2

This may be out of universe interpretation but it feels like too much of a coincidence that R2 ends up in Luke’s hands carrying a message by no other than her sister. Too many coincidences in a very very big galaxy.

It has been well established (in the Phantom Menace) that Jedi do believe in greater schemes and the force itself as an entity capable of affecting “destiny” sort to speak.

Of course Luke is oblivious to the whole thing but is there any indication (in any novelisation or other canon work) as to whether Obi-wan sensed things had been set in motion by the powers that be (be it the force itself or whatever)?

Note: I’d prefer canon answers (of any grade) rather than opinions although I’m fine with canon based reasonings even if it’s not a direct quote.

Paul D. Waite
  • 32,172
  • 20
  • 133
  • 197
Jorge Córdoba
  • 14,483
  • 12
  • 68
  • 105
  • 1
    That's how the Force works. It points people to where they need to be – Valorum Apr 30 '20 at 19:48
  • 5
    It's hardly a coincidence anyway. Obi-Wan was responsible for placing both Leia with the Organas and Luke with his uncle/aunt, and for remaining on Tatooine to keep an eye on him. – Daniel Roseman Apr 30 '20 at 20:08
  • That’s one thing. That Leila ends up leading the resistance, the empire happens to catch up in Tantooine, R2 lands, of all the surface of the planet, in the general area where Luke lives, gets sold to him and he follows him into the dessert where he finds Obi-wan is a bit of a stretch as far as coincidences go. – Jorge Córdoba Apr 30 '20 at 20:12
  • 6
    Leia was specifically heading to Tatooine to pick up Obi-Wan. – Skooba Apr 30 '20 at 20:33
  • 5
    But all those things are explained by the earlier ones. Leia was going to Tatooine because that's where Obi-Wan was. And he was in the general area of Luke because he was keeping an eye on him. And Luke finds him because he was chasing after R2 who was sent to find him. Really the only coincidence is the other R2 unit having a bad motivator. – Daniel Roseman Apr 30 '20 at 20:34
  • 2
    @DanielRoseman you mean Skippy the Jedi Droid? – Skooba Apr 30 '20 at 20:35

2 Answers2

2

Bail Organa knew about Luke in Revenge of the Sith; after all, he was there when Luke and Leia were born. Since he knew Obi-wan was going to Tatooine, it's entirely reasonable to assume he was also told Obi-wan's plan to have Luke's uncle and aunt take care of him while Kenobi watched and protected them from a distance.

Thing is, Owen and Beru lived on the Lars homestead. R2 had already been there. R2 had accompanied Anakin and Padme when they were looking for Shmi in Attack of the Clones. So, if Organa had ensured R2 was accompanying Leia, and R2 knew there was a message for Kenobi, and R2 also knew Kenobi's original plan with Luke, then R2 knew that to find Obi-wan, landing somewhere in the vicinity of the Lars home had the highest probability of success.

This is one case where you don't need a mystical explanation.

Keith Morrison
  • 21,361
  • 1
  • 60
  • 77
1

I see little coincidence and a lot of consequential events.

1. Leia (with R2D2 and C3PO) is headed to Tatooine to have Obi-Wan join her.
2. When her ship is intercepted she inserts the Death Star schematics in R2D2 and programs it to use the escape pod so it would not randomly land on Tatooine thousands of kilometers in the desert. The escape pod is capable of reaching a destination precisely enough. Possibly Leia had only a rough idea of where Obi-Wan was (not a settlement to point out, he was in the middle of nowhere) and had to act quickly.
3. R2D2 after being captured by the Jawas makes its escape by disabling the other droid (EMP?) so he gets picked by the Skywalkers. Then, through C3PO, suggests its restraining bolt to be removed to complete his escape.
4. Upon seeing R2D2, Luke and the message from Leia Organa Obi-wan realizes what is going on and that the time has come both for him and Luke.
Note that this would be realized by anyone knowing what Obi-Wan knew. No particular connection with the Force would be needed.
Did he felt it as the work of the Force? Am sure he did. And if he had been a Christian monk he would have perceived all this as the manifestation of the will of God Almighty. We see what we want too see.

Why Leia does not just transmit the damned plans instead of carrying them all through the galaxy is a mistery though. Maybe long range communications are al controlled by the empire? Seems unlikely as most communications (commerce / technology development / sexting) would be heavily encrypted anyway. Probably it's just because in the late '70s sending large files was not done wirelessly, couriers were employed.

Duncan Drake
  • 249
  • 2
  • 10
  • 1
    Your point 2 seems implausible. Do you have any evidence she programmed the pods landing position? – TheLethalCarrot May 05 '20 at 17:28
  • Probability. It is VERY unlikely that a pod from orbit would crash land at a relative near distance from the intended target if not so programmed. No on screen proof of it though. – Duncan Drake May 05 '20 at 17:40
  • So, she programmed all of them? It's not like she knew which one they were going to get into. "CHIEF PILOT: There goes another one." – DavidW May 05 '20 at 17:41
  • @DavidW It's also possible that R2 programmed the pod, based on the information that Leia gave it. – Spencer May 05 '20 at 18:04
  • @Spencer- R2-D2 was at the controls – Valorum May 05 '20 at 18:39
  • @DuncanDrake Rogue One explains why they can't just transmit the plans, because the files are too large. With the massive telecom tower on Scarif, it still took time for the fleet that was expecting the data to get the plans. Also, Leia was still trying to maintain her cover as a diplomat, shown by her conversation with Vader when he boards her ship. Transmitting the plans would blow her cover wide open, and by the time it was blown anyway, she had effectively lost control of her ship. – Kadima May 05 '20 at 18:51
  • @Valorum Even better. – Spencer May 05 '20 at 23:25