This is probably going to be really long!
I saw you said the outline would do that, and I’m sorry I seemed to ignore it. I’m really confused because you also seem to say that the Noldor must describe Helkaraxë crossing to Círdan + Thingol immediately in Eps 1-2. That it’s impossible to hide that the 2 hosts came separately, and that they have to tell Círdan as soon as they meet him, or that he already knows about the Helkaraxë before they meet him. I may be misunderstanding, but that’s my honest best attempt to interpret your posts.
I don’t think any survivor wants to open up to total strangers immediately in the first few years (1-2 months to Elves). In fact it sounds like the Hosts want Galadriel to cope by not talking with anyone, not even her family.
But more importantly, the Noldor truly need to hide it, to avoid conflict with the Sindar. I don’t want to show them blithely taking idiotic risks.
Okay, let's see....possible timeline for the Season
As far as timing in this project goes, the meeting with Círdan is the first Sindar/Noldor interaction, and that focuses on learning each other's languages. And so we'll get the first basic answers to 'why are you here?' and 'how did you get here?' but it is possible for there to be some confusion/misunderstanding in those sequences. Círdan may not be able to ask the questions he wants to ask right away, as they're still stuck on the 'My name is Círdan' part of the conversation. But, yes, eventually Círdan is going to ask about the mystery of the burned ships, and someone has to think of something to tell him that *doesn't* implicate Fëanor. Key details that should emerge in these earliest interactions are that the Noldor came to fight Morgoth, and that the ships were all destroyed. The Teleri...are not here. We will have to show Círdan making some erroneous assumptions, and the Noldor failing to disabuse him of them.
Galadriel's trip to Doriath is very early on (so, say, Episode 2), and she does shut down at that point. She's not offering much of anything to Thingol and Melian and is working through her guilt (survivor's guilt, sure, but she feels a bit like a co-conspirator). It is possible that Thingol (or his court) will ask her questions that she can't answer and is clearly upset by, which would color how they approach Angrod later. Galadriel's visit may teach the Sindar to tread lightly, which would help the Noldor's concealment plans greatly. I realize that 'silent tears' doesn't sound like a terribly Galadriel reaction to anything, but the whole point is that she is very much not herself after she looks at Melian. It is clear at this point that 'something bad' happened in Valinor, though of course the Sindar have no clue what. She establishes her kinship with Thingol, but that's about all.
Angrod visits Doriath as ambassador for the Noldor in FA 6 (so, likely Episode 3). We will now have more 'formal' questions and answers, and what Angrod says should be planned (by Angrod himself, of course, but also potentially coached by Finrod and/or Fingolfin). We would expect Angrod to confirm the intentions of the Noldor to stay in Middle-earth, maybe even going so far as to say that there is 'no way' back for them...without revealing anything remotely like the Doom of the Valar and Valinor being shut to them. Likewise, he is going to have to say that he can bring no news of Olwë, as...*launches into tale of Morgoth's misdeeds in Valinor*. He will affirm the Noldor's commitment to fighting Morgoth, and voice their desire to make permanent homes in Beleriand. Thingol will make Doriath off limits, and stress to Angrod that the Noldor will encounter Sindar who already live in these lands (a very 'they were here first' vibe, so he makes it clear he doesn't want the Noldor messing with them). Angrod, for his part, will attempt to portray the Noldor as a united front. Depending on whether or not Fingolfin was crowned before Angrod left, he could specifically speak of the High King of the Noldor (what about Finwë? Oh...he's, ummm....dead. Morgoth!), but even if that's later, he would still speak of a unified group because he thinks that the division between the Host of Fingolfin and the Fëanoreans is at an end now that they are all in Middle-earth. [Obviously, we will have to show *something* in Mithrim prior to this that justifies that interpretation.]
Angrod returns, the Noldor settle into their new realms, and the Sindar are with them (well, in Nevrast; not in East Beleriand so much). Fingolfin instructs them to leave the past behind and not speak of the darkness behind them to their new neighbors (or something like that) - in effect, he issues a gag order.
