One of Avatar: The Last Airbender's best installments is honored with an exclusive Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair.

Usually, recap episodes face criticism from viewers as a needless waste of time, or sometimes accepted as a necessity for series in the age of weekly production. That wasn't always the case, though Avatar: The Last Airbender demonstrated this via "The Ember Island Players," a popular segment in its last season now being getting a special Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair drop.

Highlights regarding the Secret Lair

The full Secret Lair superdrop for the soon-to-release Avatar: The Last Airbender set was announced on November 4. It features five distinct sets, and even though one titled "My Cabbages!" is certainly funny homage to Avatar's most famous minor character, the other collections seem somewhat lacking creativity, with one notable exception: "The Ember Island Players."

Drawing from installment 17 from season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender, this Secret Lair contains these particular cards:

• 1x Phantasmal Image as "Absolutely Accurate Actor"
• 1x Braid of Fire
• 1x Cursed Mirror
• 1x Mask of Memory
• 1x Thespian's Stage

What makes this episode remains memorable

Audiences of the show fondly remember this episode, which acted as a review of the hero Aang and his companions' quest before the series' finale. Unlike standard summary installments, or retrospective segments, "The Ember Island Players" was not driven due to production constraints or creative challenges. The creators genuinely intended to give fans an opportunity to revisit the series' story, but they decided to approach it inventively.

During the installment, the heroes observe a stage show depicting their journeys on a stage set on Ember Island, titled The Boy in the Iceberg. The entire performance is wildly exaggerated, cheesy, and completely amusing. It works as it plays with the heroes' understanding about themselves, setting them against against how the world (and especially the Fire Nation) sees them. It possesses the right amount of meta-commentary, and it results in perhaps the finest interpretation of the show released so far.

Worth and availability

When it comes to cost-effectiveness, this offers a fantastic Secret Lair because of one major element: Braid of Fire. This card sells between $20 and $40 through card retailers currently, while for $29.99 you can obtain the full set, or alternatively $39.99 for the shiny edition.

Magic's Avatar: The Last Airbender collection can be accessed for advance previews on Nov. 14 and launches globally on November 21.