Just to throw this out there: There being more to the story does not necessarily mean that Girard's opinion of Soon was more justified than we currently have reason to think. It could be that Girard was even more of an ass than we've seen so far, or it could also mean that there were just events that Girard interpreted through the lens of his own narrative to validate his own opinion of Soon.

Even if Soon did make some mistakes and have some of his own flaws, Girard still may be completely backwards on how he thinks about them. After all, one thing we do know for certain is that Girard was wrong about Soon sending his paladins over to "check up" within a couple of weeks. I'm not saying that Soon was a perfect hero, but I think that Girard is completely off-base about him, no matter what his flaws may have been.