I can't say. I have a lack of confidence that he could have kept it down to a final volume. It is of course impossible to say now. But his track record indicate

I can't say. I have a lack of confidence that he could have kept it down to a final volume. It is of course impossible to say now. But his track record indicated that he was reluctant/incapable of finishing a subplot. Did he intend to finish? Probably. Was he capable of finishing? Previous work suggests not.