the 39 clues posting

[operation-cahill]

hello! this is a sub blog of @befuddledinfiltrator :)

the 39 clues is my special interest, so while my main account is for more personal 39 clues stuff and fanfic things, this is for t39c lore and analysis!

(i'll be editing this post to add a tag guide)

[operation-cahill]

A Niche Analysis of the Recruitment of Vesper Three Using Rapid Fire: Hunted

Hunted follows various moments in the Clue Hunt that weren't covered by the main series, alternating between the POVs of the Watcher and the ones being watched. Essentially, the unnamed Vesper is trying to decide which of the Clue Hunters should be reached out to and groomed into becoming Vespers (specifying someone from the younger generation since they're easier to mold).  

The Starlings

The first section covers Ned, Ted, and Sinead's actions leading up to their confrontation with Amy and Dan in the Franklin Institute in The Maze of Bones. It's from Ted's point of view, but when the watcher cuts in, she says this: 

"This was the first real test they'd faced in the Clue hunt, and Ted had done especially well. Of the three Starlings, he was definitely the most promising." 

However, the Watcher also notes that they would either have to recruit all of the Starlings, which would be dangerous, or remove two of them from the picture. More on this later. 

Obviously, they don't stick with Ted. My assumption is that they were vying for Ted, but of course, the Franklin Institute blew, and both Ned and Ted became disabled. This was probably why the Vespers decided not to go with either of them, even though blind Ted, Deaf Ned, and emotionally unstable Sinead could wreck their whole shit no matter what. Due to the severity of their injuries, Sinead probably also recovered before her brothers, which gave the Vespers plenty of time to reach out to her when she was in such a dark and lonely place. 

The Others 

Jonah's section takes place soon after his stint in Egypt in Beyond the Grave. He looks for a Clue in Venezuela, scales a building, and thinks about making his mom happy. The Watcher is very impressed. That's basically it. 

Hamilton's section is in the Arctic, and it's not very sure when it takes place (besides sometimes during the Hunt). He refuses to help his family attack random people, is called a traitor by his dad, and gets attacked by a polar bear because he was lured away from the other Holts by probably a Vesper. The Watcher figures he'd be really easy to manipulate away from his family. That's basically it. 

I'll get more into this later, but I'm assuming they were dropped as likely Vespers because of the level of empathy they showed before anyone else. Speaking of. 

Ian Kabra 

His section takes place "a little over a month" into the Clue Hunt, aka, near the very end. He's snuck away from home and caught a flight to Angkor Watt (where he would later meet Cara for the second time in Unstoppable!) after being chewed out by his mother over some nonspecific failure.

"His mother’s shouts still rang in Ian’s ears. Worthless. Pathetic. Useless. No good. The day before, his mother, Isabel Kabra, had spent nearly an hour berating Ian and his sister, Natalie, for their performance during the Clue hunt. It had been over a month since Grace Cahill’s death had set the hunt in motion, and from the way Mum talked, Ian and Natalie were the worst Clue hunters in Cahill history. It had been bad enough to bear in the daytime, but after Ian went to bed that night, all he heard were those words echoing through his mind. And that was when Ian had sneaked out of his room and hopped on a plane to Cambodia. It was a true sign of his desperation that he’d accepted a business-class seat, the only one left, for the long flight across Asia."

Based on the timing, my assumption is, though the actual words are generally referring to all of their actions and failures throughout the Clue Hunt, this outburst was triggered by Ian's failure to get the Janus serum on Mt. Everest. This timing would also make sense because it would be right before he started having serious doubts about his family. I'm for sure going to use this section to analyze Ian's childhood, but I'll do that later. 

Essentially, Ian gets attacked by Vespers pretending to be Madrigals, and he straight up holds one of them hostage and threatens to kill them so he can escape. Normal things for a 14-year-old that definitely aren't psychologically damaging. The Watcher is very, very pleased, and figures that he would be the best Vesper out of them all. 

