User blog comment:Ktrfgfg/Chapter 53 Predictions + Volume12Special/@comment-10733658-20131212122551

I think the story has reached the mid-point where we have a new threat.....or rather, are finally beginning to discover the true nature of the threat. The first half was about the discovery of the Shifters, and attempting to ferret out the spies among their ranks. I think it is very telling that Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie......really didn't handle their job well if you think about it. Literally their only advantage, the only reason they managed to remain undetected for so long was because no one knew to look for them. But Erwin took almost no time at all to hunt them down, as soon as he'd realized the existence of the Shifters. It took about a /week/ to hunt all three down, and they made so many sloppy mistakes.

On the other hand, it's pretty clear the true threat is the conspiracy within the Walls and whoever they are working for. I've long suspected that there was some element within the Walls connected to the Shifters, as three youngsters would not have been able to assimilate into a strange new society so effortlessly and create a reasonable backstory without having some information to begin with. It seems pretty obvious now that the group responsible for killing Pastor Nick and Historia's mother is such a group, considering the events that took place around the time Wall Maria was attacked. Grisha suddenly got called away to the Interior (therefore being out of danger when the attack happened), and Lord Reiss tries to take his mistress and daughter away? I'm curious as to why they had to die, as it seems that Lord Reiss didn't give two craps about his mistress and Historia doesn't know anything.

I really hope we'll get to see more glimpses of Reiner, Bert, and Ymir's side of things. Their heading back to the homeland gives us a perfect opportunity to finally see that side of things, as I don't imagine Eren and co will be going there anytime soon. Either way, I think this next half of the series will primarily focus on the true conspiracies. We know their plan is to get Eren to master the hardening ability so he can seal Wall Maria, but Pastor Nick's death proves that they're running out of time to make their move.

If the statements by Isayama about his intentions are true, then we're more than halfway through the series. It should be roughly 80 chapters or so, if he intends to have the series be 20 volumes. Which means 28 chapters to go, or roughly three major arcs?