [[EmptyShell sub-servant]] [[Main/ZombieApocalypse Senior Citizombies]], has [[InTheirOwnImage covered the Earth in massive, smog-spewing Tapioca factories]] [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans he forced them all to work in]], and the only thing he needs to finalize his victory is to find and destroy the legendary ArtifactOfHope, the Book of KND. The only few major people left who ''aren't'' ageified yet are Numbuh One, the Delightfuls, his dad and Father. Without his teammates, still unable to find [[BigGood Numbuh Zero]] and [[NiceJobBreakingItHero convinced he's the guy responsible for this mess]], Nigel begins to [[HeroicBSOD fall into a hopeless depression]] until he is convinced to get back up with the help of [[BigDamnHeroes Numbuh 101]], one of the few operatives who narrowly escaped ageification for the time being.
38	*** There is another Darkest Hour later in the movie - Numbuh One has defeated his zombified Sector V teammates with the help of the recently {{Deprogram}}med Sector Z (aka the [[HiveMind Delightful]] [[CreepyChild Children]]), and has put up anti-ageification Birthday Suits on them, and the ColonyDrop plan against Grandfather is going according to pla- wait, we just got reminded that Sector Z's condition is only temporary because their [[BrainwashedandCrazy Delightfulization]] is ''that'' powerful, and [[CurbStompBattle in moments they turn the tide on Nigel]]. All the while Numbuh Zero (Nigel's dad) is getting curb-stomped himself in a losing war against Grandfather, while ''having the Book in his pocket''. Oh, and Father (Nigel's uncle) [[RedemptionRejection decided to chicken out]] before he was given the chance to help fight back. Then again, this is [[TheLeader Numbuh One]] [[CurbStompCushion we're talking about]].
39	* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'' season finales:
40	** The season 3 series finale: Darkseid has been resurrected and leads his armies in an all out attack on Earth, forcing all the superheroes and supervillains to join forces to save Earth.
41	** The Season 2 finale is even more bleak: Braniac and Luthor are merged together, and the reserve League is occupied, dealing with the aftermath of Cadmus' attack on the Watchtower, leaving just the original seven[[labelnote:*]](Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl)[[/labelnote]] to fight him. Near the end, Braniac!Luthor is about to destroy Earth and has knocked out everyone but the Flash, who gets scared and runs away -or so the evil duo thought.
42	* ''WesternAnimation/KidCosmic'' has [[Recap/KidCosmicS1E7KidCosmicAndTheInvadersFromEarth its seventh episode]] see the stones being confiscated by the government, the Local Heroes put on house arrest, and Kid going AWOL.
43	** Taken even further in the third season, where [[spoiler:it turns out that the end of the Season 2 finale was actually part of a LotusEaterMachine that the heroes were sent to instead of Earth like they initially believed. They eventually escape, but Fantos and Erodius are still out there and the heroes don't have their stones and are hiding on a planet that doesn't have many resources to help them]].
44	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' has had two of these moments, both in the original and second {{Grand Finale}}s.
45	** In [[WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama the first]], Kim is devastated from being played by Drakken, who is about to unleash an army of powerful robots all across the world.
46	** In [[Recap/KimPossibleS4E22Graduation the second]], Kim has been captured by AlienInvaders while the planet is overwhelmed by [[TripodTerror alien walkers]]. The second is probably the closest the world has ever been to being taken over.
47	* ''WesternAnimation/MastersOfTheUniverseRevelation'': He-Man and Skeletor's final battle resulted in Eternia being broken, with much of its magic dwindling and slowly leading to its destruction, as well as the rest of the universe. He-Man's companions lose hope and go their separate ways. It's up to Teela to lead a group to fix eeverything by restoring the Sword of Power, which has split in two and sent to two different planes; an equivalent of {{Heaven}} and {{Hell}}.
48	* A lot of moments come close in ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', the runner up goes to "Mayura"; after Ladybug and Chat Noir's team are akumatized and they are left to fight an army on their own. However, the definitive winner goes to "Heart Hunter". The episode ends with Master Fu kidnapped by Hawk Moth, Chloe '''willingly''' akumatized and betraying the heroes, and Marinette giving up on her love for Adrien and allowing Kagami to pursue him before finally breaking down in Luka's arms under the weight of all her responsibilities.
