Ready Player One LitChart

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Ready Player One

courage beyond their years. These books range from Octavia
INTR
INTRODUCTION
ODUCTION Butler’s The Parable of the Sower to Cory Doctorow’s Little
Brother to Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. Ready Player One
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF ERNEST CLINE
falls within the LitRPG subgenre of science fiction, meaning it
Ernest Cline grew up on a farm in Ohio that he claims features the conventions of massive multiplayer online role-
resembled the Star Wars planet Tatooine. As a child, he was playing games (such as the OASIS itself) and includes games as
obsessed with Star Wars and other science fiction books and a substantial part of the plot. In this sense, it is similar other
movies. As he grew older, he also developed an obsession with LitRPGs such as Conor Kostick’s The Avatar Chronicles series.
1980s pop culture. In his early 20s he participated in poetry Like Ready Player One, Daniel Suarez’s novel Daemon also tells
slams and wrote several film scripts. One script, Fanboys, was the story of the death of a famous computer game designer and
turned into a 2009 film, but Cline was disappointed with the its aftermath.
results. He regretted that his original script had been changed
so much and hoped to write a film based on his own novel in
KEY FACTS
order to have more control over the final product. The result
was Ready Player One, Cline’s debut novel, which sold at auction • Full Title: Ready Player One
in 2010. The book became a bestseller upon its publication and • When Written: 2000-10
was turned into a 2018 movie directed by Steven Spielberg, • Where Written: Austin, Texas
with a script written by Cline. Cline published a second science
• When Published: 2011
fiction novel, Armada, in 2015, and is working on a sequel to
Ready Player One. He lives in Austin with his wife, fellow writer • Literary Period: 21st Century American Science Fiction
and slam poet Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz. • Genre: LitRPG Science Fiction
• Setting: Outskirts of Oklahoma City; Columbus, Ohio; the
HISTORICAL CONTEXT OASIS, in the year 2045
Although the novel is set in the year 2045, it draws on real • Climax: When Wade successfully obtains Hallidays’ Easter
history up until the point at which it transitions into the future. egg
The novel refers to the economic boom of the 1980s and ‘90s, • Antagonist: The Sixers/Nolan Sorrento
which was followed by the Great Recession beginning in 2008. • Point of View: First person, from the perspective of Wade
Another important historical element of the novel is the Watts
development in computer technology and artificial intelligence
from the ‘80s to the present (and beyond). Wade notes that the EXTRA CREDIT
first computer Halliday owned was slow and awkward to use; Art imitating life. Like Wade in the novel, Ernest Cline drives a
for example, it needed to be turned off and on again anytime a vintage 1980s DeLorean sports car in real life.
videogame cartridge was inserted. The novel imagines the
computer technology of the present—including virtual reality
A puzzle inside a puzzle. After the publication of Ready Player
headsets and haptic gloves—improved to the point that it offers
One, Cline announced that the novel contained its own Easter
an even more comfortable, immersive, and realistic experience.
Alongside technological developments, the novel also imagines egg, and whoever could complete a series of trials similar to
that current problems plaguing the world—including climate those in the book would win their own DeLorean. The winner
change, decreasing fossil fuel reserves, world hunger, was announced in 2012.
unchecked corporate power, social inequality, and extreme
poverty—become worse to the point of catastrophe by the year
2045.
PL
PLO
OT SUMMARY
Wade recalls the moment when he heard about the death of
RELATED LITERARY WORKS James Halliday, the creator of a multiplayer game named the
Ready Player One is one of a large number of books that imagine OASIS. The ordinary TV broadcast was interrupted with a short
an apocalyptic, dystopian landscape—often created by climate film entitled Anorak’s Invitation, in which Halliday recites the
change, a global energy crisis, and widespread poverty—and “highlights” of his will. He transforms into Anorak, his OASIS
which feature a young hero who possesses intelligence and avatar, and announces that he’s hidden an Easter egg in OASIS.
The first person to find it will inherit his entire fortune and
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estate. He recites the first clue about the Easter egg’s location, company Halliday cofounded with his friend Ogden Morrow,
and wonders aloud if he’s made the hunt too difficult. He was rebranded in 2012 as Gregarious Simulation Systems
announces the beginning of the hunt, and the video ends. (GSS), at which point it released its only product, the
Before long, a subculture is born. Those who participate in the Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive
hunt are known as “gunters”; although there are always some Simulation—the OASIS. As Earth became more and more
gunters boasting that they are on the edge of a breakthrough, afflicted by poverty, famine, and chaos, people ended up
years pass and nobody finds anything, and most people lose spending most of their time in the OASIS.
interest in the hunt. Suddenly, in 2045, Wade—an 18-year-old One day in Latin class, Wade has a breakthrough about the
living in a trailer park on the outskirts of Oklahoma meaning of the Limerick, the first clue in the hunt, and realizes
City—appears on the scoreboard. He will now tell the story of that the Copper Key might be hidden on Ludus. He is stunned
what happens next. to see that the Tomb of Horrors is only 70km from his school
Wade wakes up to the sound of gunshots. When it gets cold he and he manages to travel there by pretending he is going to his
stays in his Aunt Alice’s trailer with fifteen other people. Wade’s school’s football game. Everything goes well until he
parents were both refugees. His father was killed while looting encounters the demi-lich, Acererak, who challenges him to a
a grocery store during a blackout. His mother, Loretta, was an joust. Wade beats him, and Acererak transforms into Halliday’s
OASIS telemarketer and sex worker. She was also a drug user, avatar, Anorak, to give Wade his reward: the Copper Key. Wade
and when the narrator was 11 she died after shooting up a “bad also receives 50,000 XPs, raising his avatar to the tenth level.
batch of something.” Ever since the energy crisis pushed Wade’s next mission is to journey to Halliday’s recreation of his
refugees into the major cities, multi-level “stacks” of trailer childhood home in Middletown, Ohio. As Wade is leaving the
parks like the one in which Wade lives started appearing Tomb of Horrors, he sees Art3mis, who has failed to defeat
around urban areas. Wade has a “hideout”—an abandoned Acererak. Wade lies and pretends Acererak beat him too.
van—in which he keeps his belongings, attends school, and Art3mis realizes he’s lying and is furious at first; however, they
plays the OASIS. part ways on friendly terms.
Wade named his OASIS avatar Parzival, but at school he must In Halliday’s childhood bedroom, Wade discovers the First
use his real name. Wade is not looking forward to graduating; Gate, a portal which opens to deep space. He jumps through
he doesn’t have enough money to attend college, so his only and lands inside a vintage video arcade, and soon realizes that
option is to become a full-time gunter. In sixth grade he he is in a simulation of the 1983 film WarGames. He has been
transferred to an OASIS school on the planet Ludus, where all transformed into Matthew Broderick’s character in the movie,
OASIS schools are located. and must play the role correctly based on memory. He
A corporation named Innovative Online Industries has hired successfully reaches the end of the movie, at which point the
professional oologists (egg-hunters) nicknamed “Sixers” to find scoreboard updates, showing that he has now completed the
the Easter egg on its behalf. The IOI hopes to take control of first gate. However, Wade is exhausted. He takes off his visor
the OASIS and aggressively monetize it, charging users a and goes to sleep in his hideout for 12 hours.
monthly fee. Wade reads the blog of a gunter named Art3mis, Wade awakes to discover that Art3mis has now passed the
confessing that he has a “massive cyber-crush” on her. He First Gate too. Morrow is interviewed on the news, his first
instant messages his friend Aech and they arrange to meet in appearance in years. Halliday and Morrow had a falling out
Aech’s chat room, the Basement. Wade, Aech, and another years ago, but no one knows why. Wade receives sponsorships
avatar named I-r0k quiz each other on trivia. from companies who will pay him in XPs. He receives an email
The OASIS is shaped like a Rubik’s Cube, with 27 cubed from Nolan Sorrento, the Head of Operations at IOI, offering to
“sectors.” Travelling across one sector at the speed of light is recruit him as a Sixer.
expensive and takes 10 hours. Avatars can gain experience Wade connects with Sorrento via chatlink, a communication
points—XPs—by completing quests and fighting NPC villains. tool that allows him to travel to the IOI headquarters in
However, these don’t exist on Ludus. With difficulty Wade has hologram form. Sorrento explains the vast system the Sixers
managed to raise his avatar to the third level by briefly hitching have developed to find the egg and offers Wade the position of
rides to other planets and earning XPs there; however, no Chief Oologist. When Wade refuses, Sorrento offers him $5
gunter is considered serious until they reach the tenth level. million on the spot in exchange for explaining how to get
Wade’s favorite class is Advanced OASIS studies, which he through the First Gate, but Wade again declines the offer.
finds easy because he knows everything there is to know about Finally, Sorrento reveals that he knows Wade’s true identity
Halliday. He explains that Halliday was a highly eccentric genius and that he has wired Aunt Alice’s trailer with explosives. He
obsessed with video games, sci-fi and fantasy, and the 1980s. threatens to kill Wade, but Wade still refuses and logs out of
He is thought to have been autistic. Gregarious Games, a the OASIS. Back in his hideout, he hears a nearby explosion.

That night, Wade attends a private chatroom meeting in the Sorrento clears the Second Gate and rises to first place on the
Basement with the top four avatars on the OASIS scoreboard: scoreboard. Wade watches with horror as dozens of Sixers find
Art3mis, Aech, Daito, and Shoto. Aech brings up the idea of the Crystal Key. Shoto visits Wade and explains that it is not
forming an alliance, but Daito and Shoto refuse and abruptly just Daito’s avatar that’s dead. The Sixers killed Daito himself,
leave. Over the next few days, hundreds of Sixers pass through framing it as a suicide. After Shoto leaves, Wade has another
the First Gate. Wade uses his first endorsement check to buy breakthrough, realizing that the next gate has something to do
himself a bus ticket to Columbus. During the journey, Wade with the 1982 film Blade Runner. He flies the Vonnegut to a
logs into the OASIS and buys himself a new identity, Bryce planet called Axrenox, where he enters one of the countless
Lynch. He arrives at his new apartment in Columbus and vows copies of the Tyrell Building that exist in the OASIS. He uses the
not to leave it until he finds the egg. Jade Key to enter a bowling alley, where he enters a recreation
In a chat, Wade reveals to Art3mis that he has a crush on her. of an old video game named Black Tiger. He hears the clue
She agrees to tell him a few things about herself, but then logs about where the Crystal Key is in the lyrics of a song by
off and says they can’t talk again until one of them finds the egg. Halliday’s favorite band, Rush. He travels to Syrinx, a deserted
However, when Wade emails her, she responds, and they begin planet, and enters the Temple of the Syrinx. Wade realizes he
hanging out. Wade graduates from high school and works on has to play a song on the guitar, and once he is done, the guitar
bringing his avatar up to the highest level, 99. One day, he has a transforms into the Crystal Key.
breakthrough and realizes that the latest clue—the Wade realizes that the Third Gate must be hidden inside Castle
Quatrain—has something to do with Cap’n Crunch cereal. Soon Anorak on the planet Chthonia, “the gunters’ Mecca.” The
after, he and Art3mis kiss for the first time. whole army of Sixers are already there, along with countless
Wade receives an invitation to Morrow’s 73rd birthday party at gunters. Everyone thinks the hunt is almost over. Wade emails
the Distracted Globe, a zero-gravity dance club. He and Art3mis, Aech, and Shoto, telling them how to find the Crystal
Art3mis dance together, and he confesses that he is in love with Key. He vows to find the Third Gate or “die trying.”
her. Art3mis dismisses him, emphasizing that they don’t IOI police descend on Wade’s apartment in Columbus to arrest
actually know each other in reality and that their relationship him for overdue payments on his visa card. Wade enters the
has led them to neglect the hunt. Suddenly, Sixers begin OASIS and orders his computer to self-destruct just before the
shooting up the club; Morrow vaporizes them and the party police break into the apartment. They take him to 101 IOI
resumes, but Art3mis leaves. Plaza, where he is to be indentured. He is given the job of
Wade sets up shop on an asteroid on Sector Fourteen, which he OASIS Technical Support Representative II and is forced to sign
has bought and named Falco. He has been living in Columbus an indenturement contract. During the day, Wade works
for five months, and it has been eight weeks since he last spoke obediently, but at night he secretly plans to infiltrate the Sixer’s
to Art3mis. He and Aech are no longer friends, although he has database and destroy the shield they’ve created over Anorak’s
managed to strike up a friendship with Daito and Shoto. Using castle. Having hacked into the database, he learns that the
his fake identity, he has also managed to get a job doing low- Sixers plan to kill Art3mis and Shoto after they find the egg.
level OASIS technical support. One day, at the end of a shift, he Working quickly, he downloads data from the Sixer database
discovered that Art3mis has obtained the Jade Key. and wipes his own debt. He escapes the IOI prison by wearing
the uniform of maintenance-tech worker he bought on the
The Sixers are now in possession of an artifact called Fyndoro’s
black market.
Tablet of Finding, which will help them with the Hunt. Wade
flies his starship, the Vonnegut, to a planet named Archaide, Wade buys new clothing and a gun. He then goes to the Plug, a
which is a museum of old arcade games. To his surprise, Wade place where he can privately log into the OASIS that is not
finds a recreation of Happytime Pizza, a pizza place Halliday owned by IOI. Once he is logged in, Wade emails all the major
frequented as a child. Inside, there is a Pac-Man machine, which news networks with evidence of how IOI had killed Daito, tried
Wade realizes contains another Easter egg. However, while he to kill Wade, and planned to kill Art3mis and Aech. He then logs
is playing, he sees that Aech has overtaken him on the into the Basement, where Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto are
scoreboard. Wade manages to get the new high score on Pac- waiting. Together, they realize that Halliday designed the Hunt
Man, and at the same moment receives a message from Aech so that three avatars would have to face each other at the Third
with a clue that leads him to the Jade Key, which is situated on a Gate. Wade shows the others an email he plans to send to
nearby planet called Frobozz. Wade successfully locates the every single gunter, asking them to come together and fight the
key and narrowly avoids an encounter with a group of Sixers. Sixers as a team. Suddenly, Og appears, offering to help. He
The violent clashes between gunters and Sixers that ensues is reveals that he promised Halliday to protect the hunt, and
known as the Battle of Frobozz. During the action, Shoto finds offers to house Aech, Ar3mis, Shoto, and Wade at his home in
the key, but in almost the same moment, Daito is killed. Oregon for the final battle.

On the way to Oregon, Wade meets Aech for the first time in himself. By the end of the novel, Wade is ready to accept
real life and discovers that she is actually an African-American Halliday’s advice that he cannot spend all his time inside the
teenage lesbian whose real name is Helen. At Morrow’s OASIS. Although at this point Wade has won the hunt and is
mansion, the team enter the OASIS, where every avatar is now a multi-billionaire who controls the simulation, he realizes
heading to Castle Anorak. There, the gunter-Sixer battle takes that he must also embrace the real world in order to have a
place. Shoto’s avatar is killed and Wade’s is seriously injured. meaningful life.
However, he manages to keep going and kill Sorrento’s avatar. James Hallida
Hallidayy / Anor
Anorak
ak – James Donovan Halliday is the
He meets Aech and Art3mis at the Third Gate, but just as they creator of the OASIS and instigator of the Easter egg hunt. His
are about to enter, there is a massive explosion and their OASIS avatar is a wizard called Anorak. He was born in 1972
avatars all die. Just as Wade is convinced he is about to see and grew up in Middletown, Ohio. His father was an alcoholic
“Game Over,” he learns that he has an extra life. Aech and and his mother suffered from bipolar disorder, and the two of
Art3mis’ avatars remain dead, though he can hear them them often fought. To make matters worse, Halliday was an
speaking to him. extremely shy and awkward child. He is thought to have been
Wade must play another vintage video game, Tempest, while on the autism spectrum, and was extremely intelligent, with
the “whole world” watches. He eventually achieves the highest certain “obsessions” such as computers, videogames, and
score and is instantly transported into the movie Monty Python 1980s pop culture. Halliday retreated into his obsessions in
and the Holy Grail, which he reenacts with joyful ease. Wade order to avoid the misery of his life. In high school, he designs
then appears in a simulation of Halliday’s office, and realizes his first videogame, and after graduating he founds a company
that the Easter egg must be hidden in this room. After several with his best friend Ogen Morrow, titled Gregarious Games. In
tries, he manages to log onto Halliday’s computer and retrieves 2012, he and Morrow release the OASIS. Although Halliday
the egg. Halliday appears and tells him that he is now in charge dies a multi-billionaire who is one of the most idolized people
of OASIS, that his avatar is immortal, and that he can have on the planet, it becomes clear that he had regrets about the
anything he wants. Wade kills the remaining Sixers and way he lived his life. Chief among these is the fact that he never
resurrects Art3mis, Aech, and Shoto’s avatars. confessed his feelings to Kira Underwood, a childhood friend
After logging out of the OASIS, Wade goes to find Art3mis, who who became Morrow’s wife and who was the only person
tells him that her real name is Samantha. He confesses his love Halliday ever loved.
for her again, and they kiss. Aunt Alice – Alice is Wade’s aunt and the owner of the trailer in
which he lives. Although she takes in Wade after Loretta dies,
she is cruel and selfish, and keeps the food vouchers that the
CHARA
CHARACTERS
CTERS government gives her for Wade for herself. She is killed when
IOI wires her trailer with explosives, hoping to kill Wade.
MAJOR CHARACTERS
Mrs. Gilmore – Mrs. Gilmore is Wade’s neighbor; she lives in a
Wade W Watts
atts / P
Parzival
arzival – Wade Owen Watts is the narrator and mobile home in the same stack as him, below Aunt Alice’s
hero of the novel. Parzival is the name of his OASIS avatar. He is trailer. She is very religious and spends most of her time inside
18 years old when the novel begins, and lives in the Portland OASIS megachurches. She is kind and generous to Wade, and
Avenue Stacks in his Aunt Alice’s trailer on the edge of he is devastated when she is killed in the explosion.
Oklahoma City. At the beginning of the novel Wade is shy,
Art3mis – Art3mis is one of the most famous gunters in the
overweight loner whose parents are both dead and whose aunt
world. She has a blog called Arty’s Missives, in which she
treats him badly. He is poor and has no prospects of improving
discusses her research into Halliday’s obsessions, and it is
his life, and therefore spends almost all his time absorbed in the
through reading this blog that Wade develops a “massive
OASIS, where he obsessively studies the life of James Halliday
cyber-crush on her.” Unlike most female OASIS users, Art3mis
and familiarizes himself with Halliday’s obsessions. This means
does not choose a super-skinny or “porn-style” body for her
that although Wade is reasonably powerless, he has a secret
avatar, but rather a short, “Rubenesque” figure that reflects her
advantage of immense knowledge about Halliday and skill at
real appearance. Art3mis and Wade develop a close
the videogames Halliday loved. Wade is able to put this
relationship, but when Wade says he’s in love with her Art3mis
knowledge to use when he is the first person to discover the
shies away, insisting that he doesn’t really know her. By the
Copper Key, thereby emerging as the early frontrunner in the
novel’s end, she comes to trust Wade again and is prepared to
Easter egg hunt. Wade almost jeopardizes himself by becoming
reignite their relationship. In real life, Art3mis’ name is
too distracted by his crush on Art3mis to sustain his early
Samantha. She is a 19-year-old college student studying
success in the hunt. However, as the novel progresses, he
Creative Writing and Poetry.
becomes more brave, level-headed, and mature, in part through
realizing the importance of prioritizing people other than

Aech – Aech is Wade’s best friend and one of the most famous Wade kills Sorrento’s avatar, and in real life Sorrento is arrested
gunters in the world. Every Friday, Aech competes in televised through his involvement with the murders.
fights, earning money and experience points. Aech’s private Marie Harris – Marie Harris is Aech’s (Helen’s) mother. She is a
chatroom, the Basement, is an exclusive hangout for “top-level black woman who believes that the OASIS is the “best thing” to
gunters.” (S)he is generous and supportive, and is a good friend happen to women and people of color because it allows them to
to Wade. Although Aech uses a white male avatar, toward the use a white male avatar and move through the world without
end of the novel it is revealed that in real life (s)he is a young being obstructed by racism and sexism. However, she retains
black lesbian named Helen Harris. Aech is nervous for Wade to prejudices of her own, and kicks Aech out of the house when
discover this truth, but in the end it turns out that nothing Aech reveals that she is a lesbian.
changes between them.
I-r0k – I-r0k is a gunter who sometimes hangs out in the MINOR CHARACTERS
Basement. Although he has a high-level avatar, Wade dismisses
Rick – Rick is Aunt Alice’s boyfriend. He is also killed when the
him as an “obnoxious poseur” who doesn’t really know anything
trailer explodes.
about Halliday. I-r0k snitches on Wade and Aech, revealing to
the world that they are students on Ludus and inadvertently Wade
ade’s
’s Father – Wade’s father, whose name we never learn.
leading IOI to discover Wade’s true identity. He was a refugee and a teenager when Wade was born. He was
killed while looting a grocery store.
Ogden Morrow aka Og – Ogden Morrow is the cofounder of
the OASIS. He and Halliday were best friends in high school; Loretta – Loretta was Wade’s mother. She was also a refugee
they were both nerds, although Morrow was more confident and teenager when Wade was born. While Wade was a child,
and charismatic than Halliday. Morrow fell in love with Kira she had two full-time jobs inside the OASIS, as a telemarketer
Underwood while he was in high school, and the two later got and sex worker. She was also a drug user, and died after
married. Although Morrow was a co-creator of the OASIS, he injecting an unknown substance.
came to feel that the simulation was having a negative impact Acerer
Acererak
ak – Acererak is a digital demi-lich (undead king) who
on humanity, and left Gregarious Simulation Systems 10 years resides inside the Tomb of Horrors and challenges users to a
after the OASIS was released. After Kira was killed in a car game of Joust as a test of whether they can receive the Copper
accident, he retreated to live a quiet, reclusive life in his home Key.
in Oregon. However, before Halliday’s death he promises to
Matthew Broderick – Matthew Broderick is the star of the
keep an eye on the hunt for him, and thus when it seems as if
1983 film WarGames, which features prominently in the novel.
the Sixers are going to win the hunt through unfair methods,
Morrow intervenes and helps out Wade and his friends. Kir
Kiraa Underwood – Kira Underwood was a friend of Halliday
and Morrow in high school. Described as a “quintessential geek
Daito – Daito is a Japanese gunter who works alongside his
girl,” both Halliday and Morrow were in love with her. She
“brother,” Shoto. Daito is intensely private and rejects both the
married Morrow and together they cofounded Halcydonia
proposition of an alliance with the other top gunters and the
Interactive, a company that produces educational software. She
idea of meeting Shoto in real life. He is killed when Sixers break
was killed in a car accident.
into his apartment and throw him off his balcony, framing it as a
suicide. Max – Max is not a character exactly; he is Wade’s running
system agent software, which is sort of like a virtual personal
Shoto – Shoto is a Japanese gunter and Daito’s “brother.” After
assistant.
Daito’s death, he reveals to Wade that his real name is Akihide
and that he and Daito were not actually brothers—in fact, they
had never met in real life. He and Daito met in the OASIS in a THEMES
virtual support group for hikikomori, young people who
withdraw from life and spend all their time online. After Daito is In LitCharts literature guides, each theme gets its own color-
killed, Shoto swears to get revenge on IOI. At the end of the coded icon. These icons make it easy to track where the themes
novel he forms an alliance with Wade, Aech, and Art3mis. occur most prominently throughout the work. If you don't have
Nolan Sorrento – Nolan Sorrento is the Head of Operations at a color printer, you can still use the icons to track themes in
IOI. He has a PhD in Computer Science and, before being black and white.
recruited by IOI, worked as a “high-profile videogame designer.”
Sorrento is the antagonist of the novel; he is cruel, only cares REALITY VS. ILLUSION
about money and power, and does not respect the OASIS, The central question posed by Ready Player One is
Halliday, or the hunt. He also kills Daito, Aunt Alice, Rick, Mrs. whether reality is necessarily better than illusion,
Gilmore, and attempts to kill Wade. At the end of the novel particularly if reality has become an increasingly