The Vesper

Obviously, Ian Kabra doesn't become a Vesper. This is probably because of his betrayal of his mother and his joining the side of the Cahills, which is even more interesting given that his mother is revealed to be a Vesper (TRUST ME, I'm going to get into that), though that's not mentioned in the short story. So it's the same situation: as with Jonah and Hamilton, Ian becomes "too soft" for the Vespers. 

And they pick Sinead Starling instead. Based on the evidence, they likely recruited her after the Clue Hunt, but I wouldn't be surprised if they reached out to talk to her while she was in the hospital (which I'm planning on writing a fic about (the grind never stops)). 

My personal headcanon: The Vespers are most keen on trying to recruit the Starlings or Ian Kabra, partially because of their sheer intelligence and ruthlessness, but also, in Ian's case, because of their familial ties to the Vespers that they weren't aware of. Ian's mom is a Vesper, and judging by her last name, she's descended from the original (TRUST, I'm going to get into this). But the Vespers are also looking for vulnerability. Jonah, Hamilton, and Ian were busy with the Clue Hunt, but the Starling triplets were locked in a hospital room, and then their house, injured and angry. The Vespers wrote off Ned and Ted because of their disabilities, but Sinead was the least physically affected, and she was very, very angry. The Vespers started to reach out to her, not saying who they were. This was when the grooming process began, and luckily for them, her return to the Clue Hunt didn't go very well for her. Doubly lucky for them, they had cemented these ties before all of their other possibilities proved to be too weak. So, they doubled down on recruiting Sinead. And they didn't have to worry about her connection with her brothers getting between them and their plans anymore. All they had to do was tell her, "if you help us, you can help your brothers," and she was in hook, line, and sinker. So, she started on her first job as a Vesper: befriending and spying on Amy Cahill. 

AKA, my poor girl was groomed after a traumatic event, didn't see anything wrong with it because she was basically already a child soldier, betrayed her newfound friends to try to help the people she loved, failed, and lost almost everyone in her life because evil adults wanted to take advantage of her fear, anger, and inexperience. 

[operation-cahill]

"When Ian and Natalie returned to London after the Clue hunt, they assumed they'd have to live as fugitives. Their mother was in police custody, but they'd still have to answer to their father and the rest of the Lucian branch. No one would understand what had happened on the island. After five hundred years of Lucian scheming, plotting, and sacrifice, Ian and Natalie had let the final Clue slip through their fingers.

However, hours after Isabel was arrested, Vikram Kabra chartered a plane to Brazil to avoid questioning. The top Lucians in London also went into hiding before the police could associate them with Isabel's crimes.

With Isabel in prison and Vikram in hiding, there was no one to run the family's multimillion-pound art dealership. Ian stepped in and began meeting with high-profile clients around the world. Despite his young age, they were struck by his charm, and Ian soon discovered his speciality - convincing very rich old ladies to buy extremely ugly paintings that no one else wanted.

He's currently trying to get Jonah Wizard to take him on a tour of the Janus stronghold in Venice. He's not interested in stealing any Clues, but he's eager to visit the secret art gallery - there could be a Picasso small enough to hide in his jacket."

The Black Book of Buried Secrets, page 67

[thecahillcollector]

Card #6: Secret: Thomas Jefferson

Mr Lewis,

New plans for innovations to Monticello, based on a most illuminating trip to Paris.

Th Jefferson

[thecahillcollector]

Card RR: Author Agent: Rick Riordan

Special, rare, physical author agent card from Scholastic featuring The Maze of Bones author, Rick Riordan.

[thecahillcollector]

Card #1: Secret: Surveillance Camera

Break the Letter Code? 20-1-7! 25-15-21 1-18-5 9-20. 20-8-9-19 9-19 1 19-21-18-22-5-9-12-12-1-14-3-5 2-21-7. 20-15 13-15-14-9-20-15-18 15-20-8-5-18 3-18-9--12-12-19, pass the bug on.

[operation-cahill]

(Nabbed from Pinterest, please let me know if you know where it comes from).

An in-universe tabloid cover from Unstoppable.

