TheSagaContinues

What was their plan after Ep III?


Luke and Leia were to be separated for safety. Obi-wan would watch over Luke.
Yoda would hide on Dagobah.


But the films (and The Clone Wars) indicate that they had a plan - but what was it?


Luke wasn't trained until he was an adult. Leia was put completely out of the orbit of Obi-wan or Yoda.
It was a series of completely accidental events that lead to Luke and Obi-wan getting together and Obi-wan deciding to convince Luke to train as a Jedi and somehow deal with the Emperor and Vader.


Did they have some sort of plan that Leia "interrupted" by seeking out Obi-wan when she did?

In Luke's case I think there was no training because of his aunt and uncle.  My impression of them is that they certainly didn't look too kindly on the Jedi and wanted to keep Luke from the path his father took by keeping him away from the Jedi that trained his father.  Let's be honest here, Luke's Aunt and Uncle knew the score and didn't want to play the game.

I'm more willing to think that with Leia things may actually have been going "according to plan" even if they weren't training her as a Jedi.  I mean she had power and influence which are two very useful tools to have.

It does seem that Yoda was expecting or hoping that Luke would have come to him earlier. However, both he and Kenobi trusted in the Force to let them know when the time was right.

The plan was to train Luke to kill Palpatine and Vader. Neither Yoda nor Kenobi believed redemption from the dark side was possible. The Sith had to be destroyed. Luke, like Anakin before his injuries, had the potential to dwarf even Palpatine in power, had he been fully trained.

It does seem that Yoda was expecting or hoping that Luke would have come to him earlier. However, both he and Kenobi trusted in the Force to let them know when the time was right.

The plan was to train Luke to kill Palpatine and Vader. Neither Yoda nor Kenobi believed redemption from the dark side was possible. The Sith had to be destroyed. Luke, like Anakin before his injuries, had the potential to dwarf even Palpatine in power, had he been fully trained.

I agree with you regarding Yoda and Kenobi's attitude about needing to destroy Vader and Sidious.

But why would Yoda and Obi-wan just leave it up to the force to tell them when Obi-wan should train Luke?
Yoda was concerned about Anakin being too young when he became Obi-wan's padawan.  So why would he plan on Luke growing up to make the same mistake again (in Yoda's mind).  And to be trained by the same guy who trained Anakin?  Even Obi-wan admits his arrogance in thinking he could train Anakin.

One word... "Lucas"

#truthbomb

Well the plan worked, so this is all a pointless circle jerk.

Kenobi at the end of Ep 1 and Kenobi at the end of Ep 3 were very different people, and Yoda's trust in him was on a whole different level. Also, we don't know what advice they got from Qui-Gon about waiting, if any.

I wonder if the point wasn't to train Luke to beat them (Vader and Palpatine), so much as train him enough to make him something they would finally have a showdown over. As others have pointed out, waiting to train Luke until he was older than when Anakin started would make no sense, unless they needed him to seem vulnerable due to his age and impulsiveness, but also show his potential by how much he progressed in a short time. Yoda and Obi-Wan didn't need another fully trained Jedi, they needed another potential Anakin. The Sith Lords fight over him, one takes out the other (as they've wanted to for years), and whoever's left, weakened by the fight, is ended by Luke. If that was the plan, then Leia was probably far too disciplined to convincingly be bait, which I think is shown by her handling of Vader and Tarkin on the Death Star.