The play outdistances the actual events by showing the day of Sozin's Comet arrival. Eventually, the Fire Lord is the winner, while Aang and Zuko die (the fate of Katara, Sokka and Toph remains unknown).

Since Ember Island belong to the Fire Nation, the play was pro-Ozai propaganda. After watching it all the gang members went upset. (edit) There were numerous references to the Avatar fandom in this episode. for example, the fandom's hatred of the episode The Great Divide is represented by the actors wishing to simply skip past it. And the ambiguity of Jet's 'death' is represented by Sokka stating that it was never made very clear. (edit) This episode was in the Avatar Book 3: Fire Volume 4 DVD along with The Southern Raiders and the 2-hour movie event, Sozin's Comet. (edit) This episode aired as part of the Countdown to the Comet event during the week of July 14, 2008. (edit) Mike and Bryan the directors of Avatar quoted at New York Comic Con 2008 that this episode was designed as a humourous filler before the epic four part season finale. It also served as tribute to the fan service that the audience have given Avatar since its debut. (edit) Remember that Ember Island is where Zuko, Mai, Ty-lee, and Azula all go for a vacation in Avatar Book 3 Volume 1 Chapter 5, The Beach. (edit) The first 7 1/2 minutes of this episode were shown at New York Comic-Con 2008. (edit)

Zuko: That...wasn't a good play.
Katara: Yeah.
Toph: You said it.
Sokka: But the effects were decent. (edit) Suki (serious): I am an elite warrior who has trained for years in the art of stealth. (cheerfully): I think I can get you backstage. (edit) Katara's Actress: I have to admit, Prince Zuko, I really find you attractive.
Zuko's Actor: You don't have to make fun of me!
Katara's Actress: But I mean it. I've had eyes for you since the day you first captured me.
(The real Katara and Zuko cringe and slide away from each other.) (edit) Iroh's Actor: Zuko I need to talk to you, about your hair! (edit) Aang´s Actress: Avatar State! Yip! Yip! (edit) Aang: That's not how I'm like, and I'm not a woman! (edit) Aangs' Actor: Who are you?
Tophs' Actor: My name's Toph, because it sounds like tough (flexes his muscles) and that's just what I am!
Aangs' Actor: So.. you're blind? (waves in his face)
Tophs' Actor: (chuckles) I can see you doing that. I see everything that you see.
Except I don't see like you do, I release a sonic wave from my mouth...
(screams in their faces for a few seconds)
There, I got a pretty good look at you! (edit) Aang: Katara did you really mean what you said in there?
Katara: In where?
Aang: On stage. When you said I was just like a brother to you, and you didn't have feelings for me.
Katara: I didn't say that, an actor said that.
Aang: But its true isn't it? We kissed at the invasion and I thought we were gonna be together, but we're not.
Katara: Aang... I don't know.
Aang: Why don't you know?
Katara: Because we're in the middle of a war and we have more important things to worry about right now. I'm sorry but right now I'm just a little confused.
Aang: (He kisses her)
Katara: (Pulling away, angry) I just said I was confused! I'm going inside. (She walks away)
Aang: (Annoyed) I'm such an idiot! (edit) Sokka: Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time.
Suki: Yeah... You tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics.
Sokka: I know! (edit) Actress playing Azula: Well, my brother! What's it going to be? Your nation, or a lifetime of treachery?!
Actor playing Iroh: Choose treachery! It's more fun! (edit) Zuko: Wait, did Jet just die?
Sokka: You know, it was really unclear. (edit) Toph: (when her actor is introduced) I sound like a guy... a really buff guy.
Katara: It hurts, doesn't it?
Toph: Are you kidding? I wouldn't have cast it any other way! (edit) Sokka: I'm a big Sokka fan, but I don't think you're representing him quite as well as you could be.
Sokka's Actor: Oh, great -- another fan with ideas. (edit) Toph: Now you're here with us. He'd be proud.
(punches Zuko)
Zuko: What was that for?!
Toph: That's how I show affection. (edit) Katara: Relax Aang, they're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy cry baby who can't resist giving over emotional speeches about hope all the time.
(the gAang stares at her)
Katara: What? (edit) Zuko: So far, this intermission is the best part of the play. (edit) Fake Momo: Hi, everybody! I love you! (edit) Katara: Doesn't it seem kind of weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house? (edit) random kid: Your Zuko costume is pretty good, but your scar is on the wrong side.
Zuko: The scar is NOT on the wrong side! (edit) Actress Playing Aang: I'm the avatar, silly, here to spread joy and fun.
Aang: Wait. Is that a woman playing me? (edit) Actor Playing Sokka: Don't go Yue, you're the only woman who's ever taken my mind off of food. (they kiss) Oh wait, did you have pickled fish for dinner?
Actress Playing Yue: Goodbye Sokka, I have important moon duties to take care of. And yes, I did have pickled fish. (edit) Actress playing Katara: An airbender! My heart is so full of hope, that it's making me tearbend!
Actor playing Sokka: My stomach is so empty, that it's making me tearbend! I need meat! (edit) (the gang, now including Zuko and Suki, is entering the theater)
Toph: Why are we sitting in the nose-bleed section? My feet can't see a thing from up here!
Katara: Don't worry, I'll tell your feet what's happening. (edit)

