Absalom's distress reaches a breaking point as he demands a final resolution regarding his isolated status in Jerusalem. After Joab repeatedly ignored his messengers, Absalom explains that setting Joab's field on fire was a desperate but necessary measure to force a meeting [מצודת דוד]. Now that he finally has Joab's attention, Absalom asks him to act as his personal emissary to King David [ביאור שטיינזלץ].
Absalom's central argument is a bitter question regarding his return from Geshur. He confronts Joab with the reality that bringing him back to Jerusalem actually harmed him [מלבי״ם], because there is simply no benefit to being in the capital if he remains completely cut off from the king [מצודת דוד]. In fact, Absalom insists that he would have been much better off remaining in exile. Commentators offer several reasons why he preferred his life in Geshur over his current situation. First, he lived in peace there [ביאור שטיינזלץ] and enjoyed the privilege of seeing the face of his grandfather, the local king [מצודת דוד]. Second, his exile in Geshur kept him hidden from the public eye. Now, in Jerusalem, he endures immense public humiliation because the entire city knows his father refuses to see him [חומת אנך]. Enduring an internal exile within his own home, alienated from the kingdom's central figure, is ultimately far more painful than his former life abroad [ביאור שטיינזלץ].
Driven by despair, Absalom issues an absolute demand to be summoned by the king [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. He is fully prepared to stand trial and present his defense. His intention is to explain to his father that he did not kill Amnon without cause, but rather acted because Amnon had raped and utterly disgraced his sister Tamar [רד״ק]. Absalom declares that if the king hears his defense and still deems him guilty, he will accept the death penalty without resistance [מצודת דוד, רש״י]. For Absalom, even execution at the hands of the king is a better fate than continuing to live in his current state of agonizing isolation.