I feel like things like Alphinaud's optimism blinding him to obvious traps isn't just a him thing. One of the few consistent things that's bothered me through the MSQ in general is plot convenient stupidity for... All of the characters, including the WoL. It's part of why I disliked the Bozja story as a whole so much, and lost interest in it entirely less than halfway through. It felt like my character just woke up without a brain in the morning for half of it.

So yeah that's not a fault of any one character, it's just 'convenient' for the plot.