nightmarish place. In the world of the novel, a global energy novel ends at this moment, thereby underlining a sense of hope
crisis, poverty, and famine mean that the vast majority of the in the possibilities of the real world.
world’s population live extremely difficult lives. This is certainly
true for Wade: he is poor, both his parents are dead, and he is NERDS, UNDERDOGS, AND OBSESSION
forced to live in a cramped trailer with his cruel Aunt Alice. As a
The heroes of the novel—Wade, Art3mis, Aech,
result, Wade avoids existing in reality as much as possible,
Morrow, and Halliday—are all united by the fact
instead choosing to immerse himself in a massive simulation:
that they are nerds and underdogs whose power
the OASIS. Although Wade is still relatively poor and powerless
lies in their shared obsessions. None of them possess the
in the OASIS, the game is a far more pleasant place than reality.
typical attributes of a hero. They lack physical strength, and
It affords many more opportunities than exist in the real world
Wade, Art3mis, and Aech in particular are described as
and overall offers a better quality of life. For this reason, it is
overweight. In the real world, the characters—particularly
not just Wade who spends all the time he can logged into the
Wade and Halliday—lack charisma, and find interacting with
game—most of the world does, too.
other people uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing. However,
Although the OASIS is the main example of an illusion to which the strength they do possess lies in their intelligence and their
people retreat in order to avoid reality, other kinds of illusions mutual obsessions with video games, computing, trivia, and the
appear in the novel, too. Some people, such as Wade’s neighbor 1980s. In the end, it is Wade’s mastery of Halliday and OASIS
Mrs. Gilmore, turn to religion as a means of escape from the trivia that allows him to emerge as a serious gunter (Easter
horrors of their day-to-day existence. Wade is disdainful of egg-hunter) and eventually win the hunt.
religion because he believes that it is little more than a fairy
There are many parallels between Wade and Halliday’s
tale—or, in other words, an illusion. This is somewhat ironic,
trajectories in the novel; in both cases, nerds go from being
considering that Wade himself is so invested in an illusion (the
powerless, victimized underdogs to powerful, admired figures.
OASIS) and for most of the novel he doesn’t believe that there
Halliday was a shy, awkward child whose father was an
is any value in engaging with reality more than is absolutely
alcoholic and whose parents fought constantly. Wade is also
necessary. On the other hand, the OASIS is arguably a far more
shy, and he must deal with the even more extreme issue of
concrete, tangible illusion than religion, providing a much more
being an impoverished orphan in the midst of an apocalyptic,
convincing and viable escape from reality than religion can
dystopian world.
offer.
Whereas Wade’s difficulties are slightly more
The novel also calls the distinction between reality and illusion
circumstantial—they are the product of his environment more
into question. Wade spends so much time inside the OASIS that
than his personal characteristics—many of Halliday’s struggles
it is arguably more real to him than reality itself. He goes to
stem from the fact that he is autistic. People with autism can
school and has a job inside the OASIS; it is also the place where
find certain aspects of human socialization difficult, a fact
he hangs out with his only friend, Aech, and where he falls in
emphasized by Halliday’s difficulty existing in the real world.
love with Art3mis. What’s more, the OASIS has a substantial
However, as the novel shows, people with autism do not
impact on the real world. Daito, Aunt Alice, Mrs. Gilmore, and
necessarily have something wrong with them; instead, they just
Wade’s neighbors are all killed by the IOI as a result of events
interact with the world in a different way, which can also have
within the OASIS, and Wade narrowly avoids the same fate.
benefits, such as Halliday’s intelligence and creativity. While
Halliday’s Easter egg hunt, meanwhile, does not only offer glory
Halliday may have trouble existing in the real world, he is able
within the OASIS, but also bestows on the winner Halliday’s
to build another world in which he thrives—one far more suited
entire fortune, a decidedly “real” prize. When a simulation like
to nerds, underdogs, and obsessives like himself.
the OASIS is so all-consuming and so closely tied to real life, is it
really accurate to call it an illusion? Wade, Halliday, Aech, and others use their obsessions as a
means of escape from their dire circumstances, but also to
Although Ready Player One does blur the distinction between
transform the world around them. Halliday becomes obsessed
reality and illusion, overall the novel emphasizes the
with computer programming, video games, and pop culture,
importance of maintaining a connection to reality. After Wade
and Wade follows suit, spending his entire time in the OASIS
finds the egg, a simulation of Halliday appears, explaining that
increasing his knowledge about Halliday and Halliday’s
his greatest regret was shying away from the real world so
interests. Ultimately, these obsessions do not only allow
much. He tells Wade that he never felt comfortable in reality,
Halliday and Wade to forget about their difficult lives. They
but that he wished he’d forced himself to spend more time
actually become the means through which they gain real
there, because reality may be the only place it is possible to find
wealth, power, and respect.
true happiness. Taking Halliday’s advice, Wade has his first
proper, real-life conversation with Art3mis (whose real name is Furthermore, the novel implies that nerds and underdogs have
Samantha), during which he confesses his love for her. The a stronger moral compass than those who were born into

privilege or natural confidence. When Wade finds the egg, Despite illuminating certain downsides of collective existence,
Halliday asks him to use his new wealth and power for good. the novel ultimately suggests that individual achievement is
Although Wade had originally planned to use the money to always enabled by a collective on some level and only becomes
build a spaceship on which he and his friends could escape meaningful when shared with others. Although Wade wins the
Earth and find another habitable planet, he ultimately decides hunt, it is strongly implied that he would not have been able to
to take Halliday and Art3mis’ advice and use it to help feed the do so on his own. Only with the help of his friends at different
needy and make Earth a better place. Wade’s experience as an stages of the hunt is he able to make it to the final stage and
underdog leads him to want to help other disadvantaged locate the egg. Acknowledging this, Wade announces that he
people with his newfound money and power. will split the money equally with his friends and will use his part
of the wealth to feed the masses. Thus, while the novel is a
THE INDIVIDUAL VS. THE COLLECTIVE story of individual triumph, it also emphasizes the
codependence of the individual and the collective.
Ready Player One is in some ways a story of
individual achievement and success, yet it also
highlights the importance of alliances, teamwork, INEQUALITY, ELITISM, AND CORPORATE
and community. Throughout the novel, Wade and the other POWER
characters struggle to reconcile their impulses to act alone with The world of the novel is afflicted by a variety of
their desire to connect with others. At the beginning of the problems, but perhaps the most significant stem
story, Wade only has one friend, Aech, and no family members; from corporate greed, elitism, and inequality. As most people
he is essentially a loner. To some extent, his inclination to act on Earth become increasingly poor, the oppressive power of
alone is encouraged by the design of Halliday’s Easter egg hunt. corporations like IOI increases. IOI, which stands for Innovative
Although the OASIS is a massive multi-user game with many Online Industries, is a communications conglomerate and
opportunities for connection and community-building, the hunt internet service provider that embodies the trope of the evil
itself can have only one winner and seems therefore to corporation. Indeed, the reason that Wade is so desperate to
encourage acting alone. The novel suggests that striking a win the Easter egg hunt is not just because he wants this
balance between acting alone and maintaining connections triumph for himself. It is also to stop a Sixer from winning, which
with others is sometimes difficult. However, it suggests that would give IOI control over the OASIS. Wade explains that
individual self-expression, independence, and under an IOI takeover, the OASIS would start charging a user
achievement—while important—are ultimately meaningless fee and would become plastered with ads. It would eventually
without a connection to others. become a “fascist corporate theme park” that could only be
Wade is not the only character who isolates himself from enjoyed by the rich. In this sense, it would reflect the issues of
others. When Aech proposes an alliance between the top inequality that exist in the real world—perhaps in an even more
gunters, Art3mis, Shoto, and Daito refuse, pointing out that the extreme form.
hunt can have only one winner. Later on, Art3mis freaks out Part of the reason that Wade and his friends are underdogs is
when Wade confesses his love for her and stops speaking to that they are competing not only against high-level gunters, but
him on the basis that their relationship has led both of them to also against IOI. Indeed, there are many moments in the novel
become distracted and neglect the hunt. While she ultimately in which IOI seems so powerful that it is impossible to imagine
reverses her position and apologizes for disappearing, her Wade succeeding against them. This includes the scene in
insistence that she and Wade stop speaking to one another which Sorrento attempts to recruit Wade as a Sixer, first by
proves prudent. Wade’s relationship with Art3mis does indeed persuasion and then by threat. Although Wade is militantly
hinder his ability to succeed at the hunt. This suggests that, opposed to IOI, he cannot help but be stunned by their offers.
while friendship, romance, and other forms of collective Furthermore, when they threaten to kill him by blowing up
connection are valuable, sometimes isolating oneself is also Aunt Alice’s trailer (and when they succeed in killing Daito),
important. Wade must confront the reality that, by any objective standard,
The most significant example of individual triumph over the he has no chance of succeeding when faced with their massive
collective emerges in Wade’s period of IOI indenturement. wealth and power.
While in the IOI prison, Wade is stripped of his individuality; he At the same time, the novel also shows that elitism and
is made to wear a uniform and live with other IOI indentured corporate power can be successfully fought, even if success is
workers, and is given a mundane job in which there is no room highly unlikely. It is only by risking death that Wade is able to
for individual expression. This part of the novel highlights the escape IOI’s clutches and ultimately win the hunt. Yet the fact
negative side of “collective” existence, wherein individual that he does so proves that such triumph is possible. Once
freedom is subsumed under oppressive, authoritarian power. again, Wade’s ability to succeed is tied to his superior
knowledge of Halliday’s obsessions. His genuine love of the

OASIS and all things Halliday allows him to beat the team of Furthermore, Halliday’s advice that true happiness can only be
professional “Oologists” hired by IOI. Wade’s determination to found in reality further undermines the view that the OASIS is a
hold onto his individuality is also what helps him succeed, as it utopia and the real world a dystopia. Traditionally, utopias are
is this that gives him the courage to refuse IOI’s recruitment places in which every citizen is happy. If true happiness cannot
offer. At the same time, perhaps the most important element of be found inside the OASIS, then the game cannot possibly be a
Wade’s battle against corporate elitism and power is his utopia. Likewise, the fact that true happiness can only be found
alliance with his friends. IOI functions on a foundation of in reality suggests that Earth has not yet fully degraded into a
selfishness and greed, but Wade’s devotion to his friends—and dystopia; there is still hope that things might get better.
their ability to work together as a team—allows him to The word “utopia” comes from Ancient Greek; it means both
overcome the inequality of the world around him and succeed “good place” and “no place.” This pun is central to what utopia is
in the unlikeliest of situations. understood to be, and it is particularly relevant when it comes
to the OASIS. Although the OASIS is a place with many utopian
UTOPIA VS. DYSTOPIA elements, it is also “no place”—it doesn’t really exist. The novel
The Earth on which Ready Player One is set is thus suggests that attempting to live in a utopia is ultimately a
dystopian, meaning that it is an imagined world in misguided aim. A perfect place cannot exist, and even if it did, it
which everything has degraded to a terrible, would not make everyone happy. Happiness can only be found
oppressive state of existence. In contrast, the OASIS at times in the real world—as dystopian as that world might be.
resembles a utopia, a fact that is even reflected in the game’s
name. An oasis is a place in a desert containing water and fertile
plant growth; similarly, the OASIS is a haven of hope, possibility,
SYMBOLS
and joy in the midst of an increasingly desolate landscape. Yet Symbols appear in blue text throughout the Summary and
the novel complicates any simple understanding of the binary Analysis sections of this LitChart.
between utopia and dystopia and how these might be applied
to the OASIS versus planet Earth. While at times the OASIS and
the real world seem easily distinguishable as a utopia vs. THE OASIS
dystopia, both places are ultimately shown to have utopian and The Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory
dystopian elements. This in turn suggests that there might not Immersive Simulation, nicknamed the OASIS, is a
be such a thing as a “true” utopia or dystopia—in reality, things massive multiplayer online game in which the characters in the
are much more complicated. novel spend most of their time. The OASIS was developed by
It is true that there are many elements of the OASIS that could James Halliday and Ogden Morrow and released by their
be considered utopian. Some of these emerge in Wade’s company GSS in 2012. As time passes, the OASIS becomes
description of his OASIS school in contrast to the school he more complex, realistic, and immersive, such that it gets harder
previously attended in the real world. Whereas his “real” school and harder to distinguish it from reality. People work, shop, go
was chaotic and underfunded, in Wade’s OASIS school to school, and fall in love in the OASIS, and in this sense it is less
resources are essentially unlimited. The fact that it occurs a game or simulation and more a second home for people. This
within a simulation means that the class can take extravagant is particularly significant given that, between 2012 and 2045,
“school trips” to other geographical locations and even other the real world has become an increasingly desolate,
periods in time. Meanwhile, the teachers do not have to worry impoverished place. The name “OASIS” plays on the
about bad behavior because the game automatically prevents simulation’s status as a utopia in which people can forget the
students’ avatars from behaving badly in class. Of course, while burdens of reality. Indeed, it is this aspect of the OASIS that
this enhances learning, it also limits students’ freedom to a makes Wade’s mission to find the Easter egg so important.
significant degree. The OASIS might thus be seen as a utopia Wade does not compete in Halliday’s hunt only for personal
with some dystopian elements. glory and gain, but rather to save the OASIS from falling into
Earth, meanwhile, has been stripped of much of what the hands of IOI and being transformed into a “fascist
previously made it a pleasant place to live. It is decidedly corporate theme park.”
dystopian insofar as it is plagued by inequality, poverty, famine, At the same time, although the novel presents a largely positive
war, unchecked corporate power, and an ongoing energy crisis. view of the OASIS and the opportunities it affords to the
At the same time, much of the OASIS—and certainly the Easter characters, it also highlights the dangers and downsides of the
egg hunt—is built around nostalgia for Earth’s pop culture. The simulation. Ogden Morrow is one of the characters most
1980s becomes a kind of utopia within the novel, a nostalgic prominently associated with criticism of the OASIS. Although
reminder of what Earth was once like. he remains involved in the simulation, hosting his 73rd birthday
party at an OASIS dance club, he left his role at GSS in 2022 on

the basis that the OASIS had “become a self-imposed prison for father and a mother who suffered from bipolar disorder.
humanity.” Wade echoes this sentiment when he likens the Nonetheless, he is nostalgic about the pop culture of his youth
state-of-the-art OASIS immersion rig he constructs for himself and is obsessed with making replicas of elements of his
to a prison. At the end of the novel, even Halliday posthumously hometown inside the OASIS. Indeed, there is even a whole
warns Wade about the dangers of spending so much time in a planet, Middletown, in which Halliday has created 256 identical
simulation that he neglects the real world. Halliday suggests copies of his hometown. Wade identifies that it is strange that
that while the OASIS is an amazing and even utopian place, it Halliday would so obsessively recreate a place in which he was
cannot offer what reality affords: true happiness. highly unhappy. Yet as the novel unfolds, it becomes clear that
part of why Halliday is nostalgic about Middletown is due to his
love/hate relationship with the real world. When Wade wins
INNOVATIVE ONLINE INDUSTRIES the Easter egg, Halliday expresses his regret that he retreated
(IOI) into videogames so much and did not participate in reality
Innovative Online Industries, known as IOI, is a more. Perhaps the prominence of Middletown inside the OASIS
communications company and the largest internet service illustrates Halliday’s nostalgia for the part of his life wherein he
provider in the world. As such, it wields an extremely large spent more time in the real world––even if that world was a
amount of power and embodies the trope of the “evil rather unhappy one.
corporation.” IOI runs on an ethos of bloodthirsty greed. Early
in the novel, the company tries to assassinate Wade by planting
explosives in Aunt Alice’s trailer. Although Wade escapes, QUO
QUOTES
TES
everyone in Aunt Alice’s stack (and the surrounding stacks) are
Note: all page numbers for the quotes below refer to the
killed; in a separate incident, they successfully kill Daito,
Random House edition of Ready Player One published in 2011.
framing his death as a suicide. IOI thus represents the real
danger involved in participating in Halliday’s Easter egg hunt.
While the hunt may appear to be “just a game,” the stakes are Level One: 0001 Quotes
life and death. Furthermore, Wade’s determination to win the Playing old videogames never failed to clear my mind and
hunt is grounded in his desire to save the OASIS from falling set me at ease. If I was feeling depressed or frustrated about
into the hands of IOI, who he claims will transform it into a my lot in life, all I had to do was tap the Player One button, and
“fascist corporate theme park.” IOI plans to charge users a fee my worries would instantly slip away as my mind focused itself
and to sell advertising space to other companies. To IOI, the on the relentless pixelated onslaught on the screen in front of
OASIS has no value outside of its capacity to produce financial me. There, inside the game's two-dimensional universe, life was
profit. simple: It’s just you against the machine. Move with your left hand,
IOI also typifies the evil corporation trope because of the way it shoot with your right, and try to stay alive as long as possible.
suppresses individuality. IOI employees must all use the same
identical-looking avatar and are known by their employee Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)
numbers, all of which begin with the number 6––hence the
nickname “Sixers.” When Wade is captured and sent to serve Related Themes:
out an indenturement contract in exchange for a falsified “debt”
he owes to IOI, all elements of his individuality are stripped Page Number: 14
away, and he is forced to live in a prison where freedom of
expression is completely banned. While IOI often proclaim to Explanation and Analysis
be providing valuable services––for example, by offering free Wade is sleeping in his Aunt Alice’s trailer in the stacks
accommodation and healthcare to their employees––they in when he is awakened by the sound of gunfire outside.
fact deliberately suppress individuality and take out anyone Fifteen other people live in the trailer, all of them in “abject
who threatens the supremacy of their wealth and power. poverty.” However, Wade is able to escape and forget about
his surroundings by playing videogames. In this passage, he
describes how the act of gaming soothes him through its
MIDDLETOWN, OHIO simplicity. The real world is chaotic, unpredictable, and
Middletown is James Halliday’s childhood complicated. Many of the problems plaguing the planet in
hometown. Its name indicates speaks to the fact 2045 are difficult or impossible to solve, such as the global
that it is normal and average––an “everytown.” This is a energy crisis, climate change, extreme poverty, and war.
contrast to Halliday himself, who was extraordinarily intelligent Although videogames can be made intentionally difficult,
and eccentric from a very young age. Halliday had a very
unhappy childhood; he was shy and awkward, with an alcoholic

Level One: 0002 Quotes

Wade finds reassurance in the fact that his mission is clear
and he knows that a solution is possible. My virtual surroundings looked almost (but not quite) real.
Everything inside the OASIS was beautifully rendered in three
dimensions. Unless you pulled focus and stopped to examine
your surroundings more closely, it was easy to forget that
Luckily, I had access to the OASIS, which was like having an everything you were seeing was computer-generated. And that
escape hatch into a better reality. The OASIS kept me sane. was with my crappy school-issued OASIS console. I'd heard that
It was my playground and my preschool, a magical place where if you accessed the simulation with a new state-of-the-art
anything was possible. immersion rig, it was almost impossible to tell the OASIS from
reality.
Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)
Related Themes:
Related Themes:
Related Symbols:
Related Symbols:
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis Page Number: 27
Wade has explained that, growing up as the child of a single Explanation and Analysis
mother with two full-time jobs, the OASIS became his Wade has snuck down to his hideout and logged into the
“babysitter.” He spent countless hours inside the game, and OASIS. His avatar appears inside his high school, and as he
it was there that he learned bitter truths about human looks around him, Wade notes that it is nearly impossible to
existence. On the other hand, the OASIS also provided “an tell the difference between the OASIS simulation and
escape hatch” out of the darkness of the real world. This reality. Once again, the OASIS is shown to be more than just
passage is one of the moments at which Wade strongly a simulation or illusion. It is its own kind of reality that is
establishes the OASIS as a utopia in contrast to the dystopia arguably no less “real” than the physical world. This is
of the real world. further emphasized by the fact that Wade attends school in
Crucially, he links the playful, game-like aspects of the the OASIS and not in the real world. The OASIS is not just a
OASIS (“my playground”) with the educational resources it zone for frivolous competing and fun, but also a place in
provides (“my preschool”), showing that the combination of which people pursue the serious, important activities like
the two is what makes the OASIS so special. For a self- work and education.
proclaimed nerd like Wade, the opportunity to learn is a fun, Wade’s comment about his “crappy school-issued OASIS
playful experience. console” also hints at the inequality that structures the
This passage also implicitly disputes the notion that world in which he lives. Although there are far more
devoting oneself to an “illusion” necessarily makes a person opportunities available to poor people inside the OASIS
foolish or crazy. He argues that the OASIS “kept me sane,” than outside it, it is also true that not everyone has the same
thereby implying that it would be reality which would cause kind of access and resources even within the world of the
him to go insane. Once again, the novel challenges the OASIS. Although the OASIS may be a utopia in some ways, it
presumed binary opposition between reality and illusion, is still afflicted by inequality and injustice.
and suggests that in many ways, illusions can be better and
more stable than reality.
The moment IOI took it over, the OASIS would cease to be
the open-source virtual utopia I'd grown up in. It would
become a corporate-run dystopia, an overpriced theme park
for wealthy elitists.
Related Themes:

creating something that is (at least largely) good rather than

Related Symbols:
evil. The “new reality” that Halliday created is impressive in
its technical aspects, but also in the way that it allows
Page Number: 33
people to forget the misery of their lives and “escape” to a
Explanation and Analysis better existence.
Wade has logged into the Hatchery, a discussion forum for
gunters. He explains that a company called Innovative
Online Industries (IOI) has hired professional oologists
Level One: 0010 Quotes
(egg-hunters) in the hope that one of them will find the egg, I quickly lost track of time. I forgot that my avatar was
allowing IOI to take control of the OASIS. In this passage, sitting in Halliday's bedroom and that, in reality, I was sitting in
Wade explicitly articulates the stakes of his participation in my hideout, huddled near the electric heater, tapping at the
the egg hunt (beyond his dream of personally achieving empty air in front of me, entering commands on an imaginary
wealth and glory). If IOI wins the hunt, they will steer the keyboard. All of the intervening layers slipped away, and I lost
OASIS away from its founding values of accessibility and myself in the game within the game.
equality and turn it into yet another opportunity that is only
available to the rich. In other words, the OASIS would stop Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker),
being its own utopia and start resembling the dystopia that James Halliday / Anorak
surrounds it in the real world.
Related Themes:
Level One: 0005 Quotes Related Symbols:

The more I'd learned about Halliday's life, the more I'd
grown to idolize him. He was a god among geeks, a nerd über- Page Number: 105
deity on the level of Gygax, Garriott, and Gates. He'd left home
Explanation and Analysis
after high school with nothing but his wits and his imagination,
and he'd used them to attain worldwide fame and amass a vast After obtaining the Copper Key, Wade has travelled to
fortune. He'd created an entirely new reality that now provided Middletown, the planet containing 256 replicas of Halliday’s
an escape for most of humanity. And to top it all off, he'd turned childhood home. He believes that the First Gate can be
his last will and testament into the greatest videogame contest found within the vintage game Dungeons of Daggorath,
of all time. which he is now playing on Halliday’s first computer. This
passage emphasizes how engrossing the OASIS can be,
particularly given its multilayered nature, which allows
Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), Wade to lose himself in “the game within a game.” The
James Halliday / Anorak implication of this statement is that the more intricate the
games and puzzles within the OASIS are, the easier it is for
Related Themes:
Wade to forget his surroundings and believe in the “reality”
of the OASIS. This helps to explain why Wade is so
Related Symbols:
obsessive about Halliday and the egg hunt; the more
complicated his research and mission gets, the easier it is
Page Number: 52
for him to forget about his grim existence in the real world.
Wade has explained that his favorite class at school is
Advanced OASIS Studies, an elective in which students
learn about the OASIS and its inventor, James Halliday.
Wade has spent all his spare time researching Halliday’s life
and interests for the past five years. As this passage makes
clear, Wade idolizes Halliday as a “nerd über-deity” and the
quintessential underdog. Halliday did not even attend
college, yet became one of the richest and most famous
people in the world. Perhaps more remarkably, he did so by

