I keep going back and forth between 'play up the animosity between Caranthir and Angrod to encapsulate the intra-Noldor conflict in a single contentious relationship' and 'the issues between the Fëanoreans and the Host of Fingolfin should not be simplified down to Caranthir and Angrod not liking each other.'
You can't have 'peoples' dislike one another and tell any kind of story with it. It has to be individual people disliking and struggling to interact with other individual people. Even if the point of your story is racism or one group of people being mocked. So, in
Witness, you have the random non-Amish people thinking it's funny to knock off the guy's hat, because they know they'll get away with it. They aren't defined, named characters - just a group of bullies. But...the reaction to them is very individual. The Amish guy takes it, and Harrison Ford's character is more about punching people in the face. They aren't just beating up on 'the Amish' - they're beating up on
this guy.
But at the same time, if we decide that Angrod is the voice of 'man, I really hate those Fëanoreans' and Caranthir is the voice of 'wow, Fëanoreans can be such jerks'...it starts to look like a personal feud between Caranthir and Angrod. We've got to bring the other Noldor into it, even if it's not always quite as obvious/contentious as with those two.
So...Mereth Aderthad will be an ensemble episode with many, many people there and interacting for the only time in the series. We should take full advantage of that and think through who we want to have talk to whom about what.
Maedhros is all about damage control. He wants the Host of Fingolfin to join with him in fighting Morgoth, and he knows that only lasts so long as the Fëanoreans don't burn any more bridges (ships) there. So, he's going to be tactful and act as a gift-giving ambassador and keep his brothers out of the room (so to speak) as much as possible. He'll make an effort to maintain his relationships with Fingon and Finrod over the years (less so with Turgon, maybe). At the Mereth Aderthad, Maedhros would want to put out any fires (though he wouldn't have Lúthien's power to actually do so). So, he could (potentially) admire her efforts [if he even recognizes what she's doing; probably not.] His goal in attending is to maintain ties. So....who does he talk to there?
Maglor is really glad that Maedhros is the leader, not him. He'll follow Maedhros' lead and back him up however is necessary. He's an artist and a fighter, and it's really hard to pretend that the artist part doesn't come first. At the feast, a peaceful event...the artist side should be out in full force. He's not above showing off, though he's probably not going to sing the Noldolante or anything! [That likely gets composed much, much later.] If *any* of the Noldor are going to figure out what Lúthien's doing, it's most likely to be him or Finrod. If we had a scene of Maglor singing and Lúthien dancing to the music, that would be pretty cool!
Curufin's wife (if she's the one being made captive) will be introduced early in this season and get a name. Any chance that she would attend without her husband? If so, what's her take on all of this? [Alternatively, we could use Caranthir's wife in this role.]
Maglor's wife - she could potentially be there, but likely as a background character only. Any particular viewpoint she should have on all of this?
Any other Fëanoreans we want there?
Turgon hates Fëanoreans and probably only invited them to his party grudgingly because his father told him to. Okay, so Turgon is not a 10 year old throwing a birthday party, but I do think there is some grudging acceptance that anyone from East Beleriand is showing up at all. Though as host, he's not going to go around trying to start fights. Holding the party in Nevrast is only 'centrally located' if you pretend East Beleriand doesn't exist. His focus is clearly on building strong relationships with the Sindar who are moving into Nevrast now; he could do without the Fëanoreans.
Fingolfin, as High King, wants to be a voice of unity and see everyone getting along. He is maybe a bit more optimistic than he should be about thinking that the feud between him and Fëanor is dead and buried, but he is actively working on it and the party was his idea. He wants to encourage his people to make new homes here and all get along. He'd likely be monitoring any disgruntlement, but be removed from it (last to hear sort of thing).
Fingon thinks the feud is healed. He worked really hard to make that happen. He trusts Maedhros to lead the Fëanoreans in the right direction moving forward. So...he's maybe genuinely happy at the Feast? He's maybe focusing on the Sindar now.
Aredhel will be disappointed if Curufin and Celegorm don't show up. She's likely been busy helping establish Nevrast and act as hostess to this get together.
Idril is finally all grown up, and we'll be introducing grown-up her in this episode. What will she do? Who will she talk to?
Glorfindel and Ecthelion will be involved in hosting this Feast and should be introduced to the audience by now. What do they get up to?
Rog will be one of Fingolfin's people; we should include him here, even if he's background still.
Finrod is a peacemaker who is friends with everyone. He's genuinely willing to give the Fëanoreans another chance. He's thrilled to spend time with the Sindar. He is happy to see his family again. If there were dwarves here, he'd chat with them. He's just....an all around friendly and nice guy. He's also the wisest one in the bunch, so he'd be pretty cognizant of underlying currents if things start to turn sour.
Aegnor is fairly neutral at this point. He's friends with Fingon, and he gets along with his brothers, but he's not overly fond of Fëanoreans. He could do without them, but isn't vocally hating them.
Angrod...is angry with the Fëanoreans in general, and Caranthir in particular. He hated Fëanor while crossing the Helcaraxë and wanted some vengeance when they arrived. Then...it turned out Fëanor was dead, and Maedhros and Fingolfin made up, so he did his best to put that all behind him, and when he went to meet Thingol, he presented the Noldor as a united group and did not mention their internal issues. He thought he was being really honorable and generous about the whole thing. Then Caranthir accused him of telling tales and ranted that he didn't speak for him, etc, and Angrod was stung to have his generous act of diplomacy (I got you all permission to live wherever you want!) thrown back in his face by an ungrateful lout. If anyone is going to voice 'I hope the Fëanoreans don't show up' it would be him, but I don't think he'd go so far as to say, 'If they're there, I'm not going.'
Orodreth - busy making lovey-dovey eyes at Meril
Galadriel - So not in the mood for a party. She's been depressed/withdrawn and not interested in company since her trip to Doriath. But, she does attend, and Celeborn draws her out of her shell.
Círdan is there, and he's getting frustrated by stories that don't add up. He's also one of the last people who would start a fight, and he's interested in finding the truth, not fisticuffs. He'll also maintain good relations with the non-Fëanorean Noldor after the Kinslaying reveal (including Fingon, who was guilty), so...we really have to think about his reaction.
Beleg and Mablung and Lúthien - they are there for a party, and to meet the newcomers. Lúthien will be the ultimate peacemaker, and she's there to help everyone choose to get along. She might not like all the Noldor she meets, but she's certainly willing to give them a chance and treats them kindly. What are Beleg and Mablung up to? And does Daeron come along?
Celeborn - talks to Galadriel privately
Celeborn's sister (name TBD) - we have some Green Elves at this feast, right? She would be meeting the Noldor for the first time. She might be a bit...puzzled as to what the dynamics are between them all, but she must be curious enough to have travelled all the way from Ossiriand to attend.
Anyone else there with a name we should be considering?
So, while Sauron could obviously start something between two red-shirts, is there any other dynamic here that we could exploit to start a fight (or at the very least, an angry exchange of words along the lines of 'how dare you' or 'you have a lot of nerve' that could potentially escalate)? If we have to, it can be that Caranthir shows up uninvited, gets drunk, and picks a fight with literally everyone he talks to. But...any other ideas?