Theodore Starling is an Ekaterina and one of the Starling Triplets. He has a sister, Sinead Starling, and a brother, Ned Starling. Together they made up one team (Team 4) of the race for the 39 Clues. He, like his triplet siblings, has auburn hair and freckles, he was also described to be pale. Ted wears preppy clothes: khakis, button-downs, and loafers. According to Dan, the three of them look like "part of a cloned Ivy League lacrosse team." He has a seeing eye dog named Flamsteed that is the most popular dorm resident after Ted's sister, Sinead, trained him to announce the dinner menu. Flamsteed has a supercharged sense of smell and is likely named after John Flamsteed, a famous Ekat. Ted is also completely blind after the explosion at the Franklin Institute. His brother Ned is disabled mentally by frequently occuring migraines while Sinead is perfectly fine. She came off with just a few scratches and burns, much less than what her brothers suffered. They prepared their whole lives for this.
The short story Rapid Fire 2: Ignition states he is 16 at the time of Grace's funeral.
Ekaterina Symbol
Appearances[]
The Maze of Bones[]
The Starlings are first seen at Grace's funeral when William McIntyre is giving the first Clues to the teams. The Starlings become Team 4, sending $3 million up in flames.
Ted, along with his siblings, was caught in an explosion by the Holt family (intended for Amy and Dan) at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Hospitalized, the Starlings were in "bad shape." When they recovered, they were grounded by their parents.
Into the Gauntlet[]
He and his siblings made a comeback in 'Into The Gauntlet' but Ned and Ted had suffered serious injuries, Ted's eyesight was diminished, and Ned had great migraines frequently, interrupting his ability to think clearly. They appear at the Globe and start fighting with the other clue hunters.
The Medusa Plot[]
Ted as a hostage to the Vespers
In Tel Aviv, Israel at 3:42 P.M. in the Israel Standard Time Zone, Ted was in an elevator in a hospital hoping to cure his condition with his brother. Suddenly, the elevator dropped to the bottom level where some Vespers burst in and kidnaped him after he tripped on a rock, along with Alistair Oh. Fortunately, his brother, Ned escapes and calls William McIntyre. At that same moment, other Cahills in different time zones were kidnapped, the only ones who also managed to escape were Dan and Amy.
A King's Ransom[]
The Agents Kidnapped by The Vespers break a bowl so now they have a weapon. Although the shard never truly comes into play ever, he was the one who stepped on the shard and conceded it.
The Dead of Night[]
Ted manages to hear and locate the Vespers above the cell, due to his enhanced hearing abilities. He also gauges the distance of Phoenix Wizard's fall and almost decapitates himself.
Shatterproof[]
Ted participates in the escape and like the rest of them (except for Phoenix) he is recaptured, though it is mentioned that he is the only hostage uninjured. This is probably because his sister, Sinead Starling, is Vesper Three. Though when the guard is giving them water he throws Ted's rather viciously, and when he catches it the guard calls him a freak.
Trust No One[]
Ted has a chapter told from his 2nd-person perspective about Alistair Oh's death, saying how the sounds were just as horrible as the sight.
He deciphers Martin old's voice to potentially be Riley McGrath, who later comes into play discovering Sinead's identity as Vesper Three.
Day of Doom[]
While they are being transported away, Ted counts the number of seconds they take to reach to their unknown destination. He then realizes they must be in the Rockies in Colorado because of the number of seconds they took to get there.
He attacks the nearing Vespers in the room where the Machina Fini Mundi is located throwing blind punches, surprisingly striking a guard before being subdued. He is seen talking with Sinead and Ned after the Machina Fini Mundi is destroyed. He is never seen reacting to Natalie's death, although one can be sure it took a toll on his morale since they had warmed up to one another in previous books.
Mission Titanic[]
He makes a brief appearance along with Sinead in their house and spoke with Nellie and Sammy. It seems he missed Nellie because he was very happy to hear her voice.
Debrief:[]
Ted is, although legally blind, described as subdued and thoughtful, contrary to his follower-cocky attitude from The Maze of Bones. He seems to bond with Natalie the best during his time being captured by the Vespers, although we never see his reaction to her death. He was described to be very dependent on Ned for the first few weeks to months after his recovery, and vice versa could be said about Ned. Ted is ecstatic to see Nellie in Mission Titanic, which shows his developed friendship with her as well.
Trivia:[]
- Ted is right-handed, opposite of Ned, who is left-handed.
- Ted was the one who designed some drafting ideas to suggest to their doctors during Into the Gauntlet with the help of Reagan.
- He was most likely accepted into college at age 13 or 14 with his siblings.
- His dog, Flamsteed, is a seeing-eye dog that unfortunately does not appear much in the series at all.
- Ted was described to love drawing blueprints and designing other electronics, he designed the aircraft that transported Sinead Starling to the island in Into the Gauntlet.
- He was often seen most commonly with Natalie Kabra during Cahills vs. Vespers, sitting near her, often responding to her while she talked, sloping down the trench in Shatterproof, which the friendship probably began after Into the Gauntlet after Ted, Natalie, Ian and Ned all take Jonah Wizard's private yacht to the hospital to attend to Natalie's foot and the injuries' Ned supposedly must've gotten during his climb into the Gauntlet.