Why was Leia trying to escort Obi-Wan to Alderaan

At the beginning of ANH, when Leia's blockade runner is attacked by the star destroyer, she dispatches a message to Obi-Wan. In her message, she states to Obi-Wan that her "mission to bring [him] to Alderaan has failed." Her father, Bail, was requesting his help in struggle against the Empire.

Now, I always sort of thought that Obi-Wan really was only brought into the story at that point in order to get the plans to Alderaan, so that the rebels could do what they eventually did (blow up the DS). My question is what did Bail need Obi-Wan's help for? It would seem that the fight against the Empire would have been going on for 20 years now. If Old Ben has been out of the game for that long, then why would Bail need his help now. Like I said, it always seemed that the only help they needed was to get the plans to Alderaan, but that is not what Leia says in her message - in her message she says that her mission was to bring him (Obi-Wan) to Alderaan, not to get the plans to Alderaan (althought that was pretty important as well).

Please don't answer with "20 years ago GL didn't think about that" or something like that. We all know that there are continuity issues brought about by the reverse depiction of the saga's story.

 

She's just asking him for help because they need it. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

But don't you think that having just acquired the plans to the Empire's most powerful weapon yet to be built, Leia's primay objective would have been to get home with them. Instead she's on a detour to pick up Obi-Wan - why? What purpose was the old man going to serve? Did Bail plan to have Obi-Wan lead the rebels in their attack on the DS? Was there some other purpose?

I'm watching the first five movies between now and Wednesday and this question sort of popped out at me.

 

Maybe the plans were found on an Outer Rim world? Tatooine is in the Outer Rim while Alderaan is near the Galactic Core. If Tatooine was simply on the way to Alderaan, it would make sense for Bail to request that Leia find Obi-Wan and bring him to Alderaan with her. That way, he could help out the Rebel Alliance.

 

Remember that Bail Organa was "in" on the knowledge that Luke and Leia were the son and daughter of Darth Vader. I think that Bail had decided that 20 years should have prepared Luke and Obiwan for the task of trying to overthrow the Empire.

I imagine poor Bail had it in his mind that Obiwan would have been subtly training Luke to the task.
Bail remembers Obiwan from his prime as the master who defeated Darth Vader. Since the Rebellion has secured plans to the Ultimate Weapon (deathstar) it is natural for Bail to want to enlist who he probably considers the greatest living Jedi.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Don't forget that the Rebels didn't know that the Death Star would have a weakness, so when they got the plans, they would need ALL the help they could get.

 

I've always figured Tatooine was just along the way to Alderaan and it wasn't going to be much of a detour.

 

All good thoughts and responses.

In general, this idea of picking up Obi-Wan is really more of a question about what set the events of the OT in motion. Yes, we know from the opening crawl that the rebel alliance has just had its first victory in taking possession of the plans to the DS, but what else is there. I mean, the rebel alliance obviously have been at it for some time now - it didn't just pop up in EPIV. And the real leaders of the rebellion have been dissenting against the Empire since its inception (I'm guessing here). So, it seems that there would have been some moment during the twenty years in between PT and OT when they might have called upon Old Obi-Wan for some help. So, my question could be why wasn't Obi-Wan called upon before ANH/EPIV, and assuming he wasn't, was gaining access to the DS plans such an event that Obi-Wan needed to be called out of hiding.

Hopefully, I'm better explaining what it is that I'm wondering about.

Thanks for the responses.

 

Well, think about it like this (my point of view anyway):

If the rebellion had been going 20 years strong and this was their first victory it wouldn't exactly be the sort of effort that would attract the attention of a reclusive Jedi Master whose charge it has been to raise what could only been considered the last hope of the Old Republic.

I think that securing the plans for the Death Star gave a relatively new rebellion the momentum it needed. Take also that Bail was basically in charge (or at least a higher up) and would know not only to call Obiwan out but the son of the greatest force user ever to aid them.

I thought it was clear that the trip to Tatooine was part of the return to Alderaan. She was to get Obiwan on the way back with the plans.

That is just how I took it anyway.

