Alma and Amulek together as a missionary team demonstrated powers that were not ascribed to Alma alone. Perhaps Alma might have been able to free himself from dungeons without Amulek. We have no information on this point. What Mormon relates is what happened after they become companions. Just as in the story of the meeting of Alma and Amulek, Yahweh clearly intended that these two preach together.
Text: This is the end of a chapter in the 1830 edition. This chapter not only indicates the structural method of Mormon’s editing but also the frustrating difficulty in using Mormon as a source of history. Verse 31 gives a fascinating synopsis of what must have been several events. It is not likely that Mormon was merely speculating when he said “they could not be confined in dungeons.” Likewise, there must have been at least one historical event behind the statement that “neither was it possible that any man could slay them.”
Unfortunately, Mormon’s historical interests were simply a frame for his overriding interest—evidence of Yahweh’s actions through time and the clarification of his doctrine. To this end, Mormon’s “histories” continue to be skeletal structures to support the flesh of copied discourse. Mormon never tells us why he abridges history and not discourse, but it is easy to speculate that his reverence for the words of these righteous men put their discourses beyond alteration or abridgment.