[The blow rather stings, as it's rather true, in a way. John suspects there are things Sherlock hasn't told him, or has attempted to mislead him about, particularly about being a so-called sociopath.

There are many ways he can proceed, and given that Sherlock does so love to steamroll over his points, the one he chooses to go with has just as much of a chance of getting brushed off. Still, it's worth a shot.]

Sounds a lot like giving up to me. You don't even like to take orders from your family. That's not really the kind of thing you see out of someone who's resigned to being a pawn in some game of fate.