Level One: 0012 Quotes Level One: 0016 Quotes

Morrow stayed on at GSS for five more years. Then, in the There was no furniture in the cube-shaped room, and only
summer of 2022, he announced he was leaving the company. At one window. I stepped inside, closed the door, and locked it
the time, he claimed it was for "personal reasons." But years behind me. Then I made a silent vow not to go outside again
later, Morrow wrote in his autobiography that he'd left GSS until I had completed my quest. I would abandon the real world
because "we were no longer in the videogame business," and altogether until I found the egg.
because he felt that the OASIS had evolved into something
horrible. "It had become a self-imposed prison for humanity," he
wrote. "A pleasant place for the world to hide from its problems
while human civilization slowly collapses, primarily due to Related Themes:
neglect."
Page Number: 166
Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), Explanation and Analysis
Ogden Morrow aka Og
After IOI blows up Aunt Alice’s trailer, killing everyone
Related Themes: inside, Wade flees to Columbus. He rents a one-room
“efficiency apartment” on the 42nd floor of an apartment
Related Symbols: building. Wade vows to transform his apartment into an
isolation chamber, promising himself that he won’t leave
Page Number: 120 until he finds the egg. Wade’s obsessiveness comes out in
full force, as his entire life is now directed toward a single
Explanation and Analysis mission. Although Wade’s capacity to approach his task with
After Ogden Morrow is interviewed on the news about a tunnel-vision perspective is part of what makes him so
Wade and Art3mis’ success in clearing the First Gate, Wade successful, the lack of balance in his life is ominous. If Wade
narrates Morrow’s life story. He explains that Morrow and fails to find the egg, what will be left to live for?
Halliday were best friends and business partners but that
their lives were nonetheless very different. Although
Morrow helped set up the OASIS, he left after ten years Level Two: 0017 Quotes
because he disagreed with what the OASIS had become. Parzival: I've had a crush on you since before we even met.
This is one of the first times that a serious criticism of the From reading your blog and watching your POV. I've been
OASIS surfaces in the novel. Whereas Wade sees it is a cyber-stalking you for years. Art3mis: But you still don't really
positive thing that the OASIS is “a pleasant place for the know anything about me. Or my real personality. Parzival: This
world to hide from its problems,” Morrow finds this escapist, is the OASIS. We exist as nothing but raw personality in here.
utopian dimension of the simulation alarming. Art3mis: I beg to differ. Everything about our online personas is
Morrow draws a direct connection between people’s filtered through our avatars, which allows us to control how we
willingness to spend as much time as possible in the OASIS look and sound to others. The OASIS lets you be whoever you
and the lack of action that has been taken to solve global want to be. That’s why everyone is addicted to it.
problems. Of course, part of why his view on this issue is so
different from Wade’s is due to their different positions
Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival , Art3mis
within a highly unequal society. Wade is a poor, powerless
(speaker)
orphan who doesn’t have any hope for achieving a better life
in the real world. It is thus perhaps little surprise that he Related Themes:
guiltlessly indulges in the OASIS. Morrow, on the other
hand, is wealthy, powerful, and partially responsible for Related Symbols:
creating the OASIS in the first place. It is within his power to
make meaningful change in the world, and—as this passage Page Number: 170-171
shows—he regrets the impact his actions have had thus far
on increasing the world’s problems. Explanation and Analysis
Wade has moved to Columbus and set himself up in a one-
room efficiency apartment. The second section of the book,
Level Two, begins with a chat conversation between him

and Art3mis. Until now, Art3mis has been ignoring his chat In this passage, she admits that she also lives “inside this
requests because they are “rivals” and she does not believe illusion” and doesn’t know what “real love” is. Her words
they should be talking. However, she finally relents. In this foreshadow the advice Halliday gives Wade at the end of
passage, Wade admits to his crush on Art3mis, which she the novel when he argues that although the real world is
rejects as illegitimate on the grounds that he doesn’t really terrifying and painful, it is the only place where one can find
know who she is. Wade holds the opposite opinion, arguing “true happiness.” Art3mis’ words here suggest that this
that in the OASIS people exist as “raw personality.” The “true happiness” is related to the opportunity to form real,
implication of this is that Wade’s crush is more real because human connections.
he is not distracted by superficial factors such as Art3mis’
physical appearance or her social status. He has fallen for
her mind. Level Two: 0019 Quotes
On the other hand, Art3mis’ response about control is also Standing there, under the bleak fluorescents of my tiny
persuasive. Every OASIS user controls what sides of their one-room apartment, there was no escaping the truth. In real
personality to show and which to hide; each user can life, I was nothing but an antisocial hermit. A recluse. A pale-
choose whether or not to have their avatar show their real skinned pop culture-obsessed geek. An agoraphobic shut-in,
emotions, and can hide specific actions such as cussing or with no real friends, family, or genuine human contact. I was
bursting into tears. Furthermore, as Art3mis points out, just another sad, lost, lonely soul, wasting his life on a glorified
Wade does have an idea of what she looks like, even if he videogame. But not in the OASIS. In there, I was the great
knows this is artificial. Indeed, as Wade admits, the Parzival. World-famous gunter and international celebrity.
appearance of Art3mis’ avatar is part of what he finds People asked for my autograph. I had a fan club. Several,
attractive about her. Furthermore, her social status as a actually. I was recognized everywhere I went (but only when I
famous gunter—though limited to the world of the OASIS wanted to be). I was paid to endorse products. People admired
and not the “real” world—is also part of her appeal to Wade. and looked up to me. I got invited to the most exclusive parties.
I went to all the hippest clubs and never had to wait in line. I
was a pop-culture icon, a VR rock star. And, in gunter circles, I
Level Two: 0018 Quotes was a legend. Nay, a god.
"You don't live in the real world, Z. From what you've told
me, I don't think you ever have. You're like me. You live inside Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)
this illusion." She motioned to our virtual surroundings. "You
can’t possibly know what real love is." Related Themes:
Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival , Art3mis Related Symbols:

(speaker)
Page Number: 198
Related Themes: Explanation and Analysis
Wade has set up his apartment in Columbus to ensure
Related Symbols:
optimum security, ease, and comfort while he spends all day
Page Number: 186 inside the OASIS. He never goes outside and has spray-
painted the apartment’s only window black. In this passage,
Explanation and Analysis Wade cites the striking and somewhat ironic difference
Both Wade and Art3mis have been invited to attend Ogden between his life inside the OASIS and his life outside of it.
Morrow’s 73rd birthday party at the Distracted Globe, a Note that this has shifted since the beginning of the book.
zero-gravity dance club inside the OASIS. While they are When readers first meet Wade, there is more coherence
dancing, Wade confesses that he is in love with Art3mis, but between his circumstances and those of his avatar. In real
Art3mis replies that he doesn’t even know her. Here life, he is poor and powerless, and in the OASIS he is also
Art3mis repeats her argument that Wade doesn’t really poor, with a low-level avatar.
know her, and that the side of her he accesses through the However, as Wade’s fame and fortune within the OASIS
OASIS is merely an “illusion.” increases, the contrast between this status and his status in
the real world becomes more dramatic. As this passage

shows, Wade cannot help but ask the question of how much
Related Symbols:
this OASIS fame and fortune means, considering how little it
applies in his real life. Although he is wealthier in the real
Page Number: 200
world than he was before (as well as safer and more
independent), considering he is a “shut-in” with “no real Explanation and Analysis
friends, family, or genuine human contact,” how much is this
Wade has turned his apartment in Columbus into a kind of
increased wealth and security worth?
fort—he never has to leave, and nor does he have to interact
with anyone. Inside the OASIS, meanwhile, he has
purchased an asteroid and named it Falco. He refers to
I cleared my throat and recited my pass phrase. Each word Falco as his “stronghold” within the simulation, and there
appeared on my display as I said it. "No one in the world are strong parallels between the apartment in Columbus
ever gets what they want and that is beautiful." and this “stronghold.”
In both cases, Wade is motivated by cautiousness that
Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker) borders on paranoia to ensure that no one can access him
unless he grants them permission. To some extent, he has
Related Themes: been forced into this position due to his sudden and
dramatic rise to fame. On the other hand, as a shy nerd
Related Symbols: Wade also generally prefers isolation to interacting with
others. Yet it is possible that—between the OASIS and his
Page Number: 199 apartment in Columbus—he has taken this preference too
far.
Wade has purchased all the latest equipment to ensure that
his access to the OASIS is the most efficient, smooth, Level Two: 0023 Quotes
comfortable, and realistic that it can be. As he logs into the
The first text adventure game I'd ever played was called
OASIS, he recites the pass phrase that he chose himself. The
Colossal Cave, and initially the text-only interface had seemed
line “No one in the world ever gets what they want and that
incredibly simple and crude to me. But after playing for a few
is beautiful” is from the 1986 song “Don’t Let’s Start” by
minutes, I quickly became immersed in the reality created by
They Might Be Giants. Wade’s choice of this line as his pass
the words on the screen. Somehow, the game's simple two-
phrase reveals much about his state of mind in this part of
sentence room descriptions were able to conjure up vivid
the novel. Having lost Art3mis and slipping behind in the
images in my mind’s eye.
egg hunt, Wade has taken on a rather depressed, cynical
view of life. At the same time, the assertion that it is
“beautiful” that nobody gets what they want flies in the face Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)
of Wade’s single-minded mission to find Halliday’s egg.
Wade might be proclaiming to accept that nobody gets Related Themes:
what they want, but does he really believe this?
Page Number: 226

Level Two: 0020 Quotes
Wade has travelled to the planet Frobozz, believing it is the
When you owned your own world, you could build location in which the Jade Key is hidden. He explains that
whatever you wanted there. And no one could visit it unless I Frobozz is one of several planets in the OASIS which create
granted them access, something I never gave to anyone. My text adventure games—extremely early computer games in
stronghold was my home inside the OASIS. My avatar's which commands are given by entering simple lines of text.
sanctuary. It was the one place in the entire simulation where I Here Wade explains that, from the perspective of someone
was truly safe. living in 2045, text adventure games can initially appear too
basic to be truly absorbing. However, he admits that once
Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker) he actually played one, he realized how engaging they were,
despite being decidedly low-tech and limited.
Related Themes:

Level Three: 0033 Quotes

Wade’s words indicate that playing videogames is not just
about being immersed within a flashy, complex, and realistic In Marie’s opinion, the OASIS was the best thing that had
world. Much of what is appealing about videogames—as ever happened to both women and people of color. From the
with movies, TV, and literature—is their capacity to light up very start, Marie had used a white male avatar to conduct all of
the user’s imagination. The enjoyment that people derive her online business, because of the marked difference it made
from videogames is perhaps just as much about what is in how she was treated and the opportunities she was given.
occurring in their “mind’s eye” as it is what is happening
onscreen. Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker),
Marie Harris
Level Three: 0029 Quotes Related Themes:

Then I was led into a warm, brightly lit room filled with
hundreds of other new indents. They were all shuffling through Related Symbols:
a maze of guide ropes, like weary overgrown children at some
nightmarish amusement park. There seemed to be an equal Page Number: 320
number of men and women, but it was hard to tell, because Explanation and Analysis
nearly everyone shared my pale complexion and total lack of
On the way to Ogden Morrow’s mansion in Oregon, Wade
body hair and we all wore the same gray jumpsuits and gray
has met Aech for the first time in real life. Wade is shocked
plastic shoes.
to find that unlike her white male avatar, Aech is actually a
young black woman. On the flight to Oregon, Aech/Helen
Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker) explains her backstory to Wade. She was raised in Atlanta
by a single mother named Marie who believed that the
Related Themes: OASIS was a gift to women and people of color in particular,
because it allowed them to adopt white male avatars and
Related Symbols: thus not suffer the burdens of racism and sexism within the
simulation. Marie’s words highlight another way in which
Page Number: 277 the OASIS is a haven for underdogs, although in a different
sense from how this has been shown in the novel thus far.
People of color and white women face extra oppression in
Wade has been arrested by IOI corporate police and taken life, making them underdogs in comparison to white men.
to the company’s headquarters in order to serve out a Through the OASIS, they are able to escape this oppression
period of indenturement for the charge of unpaid debt. He and receive the same opportunities as white men.
has been forced to wear a grey jumpsuit and matching
While Marie is confident that this is a positive dimension of
plastic shoes. Wade’s description of the indenturement
the OASIS, it is also possible to critical of this way of
center at IOI headquarters is decidedly bleak, and recalls
thinking. Adopting a white male avatar in the simulation
examples of dystopian prisons and concentration camps
arguably helps perpetuate racism and sexism by playing
from both fiction and real life. Perhaps more than at any
within its rules. For example, the fact that Aech uses a white
other point in the novel, here is when IOI truly lives up to
male avatar perpetuates people’s prejudiced assumptions
the stereotype of a dystopian evil corporation. The
that a top-level gunter could not possibly be a young black
matching uniforms of the indents highlight the way in which
woman in real life. Although it is not Aech or Marie’s
IOI totally suppresses people’s individuality. The gray color
responsibility as individuals to reverse people’s prejudice,
of the uniforms further emphasizes this sense of bland
the fact that they can pretend to be white men within the
corporate soullessness, where all joy and freedom of
OASIS speaks to the ongoing presence of racism and sexism.
expression has been stripped away.
In this sense, Marie’s words illustrate the way in which the
OASIS can stall real progress.


Python and the Holy Grail, just as he previously had to do
Sorrento had tried to kill me. And in the process, he'd with WarGames. While some of the challenges in the egg
murdered my aunt, along with several of my neighbors, hunt have been enormously difficult, this—the penultimate
including sweet old Mrs. Gilmore, who had never hurt a soul. one—is “easy” for Wade. Not only that, but he enjoys it
He'd also had Daito killed, and even though I'd never met him, enormously, so much so that the only points he loses are the
Daito had been my friend. And now Sorrento had just killed result of laughing during the contest.
Shoto’s avatar, robbing him of his chance to enter the Third
Gate. Sorrento didn't deserve his power or his position. What As such, this passage shows that Wade’s obsessive
he deserved, I decided in that moment, was public humiliation nerdiness—his genuine love for all of the videogames and
and defeat. He deserved to have his ass kicked while the whole 1980s pop culture to which he has been introduced
world watched. through his research on Halliday—provides him with a
massive advantage in the context and, ultimately, leads him
to win. While IOI has infinite resources and a team of
Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker), Aunt experts to draw on, nothing can beat the genuine joy Wade
Alice, Mrs. Gilmore, Daito, Shoto, Nolan Sorrento feels in indulging in Halliday’s nerdy obsessions.
Related Themes:
Page Number: 339
"Listen," he said, adopting a confidential tone. "I need to tell
Explanation and Analysis you one last thing before I go. Something I didn't figure out for
Wade is in the midst of the final battle at Castle Anorak, in myself until it was already too late." He led me over to the
which a massive team of gunters face off against the Sixers. window and motioned out at the landscape stretching out
Sorrento, operating the gigantic robot Mechagodzilla, has beyond it." I created the OASIS because I never felt at home in
just killed Shoto’s avatar. At this moment, Wade decides to the real world. I didn't know how to connect with the people
retaliate by humiliating Sorrento. This is a quintessential there. I was afraid, for all of my life. Right up until I knew it was
example of underdog’s revenge, in which the injustice of the ending. That was when I realized, as terrifying and painful as
world is corrected (if only for a moment). The significance of reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can find true
justice and injustice is made clear when Wade argues: happiness. Because reality is real. Do you understand?"
“Sorrento didn’t deserve his power or his position.” Wade
has grown up in a world governed by inequality and Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival , James
injustice, in which greedy and cruel people have power and Halliday / Anorak (speaker)
honest, kind people do not. Through the OASIS, he is able to
reverse this unfair equation and restore a degree of justice Related Themes:
to the world.
Related Symbols:
Level Three: 0037 Quotes Page Number: 364

I cracked up a few times and got hit with score penalties
for it. Otherwise, it was smooth sailing. Reenacting the film
wasn’t just easy—it was a total blast. Wade has obtained the Easter egg and won the contest.
When he wins, Halliday appears and tells him that his avatar
is now all-powerful and immortal, and that he is in charge of
Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker) the OASIS. Halliday asks Wade to use his power for good,
and gives him a final piece of advice before disappearing.
Related Themes:
This advice is rather surprising, given that up until this point
Page Number: 357 all the evidence readers have about Halliday points to his
incredible shyness and his preference for existing inside the
Explanation and Analysis OASIS. Unlike Morrow, Halliday is not known to have had a
Having jumped through the Third Gate, Wade is in the midst moment of disillusionment with the OASIS. However, in this
of the final part of the Easter egg hunt, the second stage of passage Halliday reveals that this disillusionment did
which involves him having to act out scenes from Monty happen for him.

Right at the end of his life, Halliday came to regret the the philosophical argument that happiness is made possible
extent to which he totally immersed himself in the illusion of by existing alongside with fear, sadness, and pain. The
the OASIS. The glory, fame, and wealth he amassed as the coexistence of these oppositional ways of being is what
OASIS’s creator did not, according to this passage, amount makes reality “real” and what makes the happiness of the
to “true happiness.” Indeed, Halliday’s words here reflect real world “true.”

SUMMARY AND ANAL

ANALYSIS
YSIS
The color-coded icons under each analysis entry make it easy to track where the themes occur most prominently throughout the
work. Each icon corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart.
0000
Wade is sitting in his trailer watching cartoons when an The opening passage introduces readers to the world in which the
emergency news broadcast announces that James Halliday has novel is set. It is immediately clear that in this world, there is an
died. Halliday was the designer of a massive multiplayer uneasy coexistence between extraordinary developments in
videogame called the OASIS and was one of the richest people technology (the OASIS), the private wealth of certain individuals
on Earth. Even in the midst of “catastrophic climate change,” (Halliday), and the poverty and devastation that afflicts the rest of
war, famine, poverty, and an ongoing energy crisis, Halliday’s the globe.
death still warrants a special broadcast. Halliday died without
friends or family, and he announces via a pre-recorded video
message called “Anorak’s Invitation” that he will be giving his
entire estate—valued at over $240 billion—to whoever meets a
“single condition.” In typical Halliday style, the video is filled
with references to 1980s pop culture.
Halliday recalls the videogames he loved as a child, and In several ways Halliday’s Easter egg hunt resembles any hunt,
discusses the first “Easter egg” ever hidden in a videogame. quest, or competition that takes place inside a videogame, as shown
Halliday morphs into his OASIS avatar, Anorak, and announces by his references to clues, keys, and gates. On the other hand, there
that he has hidden an Easter egg inside the OASIS. Whoever are important things that make this hunt unique, the most obvious
finds it first will inherit his fortune. He notes that the egg is very of which is its massive real-life consequences: whoever wins it will
well hidden, but that he has left a few clues to help people find become a multibillionaire. Furthermore, the hunt seems to test not
it. Three keys appear onscreen, one copper, one jade, one only video-gaming skill, but also “worthy traits,” implying there may
crystal. He recites the first clue, which begins: “Three hidden be a moral dimension to the competition.
keys open three secret gates / wherein the errant will be tested
for worthy traits.” Halliday wonders aloud if he’s made the hunt
too difficult, and then announces that the contest has hereby
begun.
At the end of the video Halliday includes a link to his website, The fact that the hunt inspires so much global attention again
which now features a Scoreboard and a downloadable copy of emphasizes that the OASIS is no ordinary videogame. Halliday is
Anorak’s Almanac, a 1,000-page collection of Halliday’s just one man, but due to the vast extent of his wealth and influence,
journals. After the video’s release, people all over the world his personal obsessions come to dictate the interests of people all
become obsessed with the hunt. People suspect that familiarity around the world. Of course, it seems that most people are not
with Halliday’s obsessions will help them win the contest, and genuinely interested in Halliday’s interests—they just want a chance
thus 1980s fashion and music makes a big comeback in 2041. to win his fortune.
The hunt spawns a whole subculture, with egg-hunters
nicknamed “gunters.” However, after a year passes and no one
finds the first key or gate, the excitement begins to fade away.
More years pass and more people give up, until suddenly, on Although we don’t yet know any details about Wade’s life, there are
February 11, 2045, the Copper Key is discovered by an already hints that he is an underdog whose success in finding the
18-year-old boy living in a trailer park on the outskirts of Copper Key will shock the world.
Oklahoma City. The narrator, Wade, is that boy, and he will now
tell his story.
©2018 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 18

LEVEL ONE: 0001

Wade wakes up to the sound of gunfire, a common occurrence Wade’s nostalgic obsession with the 1980s may seem a little odd
in the stacks. He is curled up in a sleeping bag in a corner of his given that it was a period before he was even born. However, given
Aunt Alice’s trailer. 15 people live in the trailer, including two that his surroundings in the year 2045 are so grim—characterized
families. Wade uses a 10-year-old laptop he renovated himself; by violence and extreme poverty—is there any wonder that he
it is his “portable research library” and is filled with almost chooses to spend his time dreaming about another decade?
every videogame made in the 20th century. He plays one of his
favorite videogames, Robotron: 2084, for a while, before
watching an episode of the ‘80s sitcom Family Ties.
Wade’s own family is nothing like the one he is watching on TV. This is the point at which readers are first introduced to the
He was born to teenage parents who were refugees. His father remarkable of scope of the OASIS. Far from just a videogame, it is a
was killed while robbing a grocery store; his mother, Loretta, place in which people work, have sex, and learn about the world. For
had two OASIS jobs, as a telemarketer and online escort. When someone who embraces the illusion of the OASIS with such
he was a child, the OASIS was Wade’s “babysitter.” Although eagerness, Wade is perhaps surprisingly disdainful of other things he
being inside the OASIS was in some ways a wonderful sees as illusions, from heaven to the Easter Bunny. Clearly, he finds
experience for Wade, it was also where he discovered the “ugly some illusions more tolerable than others.
truth” about the world. He learned that God, Santa, and the
Easter Bunny were all “bullshit,” and that humanity had brought
chaos upon itself through climate change and the energy crisis.
The future looks bleak, everyone dies, and heaven and the
afterlife are also “total bullshit.”
On the other hand, the infinite possibilities afforded by the Wade is not only a nerd and an underdog—he is also a loner. As an
OASIS helped keep Wade “sane.” Loretta died after shooting up only child and orphan living with a cruel, selfish aunt, there is no one
a bad batch of drugs when he was 11, and after that point he in Wade’s life who is looking out for him. As a result, the only place
moved in with his Aunt Alice. Alice only agreed to this where he finds hope and meaning is the OASIS.
arrangement to get extra food vouchers from the government,
which she kept for herself. A year after Loretta’s death, the
Easter egg hunt began, which “saved” Wade and gave him
purpose.
In the trailer, Aunt Alice demands that Wade hand over his The more readers learn about Earth in 2045, the more dystopian it
laptop so she can pawn it; after being threatened by Alice’s appears. Poverty and the energy crisis make it such that most
boyfriend, Rick, Wade reluctantly gives it over. He has two people do not live in apartment buildings anymore, but are instead
spare laptops in his hideout, although these run slower. Aunt cramped into trailers that are then stacked on top of one another,
Alice’s trailer is located in the Portland Avenue Stacks, a tower creating a horrifying image of overcrowding and deprivation.
block of mobile homes powered by solar panels. After the
energy crisis, thousands of these stacks appeared on the
outskirts of major cities. They are dangerous and prone to
collapse.

On the way to his hideout, Wade stops at the trailer belonging Mrs. Gilmore is the first person in the book shown to be nice to
to his neighbor, Mrs. Gilmore. She is a “sweet old lady” who Wade, which suggests that Wade’s dismissiveness of religion may be
offers him breakfast, although Wade declines. She is very a little harsh. The fact that Mrs. Gilmore attends church inside the
religious and spends most of her time inside mega-churches in OASIS highlights the fact that everyone in Wade’s vicinity seems
the OASIS. Wade keeps going down to his “hideout,” which is an desperate to escape reality in one way or another, sometimes
old abandoned van whose seats have been removed. The immersing themselves in multiple layers of illusion at once.
hideout is Wade’s “Fortress of Solitude” where he hangs out,
attends school, and continues his search for the Easter egg.
Wade logs into the OASIS; every time he does this, the same
words flash up on the screen: “Ready Player One.”
LEVEL ONE: 0002

Wade’s avatar appears inside his high school. He opens his Just as Wade is an underdog in real life, so is he an underdog in the
locker and explains that, aside from schoolbooks, he only has “a OASIS, with little money and few possessions. The key difference,
few meager possessions”: a flashlight, a sword, a small shield, however, is that Wade’s lack of wealth and power does not seem to
and leather armor. Wade is poor inside the OASIS. The matter as much inside the OASIS. He enjoys existing in the
currency used there, OASIS credits, is one of the most stable in simulation regardless of how powerful he is—the same could not, of
the world. Wade’s avatar is thinner and more muscular than he course, be said of the real world.
is in real life, and is called Parzival, after the knight who found
the Holy Grail. GSS keeps every user’s real identity private and
encrypted. At school, Wade has to use his real name, and is
known as Wade3.
Wade will soon graduate and is not looking forward to it. It PvP zones refer to zones in which avatars are allowed to fight each
won’t be possible for him to attend college, and considering he other. In no-PvP zones like Ludus, fighting is blocked by the OASIS
doesn’t want to become indentured to a corporation his only software. This highlights the extent to which there is a greater
option is to become a “full-time gunter.” Another student teases degree of control over life in the OASIS, which—certainly in this
Wade; he fires back an insult before muting them. Wade loves instance—makes it a utopia for Wade.
the fact that at his OASIS school, he can mute people who
annoy him. There is no fighting in the school as the planet his
school is on, Ludus, is a no-PvP zone.
Until sixth grade Wade attended a real-world school, which he Wade’s school is one of the key examples of why OASIS might be
hated. He was thrilled by the opportunity to transfer to an perceived as a utopia. Many of the constraints that restrict life in the
OASIS public school on Ludus, the planet where all OASIS real world, making it difficult, frustrating, and exhausting, do not
schools are located. OASIS schools do not face the same apply within the OASIS. In the context of the OASIS public school
financial and practical constraints as real-world schools, and system, this lack of restriction is used for a good cause: to enhance
thus have marble hallways, zero gravity gyms, and libraries that learning.
contain every book ever written. When Wade first arrived at
his OASIS school he thought he had “died and gone to heaven.”

