Yes, I'm not sure how to handle Thingol. He's...going to double down on his 'who cares what happens outside my borders?' philosophy and withdraw from Beleriand. But...at the beginning of this, he thinks of himself as the ruler of Beleriand, granting the newly arrived Noldor permission to be his neighbors. So, that is a significant change, and we have to see the betrayal that gets him to make that sharp shift.
The Noldor are full of secrets. Some will come out sooner than others. Over the course of the first half of this season, Thingol is going to learn that:
- His good friend Finwë is dead, murdered by Morgoth.
- Finwë's son Fëanor made these silmaril jewels that Morgoth stole.
- His brother Olwë is dead, slain by Fëanor.
- The Noldor killed many of the Teleri in Alqualondë and stole their ships.
- It was the Fëanoreans, not Morgoth or orcs, that burned the Teleri ships.
WHEN and HOW he learns these things will tell different stories.
Does he hear rumors? Do Círdan or Celeborn find out and tell him? Does Melian learn the truth and share it with him? Do the Noldor (particularly the very angry sons of Finarfin) tell the Sindar to intentionally drive a wedge between them and the Fëanoreans?
And for each new revelation (which the audience already knows), does Thingol react with grief...anger...or a complete revamping of his nation's foreign policy? What is the last straw? At what point does he say, I never want to hear your language spoken again? I never want to see anyone dressed in your cultural garb (jewels) again?
I mean, we know it's the kinslaying. But keep in mind that we've added the bonus 'Fëanor personally throws the spear that kills Olwë' element, and we've had Earwen (the mother of Angrod, by the by) die in the kinslaying as well. Given those details, what exactly comes out when and how is more than just 'Thingol learns of the Kinslaying'.
We don't want to prolong this too long (since the audience already knows), but that should overshadow the initial goodwill between the Sindar and the Noldor. Thingol should be very welcoming, happy to send his representatives to the Feast of Reuniting, etc. It is only after that that the uglier truths are learned. So....
I think he definitely learns of Finwë's death first, and his genuine grief gives him a *brief* moment of being united with and sympathetic to the Noldor (even the Fëanoreans).
Learning of the silmarils is merely an intriguing detail (at first). Melian is much more concerned by this one.
I think the shipburning is the last, in the aftermath of the Ban, when Círdan and Thingol discuss the fall of the Noldor, and how they are not the saviors the Sindar thought they were at first.