diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/association_scope.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/association_scope.rb
index 5df2e964be..cf859bbdee 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/association_scope.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/association_scope.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
       attr_reader :association, :alias_tracker
 
       delegate :klass, :owner, :reflection, :interpolate, :to => :association
-      delegate :through_reflection_chain, :through_conditions, :options, :source_options, :to => :reflection
+      delegate :chain, :conditions, :options, :source_options, :to => :reflection
 
       def initialize(association)
         @association   = association
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
       def add_constraints(scope)
         tables = construct_tables
 
-        through_reflection_chain.each_with_index do |reflection, i|
+        chain.each_with_index do |reflection, i|
           table, foreign_table = tables.shift, tables.first
 
           if reflection.source_macro == :has_and_belongs_to_many
@@ -73,10 +73,10 @@ module ActiveRecord
             foreign_key = reflection.active_record_primary_key
           end
 
-          if reflection == through_reflection_chain.last
+          if reflection == chain.last
             scope = scope.where(table[key].eq(owner[foreign_key]))
 
-            through_conditions[i].each do |condition|
+            conditions[i].each do |condition|
               if options[:through] && condition.is_a?(Hash)
                 condition = { table.name => condition }
               end
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
           else
             constraint = table[key].eq foreign_table[foreign_key]
 
-            join  = inner_join(foreign_table, reflection, constraint, *through_conditions[i])
+            join  = inner_join(foreign_table, reflection, constraint, *conditions[i])
             scope = scope.joins(join)
           end
         end
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
 
       def construct_tables
         tables = []
-        through_reflection_chain.each do |reflection|
+        chain.each do |reflection|
           tables << alias_tracker.aliased_table_for(
             table_name_for(reflection),
             table_alias_for(reflection, reflection != self.reflection)
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/join_dependency/join_association.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/join_dependency/join_association.rb
index fc8e75b10d..f26881a6c6 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/join_dependency/join_association.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/join_dependency/join_association.rb
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
 
         attr_reader :tables
 
-        delegate :options, :through_reflection, :source_reflection, :through_reflection_chain, :to => :reflection
+        delegate :options, :through_reflection, :source_reflection, :chain, :to => :reflection
         delegate :table, :table_name, :to => :parent, :prefix => :parent
         delegate :alias_tracker, :to => :join_dependency
 
@@ -57,14 +57,12 @@ module ActiveRecord
         end
 
         def join_to(relation)
-          # The chain starts with the target table, but we want to end with it here (makes
-          # more sense in this context)
-          chain = through_reflection_chain.reverse
-
           foreign_table = parent_table
           index = 0
 
-          chain.each do |reflection|
+          # The chain starts with the target table, but we want to end with it here (makes
+          # more sense in this context), so we reverse
+          chain.reverse.each do |reflection|
             table = tables[index]
             conditions = []
 
@@ -178,7 +176,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
         # later generate joins for. We must do this in advance in order to correctly allocate
         # the proper alias.
         def setup_tables
-          @tables = through_reflection_chain.map do |reflection|
+          @tables = chain.map do |reflection|
             table = alias_tracker.aliased_table_for(
               reflection.table_name,
               table_alias_for(reflection, reflection != self.reflection)
@@ -200,7 +198,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
             end
           end
 
-          # The joins are generated from the through_reflection_chain in reverse order, so
+          # The joins are generated from the chain in reverse order, so
           # reverse the tables too (but it's important to generate the aliases in the 'forward'
           # order, which is why we only do the reversal now.
           @tables.reverse!
@@ -219,7 +217,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
         end
 
         def reflection_conditions(index, table)
-          reflection.through_conditions.reverse[index].map do |condition|
+          reflection.conditions.reverse[index].map do |condition|
             process_conditions(condition, table.table_alias || table.name)
           end
         end
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/through_association.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/through_association.rb
index 408237c689..c0c92e8d72 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/through_association.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/associations/through_association.rb
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
   module Associations
     module ThroughAssociation #:nodoc:
 
-      delegate :source_options, :through_options, :source_reflection, :through_reflection,
-               :through_reflection_chain, :through_conditions, :to => :reflection
+      delegate :source_reflection, :through_reflection, :chain, :to => :reflection
 
       protected
 
@@ -18,7 +17,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
         #       itself.
         def target_scope
           scope = super
-          through_reflection_chain[1..-1].each do |reflection|
+          chain[1..-1].each do |reflection|
             scope = scope.merge(reflection.klass.scoped)
           end
           scope
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/reflection.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/reflection.rb
index 8c73e49e74..1f3ace93a9 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/reflection.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/reflection.rb
@@ -262,23 +262,28 @@ module ActiveRecord
       end
 
       def through_reflection
-        false
-      end
-
-      def through_reflection_chain
-        [self]
-      end
-
-      def through_conditions
-        conditions = [options[:conditions]].compact
-        conditions << { type => active_record.base_class.name } if options[:as]
-        [conditions]
+        nil
       end
 
       def source_reflection
         nil
       end
 
+      # A chain of reflections from this one back to the owner. For more see the explanation in
+      # ThroughReflection.
+      def chain
+        [self]
+      end
+
+      # An array of arrays of conditions. Each item in the outside array corresponds to a reflection
+      # in the #chain. The inside arrays are simply conditions (and each condition may itself be
+      # a hash, array, arel predicate, etc...)
+      def conditions
+        conditions = [options[:conditions]].compact
+        conditions << { type => active_record.base_class.name } if options[:as]
+        [conditions]
+      end
+
       alias :source_macro :macro
 
       def has_inverse?
@@ -401,33 +406,34 @@ module ActiveRecord
         @through_reflection ||= active_record.reflect_on_association(options[:through])
       end
 
