"I wanted to send a message. And I did." He reads over Avalon's file, closely. "This... is not what I would expect, for a warden. But you clearly graduated, so. Maybe there's hope for me, if you could do it."

His feelings about his own sins are too emotional and guilt-ridden to be objective at all, but Avalon's are... a large pile of bodies, even if it's stretched over a longer time than he's been alive. If the Admiral thought that warranted redemption, maybe he's not totally lost, either.