Eloquent adds data not in model

I have two data sets where I'm comparing the same Model, but for some reason Eloquent is leaving adding in the row that is used for pivoting. Obviously, when I compare it to the original, it fails since the one being called through the hasMany relationship has one extra row. Please help! Many thanks!

the "Collection" model's method:

    public function nouns()
    {
        return $this->hasManyThrough('App\Models\CategoryNouns', 
                                     'App\Models\CollectionNouns',
                                     'collection_id',
                                     'id');
    }

dd of the object:

CategoryNouns {#411 ▼
  +timestamps: false
  #guarded: array:1 [▶]
  #table: "category_nouns"
  #connection: null
  #primaryKey: "id"
  #perPage: 15
  +incrementing: true
  #attributes: array:8 [▼
    "id" => "9"
    "noun" => "lose animal"
    "weight" => "1"
    "category_id" => "12"
    "created_at" => "0000-00-00 00:00:00"
    "updated_at" => "0000-00-00 00:00:00"
    "deleted_at" => null
    "collection_id" => "44"
  ]
  #original: array:8 [▼
    "id" => "9"
    "noun" => "lose animal"
    "weight" => "1"
    "category_id" => "12"
    "created_at" => "0000-00-00 00:00:00"
    "updated_at" => "0000-00-00 00:00:00"
    "deleted_at" => null
    "collection_id" => "44"
  ]
  #relations: []
  #hidden: []
  #visible: []
  #appends: []
  #fillable: []
  #dates: []
  #dateFormat: null
  #casts: []
  #touches: []
  #observables: []
  #with: []
  #morphClass: null
  +exists: true
  +wasRecentlyCreated: false
  #forceDeleting: false
}

dd of the original Model being compared:

CategoryNouns {#456 ▼
  +timestamps: false
  #guarded: array:1 [▶]
  #table: "category_nouns"
  #connection: null
  #primaryKey: "id"
  #perPage: 15
  +incrementing: true
  #attributes: array:7 [▼
    "id" => "64"
    "noun" => "testing wrong category system"
    "weight" => "100"
    "category_id" => "1"
    "created_at" => "0000-00-00 00:00:00"
    "updated_at" => "0000-00-00 00:00:00"
    "deleted_at" => null
  ]
  #original: array:7 [▼
    "id" => "64"
    "noun" => "testing wrong category system"
    "weight" => "100"
    "category_id" => "1"
    "created_at" => "0000-00-00 00:00:00"
    "updated_at" => "0000-00-00 00:00:00"
    "deleted_at" => null
  ]
  #relations: []
  #hidden: []
  #visible: []
  #appends: []
  #fillable: []
  #dates: []
  #dateFormat: null
  #casts: []
  #touches: []
  #observables: []
  #with: []
  #morphClass: null
  +exists: true
  +wasRecentlyCreated: false
  #forceDeleting: false
}

And now, for the original Model:

class CategoryNouns extends Model {

    use SoftDeletes;

    public $timestamps = false;
    protected $guarded = ['id'];
    protected $table ='category_nouns';

    /* input requirements */
    public static $rules = [
                            'noun'        => 'required|unique:category_nouns',
                            'weight'      => 'required|integer',
                            'category_id' => 'required|integer'
                           ];

    public function category()
    {
        return $this->hasOne('App\Models\Category');
    }
}

And now the code used to compare:

            /* now we check for any prior corrections directed to our associations */
            $collections = [];

            //@TODO: check by how much does it match the prior collection
            for($i=0; $i<count($allCatNouns->values()); $i++) {
                $nounsGroup = $allCatNouns->values()->get($i); //make a collection out of the group

                if($col = Collection::where('old_category_id', $nounsGroup[0]->category_id)->get()) {
                    $id = $nounsGroup[0]->category_id; // take the cat id with us
                    foreach($col as $nounObj) {
                        //@TODO ain't necessarily only in one collection
                        $collections[$id] = $nounObj->nouns->values();
                    }
                }
            }

            if(!empty($collections)) {
                // should be a replica of $allCatnouns, if this issue has been submitted before and corrected by staff
                // $collections = collect($collections)->sortBy('category_id');

                for($i=0; $i<count($allCatNouns->values()); $i++) {
                    $nounsGroup = $allCatNouns->values()->get($i); //make a collection out of the group

                    // if it's category id is in Collections, check the noun groups to see if they match
                    if(isset($collections[$nounsGroup[0]->category_id])) {
                                    // this -V- is the category subcollection
                        if($collections[$nounsGroup[0]->category_id][0] == $nounsGroup[0]) {
dd(TRUE);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }