Is There a Self Serving Elements Beyond Blackmailing the Queen?

Lionel strong seems like a good, solid guy, very honorable. But where did laris get this? And back to our nature versus nurture, themeright,. We understand how agon is being influenced by the things that go on around him and aymond and jason luke, et cetera. Yet, there's a level of deviousness of his character that i don't think we have seen in any other characters in this series yet.