"As a stakeholder, I find the third scenario being the only one in which my interests are protected."
I think you will find that your "third scenario" is the least likely to happen. When it comes to Steemit, getting rid of the "status quo" is the most likely (and most important) outcome of all. It has been the maintaining the "status quo" which has put Steemit exactly where it is today...on a downward spiral into oblivion.
In order for Steemit to survive, and attract/keep new members, massive changes will have to be made. Many Steemit members already realized this fact, but few were willing to stand up and speak up, primarily for fear of being downvoted and their reputations ruined. Many instead simply cashed in and left the platform, which no doubt accounted for the rapid decline in the value of the Steem token.
I suspect that your "first scenario", an aggressive takeover, will be what Tron will implement. No doubt, there will be many long-time Steemit members and witnesses who will not like this scenario for obvious reasons, not the least of which will be their loss of power, but they have only themselves to blame for that. The writing was on the wall for months, but they chose to ignore it. Now it's time to pay the Piper.
I think that, while yes the witnesses and devs have made a lot of bad decisions, there has been demonstrable efforts to improve everything from top to bottom. I think that the process is just really messy. We're now involved in the sausage making, if you'll allow me the comparison, and we're having to deal with the fact that side of things provides for an awful experience. That, combined with the missteps has definitely hurt the community and the price, but to imply that there has been a desire to "keep the status quo" isn't very accurate. There's a difference between making the right decisions and not trying to.
There will certainly be a fork given scenario 1.
That's the exact threat that inspired the preparations that were undertaken to do exactly that. Tron has a great desire to benefit from the greatest asset of the Steem blockchain, and it's one they cannot purchase: the Steem community.
I disagree with you, and hope Tron realizes that acting in a way the Steem community views as hostile will prevent it's acquisition of that community, which can only happen voluntarily. I point to Sun's comments during the AMA that indicated he did understand the idea of folding Steem into Tron immediately, replacing the token with something derived from TRX, and centralizing governance will prevent Tron from profiting optimally from it's investement in Steemit.