Wade goes into his World History classroom and opens his This passage establishes a contrast between the independent
homepage, the Hatchery, which is a gunter message forum. His gunters and the generic, corporate Sixers. Whereas gunters like
favorite threads are dedicated to insulting the Sixers, a Wade approach the hunt as an exciting adventure, the Sixers pursue
nickname for employees of the corporation Innovative Online Halliday’s egg in a far more clinical, soulless way. The Sixers have a
Industries (IOI). IOI has created an egg-hunting division which total lack of individual distinction and expression, as shown by the
employs professional egg-hunters called oologists, hoping that fact that they all have the same avatar, wear the same uniform, and
this will allow them to win the egg and take control of the are known by a number rather than by their names.
OASIS. Gunters nickname the oologists “Sixers,” because each
of their avatar names is their IOI employee number beginning
with 6. In exchange for agreeing to hand over the prize to IOI,
Sixers receive a regular paycheck as well as extra benefits. The
Sixers all have the same avatar: a man wearing an IOI uniform.
Gunters hate Sixers and believe that IOI has corrupted the Once again, this passage blurs the line between reality and illusion.
“spirit” of Halliday’s egg hunt. There are now also gunter “clans,” Wade knows that it is silly to have a crush on Art3mis because she
groups of gunters who work together and agree to share the may be a “middle-aged man” in real life. His observations about her
prize if one of them finds the egg. Wade opens another of his avatar’s appearance are foolish for the same reason, as each OASIS
favorite webpages, this one called “Arty’s Missives.” It is the user has complete control over their avatar’s appearance and thus
blog of a female gunter called Art3mis who is intelligent and Art3mis may not resemble her avatar at all. Wade’s comment that
funny, and on whom Wade has a “massive cyber-crush.” Art3mis has not let her fame get to her is similarly odd. After all, she
Art3mis’ avatar has black hair and a short, curvy body, an is not famous in real life, just in the OASIS.
unusual choice for female avatars. Wade knows his crush on
her is “silly” because he doesn’t actually know anything about
her as a person. In real life, she may be a middle-aged man.
Art3mis’ blog get millions of hits a day, but she remains down-
to-earth despite the fame.
Wade reads Art3mis’ latest post, which is about John Hughes Although the OASIS is an illusion, there are ways in which it is made
movies. He then opens an instant message window to chat with to seem like reality—for example, Aech’s choice to name his
his best friend, Aech. There is still half an hour until class starts, chatroom “the Basement.”
so they agree to meet in Aech’s chatroom, nicknamed the
Basement.
LEVEL ONE: 0003

Chatrooms are “stand-alone simulations” that can be accessed Wade and Aech’s friendship strikes an idyllic balance between
from the OASIS but aren’t technically part of it. Aech has mutual support and playful competitiveness. While they both joke
programmed the Basement to resemble a rec room from the about being better at trivia and being the first person to find the
late 1980s. Although he is only a student, Aech has grown rich Copper Key, this does not prohibit them from being best friends.
from competing in PvP arena games and is even more of a Furthermore, Aech doesn’t seem to care that Wade is a random
celebrity than Art3mis. The Basement is an “exclusive hangout” avatar without any money, whereas Aech himself is rich and
for top-level gunters. Aech’s avatar is a tall and handsome famous. The relationship between the two avatars not only shows
white man. Wade doesn’t know Aech’s real name, although that the OASIS can foster true friendship, but also that friendship
Aech once confessed it began with the letter H. The two does not have to be ruined by competition.
became friends through their mutual obsession with Halliday;
nowadays they are always trying to impress each other with
trivia and boast that they will be the first to get on the
Scoreboard. Sometimes they conduct “research” together by
playing the old-school videogames Halliday loved.

Aech and Wade chat, teasing each other and arguing about Wade may not know who Aech is in real life, but he trusts him as a
Halliday’s interests. They are interrupted by the arrival of I-r0k, legitimate and authentic gunter. I-r0k, on the other hand, is
a gunter who Wade believes is an “obnoxious poseur.” Although dismissed as nothing more than a “poseur.” For Wade, it is clearly
I-r0k has completed a lot of quests and as a result has a 14th- more important to have enthusiastic and comprehensive knowledge
level avatar, he is clueless about OASIS trivia and Halliday’s about Halliday than to have a high-level avatar. In other words, it is
obsessions. I-r0k quizzes Aech and Wade, attempting to catch better to be nerdy than powerful.
them out, but he fails to do so. The warning bell flashes, letting
them all know it is three minutes until school begins. I-r0k
disappears, and Aech invites Wade to return to the Basement
after school for a marathon of the TV show Spaced.
LEVEL ONE: 0004

Wade likes his World History teacher. All his teachers are good, This passage highlights the extraordinary potential of combining a
in part because the OASIS school software means they do not virtual reality simulation with education. Utilizing the OASIS
have to worry about discipline and can focus on imparting software means that Wade’s teachers do not have to worry about
knowledge. It is also possible to take students anywhere in time financial constraints or badly-behaved students. Not only that, but
or space on a “virtual fieldtrip.” That morning, Wade’s World their teaching is also no longer even limited by the laws of time and
History class goes to Egypt in 1922 to watch archaeologists space, creating a sense of true possibility and freedom.
discover King Tutankhamen’s tomb. The day before, they had
traveled to Ancient Egypt during Tutankhamen’s reign. In
Biology, Wade travels inside the human heart, in Art, he goes to
the Louvre, and in Astronomy, he visits Jupiter’s moons.
At lunchtime, Wade sits in a field by his school. He does not Although some elements of the OASIS, such as the OASIS public
have enough money to travel off-world as other students do. school system, seem to operate relatively free from financial
Many even have their own spacecraft and give rides to their constraints, this is not true for individual avatars such as Wade. The
friends. The OASIS began with only a few hundred planets, OASIS may have become enormously vast, complex, and intricate,
populated with “computer-controlled humans, animals, but Wade is prevented from exploring it due to the fact that he is too
monsters, aliens, and androids.” Before long, other game poor to afford it.
companies launched their own planets within the OASIS. The
simulation was divided into 27 sectors, each of which is home
to hundreds of planets. The OASIS thus resembles a Rubik’s
Cube—another 1980s reference. It takes 10 hours to travel
across a sector at the speed of light, and such long-distance
travel is expensive. It is far quicker to teleport, but that also
costs more money.
Some zones are powered by magic, and others by technology. Another utopian aspect of the OASIS lies in the fact that each user
Similarly, there are PvP and non-PvP zones, each with its own can engage with it on their own terms and get out of it what they
unique set of rules. There are no “castles, dungeons, or orbiting want to. While gunters like Wade see the main mission of their time
space fortresses” on Ludus, and neither are there any monsters in the OASIS as finding Halliday’s Easter egg, others enter the
or aliens, as it was designed solely as an educational planet. simulation for completely different reasons. However, as Wade
This is disastrous for Wade because the only way he can points out, it is not necessarily easy to engage with the simulation
increase his avatar’s power level is by earning experience exactly how one wants to. If an avatar doesn’t have much money or
points (XPs) through fighting or completing quests. Many many experience points, there is little that they can do within the
OASIS users do not care about their avatar’s power level or the simulation.
competitive aspects of the simulation. However, if Wade wants
to find the egg, he knows he will have to travel through the
most dangerous parts of the OASIS, and will not survive if his
avatar remains at the 3rd level, where it currently is.

Aech’s avatar is on the 30th level. Wade considers being on the Because OASIS credits are treated as a genuine currency in the real
3rd level “a colossal embarrassment.” He has tried to get a part- world, the recession afflicting reality also has an impact on the
time job, but unemployment has never been higher and even OASIS. This is reflected in the fact that unemployment is so high
fast food restaurants have two-year waiting lists for job and it is almost impossible to get a job.
applicants. Wade therefore remains stuck on Ludus, which he
compares to being in “the world’s greatest video arcade
without any quarters.”
LEVEL ONE: 0005

Wade’s favorite class is a senior elective called Advanced Wade may be worse off than most other people in the OASIS, but he
OASIS Studies. The class is a breeze considering that Wade is rich in knowledge—particularly knowledge about Halliday. Thus
spends all his spare time researching Halliday and his creation. far, however, the only advantage that Wade’s extraordinary
Wade worships Halliday as the ultimate “nerd über-deity” who knowledge about Halliday has given him is the ability to ace his
invented an “entirely new reality.” Today, the class is discussing Advanced OASIS Studies class.
a biography of Halliday that Wade has already read four times.
Wade has to resist the urge to correct his teacher’s errors and
omissions, and instead makes a mental note of them.
Halliday was born on in 1972 in Middletown, Ohio. His family Already there are some parallels emerging between Halliday’s life
was working-class; his father was an alcoholic and his mother and Wade’s. Both suffered unhappy childhoods with troubled
had bipolar disorder. He was a fiercely intelligent but shy child parents/guardians, and both choose to escape this unhappiness
who was obsessed with computers, comics, science fiction, through certain obsessions. Of course, there is a meta level to
fantasy, and videogames. In high school, he befriended another Wade’s obsessions, in that he is obsessed with Halliday’s obsessions,
boy, Ogden Morrow, and Halliday was soon embraced by inheriting Halliday’s interests second-hand.
Morrow’s friend group of “mega geeks.” Halliday and Morrow
would go on to be a world-altering pair of best friends and
business partners. Halliday created his first game, titled
Anorak’s Quest, when he was 15. Morrow encouraged and
helped Halliday to sell the game, and before long they started
their own company, Gregarious Games.
Neither Halliday nor Morrow went to college; instead, they In many ways Halliday is the typical nerd-genius. He is highly
devoted all their time to Gregarious Games. Morrow was intelligent, but does not have the academic achievements to show
charismatic, and was thus able to handle the business and other it—instead, he eschews traditional schooling and focuses on
public-facing sides of the operation. Halliday remained creating his own inventions. Furthermore, Halliday’s social
eccentric, intense, and odd. He rarely gave interviews and the awkwardness is also tied into his extraordinary intellect. His unique
ones he did give were largely nonsensical. Halliday struggled to mind makes it difficult for him to interact with others.
understand why others didn’t share his obsessions. Wade notes
that it is believed Halliday had Asperger’s syndrome or another
variety of “high-functioning autism.”

Halliday and Morrow were multimillionaires by the age of 30. The fact that Halliday chooses to amass collectibles while Morrow
Where Morrow used his fortune to travel the world, Halliday travels the world indicates that even with massive wealth and
focused on acquiring collectibles. In 2012, Gregarious Games power, Halliday was still too afraid of the real world to want to
relaunched as Gregarious Simulation Systems (GSS), spend much time in it. He makes the OASIS free so that anyone who
simultaneously debuting what would become GSS’ only feels similarly afraid of reality can escape it as well.
product: the Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive
Simulation, aka the OASIS. The OASIS was not the first massive
multiplayer online game, but it was far bigger and better than
anything that had existed before. Halliday and Morrow also
designed it to be as free and accessible as possible—a way for
anyone to escape from reality.
Part of what made the OASIS so the unique were the The OASIS’ impressive technological developments, alongside its
trademark OASIS visor and haptic gloves, which provided total radical accessibility, again emphasize the impression that it is a
sensual immersion into the simulation. Additionally, the OASIS utopia. On the other hand, the fact that it is so all-consuming is
was capable of hosting five million users. When the OASIS first somewhat dystopian. Can anything that makes people neglect
came out, advertising campaigns framed it as “an online utopia.” reality on this scale—no matter how many great qualities it
The game only charged a one-off 25c admission fee. It quickly has—really be a good thing for humanity?
became the most popular thing on the internet, such that “the
terms ‘OASIS’ and ‘Internet’ gradually became synonymous.”
People worked, played, fell in love, and got married inside the
simulation. It was now where most of humanity chose to spend
all their spare time.
LEVEL ONE: 0006

Wade’s final class of the day is Latin, which he chose to take Once again, the novel implies that there are perverse advantages to
because Halliday had taken Latin. Wade finds it boring, being a nerd with “no life.” Furthermore, the joy Wade finds in his
and—through a glitch in the school software—he secretly reads intensive Halliday research questions what is meant by the word
Anorak’s Almanac during class. He has read every book and “life” in this context anyway. After all, what is more fulfilling than
watched every film mentioned in the Almanac, alongside indulging in whatever brings meaning to your life?
mastering all the TV shows, music, YouTube videos, comic
books, and, of course, videogames. He is able to get all this
research done because he has “no life whatsoever.”
Wade discovers the “first real clue” to the Easter egg hunt while This passage suggests that while Wade may have the knowledge
studying the history of “pen-and-paper role-playing games.” He and skills to successfully complete the hunt, his lack of money,
notices that some of the letters inside the Almanac have power, and fame may mean that other people get the credit for
notches through them, and he is able to assemble these letters breakthroughs in the hunt while he remains in obscurity. On the
into a meaningful message. The message promises that the other hand, the passage also implies that there may be advantages
Copper Key is situated in “a tomb filled with horrors” and that to Wade’s anonymity. Wade’s use of the phrase “loudmouth”
anyone who wants a place on the Scoreboard has “much to indicates that it is unwise to be boastful about one’s breakthroughs.
learn.” Six months after Wade discovers the clue, a “loudmouth
MIT freshman” announces that he’s discovered it too, and the
clue soon comes to be known as “the Limerick.” However, since
the Limerick’s discovery four years ago, the Copper Key has
still not been found.

Wade knows that there is an old Dungeons & Dragons Recall that in the beginning of the novel, Halliday wondered aloud if
supplement called Tomb of Horrors, a detailed map of a labyrinth he had made the hunt too difficult. In this passage, it is clear why
filled with “undead monsters.” He identifies the parallels Halliday decided to make it such a challenge. There is a whole army
between D&D and the OASIS, and soon realizes that Halliday is of nerds and obsessives with comprehensive knowledge of all of
the OASIS equivalent of a D&D dungeon master. Wade is Halliday’s interests. As a result, there needed to be an extra edge of
convinced that Halliday has recreated the D&D Tomb of difficulty in order to ensure that the hunt has only one “worthy”
Horrors in the OASIS and hidden the Copper Key inside it, but winner.
can’t figure out where the Tomb is. It might be on the planet
Gygax, which is named after one of the creators of D&D and is
filled with D&D recreations. However, gunters have thoroughly
searched the planet and found nothing. Then, in the middle of
Latin class, Wade has a breakthrough.
LEVEL ONE: 0007

Wade’s Latin teacher is teaching the class the Latin word for Here is one of the first examples of Wade’s underdog status giving
“learn,” discere, when an idea suddenly pops into Wade’s head. him a direct advantage in the hunt. Unlike most other gunters, he is
Students are people who have “much to learn,” and he is on a restricted to just one planet and can’t go travelling around the
planet filled with students. Could the Tomb of Horros be OASIS searching for the egg. On the other hand, he is fortunate to
hidden on Ludus? Wade double-checks the definition of ludus in be confined to the one planet where the Copper Key may actually
his Latin dictionary, realizing that it means both “school” and be hidden.
“sport” or “game.” He is so excited that he falls out of his chair,
and tries to calm himself down. Ludus is not the only planet that
houses schools and universities. However, it is the home of the
OASIS public school system, which Halliday founded and
personally funded.
The Tomb of Horrors booklet specifies that the tomb is located The fact that Halliday wanted a schoolkid to find the Copper Key
near “a low, flat-topped hill.” It’s possible that this could be in suggests that he may have wanted to tip the scales, giving those
one of the generic forests on Ludus that lie between schools. with a natural disadvantage an added advantage at the beginning
No one would think to search Ludus for the Copper Key, so if it stage of the hunt. Perhaps he even predicted or desired that the
is hidden on the planet Halliday must have hidden it there hunt be won by someone like Wade—a poor, isolated geek just like
because he wanted it to be found by a schoolkid. Class ends, Halliday himself had been, yet one with tremendous insight and a
and Wade immediately pulls up a map of Ludus. It is a pretty genuine passion for Halliday’s obsessions.
small planet, about the same size as the moon, and it is always
daytime there. Wade uses an image recognition plug-in to
compare the Tomb of Horrors booklet to the map of Ludus, and
before long the software identifies a matching location. He
exclaims in triumph, convinced he’s found the Tomb.
Wade calculates that the hill is 400km away from his school. If Wade does not only have the advantage of thousands of hours of
he runs there it will take three days; he could teleport in research on Halliday and his obsessions on his side. He also has the
minutes for a few hundred credits, but he doesn’t have any. kind of quick-thinking and ingenuity that allows a person to be a
Aech would lend him the money, but he doesn’t want to raise successful videogame player. He is able to think strategically,
any suspicions. Wade suddenly remembers that that night, his foreseeing potential problems (like making Aech suspicious by
school’s football team will play an away game at a school that is asking him to borrow money). As a result, Wade is able to quickly
only an hour away from the tomb. His school will give him a free solve the problems that appear before him.
teleportation voucher to attend the game, which he
immediately retrieves from the school office. He runs to the
nearest transport terminal, enters an empty booth, and slides
his voucher into the slot. Instantly, Wade appears in an identical
booth near the other school.

Wade dons his armor, shield, and sword and runs toward the While some elements of the OASIS, such as Wade’s school, are
forest. He gets a phone call from Aech but lets it go to vidmail. remarkably similar to reality, others—such as the undead demi-lich
Aech asks where Wade is and if he still wants to join the Spaced Acererak— are completely fantastical. It is this combination of
marathon. Wade texts back, saying that he has too much fantasy and reality within the simulation that makes it so engrossing
homework and can’t make it. He then rereads the Tomb of and exciting, as well as times somewhat terrifying.
Horrors module, and is concerned by the detail that there is an
evil demi-lich, Acererak, inside the tomb. A lich is a terrifying
undead creature who was once a wizard or king.
Wade studies the map and realizes that if Halliday’s Tomb of Once again, Wade is set up as an underdog with little to no chance
Horrors is anything like the D&D module, he will surely die of survival, let alone success. However, as this passage makes clear,
instantly. If Wade’s avatar is killed, it would not be a total it is not only Wade’s knowledge and ingenuity that increase his
disaster, because it is only at the 3rd level. He resolves that if chance of success, but also his determination. He is undeterred by
he is killed, he will come back every night, gaining XPs and the thought of his avatar being killed off because, if that happens, he
increasing in levels until he finally gets the Key. Wade climbs up has simply resolved to come back again and again until he is finally
the hilltop and sees that the entrance to the Tomb is an exact able to retrieve the key.
replica of the D&D module. He finds the spot where the Tomb’s
entrance is supposed to be and begins to dig. Before long, he
finds the mouth of the tunnel, and—after pulling his sword from
his scabbard—enters the Tomb.
LEVEL ONE: 0008

Inside, the Tomb remains an exact replica of the D&D module, As soon as Wade gets the mere opportunity to compete in the hunt,
and Wade is thus able to dodge all the trapdoors hidden within his fortunes start to improve immediately. Finally, all the research he
it. He moves through each chamber of the dungeon, finding has done on Halliday and his obsessions is paying off, allowing him
thousands of coins on the way. He picks them up and they are to dodge the trapdoors in the Tomb and stay alive. Furthermore,
immediately converted into 20,000 credits, the most Wade has now that he is facing an actual quest, his XPs begin to skyrocket.
ever had. He receives an equal number of XPs through finding
them, and he also finds magical items, such as a Flaming Sword,
Ring of Protection, and Full Plate armor. Armed with these
discoveries, he now feels invincible.
Everything continues to go smoothly until Wade reaches the Wade fears that he will have to face Acererak in battle, in which
Pillared Throne Room. To his surprise, Acererak is sitting in case he will simply have no chance of beating him, as there is such
there. According to the D&D module, Acererak is not supposed an extreme power differential between the two of them. However,
to appear until a much deeper chamber. Wade knows that if Acererak’s question if Wade is “worthy” indicates that this is not
they fight, he will be killed instantly. The OASIS does not allow simply going to be a showdown of might. Indeed, recall that
users to save their place and log out, so his only choice is to face “worthy” is the same phrase used in the first clue Halliday provided
the demi-lich in this moment. If he is killed, he can return the at the beginning of the hunt. It is becoming clear that winning the
next day, as the Tomb will be reset at midnight, OASIS time. hunt is about more than possessing power alone.
Acererak greets Wade by his avatar’s name and asks what he
seeks. Wade replies that he is seeking the Copper Key, and
bows respectfully. Acererak assures him that he is in the right
place, and then asks how he can know if Wade is worthy of
possessing the Key.

Wade asks for the opportunity to prove his worth, and Suddenly, it is revealed that Acererak is challenging Wade to a game
Acererak challenges him to a joust. Acererak’s throne instantly within a game: not testing Wade’s OASIS skills, but rather his skills
transforms into a coin-operated videogame cabinet featuring a at vintage coin-operated videogames. Although this skill is a kind of
1982 game called Joust. Acererak explains that it will be best power, it is a power that Wade possesses, because it is based in
out of three; if Wade wins, he will receive the Copper Key, and research, practice, and obsession. The fact that Wade developed his
if he loses, he will die. Joust is an arcade game in which both Joust skills with Aech shows that their friendship will help him
players ride birds—an ostrich and a stork—and joust each succeed in the contest.
other, as well as enemy knights. It is one of Aech’s favorite
games and there was a period when they played every day.
Wade became so good that he would always beat Aech, but
now he is “a lot rustier than I thought.”
Acererak wins the first game, and the second gets off to a bad Wade’s observation that human players will always have an
start for Wade. However, Wade then begins to learn Acererak’s advantage over artificial intelligence is important. While computers
“playing style,” which helps him. He notes that talented human are in some was far more intelligent and skilled than the human
players will always have an advantage over AI players in a game mind, they have unique shortcomings. If humans exploit these
like Joust. Wade wins the second game just in the nick of time. shortcomings, then they can beat an AI opponent.
The final game is the longest by far, but Wade eventually beats
Acererak once again. They bow at one another, and to Wade’s
surprise, Acererak transforms into Halliday’s avatar, Anorak.
Suddenly “triumphant” music from the Star Wars soundtrack Wade’s immediate jump from the 3rd to the 10th level
fills the room, and Anorak hands Wade the Copper Key. At the demonstrates the extent to which he was an underdog whose
same moment, Wade gains 50,000 XPs, instantly raising his success was extremely unlikely. On the other hand, the fact that he
avatar to the 10th level. Anorak bids Wade farewell and immediately knows what “the trash on the deepest level of
disappears. There are two lines of text written on the key that Daggorath” refers to indicates that his powerful level of knowledge
read: “What you seek lies hidden in the trash on the deepest may be enough to guide him to victory.
level of Daggorath.” Wade immediately knows that this refers
to an old line of computers from the ‘70s and ‘80s, which
included Halliday’s first computer, and that this computer must
be the location of the First Gate.
Wade knows that he will find a replica of Halliday’s first The detail that the school day starts in eight hours reminds readers
computer in Middletown, the planet upon which Halliday that Wade is having to juggle the demands of searching for
recreated his childhood hometown. Dagorath, meanwhile is a Halliday’s egg in addition to keeping up with the normal tasks of
word in J.R.R. Tolkien’s invented language Elvish, and being an 18-year-old kid. At this point, it is unclear whether he will
“Daggorath” with two g’s must refer to the 1982 game be able to carry on maintaining the life of an ordinary 18-year-old
Dungeons of Daggorath, which Halliday claims was the as the search for the egg becomes more and more intense.
videogame that made him want to be a game designer.
Middletown is far away on Sector 7, but Wade is now rich
enough to teleport. There are eight hours until the next school
day begins, and Wade knows he should sleep, but he also
knows he won’t be able to. Just as he is sprinting out of the
Tomb of Horrors, an avatar appears and begins to speak to
him.

