What is Amy and Dan’s Branch?–The 39 Clues

In three days, Amy and Dan’s branch will be revealed. This is probably the most discussed topic among clue hunters, as it would open up a world of information.

For example, let’s just say Amy and Dan are Madrigals (no, I’m not saying that; yet). That would explain everything about the Madrigals. That they’re really good; protect the clues. We would know who Nellie is, why the Man In Black and Mr. McIntyre are spying on them, we would know their talents, and basically, all the secrets that we want to know would be revealed. For example; why did the other family members burn down Hope and Arthur’s house? Because they were Madrigals.

Don’t worry there would still be a lot of secrets (such as what will happen with the hunt), but we would have a base understanding.

Over the last few months, I’ve been doing a lot of research on this topic, and have spread my theories around. So, here is my last, current, and official prediction. I hope you don’t mind all the details:

Are they Lucian?

Possible; but very unlikely.

The only reason that I think this is at least a possibility is because of card #115 Luke Cahill. In the top secret portion, there is a piece of paper titled Lucian Vault Inventory. It has Napoleon’s sword, Luke Cahill’s dagger, Czar Nicholas’s poison ring, and a shocking item: Hope Cahill’s day planner.

While it’s possible that she’s not a Lucian even though that item is there, it seems unlikely.

That raises the question though, of why Isabel (a Lucian) Kabra would burn down their house and thus kill them.

This can be explained by the fact that they were hiding information from the Lucian’s. It is well known that Hope and Arthur went back into the house to search for something (a poem; which I’ll talk about a bit later). Alistair also said “We are here to take what is rightfully ours.” That doesn’t make much sense, though, as it wouldn’t be all of theirs unless they promised the clues to everybody; which seems unlikely.

However, there are a few different cards giving the perception that Hope is a Lucian. For example, Grace says about cracking a code something like “Lucian’s complete it especially easily.” In another card, there is an icon on Hope’s computer with the title “Lucian Secret Codes.” It’s possible that she impersonated a Lucian, though, but Isabel realized that she really wasn’t. It just doesn’t seem to add up that she is a Lucian to me.

Also, on a card, there is a code that say’s “James Cahill is not a Lucian.” James is Grace’s father, which lowers the likelihood of Amy and Dan being Lucian’s.

Another thing that could be possible is that Arthur was a Lucian and Hope was of a different branch. It doesn’t really make sense to me that people of opposite branches would marry each other, but this is The 39 Clues.

So, with the exception of something very strange, it looks like Hope and Arthur weren’t Lucian’s, which probably means that Amy and Dan aren’t Lucian’s, either.

Tomas?

A lot has been said that Amy is an Ekaterina and Dan is a Tomas for the reason that in the Hunt Begins video, when you pause it, it shows their names next to those branches. See for yourself:

Note: This video has since been removed by the user.

It actually looks to me like they’re motioning towards the middle instead of to the sides, but even if they are to the sides; I don’t think it means much.

It was a promotional video, so they obviously are going to want to get the main characters names there, along with the insignias of the branches. It was going so fast that it’s almost impossible to see if you’re not looking for it, and I think it was just a coincidence. If anything, I think it’s saying that they’re not in any of the four main branches.

The notion that Amy is a Tomas is obviously laughable for anyone who has been paying any attention to the series, but it is possible for Dan.

Although Dan is not a brute, he is highly interested in ninjas and in book six, it was revealed by Sheppard Cahill (a cousin of Arthur) that Arthur was a daredevil; definitely sounds like a Tomas.

One thing against it is the in one card; there is a letter from the Tomas leadership saying that their try to capture Dan, as well as the Holts have on numerous occasions tried to kill him. They might think that Dan wouldn’t want to join them, but I doubt they would risk losing what would be a very valuable branch member.

So, again it is possible, but unlikely.

Introducing: The Janus

The Janus branch is made up of all the great artists of the last five centuries, ranging from flying ace’s to even Michael Phelps’s.

I haven’t seen anyone believe they are Janus; and for good reason. Dan put it best back in book two when Amy thought they might be Janus. “Face it Amy; you’re terrible at the piano, and I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler.” There is absolutely nothing pointing to the belief that they’re Janus, so I therefore don’t think they are.

Okay; so they’re Ekaterina?

So, after eliminating the unlikely choices, we now go to the two that I consider most likely.

First, the Ekaterina is a strong possibility.

For one, Alistair is a cousin of Grace, as Alistair’s father (Gordon Oh) was the brother to Grace’s father (James Cahill). This was back in the 1800’s, which could lead you to believe for sure that Grace is an Ekat. However, I don’t think it’s so set in stone because just being closely related doesn’t mean you’re in the same branch.

As an example, take the original Cahill’s (Luke, Katherine, Jane, Tomas and Madeline (I’ll get to her later)). Although they were all siblings, they were certainly of very different branches.

