so, why would Leia take the plans to Obi-Wan and not straight to Alderaan or Yavin? In ANH, the hologram R2 has for Obi-Wan says that she is coming to pick him up but her ship is under attack and she needs him to take these droids to her father on Alderaan - having just seen R1 for the 2nd time, I'm at a loss as to what Bail thought Obi-Wan would be able to do for him (beyond be a Jedi) and given how tight time was, why wouldn't Leia just get the plans to the Rebellion?

Might be something obvious and easy I've missed but I've been chewing this over for a bit and it makes no sense.

Pick him up on the way home. Save fuel.

I read into the plot as the Rebellion was fracturing and couldn't make decisions in order to advance their campaign against the Empire and Bail Organa's last ditch effort was to bring in Obi-Wan Kenobi to help rally/unify the Rebellion.

That being said it would've made a lot more sense for the Tantive IV to be already headed to Tatooine to pick him up and then have the plans beamed to the ship by rebel spies rather than just handed through a malfunctioning doorway...

I read into the plot as the Rebellion was fracturing and couldn't make decisions in order to advance their campaign against the Empire and Bail Organa's last ditch effort was to bring in Obi-Wan Kenobi to help rally/unify the Rebellion.

That being said it would've made a lot more sense for the Tantive IV to be already headed to Tatooine to pick him up and then have the plans beamed to the ship by rebel spies rather than just handed through a malfunctioning doorway...

yup. I guess I'm struggling with it as everything else was nicely retconned or made complete sense but again, after a 2nd viewing I can't help but think another line of dialogue here or there could have made that way more logical.

Muscle.

It would've been more of a plot hole if Bail didn't mention Obi-Wan.

Did you see that psychopath in the corridors of the Rebel flagship?

I read into the plot as the Rebellion was fracturing and couldn't make decisions in order to advance their campaign against the Empire and Bail Organa's last ditch effort was to bring in Obi-Wan Kenobi to help rally/unify the Rebellion.

That being said it would've made a lot more sense for the Tantive IV to be already headed to Tatooine to pick him up and then have the plans beamed to the ship by rebel spies rather than just handed through a malfunctioning doorway...

One possibility is that Vader simply didn't spot that handoff, and was assuming that the plans were beamed directly to the Tantive IV, rather than to the ship it was docked with. Or, he's counting it as part of the ship it was docked to.

Presumably, Leia's ship was already docked to the bigger ship when Bail gave her the mission to Obi-Wan, but before she could set off, the big ship had already made the jump to Scarif.

It is of course also very well possible that Scarif is close to Tatooine.

The Devastator was in hot pursuit when they arrived there. She could either lead the Empire straight to the Rebel Base or hope that a Jedi Master could get the message out somehow.

I like how this movie also explains why there was no fleet at Yavin.

It is of course also very well possible that Scarif is close to Tatooine.

It is - Rogue One The Ultimate Visual Guide's Galactic map puts the two close together - Tatooine is the closest planet to Scarif that happens to be marked on the map.

Rogue One would not be a Star Wars film without the plot holes for fan's to talk about for years to come.

Rogue One would not be a Star Wars film without the plot holes for fan's to talk about for years to come.

Biggest thing that bothered me about Rogue One was the lack of a scrolling yellow block of text to start it off with.

I did like how Hera is paged over the Yavin IV base intercom and you see the Ghost (or at least a VCX-100) in at least two scenes in the battle over Scarif.

I also can only think of Skaro whenever I hear the name "Scarif." EXTERMINATE!

I missed the opening more Han I care to admit. My jaw is still on the floor over Tarkin and Vader's castle. But no scroll....no flying STAR WARS..... I'm such a man baby over a ridiculous detail

I missed the opening more Han I care to admit. My jaw is still on the floor over Tarkin and Vader's castle. But no scroll....no flying STAR WARS.....

I thought it was a good way to make it stand out as being not part of the main Saga.

It is of course also very well possible that Scarif is close to Tatooine.