LEVEL ONE: 0009

The avatar standing in the Tomb demands to know who Wade Once again, readers see how much of an underdog Wade is and how
is. As she steps forward, he realizes that it is Art3mis. Wade is truly unlikely it was for him to beat Acererak. On the other hand,
speechless, but eventually manages to give a fake name, an while he may be on a measly low level in comparison to Art3mis, he
obscure quote from the 1986 film Highlander. Art3mis is her equal when it comes to knowledge of the 1980s pop culture
immediately sees through it and asks how he beat Acererak. that will be essential to success in the hunt. Despite this immediate
Wade realizes that she has been coming to the Tomb of connection, at this stage it seems unlikely that a friendship will
Horrors and playing Joust but has been unable to win. Wade develop between them, seeing as Wade keeps lying to her.
lies and tells her Acererak beat him, and Art3mis notes that
Wade is the first avatar she’s seen in the Tomb. Wade lies again
and boasts that he has loads of points despite being beaten by
Acererak, which surprises Art3mis, as she is on the 52nd level
and has almost died each time she fights him.
Art3mis observes that Wade looks like “a low-level wimpazoid” Art3mis obviously feels conflicted about Wade’s presence. On one
and that he’s not being honest with her. Wade tries to leave, hand, she is made nervous by him, as she realizes that he is a serious
and Art3mis asks why he’s not staying considering that he still threat to her success in the hunt. As a result, she aggressively teases
needs to beat the lich. However, Art3mis pleads with him to him. On the other hand, she is relieved to not be so isolated and to
stay, apologizing for calling him a wimp. Wade admits that he is finally have someone to discuss the hunt with—hence why she
only on the 10th level, but Art3mis points out that she should apologizes and then begins gushing to him. This difficult tension
respect him as a “fellow gunter.” She begins to rant about how between alliance and independence runs throughout the novel.
she has been trying to beat Acererak for three weeks without
success, adding that her grades are suffering as a result. Her
worst fear has come true: discovering that another gunter has
found the Tomb. However, now that Wade is here, she is
excited to finally be able to discuss the Tomb with another
person.
Wade is charmed by Art3mis, and they both laugh. They While Wade and Art3mis’ budding friendship was tenuous, for a
introduce themselves, and Wade admits that he is a big fan of moment it seemed possible that they could truly become friends
hers. Art3mis gives him her card, which he exclaims is the and that neither of them would be so alone in facing the hunt.
“coolest contact card” ever. Although Wade desperately wants However, the revelation of Wade’s lies immediately brings this
to keep talking to her, he tells her he has to go, reminding her crashing down, reminding Art3mis that they are rivals who cannot
that they are competitors. She asks if they can still be friends, truly trust each other.
and Wade tentatively says yes. However, seconds later, she
exclaims with rage that he is a “lying bastard.” She has seen the
name Parzival appear on the Scoreboard, and the news
headlines proclaiming that a mysterious avatar, Parzival, has
found the Copper Key.
Furious, Art3mis yells that she has been trying to beat Although Art3mis is angry with Wade, it is also clear that she
Acererak for five weeks, and Wade has beat him on the first try. begrudgingly respects him. Of all the things she could do to him, a
She realizes that Wade must have the clue leading to the barrier spell is relatively harmless. Furthermore, her comment that
location of the First Gate and that he is trying to head there he will soon become extremely famous contains a hint of kindness,
now. She casts a Barrier Spell on him, trapping him in place. He as she is encouraging him to be prepared.
accuses her of being “evil” and promises that he will still beat
her to the First Gate. Art3mis warns him that he’s famous now,
and that Parzival will soon become “a household name.”

Art3mis asks what Wade will do with Halliday’s fortune if he Depending on one’s point of view, it would be possible to judge
wins, and Wade replies that he will buy a nuclear-powered either Wade or Art3mis as having an unwise plan of what they
spacecraft, load it with a lifetime’s worth of supplies along with would do with the prize money. Is Wade selfish and immature to
the products of human culture, and invite friends on board. He want to escape Earth altogether, leaving humanity to suffer and die
would then set out on a mission to find out a habitable, out? Or is Art3mis naïve to think that she would be able to solve
Earthlike planet. Art3mis questions why he wouldn’t help all world hunger, even if she was a multibillionaire? Perhaps both of
the people on Earth who are starving, adding that if she wins them are naïve in their own ways—yet Art3mis’ plan is at least
the money, she will use it to feed the hungry. Then she will undeniably more altruistic than Wade’s.
move on to solving the energy crisis. Wade replies skeptically,
but before she leaves, he gives her a tip for beating Acererak.
Art3mis says nothing and walks in to meet the lich. Wade waits
for 15 minutes until the spell dissolves, before fleeing the
Tomb.
LEVEL ONE: 0010

As Wade exits the Tomb, he receives dozens of missed calls and Wade may have begun the hunt in a highly-isolated, solo manner,
text messages from Aech, who has seen his name appear on the but now that his name is on the Scoreboard, he will never have the
Scoreboard. Wade ignores them and immediately teleports to same level of privacy again. Furthermore, now that Art3mis has
Middletown. He walks hesitantly, as the planet is a PvP zone. obtained the Copper Key, he has to worry about her catching up to
The planet is covered with 256 copies of Halliday’s hometown, him in the hunt—something he brought on himself by giving her the
and Wade hopes that he will find one that doesn’t have any clue that finally allowed her to beat Acererak.
gunters in it. Just as he turns on to Halliday’s streets, he hears a
trumpet fanfare and sees Art3mis’ name appear on the
Scoreboard. She has received 1,000 fewer points than Wade,
presumably because he was the first to find the Key. He sprints
toward Hallidays’ house.
The house has no people in it, but otherwise it is a perfect This scene shows that Wade is following in Halliday’s
replica of Halliday’s childhood home. Wade finds it confusing footsteps—literally. Although Halliday was a shy and awkward loner
that Halliday chose to recreate a place in which he had been so during his life, in death he has created a competition that forces
unhappy. As he steps into Halliday’s bedroom, he shivers. Wade people to see the world from his perspective and come to know the
powers up Halliday’s ancient computer and retrieves environment in which he grew up. Wade thus becomes a kind of
Dungeons of Daggorath from a shoebox, inserting the protégé to Halliday despite the fact that Halliday dies before they
cartridge into the computer. He quickly loses himself within the can ever meet in real life.
game, forgetting that in reality he is still in his hideout in the
stacks. It takes a long time, but eventually Wade beats the Evil
Wizard of Daggorath and wins the game. After he does so,
Halliday’s old printer prints off a single page reading
“Congratulations! You have opened the First Gate!”
Wade suddenly sees an iron gate appear in the bedroom wall, Wade’s lack of hesitance betrays a trust in the OASIS, the hunt, and
and he slides the Copper Key into it. The gate swings open, Halliday—a trust that serves him well as he is required to complete
revealing a mass of stars. He hears a voice say: “My God it’s full increasingly scary quests. The phrase “My God it’s full of stars” is
of stars.” Without hesitating, Wade jumps through. associated with the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

LEVEL ONE: 0011

Wade’s avatar appears inside an old video arcade, midway Wade’s materialization in the middle of the film WarGames reminds
through a game of Galaga. He catches a glimpse of his readers that the OASIS is far from a typical videogame. Although it
reflection in the game’s screen and sees Matthew Broderick’s has quests, mazes, and monsters like any game, the OASIS is also an
face. Immediately, he realizes he is Matthew Broderick’s immersive world that allows for possibilities such as placing users
character in the 1983 movie WarGames. His surroundings are inside a movie. Given these possibilities, it is little wonder that the
an exact replica of the film, which was one of Halliday’s absolute OASIS is so wildly popular and that most people choose to spend all
favorites. He tries to pull up his OASIS map, but gets nothing, of their free time inside it.
which means he is in a stand-alone simulation separate from
the OASIS. He realizes he must be in the middle of a quest, and
that if he completes it he will clear the First Gate. However, he
is unsure about what he is actually supposed to do.
Suddenly, another character—a young boy—approaches Wade This quest may not involve fighting a demi-lich, but in its own way it
and says hi. The character’s name is Howie. Wade pauses and is perhaps just as exhilarating. Once again, Wade’s encyclopedic
sees a flashing sign saying, “Final Dialogue Warning!” Luckily, knowledge of Halliday’s obsessions proves to be the secret to his
Wade knows the movie by heart and thus responds with the success.
correct line: “Hi, Howie!” He receives 100 points, and when he
also says the next line—“How’s it going?”—correctly, he receives
another 100. As Wade continues to act out the movie, he feels
exhilarated.
At first Wade thinks acting out the whole movie will be easy; Being forced to act out Matthew Broderick’s character in
however, it turns out to be harder than he expected. He not WarGames may be a dream come true for Wade in some ways, but
only has to recite the correct dialogue, but also act out all the this passage reminds readers that, as fun as this quest is, it is also
character’s actions. He receives warning signals when he difficult and exhausting. Wade may be existing inside a virtual
makes a mistake, and he is sure that if he makes too many his reality simulation, but he nonetheless must rely on his mortal body
avatar will be killed. Wade will realize in hindsight that he is the and work within its physical limitations.
first person playing a whole new kind of videogame: interactive
versions of movies and TV shows called Ficksyncs. By the
movie’s conclusion, Wade is exhausted; he has been awake for
24 hours. When it finally ends, the movie disappears and Wade
is transformed back into Parzival.
Another riddle appears, this time explaining that “the Captain Up until this point, Wade’s ascent to success in the hunt has been
conceals the Jade Key in a dwelling long neglected.” The clue smooth, if not exactly easy. He is still comfortably ahead of the only
also mentions a “whistle” and “trophies.” Wade realizes that he other avatar on the Scoreboard and has jumped 17 power levels in
has cleared the First Gate, and he sees that his avatar now has the past 24 hours. Is this early run of luck too good to be true?
110,000 XPs and that he is now at the 20th level. Art3mis
remains behind him with 9,000 points. No other avatars are on
the Scoreboard.
Wade runs down to the Hallidays’ kitchen and grabs the car This passage draws attention to the gulf between Wade’s reality
keys. He drives the Hallidays’ car to the bus station and inside the OASIS and his real reality on planet Earth. While
teleports back to Ludus. By the time he takes his visor off, it is everything is going wonderfully for him in the OASIS, in real life he is
6:17am and the hideout is freezing. He dreams that he is cold, exhausted, and alone.
confronted by an army of Sixers and gunter clans while holding
a glass egg. They grab the egg from him and tear his body “to
shreds.”

LEVEL ONE: 0012

Wade sleeps for 12 hours, missing school. He wakes up to find We don’t yet know much about Ogden Morrow or his relationship to
that Art3mis has also cleared the first gate, although she the hunt. However, his brief comments to the news channel indicate
remains 1,000 points behind him. He hears news that he is on Wade and Art3mis’ side—at least insofar as they are
commentators speculate that he and Art3mis are working positioned against the Sixers. Although Morrow doesn’t address
together as members of the same gunter clan. The news Wade and Art3mis directly, his comment about keeping their
program then interviews Ogden Morrow at his home in identities secret is a subtle, indirect form of advice.
Oregon. Morrow says that it is exciting to finally see avatars on
the Scoreboard, and if Parzival and Art3mis are smart they will
keep their real identities secret. He adds that the Sixers will
likely “use every dirty trick at their disposal” to find the Copper
Key and First Gate.
Wade smiles as he realizes that Morrow knows more about the Morrow’s life story begins in a rather utopian manner. He gets
hunt than has been widely assumed. In the mid-1990s, Morrow together with the “quintessential geek girl,” works as a videogame
moved in with his high school girlfriend Kira Underwood, a designer with his best friend, and achieves huge success at a young
“quintessential geek girl,” who gave Halliday the nickname age. However, as this passage makes clear, this story also has a
Anorak. Kira was one of GSS’s first employees, although after darker edge. Unlike Halliday, Morrow was skeptical about whether
marrying Morrow she resigned from her position as an artistic the OASIS truly had a positive effect on society, and felt that the
director. Five years later Morrow resigned too, later writing in simulation was more dystopian than utopian.
his autobiography that he was disturbed OASIS had gone from
being a game to a “self-imposed prison.” There were rumors
that Morrow and Halliday had big argument at this time and
that their friendship was subsequently over.
Morrow and Kira founded a software company called This passage further illustrates the tragedy that came to color
Halcydonia Interactive, which produced free educational Morrow’s life. The two people he was closest two are now dead,
games for children. In 2034, Kira died in a car accident, and leaving him alone and isolated. Furthermore, he must deal with
Morrow led a private life, running Halcydonia Interactive alone. aggressive attention from people who hope to use him in order to
When Halliday died, reporters hassled Morrow, convinced that learn more about Halliday’s hunt. This information suggests that it
he had information about the Easter egg hunt. Morrow claimed is little wonder Morrow retreated into obscurity.
that he and Halliday had fallen out, although the fact that
Halliday left Morrow his collection of coin-operated
videogames seemed to contradict this. Morrow said he didn’t
know about the hunt, and that he thought Halliday had
designed it because he wanted people to share his obsessions.
Wade has received 2 million emails since clearing the First This passage proves that Wade and Aech have a deep, genuine
Gate, but only two are from his contacts: one from Aech, and friendship. It would be easy to imagine Aech being jealous and angry
one from Art3mis. Aech insists that Wade call him immediately, at Wade for having passed the First Gate, particularly considering
which Wade does. Aech exclaims: “Congratu-freak’-lations, Wade did it without telling Aech first. However, instead Aech
man!” He then reveals that he is outside the Tomb of Horrors warmly congratulates his friend. Once again, readers see the
himself, having figured out that the Copper Key was probably difficulty in balancing friendship and rivalry as Wade at first refuses
on Ludus. Aech asks for tips and Wade refuses to give any; to give Aech any tips; the fact that he eventually does is further
Aech smiles in response, unsurprised. Aech warns Wade that I- testament to the importance of their friendship.
r0k has been telling people that Parzival is a student on Ludus.
Wade wishes Aech luck, and before hanging up, advises him to
practice his jousting skills.

Wade then opens the email from Art3mis. She thanks him for Wade and Art3mis’ relationship has moved quickly from
the tip and says it was “an honor” to meet him. However, she acquaintanceship to rivalry to flirtation, with the possibility of
adds a PS warning that he won’t be in the top spot for long. friendship still hanging uncertainly in the air. While Wade clearly
Wade replies that she now owes him a favor, adding a winking enjoys their dynamic, the fact that he is so distracted by her
face, and tells her that he thinks he’s figured out the next clue arguably does not bode well for his future success in the hunt.
already. He offers to hang out in a chat room if she ever feels
like it. After sending the email, Wade tries to concentrate on
the Jade Key clue, but he cannot stop thinking about Art3mis.
LEVEL ONE: 0013

The next day, Aech clears the First Gate, and on Monday Wade In this passage, readers are reminded of the very serious real-world
returns to school. The reinvigoration of the hunt means that consequences of the Easter egg hunt. Without even having won,
half of the students and teachers are absent. I-r0k posts on the Wade is offered deals that will instantly make him rich. The stakes
gunter message boards announcing that Wade and Aech are are driven home by the fact that half of the students and even the
students on Ludus. Before long, two other avatars named Daito teachers at Wade’s school do not attend on Monday, highlighting
and Shoto clear the First Gate within minutes of one another. how pervasive interest in the hunt is among the young and old alike.
Wade realizes that the Jade Key clue is a quatrain, but he still
cannot figure out what it means. After school ends on Friday,
Wade sorts through his emails. He receives offers to sell his
true identity and life story to various news channels, as well as
endorsement offers from companies willing to pay in OASIS
credits.
Wade writes back agreeing to all the endorsement offers on The fact that IOI sends Wade 5,000 emails alludes to their
the condition that he can keep his true identity a secret. Wade desperation to recruit him. At the same time, it also demonstrates
calculates that the endorsement money will allow him to move their overwhelming power and seemingly infinite resources. IOI
out of the stacks and live in his own apartment for at least a seems eager to show off this power to Wade in order to persuade
year. Wade then sees that he has received 5,000 versions of him to join them, yet—given Wade’s feelings about IOI—this seems
the same email from IOI offering a “highly lucrative business unlikely to have a positive effect.
proposition.” The email is signed: “Nolan Sorrento, Head of
Operations.” Wade knows that IOI is trying to recruit him. His
first instinct is to delete all their emails, but then decides that
he will meet with them via chatlink.
Wade researches Nolan Sorrento, learning that he has a PhD in Nolan Sorrento’s trajectory is an example of a different route for the
Computer Science and that he used to be a game designer, nerd/underdog archetype. Rather than remaining a loner, Sorrento
which is obviously why he was recruited to work on the egg joins IOI in order to wield the corporation’s power.
hunt for IOI. Wade sends him a chatlink invitation.

LEVEL ONE: 0014

Through the chatlink session, Wade appears on a grand IOI are putting on a show of kindly welcoming Wade. However,
observation deck on IOI-1, the planet that serves as IOI Wade is clearly skeptical of this show of good faith. The fact that IOI
headquarters. Chatlink sessions allow an avatar to appear in have stopped him from recording the chatlink session arguably
limited form in a different location and interact with their confirms that there may be darker motives lurking beneath their
surroundings, and are mostly used to conduct business. Wade supposedly friendly and generous gesture.
is greeted by a receptionist seated at a desk emblazoned with
IOI’s logo. While he waits for Sorrento, Wade tries to turn on
his vidfeed recorder, but it is disabled. Sorrento appears and
introduces himself, telling Wade it is an honor to meet him.
Wade responds in a skeptical and aloof manner.
Wade believes he is the first gunter to be given a tour of IOI-1. There is something unlikely and humorous about the fact that in
Gunters have dreamed of blowing it up before, but have never this imagined version of the future, Columbus, Ohio is the “high-
been able to get past the planet’s defense systems. Wade asks tech Mecca” in which superrich corporations choose to base
if the OASIS version of IOI’s headquarters is a replica of the themselves. Indeed, the seemingly arbitrary status of Columbus is
real headquarters in Columbus, and Sorrento confirms that this testament to the enormous impact of Halliday’s legacy on the
is true. IOI is based in Columbus because it has a better power world, as it was Halliday who chose to base GSS in his home state.
system that doesn’t suffer blackouts like other US cities. GSS is
based in Columbus too, and for this reason the city has become
a “high-tech Mecca.”
Sorrento brings up Wade’s newfound fame, and Wade tells him Rather than pretending to be older and wiser than his years during
to get to the point, pretending not to be intimidated. Sorrento his meeting with Sorrento, Wade chooses the opposite
brings Wade to the Oology Division, which Wade sarcastically route—embracing his own childishness and behaving in a rude,
calls “Sux0rz Central.” When Wade points out that IOI’s tactics mischievous way. This helps him mask his own intimidation and
for finding the egg are “cheating,” Sorrento disagrees, saying undermines Sorrento by refusing to take him, his offer, and IOI
the hunt has no rules and calling Halliday an “old fool.” Sorrento seriously.
then offers Wade the position of “Chief Oologist,” Sorrento’s
second-in-command. The position comes with a million-dollar-
a-year salary, with an extra million bonus to start and a $25
million bonus if Wade finds the egg.
Wade asks if he can have a few days to consider, but Sorrento Sorrento’s claim that IOI wants to “make the OASIS a better place”
refuses. Sorrento gives a long speech disputing the negative is a typical example of corporate doublespeak, as IOI’s plans for the
impression gunters have of IOI. He argues that, contrary to OASIS are the opposite of making it a better place. Wade continues
popular belief, IOI wants to “make the OASIS a better place.” to antagonize Sorrento, leveraging his sudden position of power in
Wade agrees, but asks for $50 million if he finds the egg and order to undermine the power of Sorrento and, by extension, IOI.
says that he wants Sorrento’s job, Chief of Operation. He
continues that Sorrento gives him “the creeps” and that he
wants him fired. After a moment, Sorrento tells Wade that his
bosses have agreed to his demands and that they are willing to
hire him immediately.

Suddenly, Wade changes his mind and tells Sorrento and IOI to This passage is a perfect example of the precariously thin line
go “fuck a duck.” Sorrento gives him one final offer. When Wade between courage and foolishness. Faced with the terrifying extent of
refuses, Sorrento reveals that IOI knows Wade’s real name, his IOI’s power and the real, life-and-death stakes of its impact, Wade
birthday, and his location. He then explains that IOI has been stays calm enough to realize that he might as well risk death, seeing
spying on Wade and that they have wired Aunt Alice’s trailer as the company has no reason to keep him alive anyway. Of course,
with explosives. If Wade leaves the chatlink session, Sorrento his decision-making process may well have been different if his
will press the detonator and Wade and his family will die. relationship with Aunt Alice was closer; in this sense, Wade’s
Sorrento explains that he learned this information through isolation proves to be an advantage.
Wade’s OASIS school record. Wade considers for a moment,
reflecting that IOI has no reason to keep him alive after he
helps them win, and that they might be bluffing. He tells
Sorrento that Halliday was “smarter than all of you put
together” and that IOI will not win. Then he logs out.
Wade sits in his hideout. At first nothing happens, but after a This is a major turning point in the novel. Suddenly, it becomes clear
minute he hears a massive explosion, and sees that the stack that IOI are not only willing to kill Wade’s avatar in order to win the
containing Aunt Alice’s trailer has collapsed, bringing the hunt, but also Wade himself. Furthermore, despite the difficulties in
adjacent stacks down with it. With horror, Wade realizes that his relationship with Aunt Alice, she and his neighbors were the only
Aunt Alice, Rick, Mrs. Gilmore, and everyone who lived in Aunt people Wade knew in real life. Thanks to IOI they are dead, and he is
Alice’s trailer are now dead. He considers calling the police now more alone than ever.
within the OASIS, but realizes that no one would believe him.
He decides to “lay low” until his first endorsement check comes
through and then flee. First, he needs to warn Aech.
LEVEL ONE: 0015

Back on Ludus, Wade sees IOI gunships flying through the sky Once again, Aech proves himself to be a supportive, selfless friend.
above him, and is relieved to remember that Ludus is a no-PvP Rather than focusing on the danger he is likely in, Aech promises
zone. Wade calls Aech via vidfeed. Aech discusses the Sixers Wade that they will seek revenge on IOI and offers the Basement as
descending on Ludus and says that he is going to kill I-r0k. a place where the other top gunters can meet. Despite his celebrity
When Wade tells Aech that IOI blew up Aunt Alice’s trailer, status, Aech is more willing than perhaps any other character to
Aech promises: “We will make them pay for this.” Wade warns form alliances and put others’ needs above his own.
Aech to flee his home, but Aech assures him that he stays on
the move and won’t be found. He suggests that they invite
Art3mis, Daito, and Shoto to the Basement that evening, and
Wade agrees.
Feeling lonely, Wade logs into the Basement an hour early. All The fact that the top five gunters in the OASIS are meeting up to
the news channels are showing the Sixers on Ludus. Art3mis discuss developments in the hunt should generate optimism.
arrives, and admiringly calls the Basement “the coolest chat However, at this point it is clear that each of the characters in this
room I’ve ever seen.” Wade feels jealous of how well Aech and passage feels defeated by the actions of IOI. Although each gunter is
Art3mis are getting along. Daito and Shoto arrive; they are different, they generally share the desire to respect Halliday’s hunt
both Japanese avatars wearing traditional samurai armor. and play with “honor.” Unfortunately, IOI do not share this
Art3mis tells the others that the Sixers have found the Tomb, approach.
and that they have installed two force fields in order to prevent
other gunters from entering the Tomb (while allowing Sixers
access). Daito laments that there are “no laws” in the OASIS,
and Shoto exclaims that “the Sixers have no honor.”

Wade tells the others about the Sixers’ attempt to kill him. He The interaction between Art3mis, Aech, and Wade after Daito and
then tells them about the elaborate Oology Division at IOI, Shoto leave suggests that it is possible for rivals to pursue a
with its team of scholars and experts. Daito suddenly grows friendship. Friendship, this passage implies, is not the same thing as
suspicious that Wade is proposing they start their own alliance. an alliance, and it is possible for rivals who are competing with one
He points out that there can only be one winner, and he and another to nonetheless remain on friendly, mutually supportive
Shoto log out of the chatroom. Left by themselves, Wade, Aech, terms. After all, the gunters may be competing with one another, but
and Art3mis agree that they do not actually intend to start an they also have a common enemy: IOI.
alliance. Art3mis bids them goodbye and leaves. Aech observes
that Wade clearly has a crush on her. They discuss the next clue
and Wade briefly fears that someone might be listening in on
him. Aech assures him that he is just being paranoid, and offers
to loan him money or a place to stay if he needs it. Wade thanks
him and exits.
LEVEL ONE: 0016

The Scoreboard quickly fills up with Sixer employee numbers, This passage highlights the unfair nature of the competition
the first of which belongs to Sorrento. The OASIS Public School between the gunters and IOI. While the gunters eventually manage
board decides to evacuate Ludus due to the disruption caused to disable the Sixers’ force field, most of them are not skilled enough
by the Sixers and creates a copy of the planet called Ludus II to defeat Acererak. Meanwhile, because the Sixers are not acting as
where school can continue. A battle between Sixers and individuals, but are relying on a special team of experts, they are
gunters breaks out on the original Ludus, and the gunters easily able to defeat the demi-lich and proceed to the next stage of
eventually manage to break through the force field and enter the competition.
the Tomb, where 95% of the them are defeated by Acererak
and killed. The Sixers abandon the force field but continue
sending thousands of avatars into the Tomb to obtain the
Copper Key.
Before blowing it up, the Sixers planted materials in Aunt Faced with IOI’s frightening power and complete lack of morality,
Alice’s trailer to make it look like a meth lab that exploded by Wade has no choice but to flee his former home. Luckily, the fact
accident. When his first endorsement check comes through, that he now has as moderate amount of wealth means that he can
Wade buys a first-class, one-way bus ticket to Columbus, taking purchase the security and transportation resources that are only
only his most important belongings with him. The bus has available to the rich.
armor plating and bulletproof glass, and almost every
passenger on it wears an OASIS visor. It takes several days to
reach Columbus, and Wade spends the entire time logged into
the OASIS.
Wade buys a new identity on the OASIS black market using his With his family and neighbors dead, Wade is completely alone in
newfound fame as leverage. He assumes the identity of Bryce the world, and the only thing he has to live for is the hunt. His vow
Lynch, a 22-year-old with a perfect credit score and degree in not to leave his new tiny apartment until he finds the egg speak to
Computer Science. He finds a one-room apartment in the single-minded nature of his existence. For Wade, the hunt has
Columbus and pays the first six months’ rent upfront. He become more than a competition; it is now the whole purpose of his
notices that the apartment building was once a Hilton hotel. life.
The apartment, which is on the 42nd floor, is opened using a
retinal scan. There is no furniture inside. Wade promises
himself that he won’t leave until he finds the egg.