49	** It's even worse in "Strike Back", when Ladybug [[spoiler:gives the Dog Miraculous to who she thinks is Adrien but is actually Félix, allowing him to use its ability to steal her yo-yo and give Gabriel all the Miraculous except the Ladybug and Black Cat in exchange for his ring and the Peacock Miraculous before she realises it's missing and detransforms. The episode ends with Hawk Moth making an announcement to Paris of Ladybug's failure, and threatening to use the Miraculous he now has to cause devastation until he receives those of the two heroes]].
50	* Happens to the titular ''WesternAnimation/{{Motorcity}}'' in the first part of the finale "Vega": [[spoiler:Mike Chilton has been arrested and is to be executed, [=KaneCo=] bots are running amok and the [[DoomsdayDevice Genesis Pod]] has been planted, the latter of which is set to wipe out the entire city and its people]].
51	* ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman''
52	** Fitting for the midpoint of the season, episode "[[Recap/MyAdventuresWithSupermanS1E04YouWillBelieveAManCanLie You Will Believe a Man Can Lie]]" ends on a rather dire moment for its protagonists.
53	*** Lois and Clark have an argument over Clark keeping his Superman identity a secret from Lois, with Clark's paranoia over being exposed leading to him trying to downplay the injuries Slade inflicted, poking at Lois's past trauma and leading her to be unable to recognize Clark's otherwise-reasonable motives for lying. When their argument reaches a boiling point, Lois declares that whatever they had is over, devastating Clark (who'd planned all day to confess his feelings to her).
54	*** Jimmy begins to doubt his friendship with Clark and Lois, and when both keep ignoring his calls, he (unaware of everything happening on their end) decides he doesn't need them. Going off on his planned group outing alone, he soon gets kidnapped by a gorilla in the woods. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Oh, and Steve Lombard has been trolling his videos.]]
55	*** Even the Superman side of things doesn't end well; Slade overpowers Superman in combat and only doesn't kill him because he's ordered to let Superman save civilians endangered by the fight, dealing Superman his first outright defeat and leaving Task Force X free to kidnap more tech-wielding criminals for their own mysterious goals.
56	** Fitting "[[Recap/MyAdventuresWithSupermanS1E07ZeroDayPartOne Zero Day, Part 1]]"'s status as Part 1 of a larger episode, it drags the heroes down even further than ever before. Clark gets brutally beaten down and captured by Task Force X, Superman becomes a HeroWithBadPublicity after inadvertently causing a single accident, and Lois and Jimmy are too late to either save Clark or stop Vicki Vale from publishing her hit piece dragging Superman through the mud even more.
57	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
58	** At the end of the first episode of season two, [[TheBadGuyWins Discord has won]], most of the heroes have been [[BreakTheCutie broken]] and {{brainwashed}}, the Elements of Harmony, the ''only'' thing that can possibly stop him, are in his grasp, and he's ready to unleash [[RealityIsOutToLunch a storm of chaos]] upon Equestria.
59	** And in the follow-up episode, Discord reveals to Twilight that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero she led them into the trap because she didn't think the riddle through to the end]]. Despite that, Twilight ''does'' manage to assemble the Elements of Harmony -- only for them to fail. The Mane Six go their separate ways and Twilight [[HeroicBSOD actually gives up and is ready to leave Ponyville]]. It takes a timely intervention from Celestia to snap her out of it.
60	** In the season 2 finale, the Changeling Queen Chrysalis manages to defeat both the Mane Six ''and'' Princess Celestia, and take over Canterlot in a preparation for her horde to conquer Equestria. She's only defeated when [[spoiler: Cadence uses ThePowerOfLove to supercharge Shining Armor's shield spell, which [[HeartBeatDown banishes the changelings from the city]].]]
61	** "Twilight's Kingdom, Part 2": Tirek has drained the magic from everypony who could potentially stop him, and Twilight has surrendered the alicorn's magic in exchange for her friend's freedom. However, the medallion that Discord recieved from Tirek during his [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor temporary betrayal]] happens to be the [[StoryArc seasonal arc]]'s final PlotCoupon, which the Mane Six use to unlock their EleventhHourSuperpower.
