The screams heard in the mines on Kadavo are the same screams heard from the children slaves in the Thuggee mines in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).
The design of the star fighters the Republic use in this episode is getting closer to the star fighters seen in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).
This story arc adapts Henry Gilroy's 2008 six-part Clone Wars comic book story 'Slaves of the Republic' originally published by Dark Horse. Escape from Kadavo (2012) uses elements from Star Wars: The Clone Wars #5 (cover dated April 2009) and #6 (May 2009).
The aerial maneuver used by Master Plo against the Zygerrian fighters is reminiscent of a maneuver used by Maverick in Top Gun (1986).
The clone Republic pilots are flying Z-95 Headhunter fighters, precursors to the X-Wing.