The show follows Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), the last airbender and the "Avatar", on his journey to bring balance to a war-torn world by mastering all four elements: air, water, earth, and fire.

On his quest, he is joined by companions Katara (Mae Whitman), Sokka (Jack DeSena), Toph Beifong (Jessie Flower), Suki (Jennie Kwan), and Zuko (Dante Basco), and hunted down by Fire Nation princess Azula (Grey DeLisle).

The episode, written by Tim Hedrick, Joshua Hamilton and John O'Bryan, and directed by Giancarlo Volpe, follows Aang and his friends attending a play about them, only to find it has major inconsistences with reality.

As Aang and Zuko practice their firebending at Ozai's beach house on Ember Island, Sokka and Suki arrive from the market with a poster advertising a play about the group's adventures.

Aang is heavily angered when he sees his counterpart is played by a woman, while Zuko begins to realize how badly he treated his uncle Iroh.

The original idea of the episode came from writer Tim Hedrick who pitched that Team Avatar would encounter a group of performers who retell their story.

[3] The episode also bears similarities with the 2004 book Days of Magic, Nights of War by Clive Barker which also features characters watching an inaccurate play about their adventures.

Unlike most recap episodes, which are usually created as a result of a show's lessened budget, "The Ember Island Players" features a plethora of original designs for new characters and locations, as well as accompanying animation, all of which required significant effort from the production crew.

"[6] Tony Ireland Mell of IGN gave the episode a rating of 8.9 out of 10, writing that "Watching the play was also a nice choice by the writers to give the characters a glimpse at how some people may view them, and it all seemed pretty accurate.

Much like the 200th episode of Stargate SG-1 where they poked fun at the show, "The Ember Island Players" did the same type of thing, and in my opinion, that's what good television and great story telling is all about.