This is the most important comment in this whole thread.

One can quickly see that an individual ideal for a ruthless frontier with competing behemoths might be less perfect for a slightly more encouraging and nurturing incubator.

And also how a board of academics + Adam + Ilya of a nonprofit ostensibly optimizing for "humanity" might not consider someone like that the best fit for representing the nonprofit, especially if he was gaslighting them and treating them like NPCs.

> he's basically saying Sam is the best in the world at being a ruthless mofo in these situations and obliterating those who oppose him

Exactly, it's not all that subtle, so I find it hard to even come up with an alternative interpretation.

But in that movie Liam Neeson is the good guy, a hero fighting for justice. The imagery is pretty unambiguous.