-      # Returns an array of AssociationReflection objects which are involved in this through
-      # association. Each item in the array corresponds to a table which will be part of the
-      # query for this association.
+      # Returns an array of reflections which are involved in this association. Each item in the
+      # array corresponds to a table which will be part of the query for this association.
       #
       # If the source reflection is itself a ThroughReflection, then we don't include self in
       # the chain, but just defer to the source reflection.
       #
-      # The chain is built by recursively calling through_reflection_chain on the source
-      # reflection and the through reflection. The base case for the recursion is a normal
-      # association, which just returns [self] for its through_reflection_chain.
-      def through_reflection_chain
-        @through_reflection_chain ||= begin
+      # The chain is built by recursively calling #chain on the source reflection and the through
+      # reflection. The base case for the recursion is a normal association, which just returns
+      # [self] as its #chain.
+      def chain
+        @chain ||= begin
           if source_reflection.source_reflection
             # If the source reflection has its own source reflection, then the chain must start
             # by getting us to that source reflection.
-            chain = source_reflection.through_reflection_chain
+            chain = source_reflection.chain
           else
             # If the source reflection does not go through another reflection, then we can get
             # to this reflection directly, and so start the chain here
             #
             # It is important to use self, rather than the source_reflection, because self
             # may has a :source_type option which needs to be used.
+            #
+            # FIXME: Not sure this is correct justification now that we have #conditions
             chain = [self]
           end
 
           # Recursively build the rest of the chain
-          chain += through_reflection.through_reflection_chain
+          chain += through_reflection.chain
 
           # Finally return the completed chain
           chain
@@ -451,18 +457,18 @@ module ActiveRecord
       #   end
       #
       # There may be conditions on Person.comment_tags, Article.comment_tags and/or Comment.tags,
-      # but only Comment.tags will be represented in the through_reflection_chain. So this method
-      # creates an array of conditions corresponding to the through_reflection_chain. Each item in
-      # the through_conditions array corresponds to an item in the through_reflection_chain, and is
-      # itself an array of conditions from an arbitrary number of relevant reflections.
-      def through_conditions
-        @through_conditions ||= begin
-          conditions = source_reflection.through_conditions
+      # but only Comment.tags will be represented in the #chain. So this method creates an array
+      # of conditions corresponding to the chain. Each item in the #conditions array corresponds
+      # to an item in the #chain, and is itself an array of conditions from an arbitrary number
+      # of relevant reflections, plus any :source_type or polymorphic :as constraints.
+      def conditions
+        @conditions ||= begin
+          conditions = source_reflection.conditions
 
           # Add to it the conditions from this reflection if necessary.
           conditions.first << options[:conditions] if options[:conditions]
 
-          through_conditions = through_reflection.through_conditions
+          through_conditions = through_reflection.conditions
 
           if options[:source_type]
             through_conditions.first << { foreign_type => options[:source_type] }
@@ -476,14 +482,14 @@ module ActiveRecord
         end
       end
 
+      # The macro used by the source association
       def source_macro
         source_reflection.source_macro
       end
 
       # A through association is nested iff there would be more than one join table
       def nested?
-        through_reflection_chain.length > 2 ||
-        through_reflection.macro == :has_and_belongs_to_many
+        chain.length > 2 || through_reflection.macro == :has_and_belongs_to_many
       end
 
       # We want to use the klass from this reflection, rather than just delegate straight to
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/reflection_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/reflection_test.rb
index baaa08a359..4b881969cc 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/reflection_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/reflection_test.rb
@@ -202,24 +202,24 @@ class ReflectionTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     assert_kind_of ThroughReflection, Subscriber.reflect_on_association(:books)
   end
 
-  def test_through_reflection_chain
+  def test_chain
     expected = [
       Author.reflect_on_association(:essay_categories),
       Author.reflect_on_association(:essays),
       Organization.reflect_on_association(:authors)
     ]
-    actual = Organization.reflect_on_association(:author_essay_categories).through_reflection_chain
+    actual = Organization.reflect_on_association(:author_essay_categories).chain
 
     assert_equal expected, actual
   end
 
-  def test_through_conditions
+  def test_conditions
     expected = [
       ["tags.name = 'Blue'"],
       ["taggings.comment = 'first'", {"taggable_type"=>"Post"}],
       ["posts.title LIKE 'misc post%'"]
     ]
-    actual = Author.reflect_on_association(:misc_post_first_blue_tags).through_conditions
+    actual = Author.reflect_on_association(:misc_post_first_blue_tags).conditions
     assert_equal expected, actual
 
     expected = [
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ class ReflectionTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
       [{"taggable_type"=>"Post"}],
       []
     ]
-    actual = Author.reflect_on_association(:misc_post_first_blue_tags_2).through_conditions
+    actual = Author.reflect_on_association(:misc_post_first_blue_tags_2).conditions
     assert_equal expected, actual
   end