Following the bridging oxygen deprotonation, is the O-O bond formation, and finally the O2 release. The latter is the rate limiting step as evidenced through the computational efforts and O 18 isotopic measurements. A plausible set of electron and water/hydroxide transfer steps was added finally to complete the OER cycle. Overall, the data implies a decoupling of key proton transfer, electron transfer and chemical steps and a lattice oxygen involving mechanism on Co0.5Fe0.5O0.5F1.5, a departure from the conventional route of purely proton-coupled electron transfer steps, though one that is highly efficient. Further, the active site here is deemed to be a Co-Fe bimolecular site. Returning back to conventional limitations in OER catalysis, this mechanism, which circumvents the standard PCET route, appears to be the origin of the Co0.5Fe0.5O0.5F1.5 exceptional performance. In fact, in recent years, key high performing alkaline OER catalysts also bypassed the standard PCET mechanism. While the exact nature of every step and free-energy landscape of the OER on different crystal facets and active sites is not yet elucidated, nor are the precise effects of the fluorine components on the Co and Fe species deciphered, there are many routes forward to take in understanding this system and building upon the extracted insights to design next-generation materials. Both soft and hard X-ray absorption spectroscopies would be key in capturing the elementspecific electronic changes throughout the catalytic cycle. Vibrational spectroscopy, especially with the aid of isotope labelling and time-resolved measurements would also be instrumental in detecting every intermediate in the reaction pathway to render a closer match between the proposed model and reality. In the direction of OER catalyst innovation, the exploration of novel anionic components substituted into transition metal oxides has shown to be a fruitful avenue to pursue and one can point to recently innovated oxyhalide catalysts. Concluding Remarks