Before we start trying to compress the timeline, I think we should make sure we understand the existing timeline and consider how it can serve our purposes. I believe that we can make the timeline work with the storylines discussed last session with only a minor shifting around of events and no compression.
Here is a modification of the timeline from Tolkien Gateway, which draws mainly from the published
Silmarillion and some of the chronology in
The War of the Jewels. I have removed the births and deaths that I do not consider narratively relevant and color coded based on the storylines and the houses of the Edain.
This, however, only includes things for which specific years are mentioned. Some of the storylines we want to include, such as the escape of Rhogrin and Annael, Angband internal politics, the making of the Nauglamir, and Fingolfin trying to muster an offensive, can happen whenever we want.
Now, I'm going to put together a 13-episode outline that tells the stories we want to tell about the houses of the Edain and thematically connects them to some of the other proposed storylines.
Episode 1
This is mainly about the House of Beor meeting Finrod. We may want to briefly check in with Fingolfin and the other Elves to remind the viewers that this is a time of peace and the siege is going well. The episode ends with Beor and Finrod going off to Nargothrond.
Episode 2
The other two houses of the Edain arrive in Beleriand in this episode. It doesn't matter who's leading them, though, because this episode is told from an Elvish perspective. The main focus is the Green-elves unfriendship with these two houses and Galadriel and Celeborn's efforts to work things out. This also gives Galadriel and Celeborn a chance to go to Doriath and hear Thingol's ironic proclamation that no man shall come into his lands.
Episode 3
This episode could show in parallel Aredhel's decision to leave Gondolin and Rhogrin and Annael's escape from Angband. The escape/departure would happen at the end, so we have time to show Aredhel getting uncomfortable with Gondolin, and Sauron doing whatever he does to Annael to make him an unwitting traitor.
Episode 4
Now things are starting to get ominous. Aredhel gets through Nan Dungorhteb, stops by Aglon, and goes to Nan Elmoth. She meets and weds Eol at the end of the episode. Annael does some unwittingly treacherous things. If we want to set up the Dwarf storyline, we can do something that involves the Feanorians (while simultaneously explaining why they aren't there when Aredhel visits).
Episode 5
Dwarf storyline and the making of the Nauglamir. Death of Beor and Elves learning about mortality. Finrod is the character that connects these two storylines.
Episode 6
Treachery! Annael revealed and fake Amlach leads to Bereg going east. The bad guys are clearly trying to push Men and Elves apart. However, Haleth becomes leader of the Haladin and proves that it is possible to oppose Morgoth without directly serving the Elves.
Episode 7
We see our two main romantic relationships in parallel. Aredhel and Eol are growing apart while Aegnor and Andreth are falling in love. Both end tracically. Aredhel and Maeglin escape to Gondolin; Eol follows them and kills Aredhel. Aegnor tells Andreth that they cannot be together. Maeglin sees Idril for the first time, and the seeds of evil (and another tragic love story are sown). If there's time, we can check in with Haleth, who is wisely avoiding romantic relationships.
Episode 8
This episode is the largest departure from the timeline so far. What I want to do is compress that cluster of events from 402-416 into a single episode. As we discussed in
this thread, there is a little battle at the Pass of Aglon mentioned in
The War of the Jewels in some of the older chronology, which, though it doesn't appear in the published
Silmarillion, was included in the Tolkien Gateway and doesn't conflict with any of the chronology in the book. I think this battle and its positioning in the chronology would be perfect to include in SilmFilm for a number of reasons.
We wanted a young Hador to impress some Elf lords by proving himself in battle, and here's a battle for him to do that. He can be awarded Dor-lomin and the Dragon-helm right then and there. Boromir can be given Ladros for the same reason. However, we can show the difference between the House of Beor and the soon-to-be House of Hador by having Boromir's help in the battle expected by the Elves and Hador's help a surprise. Also, this ties in with our Elf storylines. It happens at Aglon, which is where Celegorm and Curufin live, and they were just involved in the Aredhel story, so we are familiar with those characters and place. But, best of all, we can inter-cut scenes of Finrod and Andreth talking about how Aegnor wouldn't marry her because this is a time of war with Aegnor literally fighting alongside Andreth's father!
Episode 9
Haleth continues to be awesome. We need to come up with storylines for her, but whatever they are, they can play out here. We may want to have their crossing through Nan Dungortheb and settlement in Brethil in this episode, which also gives us a chance to revisit Doriath. Hador can also do stuff in this episode and/or we can check in with Maeglin in Gondolin.
Episode 10
Fingolfin believes it is possible to assault Angband and goes around trying to convince everyone. Maybe Hador travels around with him so he can be in this episode. Only Angrod and Aegnor (and maybe Barahir with them) are actually interested in an assault. If we want to, we could also check in with the villains and suggest that the Gothmog-Sauron-Glaurung rivalry is a hindrance to Angband's productivity (it's not really).
Episode 11
Everything seems peaceful. I'm not sure what the main storyline should be for this episode, but it should seem small and in no way portentous of next episode's events. There's room here for Hador and Barahir to do stuff, whatever we want that to be. We can check back in with Maeglin or the Dwarves or whoever we want. Maybe someone goes to visit Cirdan. We haven't seen him in a while.
Episode 12 and 13
Dagor Bragollach, pts. 1 & 2 - Suddenly, there is fire everywhere. The siege is broken. Everyone is dying. I've suggested how the events of the battle could be split into two episodes in
this post.
So, given the existing timeline, it is completely feasible to tell the stories of our main Human characters, giving them multiple episodes each, and not getting bogged down in the complex genealogy.
Here's the timeline again with the episodes marked.