> the careful balance of universal constants that allow for matter and stars and life to exist surely would not allow it all to be destroyed forever in the end...

Imagine a brute-force creation of x^y universes with varying cosmological constants. Surely some universes with the right ingredients for life also include a deep freeze or a Big Crunch.

Or, maybe our universe was created in a lab somewhere and they’re trying to figure out how to make a stable universe through experimentation. And we’re iteration #42.