What if Glorfindel joined the fellowship to Lothlorien?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by skip spence

Objectively Merry and Pippin are quite useless to the Quest, and when Gandalf insists that they are to come too the only way it makes sense if by some divine premonition.

I think that's the key. Gandalf "felt" that Merry and Pippin should be included, and that feeling was strong enough that he and Elrond apparently had some animated discussion about it. The wisdom of that gut feeling was obviously borne out, for Merry and Pippin were bait for Saruman, who arranged their transport to Fangorn.