As Stokes sweltered, his legs cramping, and dehydrating during his gutsy innings in 40-degree Adelaide heat, his teammates wilted.
His pre-match rallying call to his team - show some fight - had fallen on deaf ears.
And his dreams were dashed of leading England to an Ashes triumph for the first time in five series against Australia.
Stokes' state of mind was obvious when Jamie Smith was given out, caught behind, in yet another controversial review decision involving Snicko.
The captain stood with his head initially down, his tattooed arms folded across his chest.
He then stared into space while repeatedly shaking his head with an incredulous expression.
The reaction was about feeling dudded by Snicko. It may well have been about being left in the lurch by teammates.
"I'm not sure letting him down is the right terminology to use, personally," England's batting coach Marcus Trescothick told reporters after stumps on Thursday.
"Success comes and goes, doesn't it. It's not guaranteed, it's not a given that you're going to succeed in every series.
"It's not like anybody is going into any game and not trying and working as hard as anybody else."
Stokes' No.3, Ollie Pope, faces the axe after another failure - he's made 108 runs at an average of 21.60 this series.
Openers Ben Duckett (93 at 18.60) and Zak Crawley (129 at 25.80) aren't faring any better.
Nor is Stokes' vice-captain Harry Brook (143 at 28.60). Or his highly touted wicketkeeper-batsman Smith (74 at 14.80).
Stokes' bedrock Joe Root, the No.1-ranked Test batsman in the world, has made 180 runs - 138 of them in one knock.
The skipper's main bowling strike weapon, Jofra Archer, has eight wickets for the series - five coming in Australia's first innings in Adelaide.
Paceman Brydon Carse has 11 wickets, the most of any Englishman, but is conceding 5.43 runs an over.
Stokes himself has captured eight wickets - five in one innings in the series-opener in Perth. The next-best return is three wickets from spinner Will Jacks and quick Gus Atkinson.
England lost the first Test inside two days; the second inside four - both by eight-wicket margins.
By just after lunch on day two in Adelaide, the third Test was all but lost when Stokes strode to the crease with England 4-71 and en route to what appears an inevitable third consecutive defeat.
By stumps, the Poms were 8-213, still 158 runs behind Australia's first innings.
The steely Stokes was unbeaten on 45 after soaking up 151 balls - two balls less than his top five batsmen combined - with his Ashes dream now a nightmare.
"Ben obviously scrapped hard ... it's up to everybody else to keep putting their hands up and doing the work," Trescothick said.
"He's obviously tired and obviously a bit dehydrated, more than anything else.
"It's almost like he focuses his best when he's in that frame of mind; when it's really tricky and tough and it's conditions or situations that other people don't succeed in."
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