Mormon was an old man, but was not able to die a natural death. In verse 5 we are told that he dies in battle: “my father hath been slain in battle.” It is difficult to know what kind of battle this might have been, as there are relatively few Nephites remaining who would be willing to struggle against the great odds that defeated their nation at Cumorah. This battle was either resistance to capture, or perhaps even more sinister, a mock battle as a form of human sacrifice. Such mock battles were known from later Aztec practice (Warwick Bray. Everyday Life of the Aztecs. Peter Bedrick Books, New York, 1991, p. 161).