Unexpected? Maybe a little, but not in the manner your phrasing implies Achilles.
It's been obvious for a while that the best shot at stopping Ascension from running away from the pack in the wonders race, was for PoC to win the pyramid. And if it's obvious to me, observing second hand, it would be even more obvious to Asc and PoC. Diverting resources towards the pyramid at the expense of other wonders would be a logical and almost inevitable move, for both sides.
The unexpected bit is that PoC didn't win anyway. Their less than optimum effort implies one of two things.
1. PoC doesn't really mind if Asc wins. Dragon Heads are even more closely tied than those outside of them think, with Asc and Redneck de facto leaders of this group, even if not officially recognized as such.
2. PoC just made a mistake. Could be any number of things. Something might have distracted them from realizing the importance of the pyramid, or from realizing just how fast Asc was building. Someone might not have come through with the resources he was supposed to send. etc. Stuff happens.
PoC doesn't really have a history of making mistakes though, and you'd expect several deserters to precede the implementation of any policy that just lets another alliance "win" without a real contest. So that's what makes the outcome unexpected in my eyes.