“A train of pleasure followed by a caboose of pain.”

That’s how Community creator Dan Harmon describes ensemble member Donald Glover’s final five episodes with the NBC comedy (and the Glover-less installments that follow) — and he’s only half-joking.

“It’s devastating. It’s heart-wrenching,” the returning showrunner says of losing a member of the show’s original cast, but makes it clear that the actor “has my full support.”

RELATED | Fall TV Grid: What’s on When — and Versus What

Harmon stopped by TVLine’s Comic-Con suite to share some Season 5 scoop with Michael Ausiello. Among the topics discussed: an upcoming animated episode (“I don’t think it’ll have a lick of live action”) and the Jeff-Annie attraction (“I think the energy between them is where the power is”), not to mention how he’ll re-introduce Joel McHale’s character, who graduated in last season’s finale, back onto campus (“I want him back at that table. I want him back in those hallways.”).

Press PLAY on the video below, Human Beings, to get all the Greendale goodies (and to watch Harmon’s tongue-in-cheek attempts to start a beef between his predecessors and Ausiello).