Three Issues

[Morvai_]

Ah but tal had things the others only had from time to time constantly

Arutha became a different person during silverthorn ruthless and hotheaded in places where normally he was cautious, Jimmy was driven to succeed at something then he was driven by his loyalty and respect for Arutha and the kingdom as a whole.

Tal was driven by revenge, his desire to punish those who destroyed his clan, his home, his whole life in general, if your that driven by a goal you can master anything IMHO

 

[Hekateras]

It's not a matter of opinion, though. It's biology. Genetic predisposition is a thing. Too much of what one can achieve is a matter of how one's brain is wired, of genetics - not just of motivation and effort. Driven or not, it takes a very rare person to be talented enough to master many languages during a few years. It takes a very rare person to be able to hunt so skillfully. It takes a very rare person to be able to paint realistically. (How many people do you know who could draw a life-like portrait of someone from scratch?) It takes a very rare person to be able to fence on an international master level, or get the hang of economics and strategy easily, or all those other things Tal does.

Tal is all of those things - even though, as someone from some rustic tribe who grew to maturity without being even introduced to most of those things, is the least likely person to be predisposed to them. Talent and ability are shaped very strongly by nurture, as well, not just genetics - but that doesn't help us, because none of Tal's nurture accounts for his talents, either. (Except the hunting thing, obviously.) Crucially, if I'm not mistaken, he grew up without learning a foreign language (and if he did deal with neighbouring tribes or something, their language would still be similar to his), and that right there should severely stunt any hope of him effectively learning a foreign language in his adult years.

And all that is one-in-a-million rare. It doesn't matter how good your motivation is, it's still staggeringly implausible and cheap, for no good reason - struggle and effort is generally more interesting to read about than flawless mastery.