Cooper is aware of the impossibility of saving Laura. Maybe it's possible to save Laura in the world of Twin Peaks, but as we saw with the infinity symbol that Philip shows Cooper, reality will just splinter and there will be another reality where the dark forces win by killing Laura. The giant warned Cooper in the first episode, remember Richard and Linda, two birds with one stone. Could Richard be the Tulpa he created with the seed? Cooper knew if you tried to save Laura that it would shatter reality, so is it possible that our real cooper was the one who walked through the red door in Lancelot Court, and by creating Richard, he killed two birds with one stone. It's basically exactly what bad coop did, create a tulpa to take his place and the time comes to be sucked back into the real world of the Black Lodge. It's possible that our beloved Cooper is finally able to take a retirement, enjoy a happy loving life with the family, and his tulpa is the one burdened to fight the Black Lodge for eternity. Richard reminds me a lot of a tulpa. Dougie was made from bad Cooper, and he had a lot of bad qualities, but he wasn't an evil person. If Richard was made from good Cooper, he would have a lot of good qualities, but he wouldn't be entirely good…