62	** "School Raze, Part 2": The Mane Six are still trapped in Tarterus, the magic is being sealed away, Cozy Glow has turned the students against Chancellor Neighsay and the Young Six, and the Young Six are close to being sent to another dimension with the trapped Starlight Glimmer and all the magic. The only thing that saves the day is the Tree of Harmony using just enough of its magic to free the Young Six.
63	** "The Beginning of the End, Part 2": Sombra has destroyed the Tree of Harmony, and the Elements along with it, rendering the Mane Six powerless and allowing the Everfree Forest to grow out of control. He's also conquered Ponyville and Canterlot in short order, and has all the secondary and background characters under his control. Celestia, Luna, and Starswirl are busy keeping the forest at bay, leaving the Mane Six and Discord to stop him. And then Sombra sucker-blasts Discord when the latter makes the mistake of SayingTooMuch. Only a final RousingSpeech from Discord gives Twilight the means to use her friendship rainbow lasers without the Element of Magic and defeat Sombra for good.
64	** All of this is topped by "The Ending of the End, Part 1": [[spoiler:Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow have stolen Discord, Celestia, and Luna's powers, destroyed Canterlot, and captured Twilight and her friends, while also turning the three pony tribes against each other again, resulting in ''the return of the Wendigos''. As a result of all of this, Twilight finds herself on the verge of the DespairEventHorizon, believing that [[AllForNothing everything she and her friends had accomplished was for nothing]]]].
65	--->'''[[spoiler:Chrysalis:]]''' You know what's stronger than friendship, Twilight? ''[[spoiler:Fear!]]''
66	*** This carries over in "The Ending of the End, Part 2", [[spoiler:with all the ponies turned on each other, Equestria being plunged into an EndlessWinter by Windigos, the villain trio close to conquering all of Equestria, and the heroes close to facing their final fate. If everypony and every creature they've encountered over the course of the entire show hadn't shown up to help them, the villains would've won]].
67	* ''WesternAnimation/PJMasks'': [[spoiler:Although this trope was personified in preschool show form, the 4-part season 4 premiere "Heroes of the Sky" used it, shown in the form of Romeo imperiling the PJ's entire mission, even going as far as draining Owlette's powers and hero memories, meaning Gekko and Catboy had to give up on her after their daytime counterparts got in trouble with Teacher for trying to help Amaya get her hero memories back and instead team up with Luna Girl so that Romeo won't detonate the whole planet with his Sky Factory clones.]]
68	* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'': The city is completely ruined, only the principal office has any power, and it's impossible to repair the city. The remaining population is holed up in the principal office and doesn't have the supplies to last very long. And to make matters worse a game has landed which will crash the entire system when the User wins. The only way out of this mess is to invoke a DeusExMachina and pray for the User to intervene as the system crashes and everything fades to black. A couple of key strokes from the User and everything is fixed, including bringing back the dead.
69	** Season 2 ending was this as well. [[EldritchAbomination Web creatures]] invade Mainframe and [[EnemyMine our heroes team-up with Megabyte and Hexadecimal to stop them]]. Megabyte betrays their alliance and send Bob into the Web, the [=CPUs=] are shot down and Glitch is crushed. Megabyte and Hexadecimal then turn the [[WaveMotionGun hardware]] and his army on the Principal Office.
70	* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' Episode C; [[spoiler: Just when it looks like Jack is going to make headway in his mission to destroy Aku, with his LoveInterest Ashi at his side, the demon himself shows up and discovers that Ashi is [[LukeIAmYourFather his biological daughter]], a fact he [[PeoplePuppets gleefully exploits]] to get Jack and Ashi to fight. Then, he forcefully transforms Ashi into a [[OneWingedAngel demonic female replica of himself]], Ashi trying and failing to fight the corruption before begging Jack for a MercyKill. Jack cannot go through with it and [[KneelBeforeZod surrenders]], with the last shot of the episode being Aku holding the sword in triumph while the samurai sits slumped over in defeat.]]
