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Ordinarily, clip shows are disliked among audiences as a pointless diversion, or sometimes tolerated as essential in television in the age of episodic releases. However, this wasn't the situation, though Avatar: The Last Airbender demonstrated this through "The Ember Island Players," a popular installment from its final season that is now getting a special Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair collection.

Information of the Secret Lair

The entire Secret Lair superdrop for the soon-to-release Avatar: The Last Airbender edition was unveiled earlier this month. It features five separate collections, and even though one titled "My Cabbages!" is clearly humorous tribute to the series' beloved recurring figure, the additional releases seem somewhat less imaginative, aside from one remarkable entry: "The Ember Island Players."

Inspired by the seventeenth episode of the third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, this Secret Lair contains these particular 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 segment remains memorable

Audiences of Avatar clearly recall this particular episode, which functioned as a recap of the protagonist Aang and his companions' journey prior to the final episode. Different from standard summary installments, or "clip shows," "The Ember Island Players" did not stem from financial limitations or production issues. The show's makers truly wanted to provide audiences a moment to revisit the series' story, but they decided to do it creatively.

Throughout the segment, the main characters observe a stage show based on their journeys at a playhouse located on Ember Island, titled The Boy in the Iceberg. The whole thing is factually incorrect, cheesy, and utterly comical. It succeeds because it plays with the heroes' understanding of themselves, setting them against compared to how society (and particularly the antagonist nation) sees them. It has the perfect balance of self-awareness, and it becomes arguably the best adaptation of the show released so far.

Appeal and pricing

Regarding worth, this represents an excellent Secret Lair because of one major element: Braid of Fire. This card trades for $20 and $40 on online marketplaces at the time of writing, and at $29.99 you can obtain the complete collection, or $39.99 for the premium foil treatment.

Magic's Avatar: The Last Airbender collection is available for pre-release events beginning November 14 and releases worldwide come November 21.