Although it is certainly possible that this particular declaration was on the plates of Ether, it was either selected, or emphasized, because this is the principle lesson that Mormon had extracted from this document, and, at least, a major theme that Moroni had highlighted. The people had become wicked and followed what are described here as “wicked combinations”, rather than secret combinations. Nevertheless, Moroni follows Mormon in seeing that the worst of the destructions among the Nephites were due to these wicked combinations that Moroni had specifically labeled as “robbers” in Ether 10:33.