Personal experience though, here as well as on the Fediverse: How the whole thread looks like can vary pretty much depending on ... random factors beyond actual users control.
Discussion
That's true. Other than Amethyst, it can be very hard to see the full thread.
Yes, also so far found Amethyst to practically be the only tool here that works...
I think it's also the only client that rolls up the reply count, so that you can see if there are already replies to read.
It's ahead by a mile, IMO.