Is card text only active when the card is in play or revealed? Here's my specific instance...

In Journey in the Dark, there's a treachery card called "Deep Fissure," which reads, "When Revealed: Remove a character you control from the quest and discard the top card of the encounter deck. If that character's printed willpower is less than the discarded card's threat, discard that character."

What is the discarded threat of Moria Archer, which has a threat of X? His card says "X is the number of players in the game" but since he's not in play, I assume his threat is 0? Same with Many-pillared Hall. It has 1 threat, but says it gets +1 threat for each Many-pillared Hall in play. Even if there's another in play, I assume it's threat remains 1 because its text isn't active?

If those cards were revealed, I'd understand the text kicking in. But since the card has simply been discarded--lying dead on the discard pile--I assume the text doesn't apply?

The text is inactive if it's in the discard pile or if you simply look at it from the encounter deck, so Moria Archer would have a threat of 0 and Man-pillared Hall has a threat of 1.