71	* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': [[spoiler:Season 4 ends with both the Horde and Rebellion in shambles, Glimmer and Catra taken prisoner by Horde Prime, Hordak getting mind-wiped by Horde Prime, the Galactic Horde Empire converging on Etheria, and Adora destroying the Sword and left shaken and disillusioned after discovering that the First Ones were EvilAllAlong and that She-Ra was never meant to be anything more than a LivingWeapon for their genocidal crusade to "purify" the galaxy.]]
72	%%* The Doomsday Project from ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM''.
73	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Being ''Franchise/StarWars'', several episodes have Darkest Hour moments, some resulting in a DownerEnding in the middle of an arc.
74	** "Weapons Factory": Outside the factory, ray-shielded Separatist super tanks are tearing through Anakin and Luminara's troops and blowing them to kingdom come, and inside the factory, Ahsoka is knocked out (again), and the Geonosians steal the explosives that were going to be used to blow the reactor, throwing a monkey wrench into Ahsoka and Barriss's operation.
75	** [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E22WookieeHunt "Wookiee Hunt"]]: During the final fight on the Trandoshans' floating fortress, they shoot down the hijacked speeder drivven by O-Mer, and our heroes our downed on the floor with the Trandos pointing their weapons at Ahsoka, the teenaged younglings, and Chewbacca, and Garnac gloats that Ahsoka will make a prize trophy (her skin at least) to his "hunting collection". Thankfully, [[BigDamnHeroes the bounty hunter, Sugi arrives to save the day with a squad of Wookies who got the transmission from the at first not working transmitter built by Chewbacca!]]
76	** At the end of "Gungan Attack", Riff Tamson and his Sepratist forces have defeated and captured the Republic/Mon Calamari/Gungan Army and stands victorious on Mon Calamari, with only Ahsoka and Prince Lee-Char uncaptured.
77	** At the end of the first half of Season Four, "Slaves of the Republic", our heroes are all captured and enslaved by the Zygerrians and have no hope of escape, with Anakin as the Zygerrian queen's personal servant, Ahsoka caged above the queen's palace and being tortured without pity or mercy by the prime minister of Zygerria, and Obi-Wan and Rex broken by the keeper of the Zygerrian slave hub on Kadavo. It carries over to the next episode, "Escape from Kadavo".
78	** In "Escape From Kadavo", during the rescue mission, Keeper Agruss activates the floor trap to the Togruta slaves' cell and breaks the controls to prevent Obi-Wan and Rex from turning it off, and Plo Koon can't move his ship for the rescue mission until the ray-shielded enemy cannons are destroyed, which are shooting at Plo Koon's fighter and gunship squadron.
79	* Naturally, ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' continues the trend.
80	** In the season 2 premier, [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsTheSiegeOfLothal "The Siege of Lothal"]], the [[DefectorFromDecadence defecting Minister Tua]] is killed as the Rebels try to bring her to safety and they are framed by the Empire for her murder. Darth Vader [[CurbStompBattle effortlessly dominates]] the entire group, then lets them escape in order to find the Rebel fleet. He proceeds to [[OneManArmy single-handedly decimate the fleet]]. Suring the battle, Ahsoka senses the horrible truth that Vader is her mentor and friend Anakin Skywalker, while Vader likewise senses that Ahoska is still alive. And while the surviving Rebels (including the main cast) escape, the effort to liberate Lothal that had been the focus of the entire first season [[ShaggyDogStory is rendered a complete failure]], with the Imperial presence on Ezra's homeworld being larger and more oppressive than ever.
81	** In the season 2 finale, [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E19TwilightOfTheApprentice "Twilight of]] [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E20TwilightOfTheApprenticePartII the Apprentice"]], on the ancient Sith world Malachor, the group encounters Darth Maul, who subtly tempts Ezra toward the Dark Side and then [[EyeScream blinds]] Kanan. And the Sith Temple that Maul tricked Ezra into unlocking via a Sith Holocron turns out to be a planet-killing superweapon. Ezra pleads with the Holocron's AI to shut down the weapon, saying he doesn't want it, but the Holocron responds that if Ezra doesn't want the power, maybe the one outside the door will. Ezra looks out and discovers that it's not Maul as might be expected. It's worse. It's [[TheDreaded Darth Vader]]. [[spoiler:Kanan and Ezra manage to shut down the weapon by removing the Holocron, but barely escape with their lives. Ahsoka, however, doesn't escape at all, with it being ambiguous whether she died or is "merely" trapped forever in the Sith Temple.]]