At the book two webcast, Gordon was asked whether brothers and sisters could be of different branches. I could tell that he was hiding something when he responded in an answer like: “Well, my son and I are of the different branches, so anything’s possible.” That hint will come into play greatly later in this post.

So, although Gordon and James being brothers is a clue, it isn’t for certain.

Another thing is that everything of Grace’s always seems to be decorated with dragons (the Ekaterina symbol). For example; Grace’s rugs, necklace, etc.

Also, Amy and Dan were surprisingly welcome in the Ekaterina stronghold, even by the ruthless Bae Oh. Perhaps Bae only wanted to get the information of where Alistair was, and that is why he was acting so kind, but I don’t think so based on Bae and the Man In Black meeting; somehow the Madrigal saying “There are too many things out of our control.” Because the Man In Black is Fiske (Grace’s brother; which I won’t get into here), it might make sense that he and Bae are talking if they are Ekaterina.

However, it does deter me a little that when it talks about Anne Cahill, the Ekaterina leadership was not happy when Anne choose Grace to fly the clue into its proper place. They said something like, “Despite our orders, Anne choose Grace to fly the plane. As usual, she made things as difficult as possible, and crash landed the plane.”

I remember someone saying that Grace choose not to owe her allegiance to any one branch, so that may be why the Ekaterina leadership were so upset with her.

So, it seems very likely to me that they’re Ekat.

Madrigals?

This has been one of the top choices for me for quite some time. I’ve devoted far more time to researching the Madrigal’s than any other branch, so here is everything that I’ve found:

First, the Madrigal’s were founded by a woman named Madeline. Madeline was another child of Olivia (Gideon (the original Cahill) wife). I know this because of the codes “Remember Madeline,” “Olivia had another,” and “Protect the secret of Madeline.”

This leads to a belief that Madeline found the 39 clues, and is the most powerful person on the planet.

That would make a lot of sense, as the Madrigals are obviously a very strong clan, and have so far prevented anyone else from getting all of the clues. Even if it’s through a letter like this: “Stop your trivial rivalry with Edison and give up your search. If you don’t, you will gain a real enemy. You have a talent for finding clues. We have a talent for making Cahill’s disappear.”

It’s possible that Madeline is still around today, and is actually not evil. Although they will not hesitate to kill, I think they know what will happen if this power goes into the wrong hands.

I believe that Madeline probably found the clues, but then divided them evenly around the branches, because she knew that nothing would ever get done if they were all fighting over the clues, and probably didn’t trust herself to be so powerful.

The reason why the Madrigal’s are searching for the clues now is because they are power hungry, and want the clues.

I do have a very strong suspicion that Amy and Dan are Madrigals.

One reason is because Grace’s middle name just happens to be Madeline; right.

The second is because it seems to me that Fiske is a Madrigal first; Ekaterina second. The reason for this is that I highly doubt that Mr. McIntyre (who is spying on everyone) would not know if his partner is really working for someone else. Fiske is probably just trying to get information for the Madrigals from arguably the most dangerous branch.

It all would fit with the book seven promo; which says that Dan and Amy find a secret “so devastating it changes everything: The secret of their family branch.” Still, I think that this possibility is only half true.

Note: I don’t think that they are Cahill because I think the Madrigal’s are the pure Cahill’s, as it seems likely that Madeline might’ve been born with a different father than Gideon, and since the pure Cahill’s would definitely know the clues, I doubt there are two groups who found them.

My Predication:

Okay, well; it’s now times for my prediction of Amy and Dan’s branch. Before I do; a little information:

First, I’m not sure that two can people can share the power, considering that it’s based on size. While I guess you could make it twice, it seems kind of unlikely to me that it would work twice.

Second, everyone is always saying “Trust No One.” Amy and Dan have taken it as their motto. I think that unless it’s intended for the purpose that I think it is, the amount of times that it has been used is way oversaturated.

I think that you can tell where I’m going with this: Amy and Dan are of different branches.

I think that’s where the clues above lead, and it would definitely be devastating enough.

I think that the most likely choice is that Amy is a Madrigal and Dan is a Ekaterina. This is the way they strike me in; with Dan being smart and inventive; experimenting. Amy even called him a “natural Madame Curie,” who happens to be an Ekaterina.

In book six, Amy definitely proves she has Madrigal ability by tracking for trails; even though I’m pretty sure she’s never been taught that.

This is my official predication. Tell me what you think in the comments section below.

Tagged as: 39 Clues, Amy, Amy and Dan, Amy and Dan Cahill, amy and dan's branch, Amy Cahill, branch, Branches, Cahill, Dan, Dan Cahill, ekaterina, janus, Lucian, Madrigal, Scholastic, The 39 Clues, tomas, what is amy and dan's branch?