Star Wars: Rogue One - 11 Biggest Unanswered Questions

11. Why Was Leia In The Middle Of The Space Battle?

The Question: Considering her general importance, why the hell was Princess Leia even in the middle of the film's climactic space battle? Why would her father Bail even allow her to be put in such a dangerous position?

The Likely Answer: The practical answer is that it's the most convenient way to combine a badass final action sequence with Leia's physical location at the beginning of A New Hope.

The in-canon reason is that Leia needed to be on-hand to receive the plans so she could get them to Obi-Wan, though the logic here still isn't totally convincing.

A lot of the new Expanded Universe material does admittedly help make it more plausible, as Leia is better-positioned as a main player in the rebellion, with Bail respecting her as a soldier despite being his daughter.