If you parse a serialized protobuf byte array without having a .proto file, you have no way to dustinguish a byte string field from a nested message field. Thus you have no way to know how deep your parser should go.
Semi-related, one of the `imessage-exporter` contributors provided a great write-up on reverse engineering the handwritten and digital touch message protobufs [0]. The reconstructed proto files are [1] [2].