What's the deal with the traversal disabling lightning in Killing Time (and maybe other Braniac world) missions?

[Catsim]

Like who thought this was a good idea? I've got a billion things I need to pay attention to, sniper and tank lasers crisscrossing the screen, brute artillery and grunt bullets flying everywhere, enemies doing attacks I need to counter, and some waterhead at Rocksteady thought "Let's make it so they also have to deal with AoEs that spawn under the player's feet that stagger them and disable their traversal."