I think you're misunderstanding what a partial upgrade is.
A partial upgrade is where you update the database without then upgrading every package (calling pacman -Sy with the u switch).
pacman -S, therefore, is not a partial upgrade, as the database is not updated with the y switch.
See System maintenance#Partial upgrades are unsupported for more info.
Seeing as the article says that the article is available free for only a limited time:
Was really disappointed to see the UKSC ruling the other day, but not at all surprised. Seems Joanne is really keen on painting herself a super villain and I'm glad to see folks fighting back against all this.