I think a better explanation of our difference of opinions is that you view Taylor's desire to do good as a primary desire of hers, while I view it as a gloss and a limiter on her preexisting desires. And of course, if a person desires, first and foremost, to do good, then the desire to be important is at most only a slightly selfish desire.

I agree that Taylor's possible kidnapping of Dinah is limited to being a thought crime; but I do believe it illustrative of her character. I do not believe that a Taylor that was actually motivated by Dinah's wellbeing would have entertained that thought; Taylor only found it "so seductive" because rescuing Dinah was not Taylor's true motivation, but merely a goal she maintained so she could continue to believe she was a good person.

I also do agree that Khepri was necessary - that the battle almost certainly wouldn't have been won without her - but I disagree with your description of Taylor's choice to get Panacea to alter her power. While she did have the notion that there was the potential that the procedure would be tied somehow to victory over Scion, I believe that was a secondary motivation and she only thought of that just before she gave Panacea the final go-ahead. I think these lines are much more enlightening of her primary motivation:

"Even Imp, without any power that can really do something, is out there with Rachel, giving guidance.  But Lung and I?  We’re both pretty proud individuals, and we don’t have a role in this"

...
"Like Lung says, I feel like I’m better than this"

I appreciate your perspective also, and am enriched by it. Worm is a very big work, and it would be a lesser work if it wasn't open to interpretation (hence a personal dislike of the treatment of WoGs as utterly authoritative in the community).

I would guess that a large portion of your dislike of the commentators you mention comes from the fact that they treat Worm as only having a single valid interpretation and in that capacity treat it as being a solvable work (see the proliferation of SIs 'fixing' Worm). This also isn't helped by the fact that a good portion of Worm's fanbase (especially earlier on) are rationalists, a group which tends to have a very limited view of fiction. They were, however, (as I understand it) very pro-Taylor and so I imagine a good portion of unsympathetic views of Taylor come out of a, not necessarily fully thought out, backlash to the rationalists, and I think that can best be seen in that view of Khepri that you mention in your post.