The Fermi Paradox: Civilization Extinction Cycles

What if alien civilizations are common, but keep collapsing before they can spread across the galaxy?
We explore civilization extinction cycles as a solution to the Fermi Paradox: nuclear war and technological collapse, lost knowledge, isolated colonies, repeated dark ages, and the point where an interstellar civilization becomes too widely scattered to truly reset. Could the Great Silence be a galaxy caught in endless cycles of rise, ruin, and recovery?