Good question. There was lots of agit prop. "We cant go on like this". "We cant just do nothing". "For bitcoin to be a success ...". You may recognize these recurring tropes even today, they will trot them out again.
Then there was an element of integration prop. Lets keep it open source. Let's keep the core developers.
There's obviously more nuance here, because you dont want dogmatic gatekeepers, and you also dont want to starve innovation. However, bitcoin has the magical property that not tinkering with it, makes it stronger. The only caveat here, is that the subsidy halves every 4 years, and with it, some of the security. It's a complex topic, that needs rational analysis.
But Im guessing here really. I do think we're still wide open to such attacks (e.g. drivechains is one), and have very limited tools to defend. Maybe they will improve with time. The fight goes on ...