Among Avatar's best episodes gets a dedicated Magic: The Gathering special card drop.
Usually, summary installments face criticism by fans as a needless diversion, or perhaps accepted as a requirement for series in the era of regular broadcasts. That wasn't always the case, but Avatar: The Last Airbender demonstrated this with "The Ember Island Players," a popular segment in its last season that is now granted a dedicated Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair collection.
Information of the collector's edition
The entire Secret Lair superdrop for the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender set was revealed earlier this month. Containing five Secret Lairs, and while a set named "My Cabbages!" is certainly humorous tribute to Avatar's beloved recurring figure, the other collections feel a bit less imaginative, with one notable exception: "The Ember Island Players."
Drawing from installment 17 of the third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, this special set features the following cards:
- 1x Phantasmal Image represented as "Absolutely Accurate Actor"
- 1x Braid of Fire
- 1x Cursed Mirror
- 1x Mask of Memory
- 1x Thespian's Stage
What makes this segment stands out
Audiences of the series fondly remember this particular episode, which acted as a recap of Aang and the group's journey prior to the final episode. Unlike typical clip shows, or retrospective segments, "The Ember Island Players" wasn't motivated from financial limitations or scheduling problems. The show's makers genuinely intended to offer viewers an opportunity to recap the overall plot, but they decided to approach it inventively.
Throughout the segment, the crew observe a theatrical performance depicting their adventures on a stage set on Ember Island, called The Boy in the Iceberg. The whole thing is factually incorrect, cheesy, and overall hilarious. It works since it plays on the characters' views regarding their own identities, contrasting them with how the world (and especially the Fire Nation) sees them. It has an ideal level of introspective humor, and it ends up possibly the finest interpretation of Avatar available to date.
Value and availability
In terms of value, this offers a fantastic Secret Lair for one simple reason: Braid of Fire. This particular card sells between $20 and $40 on online marketplaces at the time of writing, and at $29.99 you can acquire the full set, or for $39.99 for the foil version.
Magic's Avatar: The Last Airbender set is available for advance previews beginning November 14 and debuts internationally on Nov. 21.