 

Good stuff......I've thought about this too actually.


Is there any EU books or comics that cover this?

 

Someone above touched on this - Bail surely knows that Obi-Wan is watching over Luke. So, maybe it was time for Luke and Leia to be reunited. Bail dispatches his step-daughter, Leia, to pick up Obi-Wan knowing that Obi-Wan will realize that "it is time," and that Luke and Leia must be reunited now to fulfill their destinies. So, if Leia had not been captured, Obi-Wan would have headed out to the Lars farm and picked up Luke - maybe they would have let him go when they realized his sister was there. Luke, Leia, and Obi-Wan all travell to Alderaan aboard the Tantive IV and begin strategizing an attack on the Empire.

So, maybe this was what was supposed to happen before Annakin/Darth got back involved (attacking the Tantive IV) and further fulfilling his own destiny.

My extra two cents.

 

Perhaps she needed Ben's help to get back into Imperial space seceretly with the DS plans.

 

I wrote this a while ago in response to why Han and Chewy were on Tatooine. It applies here as well. Read the whole thing if you want, but the most relevant part is in bold type. Although, it might not make sense unless you read it all.


They were there because Chewy is a covert Rebel agent. Obi-Wan knew him during the Clone War and sought him out again to work for the Rebellion as a scout/spy. Han had no knowledge of Chewy's work for the Rebellion and thought Chewy was simply a Wookie that owed him a lifedebt. The whole lifedebt was a scheme organized by Yoda, who met Chewy during the last days of the old republic, as cover for his spying. The "trucker from Barstow" that appears to introduce Chewy to Obi-Wan was a Rebel sleeper agent who was there to help maintain an aire of unfamiliarity between Obi and Chewy, and to throw the stormtroppers off the trail (the Empire had thier own informant on Tatooine, who nearly led STs to hanger 94 in time). The Rebellion had a large presence on Tatooine that day. A whole squad of armed agents were covering hanger 94 to ensure the Falcons safe departure. Another agent fed the Star Destroyers covering Tatooine false coordinates to ensure they would be out of postion to stop the Falcon from jumping into hyperspace.

The original plan was for Obi-Wan to reveal Luke's lineage and convince him to leave the farm and join the Rebellion, since it appeared Owen was never going to release Luke from his ranch duties. The Falcon was to take him to Alderaan where Bail Organa would reveal the whole operation. Luke was to train with Obi-Wan before graduating to Yoda, who would finish Luke's training, then send Luke to kill Vader and the Emperor. This plan became intertwined with Leia's plot to steal the DS plans and use them to blow up the battle station and kill Vader when the Sith lord caught Leia and Alderaan was destoyed. Leia had no knowledge of what was transpiring with Obi-Wan, and Luke on Tatooine and was heading there to recruit Obi-Wan herself when Vader caught up to her. The fact that cells were kept secret from one another, and cell leaders were kept in the dark about other cell's operations, became a mixed blessing in this case. Had Leia known of the work by the Tatooine cell, she would not have gone there to recruit Kenobi. Fewer agents would have been put at risk, and Vader would not have been led straight to the headquarters of the largest cell in the outer rim.

So what appears to be a set of incredible coincidences, was really the criss crossing of two major Rebel ops that nearly resulted in the failure of both.

 

That all sounds very involved.

However, I believe that Bail simply wanted a GENERAL of the clone wars sympathetic to the rebellion because with the launch of the Death Star, the rebellion had little chance. Hence, the big guns were being called home.

 

Sorry Jangoisadrunk, it's a very well-thought out theory, but completely bogus.

Chewie wasn't working for the rebellion, and Yoda certainly didn't know about Han. Heck, Chewie hadn't even met Han until Han freed him from the slaver run that he himself was a part of during his days as a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy.

