I remember the thing about possessing minds and replanting them , but I think the Lurcher actually revives itself ? Was the interview specifically about the Lurcher ? I don ' t remember reading about that one . They are also temporarily halted by the luminescent light abilities . we ' d be having Kralkatorrik , Jormag , and Primordus using death magic long before Zhaitan was born . I think the difference could simply be the quantity of magic available . Elder Dragons must be huge concentrations of their own type of magic and energy amassed during ages . Presence of death magic in the world is probably not found in such concentrated form , and small traces of it would simply pass through dragon minions just as it has to somehow do with mortal people . But when all that magic or energy is suddenly let back loose instead of natural Elder Dragon hibernation and bleeding , the results may be allnew . Now that there ' s magic of plants and mind or whatever added into the mix , it ' s a picnic for dragons except the menu is not the same as before , and it ' s eat as much as you like . If we think back about 250 years though , you wouldn ' t know it what kind of spell you were struck with unless you actually saw it being cast and could deduce the type of damage it caused . In similiar manner , we don ' t know if the minions or dragons are actually making use of shadow or mind magic until we observe it . Those two spheres of magic being put to good use was not very apparent even when Zhaitan or Mordremoth were alive until the Pact assault on the jungle when minds of sylvari were taken over . Just as an elementalist were to given a mesmer spell to use , they wouldn ' t know what to do with it until they tried and practiced with it . I think that could explain some wild inconsistencies like there existing a nexus of plant and death magic creatures in the waterfall cave in The Bitter Cold .