As Ammon and the other servants bring the flocks back to the water, the marauders again attempt to scatter them. Obviously, they have not taken their spoils and gone home. As “thieves,” they were monumentally inept, as they allowed the flocks to be recovered, failed to steal any, and simply amused themselves by preparing to scatter them again.
In fact, Nibley’s comment that this activity seems to be a game is correct. Except for the executed servants, little harm is done and everyone understands the rules: The servants bring up the animals, the rivals scatter them. Because the servants are bringing up the animals a second time, the rivals are preparing again to scatter, not steal. Ammon has been thrust into a political game and is about to change the rules.
An unanswered question is why the servants had never attempted force to prevent the scattering. Since Ammon was a servant, the others could just as easily have been armed. In fact, Lamoni later tells Ammon that he could have an army protect him (Alma 18:21) but never sent that army to protect his servants (or Ammon) at the waters of Sebus. This situation argues that the servants may have been unable to fight because the scatterers’ political rank was far superior to their own. Perhaps Lamoni put Ammon in this situation because, as an outsider, Ammon would not be paralyzed by the same political tensions as the servant. Whether purposely or unwittingly, Ammon could disrupt the current equilibrium. Furthermore, whatever Ammon did, he would do it as a Nephite and Lamoni could not be held responsible for it.
Ammon, accurately predicting a coming disturbance, has the servants encircle the flocks to prevent a second flight.