That's where I get off the crazy8 train with you. They've taken pains to show how Walt's flaws and lust for power/something undefined go way back. Throughout this show we watched him comfortably settle in to the position of meth dealing badass, much more quickly than should be possible even for someone with his illness. He was able to handle himself well in situation where even Jesse, with actual experience dealing with these crackheads, was way out of his depth. Walt let people die, poisoned, murdered, did whatever he had to do, and he did it byhis own choice.