The second season of Hulu’s sci-fi drama, Paradise, introduced us to Link, who occasionally experienced sudden spells of dizziness, which hinted that there was something inexplicable happening to him. However, things got more confusing when Xavier experienced the same thing, therefore insinuating that he and Link might somehow be suffering from a similar condition. But what is it? In most sci-fi or horror fiction, frequent seizures, headaches, or dizziness are often used as a plot device to suggest that something isn’t right with the character or the environment they are in. For example, the characters are either possessed by a supernatural entity or the world that they’re inhabiting is actively detrimental to their well-being. I guess in Xavier’s case, it is the world he is currently in. What I am trying to say here is that currently, Xavier Collins may not be in his original timeline. I know that’s a pretty big claim, so with a spoiler warning, allow me to explain it further.
Xavier Is Likely In A Different Timeline
The first clue is that Xavier wasn’t suffering from any kind of dizziness or bleeding in the bunker. However, he started experiencing those visions shortly after he left Colorado to find his wife, Teri. So in order to understand the exact reason behind his condition, let me take you back to the point when Xavier had his first nosebleed. In the first episode of season 2, Xavier encountered a hailstorm while flying towards Atlanta, because of which he couldn’t see anything in front of him. This was the first time Xavier suffered a blackout, followed by a sudden nosebleed. Earlier, it was difficult to understand why this nosebleed happened at this exact moment, but now that we know (or probably know) what Alex is and what it is capable of, I think we can start figuring out this puzzle.
It’s probable that in the original timeline, Xavier was supposed to die in the storm, but Alex somehow saved his life. My theory is that the quantum machine, supposedly invented by Henry Miller, opened a vortex, through which Xavier jumped to a different world where he was already dead. Likely the same way Alex brought Dylan to a timeline where he had already been dead. In sci-fi IPs, if the same person is alive twice over in the same timeline, it creates a paradox, which is why I am assuming that Xavier was already dead in the timeline Alex brought him into. So, what I am suggesting here is that, currently, we are seeing two timelines in the show. The first one is the original timeline, which the show has been following since season 1, and the second one is the new timeline where Xavier meets Annie, her baby, and finds Teri. We know that in the second timeline, Xavier and Teri are traveling to the bunker in Colorado, which is likely going to be destroyed in the original timeline, because of the nuclear reactor meltdown. So the kids that Xavier and Teri are going to meet here will not be the same family he had left behind in the original timeline, and I believe this is the exact point where the show is going to give away its biggest reveal.
Every Choice Creates A New Reality
So my first theory explained the reason why Xavier suffered a nosebleed at a very particular moment, but what about the subsequent seizures he had on his journey? Well, to understand this, we have to look at the exact moments when these headaches and nosebleeds are happening in the show. The seventh episode of season 2 pointed out that just like Xavier, Link (aka Dylan) didn’t belong to the timeline he was in because, in the original timeline, Sinatra’s son had died years ago. In both their respective timelines, Xavier and Link are anomalies, so every time they come across an event with multiple outcomes, their choice creates multiple parallel realities, and every time they make such a difficult decision, they suffer a nosebleed or dizziness. Take Xavier’s encounter with Annie, for example. When Annie asked him to take her to Colorado, Xavier had two choices. He could either help a pregnant woman or he could escape, never to see Annie again. In both scenarios, his choice would have created a different outcome, and therefore, he suffered a sudden headache while he was on the verge of making an important decision in his life. It could also be possible that both Link and Xavier experienced the seizures because Alex had been interfering with their choices and making them switch timelines so Alex could bring them both to a world where the bunker wasn’t destroyed by a meltdown.
Xavier and Link Will Save the World
When Xavier suffered his first nosebleed, he had a vision in which he saw Link leading him to an undisclosed tunnel. The seventh episode of season 2 hinted that Link might be taking Xavier to the location where Sinatra had hidden Alex, so that Link and Xavier could destroy it before it could doom the entire universe. I guess Alex knows that the way Sinatra is using its powers will put everyone’s lives at risk, but Sinatra is so blinded by her ambitions that even a quantum machine has failed to make her realize the truth, and this is why Alex needs Xavier’s and Link’s help. It is bringing the duo to the location where its mainframe is hidden so they can finish what Sinatra has started. Or maybe Alex really has a plan to save the survivors. Maybe it needs Xavier and Link’s help to find a timeline where the world wasn’t hit by the Caldera Volcano and was still safe to keep humanity alive for hundreds of years. Well, whatever Alex’s motives may be, one thing’s certain: Xavier and Link are the only ones who can save the world, or at least what’s left of it. So these are my thoughts on the crazy nosebleeds, but if you have anything to add or correct, please feel free to drop a comment below.
