The featured cadets in this episode have color-coded emblems on their helmets to help identify them when they are masked. Zare Leonis has a yellow circle emblem. Dev Morgan (a.k.a. Ezra Bridger) has a red square emblem. Cadet Oleg has a green diamond emblem. Jai Kell has a blue triangle emblem.

Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint have titles as part of their roles in the Academy. These are separate from their military ranks.

The story of Zare Leonis has been expanded in a book series by author Jason Fry called Star Wars Rebels: Servants of the Empire. The first book, Edge of the Galaxy, features Zare and his sister Dhara prior to her disappearance.

The kyber crystal that Hera and Kanan target is made of the same, rare mineral that Jedi use as focusing crystals in their lightsabers, but on a much larger scale. At this size, a kyber crystal could be weaponized for a devastating effect. For more, see the "Crystal Crisis on Utapau" story arc available on StarWars.com.

This episode shows another setting for the standard Imperial stormtrooper rifle. In addition to its stun and lethal settings, there is a low-power setting that fires sting beams, similar in color to the remote that Luke Skywalker practices with in A New Hope.

The design of the Imperial Academy's testing ground called "the Well" takes direct inspiration from the futuristic gauntlet seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes "Clone Cadets" and "The Box."