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He had the sense to squeeze out of the brawling orcs and cut ropes of his bound hands, and not just run off. He is also smart enough to imitate Gollum to buy time from Grishnakh.
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Indeed, this part in the Two Towers illustrates the upside of his impulsive nature. Pippin is quick-thinking and quick-acting. He just needs a challenge and he rises to it admirably. But he is not complete in his skills. He would have been hopelessly lost in Fangorn Forest if Merry hadn't studied the maps and knew approximately where they were!
Pippin's impulses act as serendipitous occurrences, pushing events that could not have been purposefully pushed into the paths they must go to gain a victory for the forces of Good. In a way, Pippin's foolish stone in Moria works out to Gandalf's good, bringing him, through strife and death into a higher state with the powers he needs to complete his own quest (if we take the stone and later events as direct consequence, which isn't completely certain.) With the palantir incident, Pippin "saves" Gandalf again by determining the nature of the device before Gandalf puts himself on the line to investigate it, thus saving Gandalf from exposure to Sauron prematurely and adding a level of misdirection that keeps Sauron from realizing their plans too soon. So Pippin as Gandalf's "project" works out well and bears fruit that couldn't be brought into flower by purposeful direct action. This points up to me, along with his counsels to Frodo earlier, the subtlety of Gandalf's judgement and the heart of his love for the hobbits.
I've probably said all this before in other threads, but I felt like saying it again! Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Lyta