Among Avatar's top installments gets its own Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair.
Usually, clip shows face criticism from viewers as a pointless waste of time, or perhaps accepted as a necessity for shows in the era of regular broadcasts. However, this wasn't the case, and Avatar: The Last Airbender demonstrated this through "The Ember Island Players," a popular segment in its last season which is now receiving a dedicated Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair collection.
Details about the collector's edition
The entire Secret Lair superdrop for the soon-to-release Avatar: The Last Airbender set was announced on November 4. Containing five Secret Lairs, and although the one called "My Cabbages!" is certainly humorous tribute to Avatar's best background character, the additional releases feel a bit less imaginative, except for one standout: "The Ember Island Players."
Drawing from installment 17 of the third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, this special set contains the following cards:
- 1x Phantasmal Image as "Absolutely Accurate Actor"
- 1x Braid of Fire
- 1x Cursed Mirror
- 1x Mask of Memory
- 1x Thespian's Stage
The reason this episode stands out
Audiences of the series clearly recall this installment, which functioned as a recap of the hero Aang and his friends' journey leading up to the conclusion. Different from typical clip shows, or retrospective segments, "The Ember Island Players" wasn't motivated by budget restrictions or production issues. The producers specifically aimed to provide audiences a chance to recap the show's narrative, but they decided to approach it inventively.
Throughout the segment, the crew observe a play inspired by their adventures on a stage set on Ember Island, called The Boy in the Iceberg. The play itself is factually incorrect, melodramatic, and completely amusing. It excels as it plays on the characters' views about themselves, contrasting them against how the world (and notably the antagonist nation) sees them. It has the perfect balance of introspective humor, and it results in perhaps the best adaptation of the series available to date.
Value and cost
In terms of value, this offers a fantastic Secret Lair due to one key factor: Braid of Fire. This particular card sells between $20 and $40 on online marketplaces currently, and at $29.99 you can snag the complete collection, or $39.99 for the shiny edition.
Magic's Avatar: The Last Airbender collection will be available for pre-release events on Nov. 14 and debuts internationally come November 21.