82	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has a few examples;
83	** Perhaps the biggest was in "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E24IAmMyMom I Am My Mom]]". The episode, and Season 4 as a whole, ends with Steven and Lars being taken off to Homeworld by Gems who believe Steven to be Rose Quartz, Steven has [[BrokenPedestal his opinion of his mother has fallen so far that he actually blames her for the Gem War]], while the rest of the Crystal Gems are stuck on Earth with no apparent way to reach them.
84	** In "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E23Reunited Reunited]]", Yellow Diamond joins the fray, taking out Peridot and Lapis in one shot and incapacitating Steven, and we get to hear the desperation in everyone's mind. Only by Steven's interference did they get the [[HeroicSecondWind courage to keep fighting]], and for the Diamonds to stop their assault.
85	** "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E27Escapism Escapism]]" has Steven and Connie being trapped inside a dark room with seemingly no means of escape, Blue and Yellow Diamond have turned against them, and the rest of the Crystal Gems are poofed, helpless to do anything about what may happen to them. Steven uses his psychic powers to get help.
86	* Every season of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' has one of these occur during the season finale.
87	** Season 1: The Teen Titans are infected with nanobots that will kill them upon Slade's command. To save their lives, Robin swears to serve Slade as his apprentice.
88	** Season 2: Terra casts aside all compassion she once felt for the Teen Titans, ruthlessly attacks and attempts to kill them, and helps Slade conquer the city.
89	** Season 3: Cyborg quits the Teen Titans so he can be leader of Titans East. Titans East, however, are under Brother Blood's psychic control.
90	** Season 4: Trigon arises and [[OmnicidalManiac kills everyone]] [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt on the face of the Earth]] except for Slade and the Teen Titans.
91	** Season 5: Though not technically the season finale, the culmination of the story arc involved the Brotherhood of Evil kidnapping every teenage superhero on the planet (with only five or six exceptions). The ''actual'' season finale also fulfilled this trope, at least if you were a Beast Boy/Terra shipper.
92	* The concept of the "Darkest Hour" is a major part of ''{{Franchise/Transformers}}'' philosophy, signifying a threat that seems to blot out all hope in the universe. The way to avert it is to bring all Transformers together against whatever threatens them - thus the phrase "Till All Are One". The animated movie is ''the'' example of this, but it recurs throughout different continuities:
93	** ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' (and its sequel series, ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'') is more or less the completion of the original continuity that includes the G1 the movie, and has several believable "darkest hours" in season finales, namely the potential re-writing of the space/time continuum, and the complete fall of Cybertron to Megatron. However, the series finale of ''Beast Wars'' in particular reveals the importance of the phrasing "Darkest Hour" and its historical and mythical weight, in phrasing from the pseudo-religious text the "Covenant of Primus", Primus being the Transformers' creator god. Such phrases include "the stone of their protection shall rise upward forever and ever, as they who live and war as beasts confront [[CharacterDeath their final cycle]]" and "In the spark of an enemy, there will be [[HeelFaceTurn salvation]], and in the '''darkest hour''', there will be a light."
94	** The season 2 finale of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', a show in another continuity but which also has a Covenant of Primus, actually has "Darkest Hour'' as its title. And [[TheBadGuyWins it is.]]
95	*** A villainous example happens at the end of "Legacy", when Optimus Prime gets the [[CoolSword Star Saber]].
96	---->'''Megatron:''' We Decepticons now face our darkest hour.
97	* In ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' we have the season two finale, "The Day of Reckoning", where an EnemyMine between the X-Men and Brotherhood against Magneto's newly formed Acolytes turns out to be a trap (more so for the former) as they come face-to-face with a Sentinel. Magneto uses the situation [[TheUnmasquedWorld to expose mutants to the world at large]] even as they fight for their lives against the KillerRobot. Even after the Sentinel is destroyed, [[PyrrhicVictory several members of the team were captured in the fight, Wolverine among them]], the Xavier Institution has been destroyed, and the Professor is missing, having been replaced by Mystique at some point, all the while the authorities are hunting down mutants as hysteria ensues across the country.

Context DarkestHour / WesternAnimation