Star Wars Hints At Force Lightning's True Nature

screenrant.com:

In its latest novel, Star Wars has hinted at the true nature of Force Lightning and it's not what people may have thought. For the Sith, the Force is the key to countless powers — primarily abilities that allow them to exert their will over others, or to lash out in anger and aggression. That isn't to say the most skilled Sith have no subtlety; Palpatine spent years operating in the shadows, using the Force with care and precision so he didn't attract the attention of the Jedi.

But Palpatine's favorite trick — indeed, his trademark move — is undeniably his flashiest: Force Lightning. The prequels and the original trilogy showed Palpatine and other Sith using Force Lightning on isolated targets, but Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker increased the scale when the Emperor unleashed a veritable Force Storm upon the ragtag fleet that had assembled to oppose the First Order. This proved devastatingly effective, short-circuiting the ships he was attacking, affecting their electrical systems just as it had living beings' bodies and nervous systems. One scene from E.K. Johnston's recent novel, Queen's Hope, perhaps explains why Palpatine prefers to use Force Lightning.

Related: Star Wars: All 4 Force Lightning Colors Explained (In Canon)

Queen's Hope is quite an unusual Star Wars book, in that it contains rare scenes from Palpatine's own perspective. It's set shortly after the beginning of the Clone Wars, and in one scene a furious Palpatine slips into his sanctum to unleash Force Lightning at a Sith relic designed to absorb his wrath so he doesn't give himself away to the Jedi. The concept is a fascinating one, suggesting Force Lightning is essentially a manifestation of a Sith's anger and rage, and that expending it in this way