The treachery "In Need of Rest" says "Remove a hero from the quest and attach In Need of Rest to that hero..." so even though this isn't saying "then" if this comes up outside the quest phase it is a free card that just gets discarded yes? Because it says "that hero" if you cant remove a hero you can't finish the effect

agreed

Also it says "Forced: after a time counter is removed from the current quest, attached hero takes 1 damage" Does that mean just the quest you were currently on or any quest for the entire game? I'm assuming it's the latter as this game the right answer is usually the worst. It seems very punishing though.

It means whatever quest you are currently on at any given moment for the rest of the game (or until you remove the condition).