Entertainment

We're Not Ready for You to Leave 'Community,' Troy

by Alicia Lutes

Thursday night, the saddest moment in Greendale history will have its moment in the spotlight: the Troy half of Troy and Abed in the Morning, Donald Glover will take leave of Community . When all of this was announced in October, it felt like eons away — January, tut tut, that's a whole entire new year! — but lo, how quickly time defeats us, and now the impending departure of one of the series' most beloved characters is upon us. No, Troy: nooooooo!

With his gentle spirit and charming enthusiasm, Troy came to be known as the series' heart and unifying force. Eager to please with an abundance, Troy leveled out Abed's hyper-intelligence in a way that was fun, fresh, endearing and always hilarious. He's one of those "says what everyone else is thinking" types, but only in the sweetest of manners. Ugh.

We're going to miss you, Troy. From waking up with Troy and Abed in the Morning, to his meltdowns, freak-outs, far-too-honest admissions, declarations of want and, and moments of general nincompoopery, Troy was always one of our favorite aspects of the show. And now, it's all over. Somebody turn on Boyz II Men's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" STAT: I'm going to need a moment.

As I'm sure everyone is going to need a moment. To collect themselves; to reflect. To remember the simpler days and easier times gone by, when we could take Troy's presence for granted (because he's a character on a television show and not at all real) and relish his sweet and charming naïveté. So allow us to walk you through the stages of Troygrief, through the magic of Donald Glover GIFs, because the Internet. Here's looking at you [through the air conditioning vents], kid.

It's OK, let it all out:

Ugh, we know. It's like our whole world has been turned upside-down. Just when we got Community back to its former glory!

Ugh now everything is terrible again.

OK, OK, just kidding! Everything's not terrible. Only some things are terrible.

It's just that, we're going to miss you so much, Donald. You were the best!

Shucks, that's sweet. But still! You're leaving us and that hurts our feelings. We thought you'd always be there.

SEE HOW YOU BETRAYED US, DONALD?! You're the MEANEST meanie to ever meanie!

OK, OK, we're sorry, just kidding. We're just going to miss you. So much.

Good luck out there, Donald. Just always promise us you'll stay childish.

Check out these clips of Troy's best moments and let the memory of Mr. Barnes live on forever:

Image: NBC [1]; RDJ RPC/Tumblr [9]