Left pillar, up to down: Atticus Rosenbloom, Jake Rosenbloom, Pony. Center, left to right: Dan Cahill, Amy Cahill. Right pillar, up to down: Ian Kabra, Hamilton Holt, Jonah Wizard

[fierydragon18]

The 39 Clues: Unstoppable: Breakaway by Jeff Hirsch

Page 12

[operation-cahill]

Thank you to @fierydragon18 for letting me know that this comes from Unstoppable: Breakaway page 12!

An in-universe tabloid cover from Unstoppable.

Left pillar, up to down: Atticus Rosenbloom, Jake Rosenbloom, Pony. Center, left to right: Dan Cahill, Amy Cahill. Right pillar, up to down: Ian Kabra, Hamilton Holt, Jonah Wizard

[operation-cahill]

Who is Sophie Watson?

Two pages. There are only two pages where Sophie Watson is mentioned in the entire 39 Clues franchise (including the online games), and yet she's fairly well known - she has her own card and two fanfictions where she's featured.

Below the cut will be: a summarized character description, the fanfiction list, the Madrigal transcript from The Black Book of Buried Secrets, and an image of Card 151.

WHO IS SOPHIE WATSON? - Lived in London, England (likely born there) - Janus agent, born to two high ranking Janus - Enjoys (experimental) fashion and dance (which leads Natalie to make fun of her) - Speaking of Natalie, she was sent to the Flyte School (unsure if that's the correct name) in London to spy on Natalie Kabra

WHERE IS SOPHIE WATSON? - "Of Blood and Birthright" by hptriviachamp on Ao3 (also posted on fanfiction.net), where Sophie is a side character - "cross my heart and hope to spy" by izzietaylor on Ao3, where Sophie is the main character, and there's a slight romance with Natalie.

WHAT IS SOPHIE WATSON DOING?

---START--- [sound of a bell ringing followed by locker doors slamming] SOPHIE: Hey. You came back. NATALIE: [overly cheery] Oh, yes. We were yachting in the Caribbean. It was so lovely. [pause] SOPHIE: I know what happened to your mother...I'm sorry. NATALIE: [startled] What? Are you talking about the-I mean, how would you know about any of that? SOPHIE: If you had spent less time applying lip gloss, you might have noticed that I've been spying on you for the Janus. NATALIE: You're a Cahill? I suppose I should have known. Only a Janus would wear such ridiculous outfits. [pause] So...everyone knows, then? What happened in Ireland? SOPHIE: Sort of. I think. Cora sent a strange e-mail around. I heard my parents talking about it. Everyone's furious at Jonah. They feel like five hundred years of worth all went to waste. NATALIE: [softly] The Lucians aren't that, um, happy either. SOPHIE: I think you did the right thing. NATALIE: Thanks. [pause] This is the first time I've chosen a back-to-school outfit without my mum. I suppose I have to get used to it. SOPHIE: Picking your own clothes? NATALIE: Making my own decisions. [rest of conversation obscured by bell and hallway noise]. ---END--- -The Black Book of Buried Secrets, page 74

WHAT DOES SOPHIE WATSON LOOK LIKE?

Card 151 - Agent: Sophie Watson. "Everyone at school knows that Sophie Watson and Natalie Kabra are enemies, but they assume it's because Natalie likes to wear fur to Sophie's animal rights club meetings. No one realizes that Sophie and Natalie belong to rival branches of the Cahill Family. Natalie is pretty mean to Sophie at school. However, she has no idea that Sophie's been spying on her and passing information to the Janus. Her behavior may not exactly fit with the school's honor code, but Sophie's willing to bend the rules when ultimate power is at stake. She's not looking for the Clues herself, but she knows she wouldn't want to live in a world where Natalie Kabra—or her even scarier mother is in charge." Found in Card Pack 3.

[operation-cahill]

Perhaps headcanons, fun facts, theories; idk what the difference is between lore and personal posting ngl

there's definitely going to be a little bit of overlap, i'm still figuring it out. tysm!!!