The play depicts Katara as being attracted to Zuko. Among fans, Zutara (Zuko and Katara) is a popular alternate-shipping couple. (edit) When Sokka was filling Aang in on what he missed, he mentioned that Combustion Man died, and the next scene in the play was the invasion, however Combustion Man died after the invasion. This may be because the playwrite assumed Combustion Man dead after their encounter in The Runaway. (edit) Aang is wearing the same hat that Xu wears in The Painted Lady. The coloring style is when he is Xu. (edit) Toph's character is played by a muscular man who is least 6-feet tall. This portrayal of Toph is most likely a reference to the Earthbender prototype that Mike and Bryan created before they decided that the Toph's character should be a girl. (edit) The sign over the stage reads "Ember Island Theater". (edit) The following episodes are referenced in the play: (In Order of Appearence) * The Boy in the Iceberg * The Southern Air Temple * The Warriors of Kyoshi * The King of Omashu * The Waterbending Scroll * The Blue Spirit * Jet * The Great Divide * The Siege of the North, Part Two
* The Blind Bandit
* Avatar Day * The Chase * The Drill * Lake Laogai * The Crossroads of Destiny
* The Headband
* The Painted Lady * Sokka's Master * The Runaway * The Invasion (DoBS, Part One) * The Western Air Temple * Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno
* Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang (edit) The episode makes a reference to the Cabbage Merchant, a reoccurring joke in the show, as a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage. (edit) A poster for Love Among the Dragons (which Zuko says his mother took him to see every year) can be seen at the post office in The Runaway. (edit) The top of the plays poster reads its title in Chinese as The Boy in the Iceberg. (edit) In the play, while the events are true to the first Season, the character portrayals and minor plot details are comically incorrect to make the gang look bad. For example: Katara is played by a much older actress and portrayed as very melodramatic and exaggeratedly preoccupied with "hope", often bursting into tears for the occasion. Sokka's actor is incredibly thin and has buckteeth; he thinks only about food, mostly meat. He wears Sokka's season two outfit. While the character is a boy, the actress portraying Aang is a woman who does not attempt to hide her gender and is more of a trickster and is much more perky. Jet is in the play and he´s "a bad boy " according to the actress playing Katara. He chews on a red flower instead of a twig or piece of wheat. Zuko has the scar on the wrong eye, but other than that, his portrayal is pretty accurate, though he is older. Appa resembles more of a Chinese Dragon in festivals. Iroh is more of a glutton, eating a whole cake, and his love of tea isn't mentioned and seems to instead be replaced with cakes. Momo is a "flying rabbit monkey and talks!" and is portrayed as a hand puppet with a fake arm attached to the end to fool the audience. The Blue Spirit is a separate entity from Zuko and also saves "Aang" from Zuko, though in reality, it was Zhao who captured Aang. The Blue Spirit is given a gargantuan head and a silly expression on his face. Also, it looks like there would be some romance between the Blue Spirit and Aang, according to Zuko's and Aang's faces. Suki is quite accurate, though some physical details are slightly exaggerated, but to a lesser extent. The Gang skip over The Great Divide, referencing the fanbase distaste of the episode. (edit) The Ember Island Players were first acknowledged in episode 116-The Deserter. When the gang is looking at a wanted poster of Aang, an advertisement for the theater group is in the corner. (edit) The artwork on the play poster that Sokka has is the same artwork from the Season 1 Boxset, but with Aang, Sokka, and Katara having slightly different looks. Zuko's scar is also on the right side of his face, when the actual Zuko has it on his left. (edit)

During the play, the Actor Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee do a pose that's similar to the one made by Charlie's Angels. (edit) The play being preformed by the Ember Island Players makes a allusion to the ambiguity of Jet's death. As hinted by the main characters who where not sure if Jet really died. This was probably a result of the fan's questioning if Jet had really died in Lake Laogai. (edit) The idea of Momo talking (and the closeness Sokka and Momo shared in the desert when they both got high on cactus juice) could be a representation of Scooby from Scooby Doo. (edit) The idea of the fake Sokka thinking of only food is referenced to Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, who also has a great fondness for food. The fake Sokka's voice also sounds like Shaggy, but as if he hadn't hit puberty, yet. (edit) The portrayal of the fake Aang is much like the character Peter Pan, who is also known for being very immature and a trickster. (edit) The idea of a young, male hero being acted by a woman may derive from the traditional English theater productions of Peter Pan, where the title character is played by an actress. (edit)