Can a cloned Order of Scribes wizard use their subclass features for replacing their spellbook?

Question

I'm waffling on some interpretations regarding the Order of Scribes wizard subclass in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and would really appreciate some second opinions. Most of the features seem pretty straightforward in their application, but as usual I think there are some edge case spells with more than one reasonable interpretation.

Question: can a cloned Order of Scribes wizard use their subclass features for replacing their spellbook?

Summary of my understanding: it seems to me that a clone of a Scribe wizard of level 14+ is able to replace their spellbook via their unique subclass feature for doing so, needing only a blank spellbook. On the other hand, a clone of a Scribe wizard of levels 1-13 is unable to replace their spellbook via their unique subclass features and must instead rely on either a backup spellbook provided by the original, or must begin filling a new spellbook from the spells they had prepared at the original's death. (I am aware that a Scribe wizard of that level cannot clone themselves).

The evidence:

Clone spell: The clone begins with no equipment (see PHB 222 for full Clone description):

The clone is physically identical to the original and has the same personality, memories, and abilities, but none of the original's equipment.

Therefore, when the original dies and wakes up in the body of the clone, it finds itself in need of a spellbook. If we take for granted the answer to this question about simulacrum is true, then the Scribe clone (for similar reasons) needs to acquire (or be provided with) a spellbook like any other wizard clone, which it can then awaken using its class features and proceed as it was before.

But it seems to me there are two rules that provide for a very different outcome with the Clone spell for the Order of the Scribes subclass at 14th level and beyond (and even without needing to account for the fact that "each spell governs only itself"). At level 14, the Scribe wizard gains a new feature (features for the Scribe wizard begin on TCE 77):

One with the Word: Your connection to your Awakened Spellbook has become so profound that your soul has become entwined with it.

Consider the above with the following line from the Clone spell:

At any time after the clone matures, if the original creature dies, its soul transfers to the clone, provided that the soul is free and willing to return.

So unlike the simulacrum, the clone contains the soul of the original. At this point (level 14 and beyond), it seems to me that a Scribe wizard's Awakened Spellbook cannot be separated from their soul. Thus, they should be able to use their unique subclass ability to replace their spellbook:

Wizardly Quill: As a bonus action, you can magically create a Tiny quill in your free hand.

Awakened Spellbook: ... If necessary, you can replace the book over the course of a short rest by using your Wizardly Quill to write arcane sigils in a blank book or a magic spellbook to which you're attuned. At the end of the rest, your spellbook's consciousness is summoned into the new book, which the consciousness transforms into your spellbook, along with all its spells. If the previous book still existed somewhere, all the spells vanish from its pages.

I could also see someone making an argument that this feature works for a Scribe clone at any level, because the clone explicitly

has the same personality, memories, and abilities

and one of the Scribe abilities is the ability to summon your spellbook's consciousness into a new book, regardless of the state of the equipment. The clone is definitely more you than a simulacrum is - for instance, I would assume that when the clone uses Find Familiar, they would get their same familiar back. But is it sufficiently you to have had a spellbook? I don't know.

I would appreciate any thoughts or references I may have missed that would clarify my uncertainties, and thanks for your time!

Answer 1

Yes, starting from second level

My understanding of the clone spell is that an awakened clone "is" you, in the same way that a simulacrum "is not" you. A clone spell is just a fancier way of coming back from the dead.

Thus we should treat an awakened clone as equivalent to the original wizard; they have lost their spellbook, but their second-level feature allows them to replace it.

If necessary, you can replace the book over the course of a short rest by using your Wizardly Quill to write arcane sigils in a blank book or a magic spellbook to which you're attuned. At the end of the rest, your spellbook's consciousness is summoned into the new book, which the consciousness transforms into your spellbook, along with all its spells. If the previous book still existed somewhere, all the spells vanish from its pages.

Doing this causes the spells to fade from the original, so this is not a way to create infinite spellbooks.

Also, something is strange about these questions

You're asking a whole lot of questions about obscure rules issues, and it seems unlikely that these issues have come up in your game.

D&D isn't intended to be a game where all the rules interactions are perfectly laid out. There are many cases which are deliberately fuzzy and underspecified, and the DM is expected to make a ruling if the case ever comes up.

The polite way to handle rules ambiguities is to ask your DM to make a ruling when the ambiguity comes up in play. If you try to request rulings in advance, your DM might feel that you're trying to rules-lawyer them into ruling something they didn't intend to, and they might feel like it wasn't fun to have you at their table.

If you request rulings in advance from us, we're happy to tell you what we think. But please don't take our answers to your DM and tell them that our answers are the literal rules. Our answers are not the literal rules and should never be used to overrule your DM.