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Throughout its ten year run, “How I Met Your Mother” defined the early 2000s sitcom scene as much as “Friends” defined the ‘90s. Fans fell in love with the dramatic and comical (if a little convoluted) story Ted Mosby tells his kids about his romantic exploits and disasters, leading up to when he meets their mother.
When the final season aired in 2014, fans waited eagerly for the reveal of Ted’s true love. After nine seasons, Ted finally meets Tracy McConnell, his future wife and mother of his two children. However, in the series finale, Ted finishes his story and reveals that Tracy passed away six years prior, and with his children’s permission, he pursues his true love: Robin Scherbatsky.
The conclusion of the series angered many fans, so much so that a petition in 2014 led the creators to include an “alternate ending” in the Season Nine DVD set, one where Ted went on to have a happy, lasting marriage with Tracy.
While this alternate ending lives up to the show’s name, that’s all it does. The original finale, which concludes with Ted standing in front of Robin’s apartment, holding the infamous blue French horn, is the ultimate catharsis and culmination of the show’s nine turbulent seasons. Ted’s own children point out that the entire story began with Ted meeting Robin, and they’re right—the entire narrative is pushed forward by Ted’s complicated feelings for her throughout his life. It is only fitting that the story begins with a young, naive, hopeful Ted stealing a blue French horn for a girl he just met and ends with a matured, reflective, but still optimistically hopeful Ted stealing the same blue French horn for the girl who has seen him through everything.
Many fans felt cheated by the early death of the mother because the show’s premise revolves around Ted’s explanation of how he meets her. Yet the original ending captures the central message of the show: Ted cannot control his romantic fate, no matter how he frames it, for it is truly about “right place, right time.” The show focuses more on Ted’s personal journey, from his intense desire to settle down to his disastrous hook-ups to his failed engagement, and it constantly reiterates that there is no single path or answer. Ted must surrender control and let the universe run its course. The original finale cements this message and truly comes full circle — suggesting that everything leads back to Robin, Ted’s true love. The series finale of HIMYM is the pinnacle of the show’s central message and, by ending where it all began, confirms that Ted’s true destiny is to be with Robin.
— Staff writer Hannah T. Chew can be reached at hannah.chew@thecrimson.com.
