paul went through that time machine to escape monarch and then he became it. he was the reason for his own trip to the end of time and his trip to the end of time was the reason he became so obsessed with his plan to survive it. it was cyclical.

and beth's whole life was cyclical. she gave her 8 year old self a roadmap that determined the trajectory of her entire future and set her path in stone. she convinced herself of a certainty that she didn't really feel but she did feel it as a child because she instilled it in herself. and then she did it again, even after she'd lost it.

but also just. the fact that they both spent a large part of their lives with the knowledge of upcoming major tragedies and trying to prevent those major tragedies and just failing over and over and over again.

even without their shared experiences in the end of time, these two went through something harrowing and incredible that no one else could ever possibly understand.