With a splintered family at the helm of The 39 Clues, heavy drama is easily found.
WARNING: Spoilers are unmarked.
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Series 1
6 - In Too Deep
- At the end, Amy tearfully reveals to Dan her interaction with Isabel on the night their parents died. When she looked for her parents, Isabel asked what the prints were on her pajamas. She told her that they were koalas, and sadly believed that because she told Isabel that, the latter knew about the parents' search for the Clue in Australia. She thinks that it's her fault that their mom and dad died in the house fire."Maybe somebody set the fire so they could watch what happened. Maybe things went wrong. But the fire wouldn't have happened if I hadn't told them that Mom and Dad were in Australia! If I hadn't been such a... know-it-all!"
9 - Storm Warning
- Amy and Natalie's brief conversation about mothers in book 9, Storm Warning. Given that Amy's mom has been dead for seven years and Natalie's mom is the Big Bad of the series who is responsible for Amy's mother's death, and psychologically abuses her children to boot, this makes for a scene that tugs at the heartstrings...especially when you see how loyal Natalie is to her mother, despite (or because of) the abuse. And how caring and big-sisterly Amy behaves towards Natalie for a moment...
10 Into the Gauntlet
- Ian and Natalie gradually realize just how evil their mother is (early on, Ian feels horrified at the thought of his little sister learning about the specifics) and how expendable they are to her (she even shoots Natalie in the leg). It's great for their Character Development but still somewhat painful.
- Alistair Oh reflects on how he's wasted his life hunting the clues and would give it all up just to have someone honestly say they loved him or if he could undo some of the deaths and injuries of his relatives.
Series 2
3 - The Dead of Night
- Ian has a conversation with his mother, who tells him that she doesn't want anything to him or his kidnapped sister, and also rubs in his face the fact that most of the people at the Cahill Command Center barely put up with him. He thinks to himself: "For that to be the price of a family's happiness? Unimaginable. In fact, he couldn't imagine a happy family at all.".
5 - Trust No One
- Alistair's death, especially his Obi-Wan Moment conveyed in his last words:"Brave... Amy... Dan... all of you..."
6 - Day of Doom
- As if there hadn't already been enough depressing things up to this point, there is Evan and Natalie's] deaths, Ian crying over the body of his [[spoiler:little sister, and then Isabel's reaction to Natalie's death — as well as the scene where Amy is in some perceived afterlife and sees the spirits of Isabel and Natalie walking together, holding hands, happy. It's a cavalcade of misery, remembering so much loss that came with the Vespers' eventual defeat.
Series 5 - Outbreak
- When Dan is holding Saladin's carrier over moving water, attempting to stop Agent Pratt's and Agent Gimler's attempts to steal Dan's cat. The entire scene will make you cry, because at this time, the audience doesn't know that Saladin already snuck out of his cage. They still believe that Dan is hesitantly willing to end his pet's life, all for the sake of preventing another virus outbreak.Agent Gimler: [The snipers are] standing down. Just don't do anything crazy.
Dan: CRAZY? YOU MANUFACTURE A DEADLY DISEASE, LET A TEENAGER STEAL IT, LEAVE OTHER TEENAGERS TO STOP IT FROM DESTROYING THE WORLD, AND THEN, WHEN THE ONLY REMAINING SAMPLE OF THE VIRUS IS IN THEIR PET CAT, YOU THREATEN TO CATNAP HIM TO MAKE MORE OF THE VIRUS?! THAT'S CRAZY. WHAT I'M DOING NOW, IT'S THE ONLY SANE THING LEFT!
Amy: Dan? What are you doing now?
Dan: Saladin's the only way they can make more of this disease. We can't let them. It nearly killed Ian, and Ham, and Jonah, and Cara. It could've killed me, too. All of us. It can't be allowed to exist. I won't let it! I won't!
Dan's cheeks flushed red, and his lip quivered. He was fighting back tears.
He hefted the crate closer to the edge.
Dan: (To Amy) I'm sorry. (To Saladin's empty cat carrier) I'm so sorry.
His voice cracked. He couldn't fight back the tears any longer, and he wept, hot tears pouring down his cheeks, snot bursting from his nose with heaving, anguished gasping breaths, and then, with a cry of rage and pain that could have made the statues on the great cathedral of Havana weep, he hurled Saladin's crate into the crashing waves below.
