How about having just one line of page links at the top, say the first thirty pages. That goes back more than two months even for this, the busiest forum.
Then have the full list, including the first thirty, at the bottom of the page.
Then have the full list, including the first thirty, at the bottom of the page.
Or the first thirty and a [more] option. the 'more' could either be a collapsed <DIV>, or take you do a different page that shows the same thread except with the full-blown list of links.