Whoa, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas just gave a very lengthy and detailed interview about the seventh season of How I Met Your Mother, where they reveal which iconic season 1 character is returning, why the season is all about Robin, and tease the series’ end! Read ahead at your own risk!

In the NY Magazine interview, Bays and Thomas get around everything, from Nora and Barney to Robin and Ted (what?!) and Lily and Marshall. Let’s start with the shocking reveal of who will be returning from season 1 (and really, are you sure you want to be spoiled on this? Okay then…

The Slutty Pumpkin!

That’s right, one of the two biggest question marks of Ted’s past (the other being his perfect match whom he never ended up meeting from ‘Milk’); the Slutty Pumpkin whom he met that one time at Halloween and never saw since! We’ll see her in the episode which airs on Halloween, how appropriate. And while the producers don’t give away how he meets her, it’ll be awesome to finally get some answers to that lingering mystery!

And speaking of lingering, how about that final Slap that Marshall owns Barney? Bays teases that, “We already know exactly what happens with the final slap,” though he doesn’t reveal if we’ll see it happen this year or in season 8.

On Barney’s pursuit of Nora, Bays reveals that we’ll see him work for her. But Thomas adds:

Barney dug a really deep hole with Nora last season. He has to redeem himself with her. So it’s a really mature pursuit of a woman for Barney. It’s a step forward for him.

Of course at the same time, we’ve got Robin “sitting off to the side kind of dying inside,” because she’s rediscovered her feelings for Barney. While it’ll definitely be a mystery who Barney ends up wedding-suiting up for (we’re still not convinced the wedding will actually happen!), Thomas promises that:

There’s going to be a lot of shakeups with Robin and Barney. A lot of fans wanted more from season five and were upset that we broke them up. But those characters weren’t quite ready to go there. This season, people who wanted more of the emotional spark between them will be happy. There are going to be a lot of fireworks.

Bays adds that there is a “huge journey for [Robin] this season,” and that the character will go through some significant things and “learn about herself.” That’ll be great, as Robin really was set aside in season 6 to make room for the big Marshall and Barney arcs.

And moving off that – could something once again be stirring up between Ted and Robin?! We’d say heck no, but the producers didn’t exactly shoot down the theory. Thomas says:

The notion that Ted is living with his ex-girlfriend, the catalyst for this whole story … is important. So while there’s a lot of great Robin-Barney coming up, Ted’s going to remember why he [fell for Robin]. We’re really bringing it back to the group this year. […] We care about these five people and there are going to be some serious soap-opera story lines.

Would you be down with that, or do you think Ted and Robin should be completely done at this point?

We’re also teased about Lily’s pregnancy, that she may or may not develop a “bionic sense of smell.” On Martin Short’s character, he’s a “legend in the field of environmental law.” We’re told that Marshall will be trying desperately to get into his company, but that the character has a “dark secret.” Maybe he litters!

Finally, we’re warned that everyone might not end up happy and together at the end of the show. Bays explains that the message of the series is that everything doesn’t end up perfect. Thomas adds that, “You’re always baking. You’re never done,” and that is what Ted and the others’ journey is all about.

There so much more over at NY Magazine, and at this point we wonder if there’s anything we haven’t yet been told about season 7?!