Right, there are a few different issues here.
One is how the Noldor feel about the various events in their recent past, and how eager they are to recount them to 'new' elves they are just meeting for the first time. Considering what their recent past is...'not too eager' seems fair enough. Some of them will refuse to talk about it, and consider those events painful for years to come. Others are not as directly affected, so as the hardship is gone, they are able to deal with the memory of it in their own ways. Others will form deep and meaningful relationships with the Sindar they meet, having a reason to share intimate details from their own past, even difficult or traumatic ones.
But there is another question - what topics are 'taboo' to talk about, not just because they are painful/difficult, but because Fingolfin the High King has demanded silence on these matters? Clearly, the Kinslaying and the Doom of Mandos are super secret and cannot be mentioned to new elves they meet - there is guilt there, not just pain. There's a reason to hide the truth. The feud between the Fëanoreans and the other Noldor would be...well, difficult to conceal completely, but probably something they are glossing over as hard as they can. This is a 'show a united happy front to the outsiders' situation, where you don't come clean about your internal issues because it's nobody's business. And once the feud is healed, it's considered 'in the past' by most parties, though...obviously not in reality, entirely. So, yes, they are also concealing Fëanor abandoning the other Noldor in Araman as well. But here, it's not their *own* guilt they are hiding, but the guilt of those who wronged them. So, they hide a lot less about this part of the story (most likely), just the betrayal. I don't see any reason to conceal the crossing of the Helcaraxë itself, so I doubt it's an equally taboo topic like the others. There may be reasons to avoid talking about it for a little while, but it's hardly a secret they can keep.
So, what stories do you have to tell to keep those secrets and avoid those questions?
1) The Noldor cannot claim to be sent by the Valar, as that is an outright lie, but they should fail to correct that assumption if the Sindar make it, because explaining how, no, actually we rebelled against the Valar and are banished from Valinor is not something they want to say. So, they stick with the 'We came to fight Morgoth!' approach, and do not mention the Valar's will here at all. IF they are asked about the Valar - maybe, oh, hey, are the Valar coming to help fight Morgoth, too? Then the Noldor would have to say, 'No, they aren't coming. It's just us.' The Sindar may wonder at the seeming disconnect, but probably won't think to conclude, oh, the Noldor are rebels.
2) In Season 2, Círdan and Celeborn saw the burned ships, but had not yet caught up with the Noldor. However, they were within sight of the Noldor camp by the time the Sun rose, so concealing the division between the Host of Fingolfin and the Host of Fëanor from Círdan is going to be no easy feat. Círdan is meeting the Noldor *before* the issue of High Kingship is resolved, *before* the rescue of Maedhros. Granted, there's a language barrier, but...the two very separate camps are not exactly going to be presenting a unified front. I think we have to resolve the issue of what Círdan's first impressions are at some point here, as he is the key character to 'figure out' the Kinslaying. Most likely, he's just meeting the Host of Fingolfin for his 'first contact', and not meeting the Fëanoreans right away?
3) Concealing the silmarils and the Oath is easy, as the Sindar don't know to ask about them. The death of Finwë would come out sooner, simply because Thingol is going to ask after both his brother Olwë and his best friend Finwë as soon as he meets Angrod. So, saying that Morgoth destroyed the Trees and killed Finwë, and that this precipitated the Noldor's voyage to Middle Earth...technically all true, but leaves out the whole rebellion thing. What will Angrod say about Olwë (his own grandfather)? Surely he will also reveal to Thingol that Olwë was killed when asked about it, but maybe in such a way that it seems part of the Darkening of Valinor/Death of Finwë situation? He's not going to outright lie to cover for Fëanor, here, but he is likely to skirt the truth is such a way that no one thinks to question him. Something like:
*is asked about Olwë and Finwë* (his grandfathers - this is going to come up pretty much as soon as he's introduced, because telling Thingol who Angrod is requires mentioning Olwë and Finwë)
*makes sad noises*
*tells of Morgoth's attack on the Two Trees and the Darkening of Valinor*
*reveals that Olwë and Finwë are both dead and in the Halls of Mandos*
*but hey, we're here now, and we've come to help!*
In doing so, Angrod is allowing his listeners to conclude that Morgoth is at fault for all the evils he just recounted, but he can very easily do that in such a way that he never says Morgoth killed Olwë. No one would think to ask for another villain (at this point in the story). I'm not sure we want to 'reveal' all of this up front, but doing so is one option.
An alternative is for him to speak of Olwë in the past tense, and when asked how he currently is, say he does not know. One could speak of Alqualondë, and the harbor, and the ships, and the Teleri's life on the shores....without speaking of recent events. Maybe we do want Angrod to be that secretive, but can he really manage that without flat-out lying about Olwë's death?
