Helaman attempts to arrest the entire band, but Gadianton learns of Kiskumen’s death and they find a way to the wilderness where they escape. This incident ends quickly, but it is important in that it sets up the reader’s expectations for the Gadianton Robbers. Mormon explicitly tells his readers that “more of this Gadianton shall be spoken hereafter.” Not only spoken of, but the Gadiantons will increasingly become dangerous to the Nephite way of life.
The Gadiantons are so dangerous, that Mormon declares that “this Gadianton did prove the overthrow, yea, almost the entire destruction of the people of Nephi.” In case his readers mistake his meaning, Mormon makes sure that we know that he doesn’t mean the end of just the book of Helaman, but the end of the whole of the Book of Mormon. Of course, it cannot be this same Gadianton who is the cause of the Nephite destruction at Cumorah, but Mormon is blaming this band of Gadiantons and their Jaredite-inspired secret combinations. Mormon will continue to weave that theme into his record from this point forward.
This is the end of what was the first chapter of Helaman in the 1830 edition.