The problem with the "becoming the universe" problem was more complex than even Sylas was letting on. But the best and simplest analogy was the chicken and the egg.
By virtue of existing, the universe was the only existence capable of melding spacetime the way it did. Every framework fell within it, it was existence itself, in fact.
Trying to replicate it would need to step completely outside of its frame, but Sylas needed it to comprehend spacetime in the first place. Every understanding of spacetime he had, by definition, was crafted based on observing the world around him.
But by virtue of using the world to comprehend spacetime, he was being trapped within its frame of reference.
This forced him into an endless loop seemingly with no clear starting position. Eventually, the loop formed a ceiling that pressed on him from above.