It's really difficult for me to see how Olwë would just....not come up at all during this conversation.
4) Concealing that the Host of Fingolfin and the Host of Fëanor reached Middle Earth in different ways is not going to be at all easy if Círdan saw their separate Hosts. Círdan knows how small the fleet was; he sees how big the Hosts are - he knows that they did not all come over in those ships all at once. He may conclude that there was ferrying involved. But if he saw the separate Hosts...even if they are making nice and pretending that all is well between them, they do have to acknowledge that they aren't, you know,
together together. A physical separation is painfully obvious - the crossing of the Helcaraxë accounts for that. That's one reason why this would not be an easy secret to keep.
5) Having the crossing of the Helcaraxë revealed shows the dedication of the Host of Fingolfin in reaching Middle Earth to help the Sindar in their war against Morgoth. The Host of Fingolfin will *want* this truth to come out at some point. They're also quite proud of their accomplishment in reaching Middle Earth without ships. So, how does it come up without mentioning the Kinslaying, the Doom, or Fëanor's betrayal? One option is that the Host of Fingolfin doesn't lie at all - they crossed the Ice because the ships were burned. They are not revealing the treachery of the Host of Fëanor, but they aren't denying the truth of what happened, either. They're leaving out the part where they were betrayed, but otherwise telling the story exactly as it happened. They were on the far shore waiting for ships that would never return, and so they decided to cross the Ice to reach Middle Earth on their own. *When* they tell this story probably does have some wiggle room, but they would totally own up to this long before they would breath a word of the Kinslaying or the Doom of Mandos.
Since we want the Sindar to only slowly piece together the history of the Kinslaying, we should spread out which pieces of the puzzle are revealed when. Angrod's initial meeting with Thingol should only reveal what he *has* to reveal in that conversation, not everything about the past that wasn't strictly forbidden ground.
So, I could see a scenario where we reveal:
1) 'We came to fight Morgoth!' when the Sindar and Noldor first meet. (Abbreviated version of the Darkening of Valinor)
2) The deaths of Finwë and Olwë (fuller version of the Darkening of Valinor) when Angrod meets Thingol. Justified delay in wanting to tell this news directly to Elwë rather than to allow rumors to reach him?
3) Sindar have too many questions; Noldor have too few answers at the Feast of Reuniting. Thuringwethil and Sauron do their best to sow discord and mistrust between all parties. Galadriel and Celeborn have a heart-to-heart?
4) Galadriel tells Melian about the Silmarils, and how they were the cause of Finwë's death, and where they are now. Melian shares this news with Thingol.
5) Rumors spread, in part fueled by Thuringwethil. These rumors emphasize the divisions and mistrust between the Host of Fingolfin and the Fëanoreans, trying to erode that alliance. Angband knows that the Fëanoreans arrived before the Host of Fingolfin, and tries to cast that in the most suspicious light possible. Sindar reach the (charitable) conclusion that the Host of Fingolfin was cut off from Middle Earth when Morgoth attacked the ships, and then crossed the Ice to reach Middle Earth. Sauron seeks out the truth of the matter.
6) Sauron, who knows that it was no force of Morgoth who burned the ships, accuses Fëanor of having done so. Círdan hears this rumor and is deeply disturbed, because he knows those were Teleri ships, and this implies that Fëanor killed the Teleri sailors! He sends news to Thingol immediately.
7) Thingol confronts Angrod, accusing him of being a slayer of kin. Angrod angrily reveals the full magnitude of the kinslaying, and places the guilt on Fëanor, revealing Fëanor's betrayal at the shipburning that caused the Host of Fingolfin to become stranded and have to cross the Ice on their own. So, now Thingol knows there was a kinslaying, and it's so much worse than Sauron's rumors implied.
That pushes the reveal of the crossing of the Helcaraxë back to after the Feast of Reuniting, but I don't think it can wait much longer than that, if for no other reason then that Morgoth/Sauron/Gothmog are well aware that it happened, and Círdan was in the north when the Host of Fingolfin arrived. It's still artificially delayed, but that was the best I could come up with.
Faelivrin, I can make a note to the Execs that you feel the topic of the crossing of the Helcaraxë should not be discussed with the Sindar until Thingol confronts Angrod about the Kinslaying. But I think Corey Olsen is aware of your thoughts on this topic from the last session? And tomorrow's session will be focusing on Celeborn and Galadriel, so more Sindar/Noldor stuff will come up, but this topic may or may not be revisited. We shall see.
