There may be a simpler two codon system embedded inside the three codon system currently by Earth life. That is when multiple codons specify the same amino acid

There may be a simpler two codon system embedded inside the three codon system currently by Earth life. That is when multiple codons specify the same amino acid, they almost always share the first two nuclides. So it could be that Earth life experimented with 2 and 3 and maybe even higher codon systems before settling on the one nearly all life uses. There may have been tradeoffs in protein complexity, reliability, energy requirements, etc with system that survived. Maybe just some accidental luck too.