forked it was the first real attempt threatening to break free from the chain they control.
3. nChain was created in advance in preparation to the eventuality someone will try to make
a permissionless version outside their control and was meant to either try to take over the main client of the uncrippled chain ("fulfilling Satoshi's vision"), or to disrupt the chain
This isn't a conspiracy theory, it was done in some well known examples when standards were crippled to decrease their disruptive potential (e.g. https standard).