"Ezria" 'shippers breathed an all-too-brief sigh of relief after the Feb. 18 episode of Pretty Little Liars revealed Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding) was not the nefarious "A," as fans had been led to believe for months, but actually the author of a true crime novel that examines the disappearance of Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse).

Normally finding out your boyfriend is not the psychopath who has been tormenting you for years would be a good thing, but this revelation still means Ezra's entire relationship with Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale) was built upon a lie since he initially cozied up to her in an attempt to get inside scoop on Alison.

This twist was born out of a game that's very popular with the PLL writers. "We play 'What If?' a lot in the writers room," executive producer Marlene King told BuzzFeed. "I always thought it was fascinating that when Ezra meets Aria in the pilot, she's staring at Ali's missing poster. That became the perfect opportunity to explore the questions: What if Ezra knew about Alison? What if Ezra knew Aria was friends with Alison? What if that's why Ezra started talking to Aria?"

After weeks of trying to poke holes in the story to ensure it would hold up to the scrutiny of PLL devotees, the writers had to answer one more monumental question before they could commit: Could Ezra be redeemed after this reveal? "The big worry was that fans would just want him to go away," King recalled. But their success with redeeming Mona — "She hit Hanna with her car and now people feel sorry for her" — and Paige — "She's dating Emily now and once tried to drown her" — made the writers confident they could eventually get Ezra back in the fans' good graces. That's when they took the idea to Harding and Hale.