Chapters 32–35 Summary and Analysis
Chapter 32
Wade reveals how he hacked his way into IOI's private databases. Art3mis is upset that he looked at her picture, but Aech tells her that Wade probably saved her life by looking at their files. Wade then sends his friends the smuggled IOI data from his ten-zettabyte flash drive. Together, they peruse a vidcap of Sorrento trying to clear the Third Gate. An inscription on the gate's surface reads "Charity, Hope, Faith." The members of the High Five eventually deduce that the words come from the song "Three Is a Magic Number" from the TV show Schoolhouse Rock! This means that three copies of the Crystal Key are needed to open the Third Gate.
Aech then questions Wade about the shield over Anorak's Castle, but Wade assures everyone that the shield will drop on its own in 36 hours. Art3mis is incredulous, but Wade assures her that it will happen. He then shows everyone the email he intends to send out to every OASIS user that night. The email is an invitation to fight IOI after the shield comes down. Wade believes that gunters everywhere will fight to prevent the OASIS from falling into IOI's hands. Meanwhile, the High Five have more immediate problems: they are homeless and on the run. Suddenly, Ogden Morrow's avatar pops into existence and asks whether any of the High Five have ever been to Oregon.
Chapter 33
Everyone is shocked and wants to know how Morrow entered the encrypted chatroom. Morrow admits that his avatar is "immortal" and "invincible," meaning that it can go anywhere and do anything it wants. It is Wade who finally deduces that Morrow was the one who knocked over a stack of comic books at their first High Five meeting. Morrow then offers to fly all four gunters to his estate in Oregon. Since he promised a dying Halliday that he would protect the integrity of the contest, Morrow is determined to help the friends. He arranges for limos to take Shoto and Art3mis to their chartered planes. Meanwhile, Aech picks Wade up on his way to the Columbus airport, where Morrow's jet waits to fly them to Oregon.
Before their meeting, Aech warns Wade that he doesn't look anything like his avatar, but Wade dismisses his concerns. As Wade waits for Aech, he notices that the news channels are playing the incriminating IOI videos he sent them. Aech eventually arrives, and to Wade's surprise turns out to be African American, a girl, and a lesbian. After he gets over his initial shock, Wade decides that skin color, sexual orientation, and gender are immaterial considerations in a friendship: they will never affect the strength of his regard for Aech. At Morrow's palatial mansion, the friends are taken to their own immersion bays in the basement. Meanwhile, Wade learns that Kira was the reason Halliday avoided Morrow until the day of his death: Halliday was jealous that Kira chose Morrow. After thanking Morrow for trusting him with this secret, Wade slips into his immersion bay: Parzival is ready for battle.
Chapter 34
After logging into the OASIS, Parzival shouts a command to his 12-inch Leopardon; it immediately transforms into a giant robot. Seated confidently in the captain's chair of the robot's cockpit, Parzival then orders Leopardon to retract its legs, arms, and head, turning it into a starship called the Marveller. Upon his command, the Marveller travels through a stargate (a space portal that allows swift travel between two distant locations). As Parzival emerges from the stargate into Sector Ten's airspace, he is heartened to see thousands of...
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space vehicles headed towards Anorak's Castle.
At the castle, there are more avatar ships, and Parzival notices that Shoto, Aech, and Art3mis are in their own giant robots. Meanwhile, the Sixer army surrounds the castle on the inside of the force shield. Sorrento soon appears to show off his giant robot: the invincible Mechagodzilla, larger than any of the High Five's robots.Parzival is not alarmed, however.
At exactly noon, an SD-03 Supply Droid retrieves a requisition order (the same one Wade made two days ago when he was still at IOI headquarters). The order is for an anti-matter friction-induction bomb, which the Supply Droid takes to an observation platform at the castle's uppermost level. There, programmed by Parzival's instructions, the Supply Droid detonates the bomb over the 99th Level Sixer wizard holding the Orb of Osuvox (the artifact generating the force shield over the castle). Once the bomb detonates, the Supply Droid and wizard are vaporized, and the shield comes down (the Orb is impotent without the wizard).
Chapter 35
Battle immediately commences between the exposed Sixer troops and the gunters. Shoto decides to confront Sorrento in his Raideen robot to give Aech, Art3mis, and Parzival a chance to clear the Third Gate. Around them, Sixers are taking heavy fire from thousands of avatars. Shoto fights courageously, but his Raideen is soon destroyed by Mechagodzilla's lightning fire. On the Scoreboard, Shoto's name disappears, signifying that his avatar is dead. Angered by the fact that Sorrento has destroyed so many lives (in the real world and in the OASIS), Parzival decides to fight his archenemy.
Instead of joining Aech and Art3mis in the castle, he brandishes the Beta Capsule and transforms into Ultraman. With only three minutes to kill Sorrento's Mechagodzilla,Parzival uses a Specium Ray to destabilize the monster; he then deploys a powerful kick to the mech's spine before using an Ultra Slice to cut Mechagodzilla in half. Before Mechagodzilla explodes, however, the head detaches from the body, and Sorrento attempts to make a getaway. Parzival fires at the head with a Specium Ray, killing Sorrento's avatar and causing Sorrento's name to vanish from the Scoreboard.
Heartened by his victory, Parzival joins Aech and Art3mis in the castle. All three brandish their keys, and Parzival recites the first line of “Three Is a Magic Number,” the Schoolhouse Rock! song. The Third Gate immediately glows, and two extra keyholes appear on either side of the original keyhole. After the three heroes insert their keys, an ear-splitting boom is heard, followed by their avatars' deaths.
Analysis
In these chapters, Cline highlights the themes of courage and identity. Wade is initially shocked when he meets the real-life Aech. After his dismay wears off, he decides to accept Aech for who she has always been to him: a supportive friend whose loyalty is matched only by her courage and generosity of spirit. Through Wade's actions, Cline reinforces a premise championed by Martin Luther King: if we allow our shared humanity to unite rather than divide us, there are few problems beyond our power to solve. In this light, our identity is defined not by arbitrary measures, but by the content of our characters.
In these chapters, Shoto, Wade, Art3mis, and Aech team up to battle a seemingly invincible enemy. Each displays formidable courage, selflessness, and determination. Shoto sacrifices his avatar to avenge Daito and to ensure that his friends reach the Third Gate, while Parzival puts everything on the line to battle Sorrento's Mechagodzilla. Art3mis and Aech also stand their ground, despite the fact that Sorrento's robot dwarfs their own. The team is successful because it refuses to let its differences divide it.
