A hero's journey isn't one of constant victory; Thalius knows that extremely well. But he's never down for the count for long. Whenever he's captured by his arch-nemesis Xinali, he's able to use his wiles to piece together clues from the villainous mage's evil monologues in order to get back on his feet.
Except...Thalius didn't get much sleep last night. So when he wakes up with his arms bound to a dungeon wall at the very end of the speech with a menacing silhouette walking away from him, he's kind of at a loss.