If he's making a stab motion, which he is, the entire power of his attack can indeed disappear in to nothingness if Iolanthe struck the side of the blade before it reached her. Since it's very easy to redirect kinetic force from the side, instead of head on, his attack won't ever reach her body past the girth of her shield bash, whilst she leads with her left arm. His sword is more likely to cut his own shoulder, or slit his own throat, now that it has been blocked.

There's nothing magical about the shield, she was tracking his movements, and as you said, he didn't gain much distance with his side-step. Her entire post before the current was an attempt to keep his sword on the other side of her shield, so surely she'd adjust the trajectory of it to compensate his small side-step.


I edited the word 'movement's' in to 'movements'... I couldn't stand the fact I made that one typo. You'll see no more edits from me, my apologies.