When we get to the Mereth Aderthad (Episode 5 at the moment), the Sindar and Noldor are intermingling, and now we get to the point where the Sindar are asking questions, the Noldor are giving non-answer brushoffs, and the Sindar are getting frustrated/confused/curious as to what's going on? Sauron smells a rat. Galadriel begins to open up again, speaking with Celeborn, who notices the change in her.
In the time between the Mereth Aderthad and the Dagor Aglareb (Episodes 6-7, FA 20-60), the Sindar would learn about the crossing of the Helcaraxë and that there was no 'ferrying' of elves. They would take the charitable interpretation that, 'Oh! The Noldor braved that journey to come help us fight Morgoth! What loyal friends!' They have known all along that the ships were destroyed. They know that some Teleri are dead. What they have thought all along is that every bad thing they hear about, Morgoth is behind.
At the same time, Sauron is spreading malicious rumors about the Noldor. He knows that Fëanor burned the ships (or at least, he knows Fëanor came on the ships and they burned, and that Morgoth/Gothmog did *not* do it). Some of his rumors are outright lies; others are closer to the truth, but not quite on the mark. He doesn't have any 'inside' information yet.....
Also during this time, Galadriel tells Melian about Fëanor's silmarils (though not the Oath). She also reveals the entire Kinslaying to Celeborn, who keeps this in confidence.
In the aftermath of the Dagor Aglareb, Círdan hears the rumor that the Noldor burned the ships (and killed the Teleri on board). [Sauron got so close....] Alarmed, he reports this to Thingol [in Episode 9], with some wisdom about going directly to the source. Finrod and Angrod and Galadriel are *all* present in Menegroth when this happens (Galadriel lives there, Angrod is official ambassador, and Finrod is there on Nargothrond-related business). Thingol questions them angrily about the truth of this, and how they are sitting in his halls after murdering their own kin. Angrod breaks his silence - that's the last straw, that he would be accused of being a Kinslayer simply for protecting the actual Kinslayers with his silence.
Now that Thingol knows the whole truth (Darkening of Valinor, death of Finwë, theft of the silmarils, Oath, Doom, Kinslaying, Helcaraxë, Shipburning, reconciliation of Fingolfin and Maedhros), he has to decide what to do. This will lead to the Ban [Episode 10].
Fingolfin will be shown accepting the Ban, and commanding all of his followers to do as Thingol has bid and speak Sindarin to the Sindar and remove their gems from their clothing. [Episode 10 or 11]
At some point (immediately? later?), Thingol will learn that Celeborn, one of his trusted representatives, has known this truth (including the Kinslaying) for some time, but did not tell him. Thingol will have to react to this apparent betrayal of trust.
If they never talk about the journey in front of Sindar, and just tell the Sindar they don’t want to talk about it, nobody would think to ask “Did you walk across the Grinding Ice?” It’s nearly as unthinkable as the Kinslaying, because it’s so insanely dangerous, and the Sindar don’t know that Calaquendi are so much tougher than themselves. The Sindar don’t even know yet that the Ice exists, because Ulmo only made it when Morgoth left Valinor. They have no idea walking over the Sea is even possible.
It's true that they don't yet know about the Helcaraxë, most likely. Thingol has been to Valinor before (with Oromë as Ambassador from Cuiviénen), but we did not specify *exactly* how he got across Belegaer. Presumably, giant turtle islands or icebergs pulled by narwhales or something. Ships are the only way they are going to think of for crossing the Sea (you would think).
I agree that the Noldor of Fingolfin's Host would have to not talk about the journey at all if they wanted to avoid letting the Sindar know they crossed the Helcaraxë. It would involve outright lies to talk about how they got to Middle-earth without mentioning the fact that they walked across the Grinding Ice and did not take ships.
I also agree with you that they won't outright lie, so this means that their choices are to say nothing and let the Sindar assume they took ships, or to say they crossed on the Ice.
