Oh, more on Alexander huh?

Well, in the instance we experienced yes it was a self-contained loop, but that doesn't mean it had... or has, I guess, to be that way. While we can't observe or experience them that's not to say other possibilities don't exist - they're just not real from our limited perspective.

By Alexander's admission he could stop Calamities or perhaps allow the Illuminati to win... he just chooses not to because things are better that way. We can't alter the past because we can't move through time and aren't self-observing like Alexander, but if we could... in theory...