Rather than continue to erode his forces in the constant withdrawal, Mormon decided to make a final stand. He may have hoped that he could replicate his earlier successful defensive stands. His request to the Lamanite king, setting a time and place for battle after a period of preparation, is known as at least an ideal in the later Aztec tradition. (See commentary accompanying Mormon 3:4.) There is no information, nor any way to obtain information, about whether it was also part of the tradition in the Maya sphere at this date. The general comparability of Mesoamerican cultures and their conservativism argue that it is at least plausible.
Ixtlilxochitl, the native Aztec chronicler who wrote between 1608 and 1615, indicates that such was the case: “Topiltzin, seeing himself so oppressed and that there was no way out, asked for time, for it was a law among them that before a battle they would notify each other some years in advance so that on the both sides they would be warned and prepared.”
Although Teotihuacan was exerting its military and political dominance among the Maya at this time, that dominance typically did not extend to installing their own leaders as rulers. The evidence suggests that they retained Maya nobles. Within generations, the new regime maintained its ties to Teotihuacan, but was seen as Maya, not Teotihuacano.
Text: Mormon returns to his historical narrative; but this chapter, like the previous one, will also conclude with comments on the future. In fact, the structure of Mormon’s final two chapters is remarkably parallel. They both begin with history but conclude with a personal message to future readers. Most cases of parallel construction seem to be an intentional way of carrying the overall message, but this example may be an exception because the parallelism has no identifiable purpose. Nothing in the shift from Mormon’s present narrative to his future readers suggests any type of development between the two chapters. Indeed, the seam between Mormon’s history and Mormon’s admonition to future readers is quite distinct.
As I read these final chapters, Mormon is moving between his hopeful message to future generations and the hopeless task immediately before him. I see Mormon as naturally more of an optimist than a pessimist, but his current world supplies nothing on which to base optimism. He has hope only in the future and therefore ends his last two chapters by looking forward.
There are several indications that Mormon worked from at least an outline and possibly a rough draft while inscribing his text. (See Mosiah, Part 1: Context, Chapter 2, “Mormon’s Structural Editing: Books and Chapters.”) His outline almost certainly included a final chapter (the Nephite dénouement), but, as before, he inserts new thoughts into that outline. (See, for example, Mosiah 21:22, 25–27, Alma 3:9–2, 17:16–17).