LEVEL TWO: 0017

The chapter opens with a chat conversation between Wade Once again, Art3mis is shown to be conflicted. She cannot decide
and Art3mis, who until now has been ignoring Wade because whether she wants to continue her friendship with Wade, as shown
they are competitors and thus “sworn enemies.” Art3mis points by her oscillation between wanting to speak to him and ignoring his
out that everyone wants to know who Wade is in real life, and chats. She also seems conflicted about the extent to which people
laments that people think she is a man in reality. Wade admits recognize her for who she really is. She is annoyed that people think
that he has had a crush on her since before they even met. she is a man, yet insists that Wade does not actually know her.
Art3mis responds that he doesn’t really know her, and they
continue to playfully quiz each other about their “real”
identities. Wade suggests that they have an “online romance,”
but Art3mis brushes him off.
Art3mis tells Wade that she is 19 and studying Poetry and Wade’s crush on Art3mis is sincere, yet he doesn’t always respect
Creative Writing in college. They realize that they are both her boundaries. Although she previously expressed hesitation about
orphans. Art3mis says that she basically looks like her avatar. their being friends, Wade ignores this and chooses to pursue the
Wade asks if they can keep chatting and Art3mis refuses, friendship anyway.
warning that if he emails her she will block him. They say
goodbye and end the chat.
Wade starts emailing Art3mis. At first, she doesn’t reply, but Although Wade’s life is in most ways far from normal, there are
after she does they begin corresponding every day, then several moments—such as this passage—which remind readers that
meeting in chatrooms. They play games, watch movies, and beneath his fame and trauma, he is still an ordinary 18-year-old
listen to music. Wade is stunned by how much they have in boy. As such, he is prone to the weaknesses that afflict teenage boys,
common, admitting: “I’d never had such a powerful, immediate including letting themselves be distracted from their goals by
connection with another human being before.” He stops caring crushes on girls.
that they are supposed to be rivals. Although Wade stopped
attending school when he moved to Columbus, he still has
enough credits to graduate in June. Now that he is no longer in
school, he is supposed to be dedicating himself full-time to the
hunt, but all he can focus on is Art3mis.
Wade spends the rest of his time raising the level of his avatar Whereas at the beginning of the hunt success came to Wade in one
by completing quests, some of which he does with Art3mis. He quick and rather smooth swoop, now his progress is more piecemeal
continues to think about the quatrain, but remains stumped by and irregular. This may be because the challenges have become
its meaning. Finally, he has a breakthrough while watching more difficult; however, it may also be because he is distracted by
1980s cereal commercials one morning. He realizes that the Art3mis.
“captain” and “whistle” mentioned in the clue refer to Cap’n
Crunch. However, he still has no idea about the location of the
key.
Meanwhile, Wade dreams of meeting Art3mis in real life, and At this point, Wade and Art3mis’ relationship appears to be too
neglects his friendship with Aech. Aech warns that Wade’s good to be true. This point is emphasized by Aech’s warnings and
relationship with Art3mis is risky, but Wade proceeds anyway. the fact that Art3mis was initially resistant to even being friends
When Wade and Art3mis travel around the OASIS together, with Wade, let alone more.
they do so in disguise. The only occasion when they don’t do
this is when they perform in the Rocky Horror Picture Show
together. Wade describes this as the best night of his life; after
the performance, Art3mis kisses him for the first time. He
decides to reveal his feelings to her.

LEVEL TWO: 0018

Wade receives an email from Ogden Morrow inviting Wade to Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction closely associated with
his 73rd birthday party, which will be “one of the most exclusive the work of the science fiction writer William Gibson, and
gatherings in the OASIS.” The invite features an anti-Sixer logo, particularly his debut novel Neuromancer. Cyberpunk combines
and notes that the party will take place that night at the advancements in artificial technology with lawlessness and social
Distracted Globe, a zero-gravity dance club that Morrow owns chaos. Most cyberpunk worlds are considered dystopias, rather
on the planet Neonoir. The club is in a PvP zone governed by than utopias.
both magic and technology, making it highly dangerous.
Neonoir is a cyberpunk-style world designed to resemble
William Gibson’s 1984 science fiction novel Neuromancer.
Wade drives up to the club in a DeLoreon (a 1980s sports car) Wade and Art3mis may be in a magical zero-gravity club at a
he acquired through completing a quest. The club is spherical, 73-year-old celebrity’s birthday party, but their attention
and the lack of gravity means that the dance “floor” is in its nonetheless largely remains on their own romantic relationship.
center. Art3mis approaches Wade wearing a “gunmetal blue Clearly, the two of them have conflicting views on the nature of their
dress” and looking beautiful. Morrow’s avatar, Og, appears in relationship and whether it should go forward. Whereas Wade
the DJ booth and waves to the crowd. Wade and Art3mis insists he is in love with Art3mis, her reply that he doesn’t know her
dance, and Art3mis transforms her legs into a mermaid’s tail. As and that they were never together implies that Wade is living inside
they slow dance, Wade tells Art3mis that he is in love with her. a willful delusion.
Yet once again, Art3mis insists that he doesn’t actually know
her. She says that their relationship has gotten “out of hand”;
when Wade asks if she is breaking up with him, she replies that
they were never together.
Wade and Art3mis’ conversation is interrupted by a massive The arrival of the Sixers serves as a reminder that there are far more
boom erupting overhead. Sixers descend on the club, shooting serious issues at play than Wade and Art3mis’ relationship. While
blaster pistols at the guests, some of whom fire back. Wade the immense power of Morrow’s avatar means that he wipes out the
notices that the Sixers seem to be aiming for him and Art3mis. Sixers with ease, their presence at his birthday party shows that the
They both shoot back at the Sixers, wiping them out. Og then gunters continue to be under serious threat.
steps out of the DJ booth and vaporizes all the Sixers using red
lightning. He puts on a track by Blondie and encourages the
guests to return to partying. Wade sees Art3mis look at him,
then leave.
LEVEL TWO: 0019

Wade has spray-painted the only window in his apartment Wade has designed his apartment to allow optimum ease of access
black, so no natural light comes in. He orders everything he to the OASIS. In doing so, he has placed himself in a rather dark
needs online, and deliveries arrive through the high-security scenario in which he has no contact with the outside world
War Door Wade has installed, which means he never actually whatsoever. The fact that he paints his window black indicates that
has to interact with anyone. He doesn’t use the kitchen, his level of single-mindedness and determination is rather
ordering takeout or microwaving frozen meals instead. He has unhealthy. His use of the sex doll and visit to the online brothel
constructed an OASIS “immersion rig” out of the latest pieces further emphasizes his loneliness and isolation.
of technology to make his time spent in the OASIS the most
vivid and comfortable it can be. He also purchases a sex doll,
but after “several highly unproductive days” inside a virtual
brothel he decides to throw it away.

The system agent software of Wade’s computer—somewhat This passage points out a dilemma for OASIS users. In order to
like a virtual personal assistant—is named Max, and resembles achieve the kind of fame, wealth, and success that Wade now enjoys
the 1980s talk show host Max Headroom. As Wade gets out of inside the OASIS, it is seemingly necessary to abandon one’s real-
bed and prepares for the day, Max jokes around with him. Wade world life and devote oneself entirely to the simulation. This in turn
works out every day using gym equipment in the apartment. He raises the question of whether such an exchange could ever be
started doing so in an effort to lose the weight he gained after worth it. Even though Wade lives a life of fame and glory in the
moving to Columbus, and before long, he is in “near-perfect” OASIS, how much does this mean in the context of his life of real-
health. He has begun to feel that the immersion rig is a kind of world isolation?
self-imposed prison. He cannot deny that he is an “agoraphobic
shut-in” and a “sad, lost, lonely soul.” On the other hand, in the
OASIS he is an “international celebrity” and “legend.”
LEVEL TWO: 0020

Wade’s avatar appears on the command center of Falco, the This passage further reveals the extent to which the OASIS was
private asteroid he’s bought—the “cheapest planetoid” designed as an accessible, fair, and democratic space. It might seem
available. Falco is the only place in the OASIS where Wade feels odd that a videogame has a government and elections, but consider
safe. Now that he is 18, he can vote in the OASIS elections, and how much time people spend within the OASIS and how much
he votes to reelect the current president and vice-president, activity is conducted there. Considering that in the world of the
who are gunter favorites because they protect user rights. GSS novel “the OASIS” and “the internet” are synonymous, it in fact
has recently added a feature called personal OASIS vidfeed makes sense that the simulation should have a democratically
(POV). It allows users to pay to stream their own TV network, elected government.
and many choose to livestream their own lives. On Wade’s
channel, Parzival-TV, he streams 1980s movies, TV, ads, and
music videos. The channel receives millions of views every day.
Art3mis also has a popular POV channel, Art3mivision. She has Wade attempted to convince himself that his life’s only purpose was
also started her own fashion line. She has blocked all contact completing the hunt. However, here it is clear that he has now come
with Wade since Morrow’s party eight weeks ago, and she no to value his relationship with Art3mis even more than the hunt.
longer posts to her blog. Even though Wade is now on the Indeed, his obsession with Art3mis has negatively impacted the rest
highest level, the 99th, he still completes quests to keep himself of Wade’s life, taking away the few other things that gave it
busy and distracted from his own loneliness. Having neglected meaning.
his friendship with Aech because of his relationship with
Art3mis, Wade and Aech have grown apart. Wade laments that
“in less than six months, I’d managed to wreck both of my
closest friendships.”
On the other hand, Wade did find a chance to reach out to Wade’s newfound friendship with Daito and Shoto is the only silver
Daito and Shoto when he discovered a Japanese-language lining at this point in his life. It demonstrates that, despite Wade’s
quest on the planet Tokusatsu. He asked for Daito and Shoto’s increasing isolation, he is still able to see the value in altruism and
help with the quest, and the three of them spent a week alliance. Although Wade is in the midst of a dark moment in his life,
completing it together. They not only received thousands of he still remains the same person who is good at heart.
XPs and credits in return, but also a rare artifact called Hayata’s
Beta Capsule that allows an avatar to transform into Ultraman
for three minutes at a time. Wade insisted that the brothers
keep the artifact because it belongs “in Japanese hands.” From
then on, the three became friends.

Wade’s expenses are high, and he supports himself through a While Wade is stuck in a rut, Art3mis has progressed to the next
part-time job doing OASIS technical support. He was able to stage of the hunt. This makes the fact that she broke up with him
secure the job through having Bryce Lynch’s credentials and even more bitter. Art3mis remains in the utopian dimension of the
resume. Wade describes the OASIS helpdesk as “my own OASIS, embarking on new adventures and achievements, whereas
private virtual hell.” He works 10-hour shifts, which go by Wade finds himself trapped in a boring, lonely, and repetitive
painfully slowly. One day, after his shift ends, he finds dystopian side of the simulation.
thousands of new emails in his inbox. He immediately realizes
that Art3mis has found the Jade Key.
LEVEL TWO: 0021

A few months after everyone cleared the First Gate, the Sixers This chapter begins with even more grim news. Again, the power of
purchased an artifact from an auction called Fyndoro’s Tablet the Sixers is shown to be so immense that it is almost impossible to
of Finding. Artifacts are unique, super-powerful magical objects imagine beating them. Although the gunters put up a good fight,
which give their owners special abilities. There are only a few they simply cannot compete with the Sixers’ disproportionate level
hundred artifacts in existence so it is always news when one is of wealth, influence, and information.
sold. Fyndoro’s Tablet allows its owner to find another avatar,
and thus could be used to beat others and win the Easter egg
hunt. When it was auctioned there was a massive bidding war
between gunter clans and the Sixers, but the Sixers eventually
won.
After Art3mis finds the Jade Key, the Sixers use the Tablet to Wade may be at his lowest moment, but it is at this point that he
establish that she is in Sector 7, and immediately head there in has his next breakthrough. This development in his trajectory
droves—inadvertently revealing the location of the Jade Key to suggests that sometimes it is necessary to sink to rock bottom to
everyone else in the OASIS. Newspaper headlines announce become aware of one’s own mistakes and begin to rectify them.
that Parzival has been “dethroned” and that Art3mis is now the While everything was going well for Wade, he couldn’t understand
top gunter. Wade curses himself for having wasted time pining that his obsession with Art3mis would ultimately come to damage
over the girl who has now beat him in the contest. He feels a his chances of success at the hunt. Now he realizes the truth.
renewed sense of determination and returns to analyzing the
quatrain. He studies the map of Sector 7, and it suddenly
occurs to him that the key might be hidden in the replica of the
GSS Museum, which is on the planet Archaide.
Wade instructs Max to power up his spaceship, the Vonnegut. This passage explores the bizarre nature of celebrity. While Wade
He notes that Archaide is a PvP zone and upgrades his gear in feels like a failure, he is surrounded by “crazed fans” who idolize him
preparation. As he flies out of orbit, he notices a few of the as a hero. In reality, of course, neither view is quite right: Wade is
“crazed fans” and “aspiring bounty hunters” that hang around neither entirely a hero or failure, but rather just a person.
Falco, hoping to get access to him. He often has no choice but
to kill these avatars. Wade decides to use the nearest
stargate—a teleporter for spaceships—in order to get to
Archaide, because he is in a hurry.

LEVEL TWO: 0022

Archaide is home to the OASIS’ largest classic videogame Halliday is not the only character in the novel who is nostalgic for
museum, and the planet itself resembles an old videogame—its his youth. The fact that many OASIS users have coded the arcades
scenery never changes and it does not look real. Older OASIS of their childhood on Archaide suggests that nostalgia is a
users have coded arcades from their own childhoods on the widespread phenomenon in the world of the novel. This makes
planet, each of which is filled with ancient arcade games. sense given the fact that planet Earth in 2045 is something of a
Overall, Archaide resembles a “massive underground multilevel paradise lost. Older people alive at this time were born into a
labyrinth” in which it is easy to get lost. Wade runs until he reasonably prosperous and stable world, only to see that all fall
arrives at the GSS Museum, however he soon realizes that the away. No wonder they are nostalgic.
museum has not been coded to be interactive, and thus the
Jade Key cannot be located here. Disappointed, he concludes
that Archaide is a “dead end.”
Wade takes a different route out of the planet, and on his way The name “Happytime Pizza” is somewhat ironic given that
finds an “underground city” filled with pizza places, bowling Halliday’s childhood was decidedly unhappy. This irony in turn
alleys, and arcades. He is stunned to find somewhere called speaks to the strange nature of nostalgia, which can make people
Happytime Pizza, a recreation of the pizza place Halliday look back fondly on a period that was not actually happy at the
frequented as a child in Middletown. Inside, there is a Robotron time.
game machine and a note saying that anyone who beats the
owner’s high score will get a free large pizza. Wade keeps
looking around and finds a Pac-Man machine with a note
saying, “Out of order.” He plugs it in and is surprised to see that
it works.
Wade realizes that he’s found something special—not “the Wade’s discovery of the Easter egg inside the Pac-Man machine
Easter egg,” but “an Easter egg.” In order to secure the egg, he serves as a reminder that sometimes mistakes and failures can lead
will need to play a perfect game of Pac-Man. It is tricky, and he to unexpected good fortune. Wade previously considered Archaide a
has to start over several times. However, he eventually gets “dead end,” and while he has not managed to find the Jade Key on
into the swing of things. While playing, he sees Aech’s name rise the planet, he has found something else that may well benefit him in
on the Scoreboard and realizes that Aech has now also found the long run. This passage thus indicates that the route to success is
the Jade Key, but he does not let this ruin his flow. After six not always straightforward or linear.
hours, he finishes a perfect game. “Game Over” flashes on the
screen and a quarter tumbles toward him. He knows it’s
possible that the quarter has magical properties, but at that
moment all he can think of is Art3mis, Aech, and the Jade Key.
Wade receives an email from Aech saying that they are Wade’s decision to give Aech the tip that helped him beat Acererak
“officially even now” and that Aech is repaying his debt to is now being rewarded with Aech doing the same for him. In this
Wade. Attached to the email is the instruction manual for the case, friendship is shown to benefit success in the hunt, rather than
1980 text game Zork. Wade suddenly realizes that the Jade hinder it.
Key is hidden on a planet called Frobozz, which is not far from
Archaide in Sector 7. He sets off immediately.

LEVEL TWO: 0023

The Frobozz is one of several planets that serve as a “shrine” to This chapter continues to explore the theme of nostalgia. It may
the earliest days of the OASIS. Wade explains that text seem strange that anyone in a game as rich, complex, and vivid as
adventure games create a virtual game environment through the OASIS would have any interest in text adventure games, given
text; players use simple text instructions in order to play the that these are extremely basic. However, Wade’s genuine love of
game. After being given the tip by Aech, Wade can now see how videogames—from the very earliest and simplest to the most
the quatrain hints that the Jade Key is hidden in one of the technologically advanced—again gives him an advantage in the
most beloved text adventure games, Zork. He uses his Ring of hunt.
Teleportation to get to Frobozz, hoping this means he will reach
it undetected by the Sixers. Frobozz features 512 identical
copies of the Zork playing field distributed across the planet;
Wade chooses one at random and teleports there.
Wade approaches the white house in front of him and enters All the years Wade spent alone making notes on his “research” are
the kitchen. He retrieves the box of Cap’n Crunch from the truly paying off now. Of course, Wade would likely not have done all
cupboard and finds the toy whistle inside. However, when he of this research in the first place if it had not been something that
blows it, nothing happens. He goes down the staircase in the genuinely interested in him. This passage thus again emphasizes the
house and uses his notes about Zork to help him navigate the value in following one’s passions.
maze of the game, collecting treasures along the way. After he
is done, Wade returns and blows the whistle again. This time it
transforms into a key, and Wade’s score increases by 18,000
points—putting him between Art3mis and Aech. The key is
wrapped in silver foil, which Wade removes. The key is
inscribed with a message: “Continue your quest by taking the
test.”
Suddenly, Wade hears the Sixers arriving, and knows that While Wade has finally gotten back into the game, this good fortune
gunters won’t be far behind. He dashes to the Vonnegut and lifts is tainted by the fact that the Sixers are continuing to ruthlessly
off, narrowly escaping heavy fire. The Vonnegut is nonetheless pursue the egg at any cost. Given that they approaching the hunt
damaged, so Wade stops at Joe’s Garage to have it repaired. He with such bloodthirsty gusto, is there any hope of Wade and his
sends Aech an email thanking him for the tip and checks his friends beating them while still respecting the integrity of the
feed for news about the battle taking place on Frobozz. There contest? Or will they have to sink to the Sixers’ level and employ
are reports of scores of gunters and Sixers are being killed, and dirty tactics if they want any chance of winning?
Wade also sees that Sorrento’s score has increased, meaning
he has also found the Jade Key. Shoto’s score also rises on the
Scoreboard, but there is no change to Daito’s. Suddenly, Daito’s
name disappears from the board, and Wade knows he must
have been killed.
LEVEL TWO: 0024

The Battle of Frobozz remains intense and at first only seven This moment in the novel emphasizes the fact that artificial
Sixers manage to obtain the Jade Key. However, they then intelligence and virtual reality simulations cannot fill the void
install a force field, and suddenly the number of Sixers with the created by lack of human contact. Although Wade’s relationships
key jumps dramatically. Wade returns to Falco and meditates with Art3mis and Aech are mediated through the OASIS, he is
on the meaning of the line inscribed in the key. He falls asleep, comforted and fulfilled by the knowledge that there are real humans
and awakes to the horrifying news that Sorrento’s score has operating their avatars. Without this assurance with Max, he only
increased once again, indicating that he has cleared the Second feels more alone.
Gate. Wade begins to have a panic attack. He calls Aech and
Art3mis, but can’t get through to either of them. He tries to talk
to Max, but this ultimately only makes him feel more lonely.

Soon, another ten Sixers clear the Second Gate, too. Two days The fact that Wade plans to commit suicide if the Sixers take over
later, Sorrento’s score increases again, proving that he’s the OASIS may at first seem dramatic. However, by this point it is
obtained the Crystal Key. Wade is horrified, concluding that clear that the OASIS is not just a game, but rather the only thing
“the bad guys were going to win.” He thinks about what he will that makes Wade’s life bearable. If it is turned into an elitist, fascist
do if the Sixers win the hunt. He will give away all his OASIS “theme park” as Wade fears, any trace of purpose and meaning he
possessions to someone in his fan club and leave his apartment has will disappear.
for the first time since arriving in Columbus. He will go up to
the roof of his apartment building, breathe the fresh city air,
and then commit suicide by jumping off.
Wade’s thoughts are interrupted by a vidmail message from Just like Wade’s plans to commit suicide if the Sixers win the hunt,
Shoto saying that Daito left Wade something in his will. Wade Daito’s death and will blur the distinction between reality and
wonders why Daito left a will for his avatar when Shoto illusion. Is it only Daito’s avatar that’s dead, or was he killed in real
explains that Daito will not create a new avatar ever again. He life?
assures Wade he will explain everything in person.
LEVEL TWO: 0025

Shoto arrives on Falco dressed in black mourning robes. He Even at this very dark moment in the text, there is hope to be found
and Wade sit together, and Shoto explains that the Sixers killed in the sympathy and solidarity Wade extends to Shoto. Shoto is
Daito—not in the OASIS, but in real life. They broke into Daito’s embarrassed about admitting that someone he only knew inside a
apartment and threw him off his balcony, framing it as a suicide. simulation was like a brother to him. But as Wade explains, he
Shoto then tells Wade that he wants Wade to know his real understands the feeling that relationships inside the OASIS are the
name, Akihide. Wade in turn introduces himself using his own only ones that are truly meaningful. This adds a sense of hope to the
real name. Shoto then explains that he and Daito were only terrible tragedy of Daito’s death.
brothers in the OASIS; in real life, they’d never met. He seems
afraid that Wade will judge him, but Wade assures him that for
gunters, the OASIS “is the only reality that has any meaning.”
Daito and Shoto met in an OASIS support group for hikikomori, Daito’s mention of hikikomori links the novel’s exploration of reality
young people who shut themselves in a room and do not vs. illusion to real-world issues. Hikikomori exist in our present day
engage with the real world. Shoto explains how Daito was killed reality, and their existence raises the same questions about
in the middle of the Battle of Frobozz. Daito had deployed the loneliness, the lure of virtual existence, and the meaning of life as
Beta Capsule against the Sixers, giving Shoto a chance to seize Wade’s obsession with the OASIS. Is confining oneself to a virtual
the Jade Key. As Shoto emerged from the white house, he realm a sign of fundamental disturbance, or is it sometimes a
heard Daito shouting that he could hear someone inside his reasonable response to the horrors of reality?
apartment—however, at that point his voice cut off. Daito’s
avatar disappeared, while Shoto’s avatar was able to escape in
his spacecraft just in time.
Shoto gives Wade the Beta Capsule, telling him that Daito Daito’s death creates a new kind of rock bottom from which Wade
wanted him to have it. Wade tries to refuse, but eventually and Shoto must now emerge. Like Art3mis’ discovery of the Jade
accepts it with gratitude. Shoto admits that he has a “new Key, this dismal turn of events provides Wade with a new burst of
quest”: getting revenge. They consider how long it will take for determination and commitment to the contest.
the Sixers to clear the Third Gate. Wade assures Shoto that “it’s
not over until it’s over. And it’s not over yet.”

