If Merry and Pippin had returned to the Shire

[IronParrot]

Having read the whole story, we, the readers, of course know that everything turns out all right at the end, the ways thing went.

But one crucial turning point that is perhaps overlooked is at the Council of Elrond, when Merry and Pippin join the Fellowship instead of return as messengers to the Shire. Did they make the right choice?

On one hand, you have the fact that by joining the Fellowship, they do eventually manage to involve the Ents in the whole thing, and indirectly, the Rohirrhim. And then there's how Merry saves Eowyn, and so on and so forth.

On the other hand, if they had gone back to the Shire earlier, they would have gotten word of its corruption, something that undoubtedly began by that time. (cf. Mirror of Galadriel, plus the fact that Saruman was already receiving Southfarthing weed by the time Merry and Pippin reached Isengard)

Okay, so I guess the military defeat of Isengard and the successful defense of Gondor perhaps necessitated the neglect of the Shire, in a way, but the other way around, the Shire could have been defended. However, one could argue that the Scouring of the Shire and the reconstruction afterwards marked a definite emotional growth in hobbit society, and certainly in Merry and Pippin. One could also say that even if the Shire was defended, it would eventually fall as the forces of Mordor swept the world - unless, of course, the Ring was destroyed in the meantime.

It all boils down to this: Just how significant a role did Merry and Pippin play in the War of the Ring?