Paradise Season 2 has been building toward a major shift in its apocalypse-infused plot by seemingly embracing time travel elements after that huge shocker in Episode 7's ending. Hulu's post-apocalyptic drama series introduced Thomas Doherty's Link as a mysterious character leading a survivor army outside the bunker and with ties to someone named Alex (an unknown variable deemed by many as Sinatra's secret weapon).
The charismatic leader's primary goal is to find the Colorado bunker and destroy Alex so they can restart the world, but Episode 7 revealed it's far more complicated than that, due to his ties to Sinatra.
How Time Travel Becomes a Crucial Element In Paradise Season 2 (Theory)
Paradise Season 2, Episode 7 seemingly revealed that Link is actually Dylan - Sinatra's son, who died as a child due to a mysterious illness way before the apocalyptic event (aka The Day) happened in Season 1. The big reveal came in the episode's final moments, when Geiger shouted Link's real name, Dylan, as he left the bunker.
A stunned Sinatra then asked Link for his birthday, and he told her it was May 16th, the same day as her late son. Sinatra appeared to believe that Link is actually Dylan, considering that she told her husband, Tim, when she returned, "I think it worked. I can't explain it, but I think Dylan is too."
This twist seemed to imply that Alex is secretly a time-travel device that can alter past events or turn back time. This revelation seems to imply that part of her endgame in Paradise is bringing back Dylan to life by using Alex by any means necessary, even if it means destroying the world.
If so, she might have gone out of her way to recruit the personnel needed to build the Colorado bunker to protect Alex, furthering her agenda rather than simply saving the world.
There are also several clues that Alex is a supercomputer or a time-travel device that can send warnings or messages to the past to ensure that Dylan is saved, such as sending a message to the Doomsday man in the past to warn Jane's mother that her daughter will become a killer in the future.
If anything, Paradise Season 2, Episode 7's big reveal that Dylan and Link are the same person ties everything together cohesively by providing a clear insight into Sinatra's true plan. Aside from being a family reunion by bringing back Dylan, Alex's use of time travel is unique because it doesn't simply involve moving bodies through. Instead, it manipulates information to allow changes within reality.
Paradise's Star Wars Reference Has Deeper Ties To Its Big Dylan Reveal
Paradise Season 2, Episode 7 introduced a major Star Wars reference that actually has a deeper meaning than fans realize. When Link and Sinatra are talking inside the plane, Link uses Star Wars as a reference, and he points out that they are like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy:
Link: "This is like Star Wars, all these people, and troops, and pomp and circumstance. But it all comes down to Luke and Vader in the end. You being Vader, of course. Cause you're hair, it's short. Also, because you're evil."
This Star Wars reference in Paradise strongly implies that a similar Luke Skywalker-Darth Vader confrontation is in the cards, potentially as early as the Season 2 finale or sometime in the already-confirmed Paradise Season 3.
Instead of a father-son rivalry, it would boil down to a heartbreaking mother-daughter clash featuring Sinatra and Link (Dylan). There is also an Empire and Rebel Alliance parallel, with Sinatra and the bunker people as Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire, and Link and his outside troops as Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance.
Link's distrust of Alex and Sinatra is similar to Luke's rejection of the Empire and the Dark Side. It is quite honorable yet tragic because it leads to an unavoidable conflict about a son rebelling against his mother, who resurrected him at the expense of the end of the world.
