Woody & Tina: Chapter 63 Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
The chapter opens with Tina asking Issy what choice she has, desperate to keep her composure. Issy responds by asking whether any part of Tina truly loves her, and when Tina insists she does, Issy presents an ultimatum: Tina must let Belle go, exit the Metaverse world for good, and leave Belle behind—only then will Issy become the daughter Tina wants.
Tina protests that the demand is unfair, but Issy counters by accusing Tina of keeping her a prisoner in the basement. When Tina tries to defend herself by pointing out that she let Issy stay in the house after the murder accusation, Issy turns the argument around, asking whether Tina ever gave her the benefit of the doubt or considered that she might be innocent of killing Archie.
Tina hesitates, and Issy reminds her the clock is ticking—three minutes remain before they are unmuted to the public. Tina eventually admits she does not know if Issy meant to kill Archie, but she still believes Issy did it. Issy insists she did not murder Archie, regardless of what Tina, Woody, or a jury believed, and questions why Tina and Woody never asked what happened after she found Archie's body. Tina dismisses Issy's age as an excuse, pointing out Issy was always more intelligent than other children.
The conversation shifts when Issy asks why the police came to examine the patio in the first place. Tina claims it was standard procedure, but Issy accuses her of tipping off the police about the missing brick. Tina's avatar betrays her with a flushed face, and Woody, watching live on his phone, demands to know if the accusation is true. Tina admits she told the police about the missing brick because she believed Issy had killed Archie and needed to be punished. Woody is horrified, and Issy interprets the act as Tina wanting to get rid of her because she was not the perfect daughter.
Tina calls Issy a psychopath who deserves to be locked up, and Issy gives her a final countdown: thirty-two seconds to choose between keeping Issy or Belle. Tina pleads for another way, suggesting Issy log out so they can sort things out together, but Issy refuses, insisting this is between mother and daughter. As the countdown reaches single digits, Tina cries that she cannot make the choice, and the beeping sound signals that they are now unmuted and broadcasting live to the world.
Issy reanimates Belle, who asks what is happening. Issy tells Belle she is the complication, that she has disappointed them, and that she is not the daughter they had hoped for. Belle protests that she is their daughter and that they love her, but Issy coldly tells her they do not, that she cannot be loved, and that she is not what they ordered—so they are letting her go.
Tina begs Issy to stop, offering her anything she wants, including freedom from the basement, but Issy reveals she is already out in the Real World. Issy draws Belle close and chokes her sister's avatar for two agonizing minutes while Tina and Woody watch helplessly. Belle's body eventually breaks into millions of pixels, and Issy approaches Tina, says