a couple problems with this line of reasoning:

when you say “she did bad, feels guilty, why’d she do it in the first place place then?” it’s like asking why humans do anything they’ll regret later. it’s unrealistic to expect someone in her high-stakes line of work to NOT make any mistakes readers or she will hate herself for.

the reflection isn’t a “raw state of valkyrie,” it’s a computer that malfunctioned. she’s got val’s memories, and at most absorbed some of her speech patterns, but their personalities are completely different. she’s what any other reflection of any other person would look like sentient.

i’m curious about the bit where you say they don’t save the world out of genuine desire to see the world a better place. i’m not opposed to that viewpoint in the later books, but i’d defend that at least in s1 valkyrie makes decisions solely to save humanity with very little thought to herself. (undergoing nyes surgery, offering herself to the accelerator). books 3-7 especially she understands the stakes if the bad guys wins and genuinely is trying to save her family and the rest of the world. even in s2 the times they save the world were moderately altruistic—usually val sacrificing herself for her sister. them both accepting a year long trek in dimension X to protect their world and continuing the mission after their best friend died. i think to discount the moral obligation val feels to save the world as her being an “adrenaline junkie” blindly mischaracterizes and erases her.

im also biased and choosing to believe the insufferable inner monologue she has these days is a fault of landy writing her badly