[quote=@Crusader Lord]
And part of it sounds like a paradox, where someone like a master can tell a servant to attack him but all Absalom has to do is stand there and the servant can't do anything to him because the servant is still making a "direct attack". 
[/quote]

I think this is referring to the part "Telling others to attack does not count as a direct attack", in which case I think this is supposed to mean Absalom ordering someone to attack you does not count as a direct attack from Absalom. So even if he orders his mind controlled minions to attack you, you still can't attack him because he hasn't attacked you directly himself.