CT “Now she is my only link to finding their secret base”

I saw a thread from 2017 about this but it never really reached much of a definitive answer. If Vader has a whole ship full of captured rebels on the Tantive IV, why does he consider Leia to be his “only link” to finding their secret base? Seems to me there would be plenty of people to interrogate.

 

And not all of them privy to the information she knows.

 

While they're on the Tantive IV, in orbit around Yavin 4, most likely the only one who knows they're orbiting the Rebel base is Captain Antilles, and well, Vader kills him upon boarding the Tantive IV. I know it's not the best explanation, but it's the best I've got.

 

Ah I never realized before. Based on Rogue One, captain Antilles was on Yavin IV when Bail told him he had a mission for him so he definitely knew where the rebel base was but hothead Vader kills him. It’s not clear whether the rest of the passengers aboard Tantive IV knew since all we know is the ship was aboard the rebel flagship Profundity which was at Scarif and then escaped Vader with the plans into hyperspace.

 

In contrast to Rogue One:

I conceive of Leia's ship and its crew not as being a rebel ship and crew, but rather a diplomatic ship with loyalties to Leia as an Imperial Senator and the Princess of Alderaan (rather than as a rebel leader). In light of that, Leia was the only rebel aboard.

 

Agreed. Vader says to Leia "you are part of the Rebel alliance and a traitor." He wouldn't say that if he caught her aboard a Rebel ship.

 

Thanks for the answers! I definitely buy that the base’s location was probably very much need-to-know and Leia was probably one of the only ones on that ship with that info. It’s even possible that many who had actually been to Yavin IV were blindly flown in and not actually told the location.

I like the diplomatic ship explanation too. Even if they are all truly rebels, it’s certainly a ship that is trying to pass itself off as a “consular ship” which Vader calls BS on while choking Antilles.

 

Actually, you have to interpret it literally. Leia is Link from The Legend of Zelda, and as everyone obviously knows, it is written that only Link can defeat Ganon.....and find the rebel base.

 

Or she just lied to Vader to his face in the vain hope he’d believe her. He obviously did not.

I always figured that since Leia is one of the major leaders of the Rebellion, she’s privy to information the average Rebel grunt wouldn’t know.

 

These are good points... however, are these not widely recognized as "Rebel Alliance troopers"?

 

maybe, or a security force for the ambassador's ship. The galaxy is full of pirates and rogues, so I assume they would need a security team. But I admit I'm reaching here ha.

 

I think the 1975 third draft refers to them as "Aquillian Rangers" - which is drawn from the name of Leia's desert-planet homeworld Aquilae in the 1974 rough draft.

 

They are definitely all over the place in the Yavin base in ANH.

 

This is a pretty longstanding debate but I’ve been swayed to the idea that they’re some sort of guards either Senate specific or Alderaan specific. As you say it would be pretty hard to explain having a ship full of Rebel troopers in uniform. I always thought of their blasters as being the Rebel equivalent of the E-11, but they’re also carried by the Death Star troopers with the salad bowl helmets so that does point to being Imperial manufactured. If they’re senate guards they would be issued these weapons by the Empire and if they’re Alderaanian they could have purchased them from the Empire as “loyal” subjects since they don’t have weapons of their own. As for their presence on Yavin, if they’re senate guards the Rebels have multiple senators in their leadership and if they’re Alderaanian, well, they don’t have anywhere else to go at that point.

 

These guys are part of the Alderaanian Consular Security force. Their primary role was to guard Alderaanian dignitaries, and after the Rebellion began, many served as Rebel troops. It appears they're specific to whichever dignitary. These guys are Leia's security force. Some of those on Yavin IV would be assigned to Bail, and some are Rebel troopers. So it is highly plausible that other than Captain Antilles, none of these security guards would be privy to the notion of where the rebel base is. It would not be unheard of, in order to keep the secret base a secret, that only the rank and file that need to know would be aware of Yavin IV as the Rebel hideout. These guys aren't stationed there, so they don't need to know.

 

if that's the case why are there so many soldiers firing at Imperial troops?

 

I think it's a fair bet that the Empire started shooting at them first.

 

Well, right, the stormtroopers clearly came through that door already firing and expecting resistance. But that's part of the issue... if this was not a ship known to be carrying rebels or rebellion sympathizers, why would the Imperial troops enter it that way? The nature of the conflict between the two sides seemed clearly laid out from before they even blew the door open, and Rogue One further supported this; this was the same ship that escaped with the stolen DS plans not long before they were captured.

 

that's true RO kind of retcons the scene as this ship was just in a space battle. Not that I mind as RO was great.

 

Two thoughts here:

1) How do we know that Vader didn't try to interrogate any of the troopers before making that statement? (Or at least receive reports of results from their possible interrogations)

2) Would Vader even bother with the troopers? He has Leia who is obviously the most senior official caught on board. A Rebel traitor, an Imperial Senator, she would certainly be more privy to valued information than any of the troopers.

 

Here's how I look at it:

The crewmen of Leia's ship had primary loyalty to Princess Leia, Imperial Senator from Alderaan. The very ship that was firing upon Leia then captured her ship with a tractor beam. "These guys are out to get the princess!" Leia's guard did not particularly care who was coming after their princess, or why. They were going to protect her, come hell or high water, for that was their duty and their honor. They certainly were not going to let some goons harm their young, beautiful, and virtuous princess.

 

I'm confused; are you talking about the beginning of ANH? Cos they were in orbit above Tattooine. They were there to pick up Obi-Wan, as we later learned was why Bail sent Leia out in the first place.

Regarding the other rebel prisoners, I admit I would've thought they'd all know the base is on Yavin IV. It's easier for me to just assume Vader killed all of them and there was only Leia left cos she was strong enough to resist the torture and interrogation etc.

 

I was referring to the Tantive IV when it was docked on the Profundity in Rogue One. I also made this comment before I did any research on the subject. It was an off the cuff initial thought.

 

Well they did know that there were Rebellion sympathizers on board as the spies who stole the plans sent them to that ship. If they had any doubts before they started shooting presumably they would have turned on their police lights and demanded the Tantive IV pull over, and the Tantive IV would have responded with something along the lines of "We're a consular ship and we have diplomatic rights against federal interference in our personal affairs", followed by the Devastator saying "well if you won't cooperate those rights can suck on these laser blasts because we're coming for those plans whether you like it or not", at which point the Tantive IV makes the futile effort to defend itself. I love Rogue One but I did have an issue with the Tantive IV being physically present at the battle and Vader seeing it. I don't think that matches the initial set up of the scene.

 

In the EU the Tantive IV was a Corellian corvette, and the design was used galaxy-wide. I'm thinking Leia might have been subtly trying to deny they had been at Scarif, and try to convince Vader he was chasing the wrong ship. It's a pretty thin hope, but you know what they say about rebellions and hope.