Thought we already went through that back in ought-four when he went into "don't care what people think mode." Speaking of, when did he abandon that exactly? I've forgotten.
I don't see how that's related to this. Nevermind that a character can have several stages/periods to grow or expand him/herself but that episode distinctly had Avery trying to change his whole outlook, here he isn't trying to repeat that. We're seeing more to him not because he's taken the initiative for personal change. Character development can come from different angles.
Though it seems D.C. has moved onto other things, but we still saw a different side to Avery. However brief it was he did get another trait to him that might affect how readers view him and maybe also future stories.