Here, the reference was to spells. Like control, sleep, and so on. You can, of course, argue that this isn't specified here, and you would be right. But I can't clarify every potentially possible nuance. Otherwise, it would result in a wall of text for each spell and each ability. And I don't see a big tragedy in the fact that the shield didn't work against Alex's character. Someone else has already lost two characters, and you just got bitten))