"This story is a tragedy because it didn't have to end this way."
vs
"This story is a tragedy because it was always going to end this way."
I submit for your consideration:
'this story is a tragedy because along the way we got just enough glimpses of alternate timelines and barely-averted prophecies to know that somehow, the way it turned out is the best it could have gone'
Finally, a worthy challenger!
"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true." - James Branch Cabell