LEVEL TWO: 0026

Wade is at home analyzing the silver foil in which the Jade Key The appearance of Blade Runner and the Voight-Kampff machine
was wrapped when he is suddenly reminded of the 1982 film in particular drive home the novel’s blurring of the distinction
Blade Runner. An idea dawns on him, and as he says the word between reality and illusion. In Blade Runner (and the Philip K.
“unicorn” aloud the foil bends itself into an origami Dick novel it is based on, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep),
unicorn—“one of the most iconic images” from the movie. the line between humans and robots becomes so thin that it is
Suddenly he knows exactly what “test” he must take to find the almost impossible to tell the difference between them. However, the
Second Gate. Blade Runner was one of Halliday’s top ten existence of the Voight-Kampff machine is a reminder that there is
favorite films; it is based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, who was and always will be a difference, no matter how hard it is to detect.
one of Halliday’s favorite authors. The film features “replicants”
of humans who can only be distinguished from real humans by
a special test issued by a Voight-Kampff machine. The machine
is housed in in the Tyrell Building, replicas of which are all over
the OASIS.
Wade travels to a cyberpunk-themed world in Sector 22 called Even when the hunt requires Wade to participate in combat, his
Axrenox and quickly finds a copy of the Tyrell Building on it. He extensive knowledge of Halliday’s favorite books and films gives him
lands the Vonnegut on the roof and rides the elevator down to an enormous advantage. He knows that he is supposed to kill the
the 440th floor, where he shoots dozens of Tyrell security Tyrell security guards and also knows exactly where to locate the
guard replicants in order to get past. He enters a recreation of Voight-Kampff machine within the building. Thus, brains help even
the office of Eldon Tyrell, founder of the Tyrell Corporation, and in situations that require brawn.
spots the Voight-Kampff machine inside. He puts the key inside,
and immediately another portal to a field of stars opens. Wade
jumps inside.
Wade materializes inside a bowling alley with “disco-era décor” The parallels between Wade and Halliday become clearer by the
and a sign reading Middletown Lanes. He feels himself being minute. Both of them escaped from childhood misery through
pulled toward a door that reads “Game Room.” Inside there are playing videogames, and as a result they developed an usual level of
several 1980s videogames. One, Black Tiger, is sucking skill and expertise. However, one major difference is the fact that
everything toward it, including Wade. Halliday wrote in his Wade had Halliday as a role model. Through his idolization of
diary that he would spend hours playing Black Tiger as a child Halliday, Wade was introduced to a whole range of culture that he
as a form of escape from his “rotten existence.” Wade is sucked wouldn’t otherwise know about.
inside the monitor and finds himself dressed in the outfit of the
hero of Black Tiger, carrying his weapons. He realizes that he
now has to play a 3D, virtual reality version of the game.
Wade finds the game difficult at first, but after three hours he Finally, Wade’s luck seems to have turned around. Although the
manages to get through all eight levels. Having won the game, Sixers present a severe challenge due to their enormous amount of
he finds himself back in the bowling alley. One of the characters wealth and resources, as soon as Wade is inside a game and in the
from the game also materializes in the bowling alley and offers zone the Sixers’ disproportionate power ceases to matter at all.
him one of a selection of “giant robots” as a reward for having
won. Wade chooses a transforming robot called Leopardon.
Soon after, an image of the Crystal Key appears inside a
glowing red star. The Black Tiger cabinet then transforms into a
door with jade edges. Wade shouts with joy and jumps through.

LEVEL TWO: 0027

Wade rematerializes inside Tyrell’s office. He returns to the Once again, Wade’s extensive research comes in handy. He is able to
Vonnegut and pulls up his research notes on Halliday’s favorite recognize the star in which the image of the Crystal Key appeared
band, Rush. He finds Rush’s sci-fi themed album 2112 and, on simply by memory as a result of knowing Halliday’s obsessions so
the album artwork, locates the same red star that he saw inside well. At this point, it again seems as if the hunt will favor not the
Black Tiger. One of the songs, “The Temples of Syrinx,” contains richest, most powerful, or most skilled avatar, but rather the one
the clue to the Crystal Key’s location. Wade races to the planet who knows Halliday and his obsessions inside out.
Syrinx, a “desolate world” in Sector 21. On the planet, he finds
1,024 copies of a city called Megadon, which is mentioned in
the liner notes of 2112. Once Wade has landed the Vonnegut,
he finds the Temple of Syrinx, and is relieved to find that he is
seemingly completely alone.
Wade realizes that he is supposed to put an offering on the The clue that Wade receives about the Crystal Gate suggests a
altar of the Temple. He tries the robot, but nothing happens. major twist to the trajectory of the Easter egg hunt thus far. Up until
However, another clue from the 2112 liner notes leads him to a this point, Wade has worked alone to great success—as have
waterfall on the outskirts of Megadon, where he discovers a Art3mis and Aech. However, this new clue appears to indicate that
tunnel and cave-like chamber. Inside the chamber, a lever opens no one will be able to clear the Crystal Gate alone. This is somewhat
a trapdoor, which Wade jumps through. He arrives in a cube- ominous, considering it could provide a massive advantage to the
shaped room where there is a 1974 Gibson Les Paul guitar Sixers.
embedded in the stone wall. Wade pulls the guitar from the
wall and plays the Rush song “Discovery” on the guitar. After he
finishes, another clue appears, which promises that the Crystal
Gate “cannot be unlocked alone.”
The guitar transforms into the Crystal Key, and Wade receives Wade’s brief moment of triumph is soon darkened by the swift
a further 25,000 points, putting him back ahead of Sorrento. progress of the Sixers. The fact that they have the castle surrounded
Looking at the guitar, he spots the letter A, which looks exactly does not bode well. In the past, Wade has arrived in the location of a
the same as one of the character symbols in Halliday’s first key or gate either well before or after the Sixers have been there. He
Dungeons & Dragons characters sheet. It is the A for Anorak, has never actually had to face them directly—until now.
and the same symbol appears on the gate to Castle Anorak,
Halliday’s stronghold on the D&D themed planet Chthonia.
Wade returns to the Vonnegut and heads straight to the castle.
While travelling there, Wade hears on the news that the Sixers
have the entire castle surrounded.
Wade arrives on Chthonia to find that the Sixers have installed Recall that each time Wade has hit rock bottom and struggled to
a magical shield over Castle Anorak. Gunter clans are attacking find any hope in the situation he is in, he receives a new surge of
the shield with nuclear weapons, but they are having no effect. determination and is able to make the impossible happen. This is
Over the next few days, gunters try everything within their typical of the story of the underdog, who must beat extremely
power to destroy the shield, to no avail. People begin to unlikely odds in order to achieve success—and does so precisely
announce that the hunt is basically over. However, Wade because no one expects them to be able to pull it off.
remains calm, reasoning that, like any videogame, the hunt has
simply reached a new, more difficult level, requiring a new
approach. He devises a plan, emailing Art3mis, Aech, and Shoto
and telling them how to obtain the Crystal Key. He knows that
he is likely to be killed in this final effort, but vows to “reach the
Third Gate, or die trying.”

LEVEL THREE: 0028

Wade is watching the 1985 movie Explorers when the IOI Indenturement refers to a condition whereby a person is forced to
corporate police arrive at his apartment in Columbus. He sees perform labor in order to repay a debt. It is not quite the same as
them pull up and immediately orders Max to initiate lockdown slavery, but there are similarities. Furthermore, claims of fictitious
mode of the apartment’s security system. Four cops stand debt are often used by slavers in order to place and keep people in
outside Wade’s War Door, and one announces that they are slavery. At this point it is unclear whether Wade’s charge of debt is
here because Wade has outstanding payments on his IOI Visa fictitious or not.
card. As the record shows he is unemployed, he is being taken
for mandatory indenturement. When he has repaid the debt
alongside any additional fees and penalties, he will be free to
go. The police will be seizing his property and selling it.
The cops begin to cut through the War Door. Wade knows he The nightmarish situation Wade suddenly finds himself in is
will have about five minutes before they are able to get alarming. What is more shocking, however, is the fact that Wade
through, and quickly swallows two anti-anxiety pills he’s saved seems to be so prepared for it. He has saved anti-anxiety pills to
for the occasion. Inside the OASIS he closes his windows, take and has prepared an incendiary device to melt his
checks the Scoreboard—which remains the same, with Art3mis computer—hardly ordinary preparations. Perhaps Wade simply
in first place after having obtained the Crystal Key—and logs knew it was likely that IOI would arrest him in order to take him out
out. Wade then deletes Max and detonates an “incendiary of the running—or perhaps there is something else afoot.
device” that melts his entire computer. At that moment, the
cops enter Wade’s apartment and grab him, putting a ball gag in
his mouth. They announce that they are placing Wade under
“corporate arrest” and insult him for having melted his
computer, which he could have sold to help pay his debt.
The cops tear off Wade’s haptic suit and give him an Wade’s decision to take off his visor and look out the window for the
uncomfortable gray jumpsuit and plastic shoes to wear instead. first time since he moved to Columbus is significant. Like the OASIS
They then load him into the van next to two other arrestees, itself, the beach image that IOI plays for new indents is designed to
both of whom are strapped into their seats and wearing visors. make people forget their problems through a pleasurable “escape
A cop puts a visor on Wade and, as they drive through hatch.” However, in this moment Wade doesn’t want to escape into
Columbus, Wade is forced to watch a beach at sunset. He illusion, but rather confront the ugly truth of reality.
figures the IOI police play this to keep new indents calm during
the drive. Wade pushes his visor off and looks out the window,
curious to see the outside for the first time since he arrived in
Columbus.
LEVEL THREE: 0029

There appear to be far more homeless people lining the streets This passage makes clear that one of the most oppressive things you
than when Wade first arrived. He watches some of them using can do to people in the year 2045 is take away their access to the
the OASIS from GSS’s free access stations. The van pulls up to OASIS. Whereas ordinarily we might expect prisoners to be
101 IOI Plaza in downtown Columbus. The three buildings smuggling in drugs, money, or weapons, the new IOI indents simply
precisely resemble the IOI headquarters Wade visited inside try to smuggle in the equipment they need to log into the OASIS.
the OASIS. Wade is taken inside to the “IOI Indentured
Employee Induction Center.” His handcuffs are removed and
his retinas are scanned. He is then fed into a security line
where he sees hundreds of other indents in the same grey
jumpsuit and shoes. Ahead of him, he sees several people get
taken aside as miniature pieces of technology are plucked from
their bodies. Wade passes the checkpoints without incident.

Wade is given a series of tests to determine how he can best be It is becoming more and more obvious that Wade knows what he is
put to use by IOI. He intentionally fails all the questions related doing, even if readers do not. The fact that Wade knows so much
to Halliday and the Easter egg hunt, as he doesn’t want to be about IOI’s system of indenturement indicates that he has
placed in the Oology Division and risk encountering Sorrento. researched it in advance and may have even gotten himself
Wade is “awarded” the position of OASIS Technical Support indentured on purpose. However, given that—as Wade himself
Representative II and informed that once his debt is paid off, he points out—it is impossible to escape indenturement, it is hard to
may be able to gain a permanent position at IOI. However, understand why Wade would have chosen to undergo this
Wade knows this is all just a show; in reality, it is not actually voluntarily.
possible for indents to pay their debt. Added fees mean that
debts increase rather than decrease over time, and once
indentured, “you would probably remain indentured for life.” To
many, this is still better than a life on the streets.
Wade is forced to sign an “Indenturement Contract.” He Wade is now fully immersed in a nightmare corporate prison
explains that this is all part of his plan. He is washed, physically dystopia. Every aspect of his identity and ability to express himself
inspected, vaccinated, and forced to watch a looping video has been stripped away; he has so little agency that he is even told
entitled: “Indentured Servitude: Your Fast Track from Debt to by an HR computer when to go to the bathroom. Meanwhile, the
Success!” He is then fitted with a security anklet that will intensity of the surveillance he is placed under seems impossible to
paralyze him if he tries to escape or remove it. An “observation escape. The more readers learn about the IOI indenturement center,
and communication tag” (OCT) is then pierced into his ear. the less likely it seems that Wade will be able to escape his fate.
Finally, a camera is attached to the back of his head. An HR
computer speaks to him directly through his earpiece,
instructing him to go to a nearby cafeteria where he is served
bland food. Afterward, he is given five minutes to use the
bathroom, and seven hours to sleep.
Wade’s sleeping capsule is inside a “Hab Block,” which reminds The fact that Wade’s sleeping capsule resembles a coffin and the
him of a mausoleum. The capsule is shaped like a coffin, with a “Hab Block” a mausoleum is no coincidence. Being indentured to
camera attached to watch Wade as he sleeps. There is an IOI is a kind of living death. Although indents are kept alive through
entertainment console and visor attached to the wall which food, accommodation, health checks, and other forms of
plays only one channel: IOI-N, the official company channel monitoring, their lives are so restricted and devoid of vibrancy that
showing news and propaganda. Wade learns that he can access they can hardly be considered lives in any meaningful sense.
further entertainment options once he has achieved three
consecutive positive performance reviews. The only TV show
available is a company-produced show titled Tommy Queue,
about an indentured OASIS tech rep. Wade stays awake as long
as possible watching Tommy Queue on repeat. He torments
himself by thinking about Art3mis until he falls asleep.
LEVEL THREE: 0030

Wade works in a cubicle inside the IOI’s Technical Support call Once again, Wade’s situation at IOI hardly seems conducive to
center. He is not permitted to access any part of the OASIS rebellion or success in the Easter egg hunt. If the IOI software is so
except his work account on the IOI intranet. He addresses the restrictive that it controls what he says while working at the help
needs of customers, and when he tries to respond to their desk, how is there any hope of Wade escaping his indenturement
queries with “You’re a complete fucking moron,” the software and returning to the Easter egg hunt inside the OASIS?
forbids it. There is no way Wade can distract himself during his
shifts: the only things he can look at are the clock and the IOI
stock ticker, which cannot be removed from view. He gets three
five-minute bathroom breaks per day and one half-hour lunch
break. He eats lunch alone at his desk, as he hates the other
indents.

Wade regularly falls asleep during his shift, to the point that IOI The fact that Wade saves his narcolepsy pills and takes them after
have started giving him narcolepsy pills to keep him awake. He his shift ends is the first sign readers see of successful rebellion
saves them and takes them after his shift has ended, when he is within his life in the indenturement center. Suddenly, it becomes
back in his sleep capsule. Wade turns away the security camera clear that while Wade is making it seem as though he is passively
and recording devices on his body and in his capsule. Every giving into his life as an indent, in reality he is up to something quite
night, he taps the entertainment screen to play Tommy Queue; different.
however, he is not actually watching it, and nor is he sleeping.
Instead, he has been surviving on only two hours of sleep per
night.
Seven months ago, Wade bought a set of IOI intranet Here Wade’s plan finally comes to light. He has purposefully gotten
passwords on the OASIS black market from a former IOI himself indentured in order to utilize the IOI passwords he bought
contract programmer. He hadn’t done anything with them until on the black market and hack into IOI’s database from the inside.
the Sixers installed the force field on Castle Anorak, at which Once again, Wade’s nerdiness and underdog status allow him to get
point he’d hatched a plan to purposefully get himself a massive advantage. Furthermore, the fact that he is courageous
indentured and infiltrate the IOI database. The plan’s potential enough to pull off a plan that is “clearly insane” comes from an
to work relied on the fact that it was “clearly insane.” Wade logs absolute desperation to win.
into the IOI intranet using the passwords, which he’d
memorized prior to his arrest. He spends his nights “digging
deeper and deeper” into the IOI network until he reaches the
Oology Division Database.
Finally, the night comes when Wade is ready to explore the Up until this point, Wade thought that he knew pretty much
Oology database. He plans to download the data and smuggle it everything there was to know about Halliday. However, this passage
out with him when he escapes IOI headquarters. Most of the serves as a reminder that no matter how much effort Wade put in
database is made up of information about Halliday, some of personally, it is difficult to compete with the resources possessed by
which Wade didn’t know existed. He copies vital information IOI. On the other hand, Wade is currently demonstrating qualities
about the Sixers’ force field around Castle Anorak and the that the IOI can never hope to possess: moral principles,
artifact they are using to generate it. Wade then finds the selflessness, and bravery.
“jackpot”—recordings of the Sixers’ attempts to open the Third
Gate. Although the Sixers have found the Gate, they cannot
figure out how to open it; simply inserting the Crystal Key does
not work.
While Wade waits for the information about the Third Gate to This is a moment at which the gulf between illusion and reality
copy to his flash drive, he finds a folder called “Threat suddenly becomes smaller. Wade realizes that Art3mis looks just
Assessments” featuring information about himself, Art3mis, like her avatar, implying that—contrary to her claims—Wade
Aech, Shoto, and Daito. He sees that after he fled to Columbus perhaps does know the “real” Art3mis after all. On a darker note, IOI
they lost track of him and that his current location is listed as also know the “real” Art3mis, and have been spying on her for
“unknown.” Wade opens Art3mis’ folder, where he sees a months. The implication of this is that her life, as well as the lives of
picture of what she looks like in real life for the first time. She Wade, Aech, and Shoto, are in immediate danger.
looks exactly like her avatar, except for the fact that in reality, a
giant birthmark covers almost half of her face. Wade thinks
that she looks even more beautiful in real life than in the OASIS.
To his horror, he realizes that IOI have had her house under
surveillance for months.

Both Shoto and Daito don’t look anything like their avatars. While Wade’s plan may have been ingenious, he didn’t account for
There is no photo and little information in Aech’s file, and Wade the turn of events that have now presented themselves. Of all the
can tell that the name listed is fake. Daito’s file, meanwhile, top gunters, only Aech has successfully concealed his location and
contains a video of Daito being thrown to his death. Wade identity from IOI—all the others are known to the Sixers and thus
copies the information from all five files and then opens could be killed at any minute. Wade no longer has any time to waste
another folder called “Mission Status.” He reads a memo living his secret double life as an indent. He must escape
instructing Sixers to kidnap Art3mis and Shoto, force them to immediately.
help the Sixers open the final gate, and then kill them. The
memo was sent only five hours ago. Before his arrest Wade had
arranged a timed transfer into his IOI credit account that would
clear his debt; however, that transfer isn’t coming for another
five days, and that will be too late. He must escape as soon as
possible.
LEVEL THREE: 0031

Wade sends a request to the Oology Division for a “very Wade’s behavior in this passage is remarkable considering that up
specific item” to be delivered in two days’ time. He disables his until recently, he spent most of his time inside the OASIS and thus
security anklet and earpiece, then logs out of the IOI intranet. all his adventures and rebellions were confined to the virtual realm.
He retrieves a vacuum-packed IOI maintenance-tech uniform Wade’s ability to escape IOI headquarters suggests that the skills he
and puts it on. Telling his earpiece that he needs to use the gained in the OASIS can be transferred to physical reality.
bathroom, he enters an elevator and requests the lobby. As he
is going down, he thinks about Sorrento and the other Sixers
watching scrutinizing the security camera footage in the wake
of his escape. He looks directly at the security camera, smiles,
and gives the finger.
Wade exits the lobby tensely, hoping that no one will notice he This is a triumphant moment for Wade. It is the longest time he has
is still wearing the indents’ plastic slippers. A woman touches ever spent outside the OASIS, and in this period he has proven that
his shoulder and points out that his ear is bleeding profusely. he is ingenious, courageous, and quick on his feet. However, it
He thanks her and keeps walking outside. Outside in the fresh remains to be seen whether this ingenuity will translate into success
air, Wade drops his security anklet in the trash. Before his when he returns to the OASIS to complete the hunt.
arrest, Wade rented a mailbox at an outlet four blocks away
from IOI Plaza and had an OASIS rig shipped to it. He logs into
the OASIS for the first time in eight days—a personal record.
Art3mis, Aech, and Shoto have all written to ask Wade where On top of his other skills, Wade also appears to have gained a new
he is. Wade replies to Art3mis first, warning her about the charisma in the way he communicates with Art3mis. Perhaps now
Sixers’ plan to abduct her. He tells her to leave for a safe place that he has the confidence of someone who can pull off major
immediately, adding that he thinks she is “even more beautiful rebellions in real life as well as in the OASIS, he is more certain of his
in real life.” He sends similar emails to Aech and Shoto. Soon ability to woo Art3mis and regain her respect.
after, he sees that IOI have already reported Bryce Lynch as a
missing indent. Wade erases everything to do with the Bryce
Lynch identity and puts his own fingerprints and retinal scans
back on his citizen profile. He hails an autocab and is relieved
when his thumbprint brings up the identity Wade Watts
instead of Bryce Lynch.

The autocab pulls up to a clothing store called Thr3ads. Wade The Plug may not be the ideal location for Wade to reenter the
purchases clothing that are wired for connection to the OASIS, OASIS, but luckily—as the book has shown us so far—people’s real-
along with outerwear, as he is freezing. Afterward, he life surroundings hardly matter once they are inside the simulation.
purchases a flak jacket, a gun, bullets, and a can of mace. It is Furthermore, it is arguably safer now for Wade to be in an
the first time Wade has ever touched a real gun. Finally, Wade anonymous booth at a public OASIS access point that in his
heads to an OASIS parlor called the Plug, which he chooses apartment, given how desperate the Sixers will be to. hunt him
because it is not owned by IOI. He asks to hire a deluxe rig for down and kill him.
12 hours. The cashier warns him that if he leaves vomit, urine,
or semen in the bay he won’t get his deposit back. Wade enters
the bay and inserts the data drive into the computer slot. He
awakens Max and tells him they have “a lot of work to do.”
Wade emails every major news channel with evidence of how Whereas before it was imperative that Wade maintained his
IOI killed Daito and attempted to kill Wade. He also attaches privacy, at this point he chooses to leverage his fame and influence
the memo ordering the abduction of Art3mis and Shoto, and a in order to bring IOI and Sorrento to justice. At the same time, Wade
text transcription of his conversation with Sorrento, although is still careful to keep his own identity secret—understandable given
he blacks out his own name. He then drafts an email to every the kind of scrutiny he will soon be under.
OASIS user, but doesn’t send it yet. Finally, he logs into the
Basement, where Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto are waiting.
LEVEL THREE: 0032

Wade checks that Shoto and Art3mis have left their homes for Art3mis’ cold reaction to Wade’s news is perhaps unsurprising given
safe locations, and they both confirm that they have. Wade that historically Wade has failed to respect her boundaries.
explains that he assumed a fake identity, purposefully got Although she and Wade developed an extremely close friendship
himself indentured, and hacked into the IOI database. Aech and and romantic relationship, Art3mis doesn’t feel she can trust him.
Shoto express their admiration, but Art3mis remains skeptical, On the other hand, with so many enemies around, she may not have
telling Wade it was a “stupid” risk to take. She is also angry that much of a choice.
he looked in her file, telling him that he should be more
respectful of other people’s privacy. However, after Wade
reveals all the extra information on Halliday he downloaded
from the IOI database, Art3mis softens and tells him she owes
him.
Wade shares the good news that the Sixers still don’t know how Wade, Art3mis, Aech, and Shoto are no longer so concerned with
to open the Third Gate. He explains this gate is more whether or not they should form an alliance. Instead, an alliance
complicated than the first two, and shows the video of Sorrento has naturally developed between them due to the frightening power
trying and failing to open it. Three words are carved into the of their mutual enemy. Rather than focusing on their own individual
Third Gate: “Charity. Hope. Faith.” Sorrento tries reciting them chance of winning the egg, their main goal now is to stop IOI from
in different languages, to no avail. Suddenly, Wade, Art3mis, accessing it. As a result, this brings them together and compels them
Aech, and Shoto exclaim in unison that the words are taken to act as a team. Is this what Halliday wanted all along?
from “Three Is a Magic Number,” the pilot episode of 1970s TV
show Schoolhouse Rock. Wade thinks that three keys must be
used in order to open the Third Gate. He suggests that Halliday
wanted to force people to work together, although Art3mis
proposes it is more likely that he wanted to ensure a dramatic,
competitive finale.

Wade explains that the shield the Sixers have installed will Wade and his friends’ willingness to form an alliance against IOI
dissolve on its own in 36 hours’ time, noting: “I’ve taken care of should extend to the wider gunter community—or, at least, Wade
it.” He adds that they will need a lot of backup, which is why he’s hopes so. Aech’s confidence that the gunters will support them
written an email to every gunter, which he plans to send later speaks to Aech’s own selflessness and generosity. Art3mis, on the
that night. The email warns that if the gunters don’t join forces, other hand, is more of a loner and thus more skeptical about Wade’s
“the OASIS will fall under IOI’s imperialist rule.” Art3mis is plan working out.
uncertain that the gunters will show up, but Aech is confident
that they will. Wade adds that most of the gunter clans have
already given up on the Easter egg hunt, so they have “nothing
to lose.”
The team agrees to go ahead with a plan, but Art3mis points Although they may be the most famous and respected gunters in
out that, in reality, she is currently in Vancouver airport with the OASIS, in reality Art3mis, Shoto, Wade, and Aech are young
nowhere to go. Shoto chimes in, saying that he’s at a public café people without money or homes who are being persecuted by an
in Osaka where he likely won’t be safe from the Sixers for long. evil corporation. Indeed, at this point they need a real-life
Wade admits that he’s homeless, too. Suddenly a deep voice intervention from a hero—luckily, Morrow steps into this role just in
offers help—it is Og, Morrow’s avatar, who has suddenly time.
materialized inside the Basement. He asks if any of them have
been to Oregon, saying it is “lovely this time of year.”
LEVEL THREE: 0033

Wade, Art3mis, Aech, and Shoto stare at Morrow in shock. Given the amount of attention, controversy, and drama that the
Aech asks how he got there, and Morrow admits that he’s been hunt has generated, it is little wonder that Morrow has kept his
spying on them using the special powers that only his avatar distance and tried not to directly intervene in it. On the other hand,
possesses. He assures them that he is the only avatar with he is clearly loyal enough to Halliday to want to ensure that the
access to private chatrooms, and adds that he was Sixers don’t get away with manipulating the competition to their
eavesdropping because he wanted to help them. He won’t give advantage. Rather than supporting an individual user, Morrow
them any clues, but promised Halliday that he would protect supports the rights of gunters to pursue the hunt on its own terms,
the “integrity” of the contest, which is what he is doing now. rather than gaming the system through unjust means.
Wade asks about Morrow’s falling out with Halliday, and
Morrow replies that they didn’t speak for ten years, until a few
weeks before Halliday’s death. Halliday asked Morrow to
watch over the contest, and although Morrow was reluctant,
he agreed.
Morrow tells the crew that he wants to offer them his home in Both Aech and Wade are anxious to meet each other. Although
Oregon as a “sanctuary” where they will be safe from the readers do not yet know why this is the case for Aech, Wade’s
Sixers. He tells Shoto that he has already arranged for a private nervousness is surely rooted in the fact that Aech is his best friend
jet to fly him from Osaka, and has done the same for Art3mis. and “only” friend, so the stakes are extremely high. If Aech and Wade
Morrow knows that Aech is in Pittsburgh, and asks him to pick do not get along in real life, this will seriously undermine Wade’s
up Wade in Columbus, where a jet will be waiting to take both theory that the OASIS is a true representation of people’s
of them to Oregon. The team thank Morrow, who disappears. personalities and that it is possible to truly get to know someone
Shoto and Art3mis log out, at which point Aech warns Wade through it.
that he doesn’t look anything like his avatar and that meeting in
real life might come as a shock. Wade is nervous about the
prospect of encountering both Aech and Art3mis in real life.

