Among Avatar: The Last Airbender's top installments receives its own MTG special card drop.
Usually, summary installments are loathed by fans as an unnecessary waste of time, or at best accepted as essential for shows in the age of regular broadcasts. That wasn't always true, but Avatar: The Last Airbender showed it through "The Ember Island Players," a popular episode from its final season now being receiving a special Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair collection.
Highlights regarding the Secret Lair
The complete Secret Lair superdrop for the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender collection was revealed recently. Containing five distinct sets, and while the one called "My Cabbages!" is an admittedly humorous tribute to Avatar's most famous minor character, the other collections appear slightly lacking creativity, aside from one remarkable entry: "The Ember Island Players."
Drawing from installment 17 in the final season of the animated show, this collector's drop features the following cards:
- 1x Phantasmal Image portrayed 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
Viewers of Avatar clearly recall this episode, which functioned as a summary of the hero Aang and the group's journey leading up to the conclusion. In contrast to other recap episodes, or compilation episodes, "The Ember Island Players" did not stem from financial limitations or scheduling problems. The show's makers genuinely intended to provide audiences a moment to recap the overall plot, however, they opted to do it creatively.
In the episode, the main characters observe a stage show based on their exploits on a stage on Ember Island, called The Boy in the Iceberg. The entire performance is wildly exaggerated, melodramatic, and utterly comical. It works because it plays on the characters' views about themselves, juxtaposing them with how the world (and notably the antagonist nation) views them. It contains the right amount of meta-commentary, and it results in arguably the top rendition of Avatar available to date.
Appeal and pricing
When it comes to cost-effectiveness, this represents an excellent Secret Lair because of one major element: Braid of Fire. This specific card trades for $20 and $40 through card retailers currently, and for $29.99 you can snag the full set, or alternatively $39.99 for the shiny edition.
Magic: The Gathering's Avatar: The Last Airbender set will be available for advance previews on Nov. 14 and releases worldwide on Nov. 21.