A LOT of this is answered in ROTS (at least from reading the novel of it), but I'll do my best to remain spoiler-free for the rest of you:

Basically it breaks down like this. The seeds of the rebellion had been germinating LONG before the events of ANH, and since Alderaan was a peaceful, democracy-loving planet, they were of course at the forefront of any rebellion against the tyrranical rule of the Emperor. Bail knew that when the time was ripe, he could call upon his old friend and Jedi Master and General of the republic, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to help lead this new fight against the Empire. Bail knew Obi-Wan was on Tattoine and sent his "daughter" Leia to go pick him up and bring him to Alderaan to really step into the forefront of the rebellion and to rally the troops. With the legendary Jedi leading them, people would flock to the banner of the rebellion and join the fight against the Empire, and since Obi-Wan was keeping an eye on Vader's only son in the meantime, it was the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone by making Luke realize his destiny and training him to become a legendary warrior using the Rebellion as a training ground much like the Clone Wars were Anakin's true training grounds. Since the Jedi order was wiped out, a full-scale intergalactic war would serve perfectly in training Luke, under the guiding hand of Obi-Wan (and Yoda, when he was ready) to help the rebellion wipe out the Empire and destroy the Sith once and for all.

Which is exactly what happened, so it must be right.

 

jangoisadrunk I like it. Although I am sure it could have been a bit more involved, it is well thought out and has a moral lesson: if you keep cells seperate, either keep each on their own turf, or expect entanglements.

But the alternative does sound a tad bit more plausible and would be a quite good and plausible plot, imho.

 

isnt the answer a little more obvious than you guys are making it??

mon mothma: "the empire has made a critical error and our time to strike..." (or something close to that)

thus they all agreed that it was time to bring back obi-wan and maybe have the return if the jedi a couple movies earlier.

to think bail had some say in what was happening to luke and when and how he should be trained is ridiculous.
and who is to say bail has any clue as to if yoda is alive?!?!

 

No one has refered to the deleted scene in ROTJ! Leia was leading a double life until ANH as both a rebel leader and a senator. Her father always told her if her plight was desperate, and it was as Vader was onto her and KNEW she was in the Rebellion, to contact Obi-Wan on Tatooine.

 

At what point in ROTJ would this deleted scene have occurred? Is it in the novellezation anywhere?

 

I think EPISODENONE and Buck_Skywalker are right on it to mention the basics of what's going on. It makes sense that for the Alliance its the perfect time to strike, and there going to need all the help they can get.

Regarding Bail knowing that Luke could be trained as a Jedi and so forth, I think he didn't comprehend that completely (only Obi Wan), but new Ben was Jedi Master and needed his help.

my 7 cents.....IMHO

 

I think the only reason she contacts Obi Wan is because she knows he is on tatooine and they are obviously being captured.

Basically she was en route to deliver the plans herself, but ran into trouble. So she does some quick thinking, apparhently knows Obi Wan is down on Tatooine so sends the droids down with the plans.

I dont think she had any original intent to stop by tattoine to try and recruit Obi Wan to help them with the rebellion.

 

ABSYDIAN, if you listen to Leia's recorded holgraphic message, that is EXACTLY what she was doing.

She says to Obi-Wan in her message: "General Kenobi, yars ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I'm afraid my mission to bring you (referring to Obi-Wan) to Alderaan has failed." Then she goes on to say that she's placed the plans in the memory systems of the R2 unit.

So, her mission WAS to bring Obi-Wan to Alderann. She dispatched the droids ONLY after she was attacked and captured by the Empire. Otherwise, she would have picked him (an maybe Luke too - speculative) and escorted him to Alderaan, where he would have done . . . well, that's what this thread is all about.

 

Bail was just looking for help. Who better to ask for help than the once powerful Jedi and General in the Clone Wars, Obi Wan Kenobe. It shows the rebellion was desperate, and hoped this one time hero could some how aid them in this fight. Bail was not trying to enllist Luke at this time, he just wanted general Kenobe.

 

Yeah holographic message, forgot about that one!

Well not sure what sort of help Obi Wan could of been to the rebellion.

Which leads one to wonder if they also sought out Yoda.

I doubt that Obi Wan would of even went anyway what with the whole watching over Luke and all. He even tells luke he's much to old.

Im sorry, what was the question again?

 

imagine Bail's suprise if he learned that after 20 years luke hadn't been trained at all. heh heh