Wade sends his “Call to Arms” email, also posting it to the Even though Aech looks nothing like her avatar, there are clues that
gunter message boards. Immediately the news channels begin immediately indicate that they are one and the same person. The
reporting that the gunters have “declared all-out war on the fact that Wade can tell from her smile that it really is Aech shows
Sixers.” Wade spends a few hours preparing his avatar for that their connection is formed of something far deeper than
battle, then falls asleep in the Plug’s rig, clutching his gun. He superficial matters. Wade knows Aech’s personality so well that he
wakes up to the sound of Aech calling him. He returns his is immediately able to recognize her inside a body that he never
rented gear and goes outside, seeing Aech’s RV on the street. imagined would be hers.
He enters the RV to find a heavy, short-haired African
American girl sitting in the driver’s seat, wearing a vintage Rush
2112 concert t-shirt. She turns around and Wade can tell
immediately from her smile that she is Aech.
Despite her smile, Aech seems nervous. Wade cannot help but Here readers are reminded of the combination of advancement and
start laughing, which quickly makes Aech laugh too. When she deprivation that characterize life in 2045. Aech and Wade may
speaks, her voice is higher than it is in the OASIS. Aech asks if have access to certain advanced forms of technology, but due to
Wade is shocked that she is actually a “fat black chick.” Wade their poverty and the energy crisis, they have never been inside a
replies that it doesn’t matter, Aech is still his best friend. The plane. Again, the contrast between their lives inside and outside the
two of them drive to the private hangar where Morrow’s OASIS is extreme.
private jet is waiting. It is the first time either Wade or Aech
have flown in a plane, and for a while they are stunned into
silence by the view. However, eventually Wade asks Aech to tell
her story.
Aech’s real name is Helen Harris. Her father died in Although Marie understood what it was like to be discriminated
Afghanistan, and she was raised in Atlanta by a single mother, against based on her race and gender, this did not enable her to feel
Marie, who worked in an online data-processing center. Marie empathy when it came to her daughter’s sexual orientation. Indeed,
used a white male avatar in the OASIS because it made other Marie’s eagerness to embrace the opportunity to live as a white man
people treat her better. Aech did the same, and Marie helped inside the OASIS suggests that she was less focused on eradicating
her lie on her public school record, allowing her to assume a prejudice than she was on getting ahead personally. This quality is
white male identity. On Aech’s 18th birthday, she came out to not reflected in her daughter, who has proven to be selfless and
her mother as gay and admitted that she’d been dating a girl generous throughout the novel.
she met in the OASIS for a year. Marie was furious and kicked
Aech out of her house. Aech was homeless for a while, and
started competing in the OASIS arena leagues in order to earn
credits. She saved up enough to buy an RV and has remained on
the move ever since.
As Aech and Wade talk, Wade realizes that nothing in their At this late stage in the novel, readers get a glimpse of another
friendship has really changed; they are as close as ever. Landing utopia: Morrow’s mansion. Wade’s comparison of the house to
in Oregon, both of them are stunned by Morrow’s mansion. Rivendell (which is also a utopia) demonstrates that he perceives
Aech compares it to Rivendell, the beautiful Elven town in the the house as an oasis of beauty, peace, and security. Of course, there
Lord of the Rings movies. Morrow greets them warmly and tells will prove to be a great contrast between this haven and the chaos
them it’s nice to have visitors, as apart from his household help, that will come in the final struggle to secure Halliday’s egg inside the
he has been alone since Kira’s death. He tells them that OASIS.
Art3mis and Shoto have already arrived, but that Art3mis said
it would be too distracting for them all to meet before the
battle and suggested they wait until after. Wade feels both
relieved and disappointed.

Morrow leads them through the mansion’s grand entrance. As Although they have not known each other long, Morrow has quickly
they walk, Wade nervously confesses his love of Halcydonia become a kind of father figure to Wade. This is emphasized by
Interactive. Aech laughs at Wade’s enthusiasm, but Morrow Wade’s confession about Halcydonia Interactive, which is a
accepts the compliment graciously. He promises to give Aech software company that makes educational games for children.
and Wade a full tour of the mansion later, but for now he sets Morrow may not have been directly present in Wade’s childhood,
them up in state-of-the-art OASIS immersion bays. Wade and but he played an indirect role in raising and educating him.
Aech wish each other good luck before disappearing into the
bays. Morrow tells Wade: “The whole world is rooting for the
four of you. Try not to let them down.”
Before Morrow leaves, Wade asks him what happened to his Wade has spent his life idolizing Halliday, but in this passage it
friendship with Halliday. Morrow explains that Halliday had becomes clear that Halliday’s life was far from perfect, and that he
been in love with Kira since high school, but he was never brave may well have died with serious regrets. Although Halliday achieved
enough to tell her how he felt. He only confessed his feelings to much in the world of video gaming and collecting, he never
Morrow just before his death. It was painful for Halliday to confessed his true feelings to the woman he loved and he drove his
watch his best friend marry Kira, the only woman he would best friend away in the process. He may be a hero to Wade, but his
ever love. Morrow wishes Wade luck once more, and Wade life was also deeply tragic.
asks what he will do during the fight. Morrow smiles and says
that he is planning to watch, and that it looks like it will be “the
most epic battle in videogame history.” Wade steps into the bay,
dons the immersion gear, and logs in.
LEVEL THREE: 0034

Wade takes out the Leopardon robot he won in Black Tiger. He The final battle is set to be epic, but Wade is still uncertain if the
shouts its name and the robot instantly grows from 12 inches gunters have any chance of winning. He knows that he and his
to 100 meters high. Wade enters it and takes a seat in the friends are prepared to risk everything in order to beat the Sixers
captain’s chair; he also puts on a bracelet that will allow him to and save the OASIS, but it is hard to know if they can trust the other
control Leopardon from the outside. He orders the robot to gunters, or whether these avatars have just come along for the ride.
transform into the starship Marveller, and he sets off for the
Chthonia. It looks like every OASIS user is headed to Castle
Anorak at the same time, and Wade wonders how many of
them are there to fight and how many plan to just sit back and
watch. Landing on Chthonia, he is shocked by the swarms of
avatars standing there. At the entrance of the castle stand
Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto, each inside their respective robots.
As Wade swoops in, the crowds chant his avatar’s name. Shoto Sorrento is a rather typical evil villain. He is boastful, smug, and
points out that if the shield doesn’t come down it will be “pretty cares about nothing except himself and his own power. Of course,
embarrassing,” but Wade assures him that there are still six this makes it even more imperative that Wade and the gunters beat
minutes left and that it will come down. At that moment, Sorrento and prevent him from taking over the OASIS. While the
Sorrento emerges from Castle Anorak, smiling and surrounded Sixers’ position seems secure for the moment, Sorrento may pay a
by ten other Sixers. He welcomes them to the castle, his voice heavy price for underestimating his opponents.
booming through a speaker, and insists that they will not be
able to get through the shield. The gunters shout and hiss back
at him, and Wade says that he’s wrong: they’re coming in.

Sorrento puts a small item in front of him, which instantly Throughout the novel, the Sixers have dramatically outmatched the
transforms into Mechagodzilla, a robot twice the size of the gunters. However, this does not mean they are impossible to take
others that is “nearly indestructible.” The ten Sixers then down.
activate their robots in unison. Some gunters turn and flee, but
many stay and hold their ground.
The Sixers have built an armored bunker filled with weapons Wade has employed the same tactic here as he did in order to
and Supply Droids behind Castle Anorak. At 11.59am, one of download the information from the IOI database: he is taking the
the Supply Droids, SD-93, frees itself from its charging dock Sixers down from the inside. While the Sixers may put up a powerful
and transmits an equipment requisition order to two robotic show of might, their vulnerability comes from within their own
sentries at the entrance of the bunker. The sentries allow the system. IOI only has power because all of its components slavishly
droid to approach the weapons stockpile and retrieve an work together toward one goal. As soon as an individual breaks
antimatter friction-induction bomb from the inventory. The rank, they are in serious trouble.
droid then rolls up to the very top of Castle Anorak, easily
passing security checkpoints. On the roof of the castle a Sixer
wizard sits holding the artifact that generates the shield. SD-03
detonates the antimatter friction-induction bomb, vaporizing
itself and the Sixer wizard, leaving the artifact to deactivate and
drop to the floor.
LEVEL THREE: 0035

The shield dissolves and there is suddenly nothing separating As a gigantic monster that seemingly can’t be damaged or
the Sixer army from the gunters. Wade is stunned to find that destroyed, Mechagodzilla becomes a metaphor for IOI itself.
every single gunter around him rushes toward the Sixers, even However, note that it only appears as though Mechagodzilla is an
though many of them are headed straight toward “certain unbeatable opponent. In reality, there is arguably no such thing,
death.” Sorrento receives the vast majority of gunter fire, but and—as Wade’s plan of distracting the robot indicates—perhaps
his robot remains undamaged. Aech, Shoto, Art3mis, and Wade only a change of tactic is needed.
all direct their blasts at Sorrento, and Art3mis’ beam weapon
disables one of the robot’s cannons. In return, Mechagodzilla
blasts blue lightning at them. The team escapes, but Wade
points out that they probably don’t have a chance of destroying
Mechagodzilla. Wade suggests he distract the robot while the
others head for the castle; Shoto agrees but quickly takes on
the job of distracting Sorrento himself.
Aech and Art3mis abandon their robots and head for the castle. For both Shoto and Wade, the desire for revenge serves as a
Shoto attacks Mechagodzilla, slicing off its right arm, but the powerful motivating force that allows them to do serious damage to
robot retaliates by destroying Shoto’s robot in a ball of fire. the Sixers. While the Sixers have an intimidating amount of power,
Shoto’s name disappears from the Scoreboard, confirming that the passion of Shoto and Wade’s thirst for revenge is perhaps more
his avatar is dead. While Wade is distracted, Sorrento takes the powerful still.
opportunity to cut his robot in half. Luckily Wade ejects himself
from the robot just in time. He is almost crushed by
Mechagodzilla’s foot, but—in a fury of rage at
Sorrento—activates the Beta Capsule, thereby turning himself
into Ultraman.

Using white beams, Wade knocks Mechagodzilla to the ground, This passage begins on a triumphant note, with Wade killing
to the cheers of surrounding gunters. As Sorrento struggles to Sorrento. This sense of triumph continues when it turns out that
get the robot upright again, Wade slices the robot in half using Wade was right—for one reason or another, Halliday did want to
a blade of energy. Sorrento attempts to escape inside the force competitors to come together and unlock the Third Gate as a
robot’s head, but Wade blasts it, killing Sorrento’s avatar in the trio. However, this brief moment of triumph and hope disappears
process. Wade returns to normal and goes to meet Aech and immediately when, out of nowhere, Wade explains that everyone
Art3mis at the castle. They take out their keys and, after Wade dies.
declares “three is a magic number,” two additional keyholes
appear. The trio insert their keys and turn them in unison. The
field of stars opens up in front of them once again. Just as they
are about to jump in, there is a massive explosion. The chapter
ends with Wade saying: “And then we all died.”
LEVEL THREE: 0036

When a user’s avatar dies, the perspective switches to third The Sixers played dirty throughout the hunt, so it should perhaps
person and replays the moments leading up to the avatar’s come as little surprise that they would rather obliterate an entire
death. Wade watches as a white light obliterates the whole planet than see the gunters successfully reach the egg.
surface of the planet except the Third Gate, and realizes that
the Sixers detonated an artifact called the Cataclyst, thereby
killing every avatar present and destroying Castle Anorak.
Wade is expecting to see the words “Game Over” when instead When Wade landed on Archaide, he concluded that the planet was
another message appears on screen, saying: “Congratulations! a “dead end” only to realize that he could win an egg (though not the
You have an extra life!”. His avatar rematerializes inside the egg) through playing Pac-Man. The fact that this accidental detour
crater where the castle once stood. He has lost his entire has now changed the course of Halliday’s hunt—and thus of
inventory except the quarter he won by playing a perfect game history—again emphasizes that failures may turn out to be
of Pac-Man. He now realizes that the quarter gave him an extra successes in the long run. It also demonstrates that certain
life, the first time this has happened in OASIS history. Suddenly, experiences can have value even if that value is unclear at the time.
Wade hears Aech’s voice, along with that of Morrow, Shoto,
and Art3mis. They explain that the Sixers killed every avatar at
the battle, including their own army. However, there are still 20
Sixers on the Scoreboard, who must have been waiting at a safe
distance away from Chthonia.
Aech, Shoto, and Art3mis all wish Wade well. Artifacts cannot This passage demonstrates Wade’s increased maturity at this point
be destroyed by a Cataclyst blast, so Wade is able to find the in the hunt. Whereas before he had a rather self-centered view of
artifacts his friends were carrying. He tells his friends that if he life brought on by his intense isolation, by now he understands that
obtains the egg, he will split the prize money evenly between his relationships with others are what gives his life meaning.
the four of them. He explains that he will split the money
regardless, but that he would also love to have their help.

LEVEL THREE: 0037

Wade is standing in totally dark, empty space, when suddenly It should come as no surprise that one of the very last challenges in
he sees a coin-operated arcade game appear before him: the the hunt is also one of the most difficult. Whereas Wade has been
1980 game Tempest. Wade admits that it’s not his “best game,” confident about all the games he has previously had to play,
and Art3mis chastises him for not realizing that Tempest would Tempest is an exception. Furthermore, the fact that he has to beat
feature in the Third Gate, considering that a quote from Halliday’s high score is significant. As a symbolic protégé to
Shakespeare’s The Tempest appears on the last page of Anorak’s Halliday, Wade must prove that he is worthy of filling the shoes of
Almanac. There is only one name on Tempest’s high score: JDH, his idol.
the initials of James Donovan Halliday. Wade realizes with
dread that he will only have one chance to beat Halliday’s high
score.
As Wade is freaking out, Art3mis tells him not to panic. The The stakes of this part of the hunt are made dramatically clear when
game was made in 1980 and features a bug which means if a Art3mis reveals that every OASIS user is watching Wade’s
player dies with a certain score, they get free credits. Art3mis movements. This serves as a reminder that Wade’s actions in this
takes out her notes and tells Wade exactly how to exploit this moment do not only affect himself, his friends, and the Sixers.
bug. Wade follows her instructions and he is awarded 40 free Rather, they will dramatically alter the lives of every OASIS user
credits. He triumphantly declares that Art3mis is “a genius.” and, by extension, the whole of humanity.
The game continues to go well, but then Art3mis informs Wade
that a bunch of other Sixers have managed to get through the
Third Gate and are now playing Tempest too. She reveals that
every OASIS user is able to see them as well as Wade himself,
something she previously didn’t mention in order to prevent
him from becoming too nervous.
Although he is nervous, Wade’s inner competitiveness gives Wade quickly goes from being dropped into one of the most difficult
him a powerful edge. On Level 81, he hears Shoto shout: “You challenges of the hunt to breezing through the next one. Like any
did it, man!” Wade exits the game and sees a message appear individual, Wade is not good at everything; his skills work better in
that tells him to “prepare for stage 2.” Wade materializes on a some contexts than others. Unfortunately, he has to compete with
hillside with a castle in the distance, and quickly realizes he is the Sixers, who strategically distribute all the different skills and
inside the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It is expertise they need across their team while ensuring that the entire
another Flicksync, and Wade feels confident, as he has watched team is working as one.
the film 157 times and knows it by heart. Although he has to
switch to a different character in each scene, he barely makes
any mistakes. The only tricky part is not laughing at the jokes.
Aech warns Wade that three Sixers are now inside the Holy Wade’s appearance inside Halliday’s office shows that he is on the
Grail Flicksync too. Wade completes the film, and is greeted brink of taking over Halliday’s role as ruler of the OASIS. The
with the message that he has “reached the end,” followed by the arrangement of the monitors and consoles into an egg shape
words: “Ready Player 1.” He materializes inside a giant oak- demonstrates that Halliday is making no secret of the fact that the
paneled room filled with computers and videogame systems egg is hidden in this room—however, this does not necessarily mean
arranged museum-style. He realizes it is a replica of Halliday’s it will be easy to access.
office. He looks around, concluding that the computers are in
an egg shape and that the egg is surely hidden somewhere in
this room.

LEVEL THREE: 0038

Wade can no longer hear the voices of his friends; the This final stage of the hunt requires a different kind of knowledge
communication system has obviously been cut off. Wade tries about Halliday—one that could not be gained by reading
turning on some of the computers in the room, and eventually biographies or Anorak’s Almanac. Rather, Wade must thoughtfully
succeeds in powering up the same one Matthew Broderick’s consider who Halliday loved most—a difficult task considering that
character uses in WarGames. The computer asks for a login, and he never actually knew the man.
Wade remembers that the password for the supercomputer in
the movie is the name of one of the character’s sons, “the
person he’d loved most in the world.” Wade tries “Ogden” and
“Kira,” but these do not work.
After ten minutes of failures, Wade remembers a detail from The fact that Wade learns the password to Halliday’s computer
Morrow’s biography, which stated that Halliday would only through Morrow’s biography indicates that sometimes it is the
address Kira by the name of her D&D character, Leucosia. people around us who know us better than ourselves. Even the most
Wade types in “Leucosia” and every system in the room isolated people are not islands, and the key to understanding them
suddenly turns on at once. Wade retrieves a cartridge for the is often found in those who love them.
videogame Adventure and inserts it into the corresponding
computer. In the game, he rushes straight to “the Secret Room,”
in which he finds an egg. “The egg.” Wade picks up the egg, and
immediately finds himself into a crystal portal leading back to
Castle Anorak.
Wade walks up to Anorak’s study. He looks out the window and Halliday’s transformation out of Anorak’s robes and into his normal
sees that the Cataclyst’s devastation has been erased, and all of outfit is symbolic, particularly given that it occurs at the same
Chthonia has been restored. Inside the study, he finds a gold moment as Wade accrues a mass of new wealth and powers.
chalice and places the egg inside it. A fanfare of trumpets plays, Halliday is ritually transferring everything he possesses to Wade,
and Wade suddenly sees Anorak in front of him, congratulating entrusting him with his fortune, abilities, and responsibilities as ruler
him on winning the game. The two shake hands, and lightning of the OASIS.
erupts all around them. Anorak transforms out of his wizard
robes and into an ordinary-looking version of Halliday. Wade,
meanwhile, has suddenly acquired a seemingly infinite list of
special skills, powers, and magical items. He is now at level
infinite, and his credit readout shows he is a multibillionaire.
Halliday tells Wade that his avatar is immortal and all-powerful, The fact that the red button exists suggests that, as much as
and that he is in charge of the OASIS. He asks that Wade use Halliday loved the OASIS, he suspected that it might not always be
his “powers only for good.” Castle Anorak also belongs to Wade, a force for good in the world. It is possible that a twist of fate could
along with a red button that will delete the entirety of the turn the OASIS into a negative, destructive thing, in which case it
OASIS forever. Before leaving, Halliday tells Wade that as would be better that the simulation didn’t exist at all.
“terrifying and painful” as the real world is, it is the only place
where it is possible to be truly happy. He advises him not to
hide inside the OASIS forever. Finally, Halliday wishes Wade
luck and thanks him for playing his game. He then disappears.

After Halliday leaves, Wade is able to talk to his friends again. The book concludes with a happy ending. The underdog triumphs
They congratulate him, and Wade thanks them for their help. over the evil corporate overlords, and—in a larger sense—good
Aech tells Wade to check the Scoreboard, which now reads: triumphs over evil. The fact that Wade kills the remaining Sixers
“Parzival Wins!” Aech says that after the Scoreboard showed quickly indicates that he takes no pleasure in seeking revenge on
Wade’s win, the remaining Sixers’ vidfeeds disappeared. Wade them. He is simply carrying out his duty as the new ruler of the
realizes he can now instantly teleport anywhere in the OASIS OASIS.
for free, and transports himself to the entrance to Castle
Anorak. The remaining Sixers are standing there, having been
ejected from the final stage of the hunt. Wade kills them all.
Wade then resurrects the avatars of Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto. The conclusion continues on a triumphant note, with the
Aech and Shoto eagerly log back into the OASIS, but Aech implication that justice will be served to Sorrento and IOI. It is true
notes that Art3mis wanted to get some fresh air first and said that IOI remain wealthy and powerful, and nothing is guaranteed.
she’d be outside waiting for Wade. Before Wade logs out, Aech However, as Aech points out, the gunters no longer have to fight
shows him news clips of Sorrento being arrested by federal from a massive disadvantage. They will be able to use the OASIS’
authorities on the charge of murder. The news channels have vast resources in order to do good in the world.
been playing clips of Aunt Alice’s trailer being blown up all day.
Wade sighs, pointing out that IOI will hire “the best lawyers in
the world.” Aech points out that Wade can now afford to do the
same.
LEVEL THREE: 0039

Wade exits the immersion bay and finds Morrow waiting for It is significant that the book ends not inside the OASIS, but with
him. Morrow congratulates him, hugging him tightly. He Wade going outside, into the fresh air. This symbolizes his
explains that GSS’s lawyers are waiting to talk to him whenever willingness to embrace the scary and painful aspects of the real
he is ready. Morrow points Wade in the direction of Art3mis, world. Of course, such a gesture is necessary to building a real
telling him that she inside a labyrinth but that it would be easy relationship with Art3mis/Samantha. The fact that she is willing to
for him to find his way through. Wade quickly realizes that the tell him her real name indicates that she, too, is confronting the
labyrinth is based on the one in Adventure, and soon after finds vulnerability that comes with embracing reality.
Art3mis, sitting on a stone bench. Wade sits next to her, and
tells her that she looks just like he always imagined: “Beautiful.”
Art3mis introduces herself with her real name, Samantha, and
Wade does the same.
Art3mis asks what they’re going to do now, and Wade says they Having won the hunt, Wade has little interest in personal glory. He
are going to solve world hunger and “make the world a better wants to share the prize money equally among his friends, use it to
place.” He tells her that he is in love with her again, and she help others, and work as a team with Art3mis. This demonstrates
apologizes for disappearing after he first confessed to her. how much Wade has grown over the course of the novel, proving
Wade tells her that they can take everything very slowly, and that he truly is “worthy” of inheriting Halliday’s fortune and ruling
she assures him that she wants to be with him, because he is the OASIS.
her “best friend” and “favorite person.” She kisses him, and for
the first time he can remember, Wade does not want to be
inside the OASIS.

HOW T
TO
O CITE
To cite this LitChart:
MLA
Seresin, Indiana. "Ready Player One." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 30
Apr 2018. Web. 30 Apr 2018.
CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Seresin, Indiana. "Ready Player One." LitCharts LLC, April 30, 2018.
Retrieved April 30, 2018. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/ready-
player-one.
To cite any of the quotes from Ready Player One covered in the
Quotes section of this LitChart:
MLA
Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. Random House. 2011.
CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. New York: Random House. 2011.

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Ready Player One

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Level One: 0002 Quotes

Explanation and Analysis Page Number: 27

Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival (speaker)

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creating something that is (at least largely) good rather than

Level One: 0005 Quotes Related Symbols:

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Level One: 0012 Quotes Level One: 0016 Quotes

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Related Characters: Wade Watts / Parzival , Art3mis Related Symbols:

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Explanation and Analysis

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Level Three: 0033 Quotes

Level Three: 0029 Quotes Related Themes:

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Level Three: 0035 Quotes

Level Three: 0037 Quotes Page Number: 364

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SUMMARY AND ANAL

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LEVEL ONE: 0002

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LEVEL ONE: 0004

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LEVEL ONE: 0005

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LEVEL ONE: 0006

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LEVEL ONE: 0007

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LEVEL ONE: 0008

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LEVEL ONE: 0009

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LEVEL ONE: 0010

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LEVEL ONE: 0011

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LEVEL ONE: 0012

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LEVEL ONE: 0013