The fact that the Reddit API scandal has now been spun into some ‘battle’ of salty users vs Reddit is, in microcosm, a win for Reddit. By all appearances, when viewed under that lens, they ‘won’.
It was never a struggle, it was a statement of intent. And that statement of intent has, in my opinion, been actioned because here we are now, with a promising alternative.
Reddit will probably flourish under its new guise, accepting that isn’t a sort of capitulation. Just move on.
Nobody in the real world cares about this though. The only context in which this pyramid has has any veracity is in the extremely rare case where you have a group of people who are interested in useful outcome.
Generally, people argue for the appearance of having won, so will resort to any and all measures regardless of their argumentative quality. In fact, the lower below the belt you can go, the more you will resonate with the layman.