The Devastator was in hot pursuit when they arrived there. She could either lead the Empire straight to the Rebel Base or hope that a Jedi Master could get the message out somehow.

I like how this movie also explains why there was no fleet at Yavin.

This is a good explanation. Leia realized there was no escaping the Empire and there would be an APB on her ship. What better person to give the top secret plans to than a Jedi, who the Empire thinks is long dead?

As others have said, look at a map. Tattooine, Alderaan, and Yavin are all in different areas of the galaxy. The logical explanation is that Scarif is right near Tattooine, that she was either a.) Picking him up on the way, or b.) knew they would be caught and boarded and was using a last ditch effort to try and get the plans to him.

I read into the plot as the Rebellion was fracturing and couldn't make decisions in order to advance their campaign against the Empire and Bail Organa's last ditch effort was to bring in Obi-Wan Kenobi to help rally/unify the Rebellion.

That being said it would've made a lot more sense for the Tantive IV to be already headed to Tatooine to pick him up and then have the plans beamed to the ship by rebel spies rather than just handed through a malfunctioning doorway...

It was beamed to the ship though. It was beamed to the capital ship by Jyn and Cassian. It makes perfect sense. It's only a very minor inconsistency that it was passed by hand into the Tantive.

Vader had no trouble following her ship. Leading him right to the Rebel base might not have ended all that well.

I read into the plot as the Rebellion was fracturing and couldn't make decisions in order to advance their campaign against the Empire and Bail Organa's last ditch effort was to bring in Obi-Wan Kenobi to help rally/unify the Rebellion.

That being said it would've made a lot more sense for the Tantive IV to be already headed to Tatooine to pick him up and then have the plans beamed to the ship by rebel spies rather than just handed through a malfunctioning doorway...

It was beamed to the ship though. It was beamed to the capital ship by Jyn and Cassian. It makes perfect sense. It's only a very minor inconsistency that it was passed by hand into the Tantive.

Well, we also see Leia inserting that data card into R2's card reader at the beginning of episode IV. If it was in the ship's computer, R2 would have just plugged into a data port to retrieve it. So they kind of got corralled into placing it on a data card.

As others have said, look at a map. Tattooine, Alderaan, and Yavin are all in different areas of the galaxy. The logical explanation is that Scarif is right near Tattooine, that she was either a.) Picking him up on the way, or b.) knew they would be caught and boarded and was using a last ditch effort to try and get the plans to him.

Given the actual content of Leia's message, I'm going with option b.

"General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory system of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid delivered to him safely on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."

One would hope a blockade runner would be faster than a cruiser ... why not just fly straight to Alderaan, which makes the "cover story" of a diplomatic mission more plausible? Come back, pick up Obi-Wan later.

Edit: Seems like they missed an opportunity to make another connection:

"Don't act so surprised, your Highness. You weren't on any mercy mission this time." - Vader

They could have shown (or made reference to) Leia's prior mercy missions. The original Star Wars radio dramatization which showed the theft of the Death Star plans at the Battle of Toprawa had her there on a legit mercy mission, and Rebels has shown the same thing in an episode.

In that weird cameo, C-3P0 is like "They're going to Scarif? WTF mate!"

Then he and his ship are found hiding inside the flagship at the battle.

Maybe the Tantive was officially listed as part of some diplomatic mission (perhaps to Tatooine, Scarif's neighbor) and just decided to ride along to save gas before they would have branched off from the fleet since the admiral went Rogue and diverted to Scarif, but got stuck in the fight and bailed to avoid boarding.

Or, the yellow suit guy tells Vader they're on a diplomatic mission after they have the plans and are heading to Obi Wan. Even if that mission started 5 minutes before Vader boarded, it's not a lie.

The admiral had already gone off to fight, the rest are scrambled after him.

If she flew straight to Alderaan while being chased she basically implicates the entire planet in being part of the Rebellion. If she flies to Yavin IV it's no longer a hidden base (see end of ANH).

Go to a planet with littlw Imperial presence and a resident Jedi Knight and the plans can be hidden.