I don't think the crossing of the Helcaraxë needs to be the first thing they reveal about their recent past. They can manage to not mention it for awhile. But if no one in the Host of Fingolfin is ever going to falsely claim that he crossed the ocean in a ship (and he won't), then it is going to come up eventually. And as soon as it comes up, the Noldor would admit that. One can admit the crossing of the Helcaraxë without admitting anything else. The ships were burned; the Sindar already know that. Only some of us made it across and the rest were stranded, so we walked. Oh! They aren't going to ask if the ones who came first betrayed the ones who came later.
This story would only come out by accident from somebody very young, or inebriated, or betrothed to/in love with a Sinda. I explained how easily Círdan could misunderstand why there are two camps, without instantly knowing they crossed the Helkaraxë.
Here. At worst, Círdan would assume the second host was brought over by the Valar.
I agree that we can delay Círdan figuring it out for a time. He can assume that there was ferrying, and that some batches were dropped off further north before the final group was set upon and the ships were destroyed. Or, as you say, he could think that the Valar aided the Noldor. The Valar have aided the elves in crossing this Sea in the past, after all, as Círdan well knows (though he thinks that time is over). We want to be careful not to make Círdan seem oblivious or naive, but I think some natural confusion associated with learning a new language and not getting clear answers may lead to an honest misunderstanding that the Noldor take advantage of.
I think that even the realization that the Noldor are hiding something should happen gradually. At least as gradually as in
the outline I proposed above.
I’m also concerned that Marie’s outline contradicts the story written by Tolkien, who did not think the Noldor want to tell the Sindar about Finwë’s death immediately. I’d much rather give the author the benefit of the doubt that he had a reason for what he wrote. If pushed, Angrod can tell Thingol he hasn’t spoken to Finwë or Olwë recently, has no messages, and doesn’t know how they are doing. He might hope that by now they’ve been reincarnated; after all they were innocent. If he tells Thingol about Finwë then he also has to tell him that the Noldor don’t have a new King because they’re divided by a feud, and that Angrod is the ambassador of just one faction.
There's a lot of issues to deal with in there. To be honest, the 'I haven't heard from x lately' work around is really quite dishonest when the Noldor know very well that they're both dead. And Elwë *will* ask about Finwë and Olwë, so there's no chance that it just won't come up. So, while it maybe doesn't have to come out in the very first conversation ever, it is likely going to be difficult to hide this for long without lying. I think there is a value to doling out bits of information gradually. Some news has to come out more quickly. Everything *except* the kinslaying has to come out before that final bit.
For the death of Finwë, Angrod has to weigh the benefits of concealing this for a time versus the repercussions if the news comes out and Thingol finds out that he didn't tell him. So, he could tell him right away. Or, yes, his initial conversation *could* conceal this. He could say that they came 'from Finwë' or 'because of Finwë' or 'on behalf of Finwë' without mentioning that Morgoth killed Finwë. But...he can't hope to keep that up for long, so in another conversation, he'd have to excuse himself by saying he didn't want to 'mar their first meeting' or 'give Thingol such grievous news publicly' or something. But...he would tell Thingol soon enough, I think.
[As an aside, Finwë is going to at least consider refusing reincarnation to keep Míriel from being trapped in Mandos, but of course the Exiled Noldor don't know anything about this.]
And I'd like to clarify that I want to use the story of the rumors in the books: Sauron and his spies eventually find out the whole truth and spread rumors specifically about the Kinslaying; then Thingol accuses Finrod and brothers of slaying kin at Alqualondë.
I thought that the final piece of information that set Círdan off was the reveal that Fëanor burned the ships, and the story that the Noldor killed the Teleri is part of that story. We have to show Círdan's story making sense; it begins when he sees the burning ships, and ends when he learns that truth. We want Círdan to report the rumors to Thingol. Therefore...the rumor includes that bit of information. There are many different possibilities of different rumors spreading after Sauron starts. Sauron does learn the truth after he gets some prisoners - that would be during the Dagor Aglareb, perhaps?