1. Concerning the issue of names and control:
Merry and Pippin gave away their names as though it is of small consequence. Perhaps it is due to their innocence
or (here’s where speculation begins) like Dwarves, it is very hard to dominate them. For instance, Sam tried to stay awake even when Old Man Willow is putting them to sleep. Plus there’s the Gaffer withstanding Khamûl’s interrogation (he should have been in Minas Tirith, teaching those weak-kneed Men!). And then of course there’s Frodo, resisting the power of the Ring until the very end.
2. Concerning Red Dawn
“Awake! Awake!” [Legolas] cried. “It is a red dawn! Strange things await us by the eaves of the forest. Good or evil, I do not know, but we are called. Awake!”
LR III 2
The idea that this message was for Treebeard could explain the events that transpired between the Ent and the Hobbits.
[Treebeard: ]I almost feel I dislike you both, but do not let us be hasty.
LR III 4
[Treebeard: ] . . . if I had see you before I heard you, I should have just trodden on you, mistaking you for little Orcs . . .
ibid
Treebeard was there, relatively near the eaves of the forest, perhaps listening to the tales of the trees from the very edge of the forest. There were trees cut down by the Orcs, and more were felled by the Rohirrim. Obviously, Treebeard is furious, and wary perhaps of anyone entering the forest. And
then these little people—which he has never seen before—come up to him! What would come to his mind first?!
I think the “strange things” message of the rising sun—perhaps along with Pippin almost liking the place—saved the two from the wrath of Fangorn.