CT How did Darth Vader know or figure out that the Tantive IV was headed to Tatooine?

At the end of Rougue One, Darth Vader watched as the Tantive IV escaped into hyperspace.

And by implication, the first scene from ANH followed shortly thereafter.

The problem is how the Devastator was able to track the Tantive IV in hyperspace.

This technology was not known to exist until the timeline of TLJ, and was invented by the First Order.

So exactly how Darth Vader learned that the Tantive IV was headed to Tatooine needs to be fleshed out in the Star Wars Canon.

Further, if Darth Vader had found out WHY the Tantive IV was headed to Tatooine, he would know that Obi-Wan-Kenobi was on the planet, thus tasking Darth Vader with two missions:

To find the Death Star plans, and find Obi-Wan-Kenobi.

 

In the radio series Antilles supposes that someone brought a homing beacon on board, so I think he suspects one of the crew to be a spy.

 

I think this is more of Rogue One question than a OT question, but I have previously posited that it was originally intended that you could literally follow a ship through hyperspace if you jumped after them and were able to stay close enough to them to see them on some sort of scanner. (The real answer is they just wanted that cool scene in Rogue One and didn’t particularly care about the explanation you’re asking for)


Edit to add: it’s not intended to be canon, not least because it’s depicted as a video game in-universe, but in the mobile game Galaxy of heroes, the Raddus’s ultimate ability literally is that it deploys the Tantive IV and the opposing capital ship immediately jumps into hyperspace after it, stranding the fighters behind to finish the battle

 

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that Tantive IV was slightly damaged and had sprung a leak, so the Star Destroyer was able to track it like a bloodhound.

 

It's called retcon.

 

Do hyperspace lanes still exist in canon? If so, then simply follow the same land as your quarry and you'll get to the same destination.

Also in ESB, after the Falcon disappears and the Imperials think it jumped to hyperspace, Vader mentions something about calculating its possible trajectories, so maybe there's a more rudimentary way to follow a ship that's gone to lightspeed.

 

Err typo...same lane, not same land.

 

"Alert all commands! Calculate all possible destinations along its last known trajectory."

Simple as that. And they may have put a homing beacon onboard.

As for Obi-Wan, he has no idea Obi-Wan is even on Tatooine.

 

Right. Regardless of RO, Vader was always present when the plans were taken and he followed based on the route. As to what he thought about Tatooine being the destination, he assumed that Leia was probably going there first before calculating for another jump. But yes, if it occurred to him that that's where Obi-Wan was hiding, he would have stayed to conduct a search himself.

 

They used an Imperial Apple Tag. Motti gave Darth one for Sithmas.

 

Though now I'm wondering, if we look at it from Vader's perspective, Leia just jettisoned the plans onto a random desert planet. I mean, who does that? The rebels still need the plans, right? So... doesn't seem like a smart move for her to just throw it off onto a planet. What was she gonna say if she managed to escape Vader's grasp?

Mon Mothma: "Where's the plans?"
Leia: "I threw it onto a desert planet when the Empire was literally towing me onto their Star Destroyer."

Did the Rebels know she was trying to get to Obi-Wan? I don't recall them ever mentioning him when she got to Yavin IV, not even a cursory, 'Where's General Kenobi?'

 

I think the answer is that Rogue One was made before TLJ.

Um, Vader would probably assume that Leia, seeing as she was being attacked by a Star Destroyer, decided to jettison the plans somewhere nearby as quickly as possible, and the nearest planet was Tatooine. So “who does that?” is pretty simply answered - someone who has no choice because they’re about to be captured. As Cobb Vanth would say, “think it through!”

 

Are we sure they weren't able to track ships through hyperspace before TLJ?

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No.

 

If I was following someone and they got on the highway in a fairly rural area, going a certain direction, and I'm familiar with the upcoming exits they could take, I could probably narrow down their likely next destination.

 

Under Lucas, it seemed like only Bail and Leia knew Obi-Wan was alive and on Tatooine, with only Bail knowing about Luke. It's unclear what Antilles knew about going there, other than Leia telling him it was important. Under Disney, Mon Mothma was told about Obi-Wan, but not Luke. And with Kanan dead, Ezra missing and Ahsoka elsewhere, it was vital to bring up Obi-Wan to her.

As to Mon Mothma, she would be told about it being on Tatooine and she would arrange a recovery mission.

RO was being made at the same time as TLJ and there's an easter egg in RO with a file referencing hyperspace tracking.

 

If it hadn't been Obi-wan, then most likely it would have been some other Rebel agents.

 

According to the new canon timeline it takes Tantive IV a year to travel from Scarif to Tatooine, maybe it could only make short hyperspace jumps and at one of the early stops an Imperial agent plants a tracking device to its hull. Vader was suspicious of Leia...

... what if he had built some sort of tracking device into 3PO when he built him? May be it wasn't powerful enough to track Tantive IV to an exact area, just close enough to pick up a trace of the ship?

 

That can't be right.

 

The Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View collection of stories states that the Tantive IV had a damaged hyperdrive that caused it to leave a unique and traceable energy signature behind it. The Empire followed it by following the energy trail. It also says that it took about an hour to get to Tatooine... not a year.

I believe Lost Stars had a segment about it as well, with Ciena being on the Devastator at the time.

 

That makes more sense than a year.

 

As far as I know, the canon status of the "From a Certain Point of View" books are "canon except for some instances of intentional contradictions / embellishment." A few of the stories are obviously meant to be taken as humor / more like lighthearted fan-fic. But the more "serious" ones are considered canon. Which of course makes for a sketchy designation sometimes. That said, the first entry of "Raymus" by Gary Whitta covers the Tantive IV situation and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be on the "serious / canon" list.

Immediately following the ending of Rogue One:

 

Battle of Scarif is now 1BBY

 

Which is clearly wrong.

 

Maybe the newcanon calendar is basically - Battle of Yavin itself is 0, anything as little as a day or two before is 1 BBY, anything as little as a day after is 1 ABY, and there's no year 0 BBY the way there was in Legends.