At the risk of wearying the reader, we should not belabor the point, but the only time that the Lamanites were ever able to make significant progress in their battles with the Nephites was when the Nephites were in the midst of internal strife. Internal strife naturally came only in times of Nephite wickedness but this problem had plagued Moroni for his entire career. Now his son Moronihah inherits the legacy of internal instability and its costly consequences.