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Obi-Wan asks Luke to remain with the droids to safely deliver the plans.

But the original destination was the now destroyed Alderaan, and Luke isn't much of a rebel to know where to head from there.

At this moment they didn't yet know Princess Leia was on board the Death Star.

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    “After Alderaan was destroyed, where would have Luke delivered the plans?” Post Office?
    – Paul D. Waite
    Apr 4, 2017 at 11:44

4 Answers 4

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Your confusion springs from the fact that you know that Ben is about to die, leaving Luke on his own to work out what to do next. At the time it wasn't obvious that this is the case. Ben's plan was for them to fly out together and make contact with other rebel forces that he was aware of or in contact with.

When he speaks to Luke, he's not telling him to go off and find some rebels on his own, he's counselling him to wait, stay out of trouble and keep the droids safe until they're all able to leave the station.

Luke wasn’t put off so easily. “I want to go with you.”
“Don’t be impatient, young Luke. This requires skills you haven’t yet mastered. Stay and watch over the ’droids and wait for my signal. They must be delivered to the rebel forces or many more worlds will meet the same fate as Alderaan. Trust in the force, Luke—and wait.”

Star Wars: A New Hope - Official Novelisation

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  • @user80704 - I think he meant long-term, rather inmediate
    – Valorum
    Apr 4, 2017 at 14:42
  • But if V could feel his former masters presence then obi-wan should too, and prepate accordingly for the confrontation& give some instructions to luke before splitting up in case he won't make it?
    – user68762
    Apr 4, 2017 at 15:48
  • @R.Skeeter - Luke still has Atroo. It's quite possible, if not downright probable that it could point Luke and Han in the direction of a rebel Base or outpost.
    – Valorum
    Apr 4, 2017 at 15:51
  • If Luke, Han, and Chewie (minus Obi-Wan) had escaped the Death Star but not discovered Leia, I'm curious where exactly would they have waited and stayed out of trouble? Han didn't seem too keen about joining the Rebellion, I'm not sure he would have gone out of his way to seek out the Rebels and deliver the plans. They couldn't return to Tatooine, I'm guessing they'd find a smuggler's port somewhere & lay low. We'll never know.
    – RobertF
    Apr 4, 2017 at 16:31
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    Luke was good friends with Biggs, who in the novel tells Luke he's made contact with the rebels and is going to join up, and urges Luke to do the same.
    – Doctor Two
    Apr 5, 2017 at 15:20
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I don't know if there is any more detail in any of the novelisations, but I would assume that R2D2, and possibly C3P0 would know where to take them. They were after all in the Yavin base in Rogue One.

Given R2's history with memory wipes (or more precisely, lack of them), and that as an astromech he has some astro navigation capabilities, it is quite likely that he has a very good idea where the base is.

I would assume with Obi Wan vouching for Luke, they would lead the way.

That or Obi Wan decided to trust in the force to make everything work out.

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  • @user80704 good point, but the main point of the answer is still relevant.
    – Jack
    Apr 4, 2017 at 1:15
  • @user80704 yeah, C3PO's memory seems to get wiped a bit, but not R2's
    – Jack
    Apr 4, 2017 at 1:23
  • C-3P0's memory was wiped at the end of Episode III, twenty years earlier. Rogue One takes place immediately before Episode IV, and it seems unlikely anyone would have bothered to wipe his memory again while they were fleeing from Darth Vader.
    – Royal Canadian Bandit
    Apr 4, 2017 at 8:01
  • @RoyalCanadianBandit yes. Because he isn't good at keeping his mouth shut. It is quite likely that he has been wiped since. R2 on the other had wasn't wiped then, so its unlikely he was wiped at other times either
    – Jack
    Apr 4, 2017 at 8:05
  • But I agree, it seems pretty unlikely he was wiped in this case
    – Jack
    Apr 4, 2017 at 8:06
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Luke has some unspecified plan for running away and joining the Rebellion when his uncle finally lets him go (viz., never). Presumably this means that he knows somebody who knows somebody, or at least thinks he does. If it crossed his mind to have a backup plan at all, he probably would've tried making contact with the Rebellion that way. Whether he'd be able to do so with the Imperials on Tatooine looking for him is another matter.

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He probably did not have time to think about it

They (Luke and Han) did not have a chance to discuss their destination, as they were tractor-beamed to the Death Star. After that, C-3PO discovered that Leia was onboard the Death Star and about to be executed. By the time Obi-Wan released the tractor beam and the team was ready to go on, they already had Leia rescued and joined them, and she was to decide where to deliver the plans to the rebels.

So, referring to the first (accepted) answer, Ben was right that the Force guided them to the base.

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  • This doesn't answer the question asked. Where did Luke think he was going next?
    – Valorum
    Apr 4, 2017 at 11:22
  • I am pointing that he probably did not think about it yet, asfinding out how to break away from the Death Star, then rescuing Leia were more primary concerns at the moment.
    – TimSparrow
    Apr 4, 2017 at 11:24

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