Ok *cracks knuckles* I'm gonna make an attempt to make my version of Samos at least a little sympathetic. Asshole Samos is always fun to make fun of but ill try to make this work just for fun
One thing first, I'm adding a bit of lore about eco. So, using dark eco can lead to corruption, but the same thing can happen with all eco types, its just is less aggressive/slower. If you use one type of eco constantly over a long period of time, you'll start suffering from effects/mutations.
So to start, young Samos is a loser. He naturally has an affinity for green eco and nature, but due to what Haven becomes and how rarer eco is to track down, he's not a strong sage. That being the case he puts more work into wits and tactical planning, gaining him the position of 'the shadow'. His smarts is the only thing that gets him this role, as he's a complete toss when working with others. When he's told by Onin about how important it is to track down Mar/baby Jak, he does it for the sake of the revolution, as well as to prove is abilities to a powerful sage. He didn't really like being a babysitter, but did have every intention of putting Mar somewhere safe (mostly so the kid was out of the way and not something Samos had to worry about on top of everything.)
When he's sent to the past with baby Jak, he's totally thrilled about being in a world overflowing with eco, and goes abit overboard with using it as much as he can. At the start he did start growing fond of Jak, which is what initially made him soft enough to let Keira live with them, but using so much eco while being as untrained as he was led to him becoming detached (got stuck in a mind set of needing to do anything for the sake of the timeline/keeping the balance/sage mumbo jumbo) and he went back to thinking he just needed both Jak and Keira close by so he was sure they were with him when they returned to the future. (is also why he's more cruel with Daxter as he see's him as a chaos point/anomaly in the timeline)
When they all do end up in Haven, Samos is put in prison where the branches attached to him are removed, and he slowly loses the connection to eco he had gained in Sandover. Without this power making him a little bit crazy, he comes to the horrifying realization that he basically became what Gol and Maia were, and his nulled emotions lead him to sending a bunch of children into a war-torn city. Samos tries to warn is younger self about what he'll become, but is meet with a much more arrogant version of himself, who has no interest in heeding the warning of a very frail, weak and powerless Samos. "I'll do better than you" which is how everything ends up repeating. He also get to witness first hand his younger self verbally abusing Daxter (he's already seen how much Jak suffered from all of this and how important Daxter is to keep him grounded) and finally realizes 'omg, all I was doing all this time was watching over someone else's destiny, all I had to do was make sure no one died, and I did it in the most egotistical, unpleasant way possible. what is wrong with me?'
The end of the second game also marks the end of Samos's knowledge of the future. He doesn't know if anything will happen next. During all of the third game Samos is the one who puts the most work into getting Jak out of the desert. He feels like not doing everything to protect them now will just prove he only ever saw them as a means to an end, so if he at least ensures the three are safe and happy now, maybe he'll deserve some forgiveness.
A big thing is that he outright apologizes to Daxter. Its slightly awkward and Daxter thinks he's messing with him at first, but he tries and that's more than anything OG Samos did.
So to summarize, Samos is a sad little nobody in his youth so acts really know-it-all to compensate for his lack of self image. When exposed to a high amount of eco, he lets his want for status turn him into the worst version of himself. Only when he's severed from this power does he become aware of how similar he was to Gol and Maia, which sends him spiraling into damage control for the sake of the kids he cares for. yes, that includes Daxter.
Jak X is where he acts less like an overprotective father stopping Keira from racing, more like an estranged grunkle who loudly supports all his kids throughout the championship.
