How I Met Your Mother Theories – Tracey, Yellow Umbrella, and more

By JD

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In honor of the upcoming finale and the promise that the show’s title will be addressed I think it’s worth rehashing some of the popular theories to see which are viable, which are debunked, and what we actually think is going to happen.

Much of this data is gathered from the great How I Met Your Mother FAQ on IMDB.

The Tracy Theory

The “Tracy Theory” is based on the concluding scene of the Season 1 episode “Belly Full of Turkey,” where Ted meets a stripper who introduces herself as “Tracy,” upon which Future Ted’s narration chimes in, “and that, kids, is how I met your mother.” The kids react with shock, and Future Ted quickly reveals he’s kidding.

Fan consensus, however, is that there’s nothing that definitively establishes the mother’s name as Tracy, and the “Tracy Theory” is typically disregarded:

  • We know what we see and hear on the screen isn’t necessarily what Future Ted tells verbatim to his kids, unless we actually hear Future Ted say it (one example: Ted and Victoria’s last day together in “Cupcake”). In other words, just because we heard the stripper say “I’m Tracy,” doesn’t mean that Future Ted told his kids, “She said her name was Tracy.”
  • The kids’ shocked reaction in that scene would’ve happened regardless of whether Future Ted mentioned the mother’s real name or not. Future Ted defused the situation before the kids might’ve uttered something like “but her name’s not Tracy!”
  • Considering the series’ previous “contingency mothers” (people who would’ve been the mother had the show been canceled at particular times) were Victoria and possibly Stella, the creators are certainly open to a mother who wasn’t named Tracy.

So while there’s no ruling out “Tracy,” there’s nothing definitive about it either.

Christine Scott Bennett is to blame for this theory gaining popularity lately. She has been cast as a woman named Tracey in the season four finale “The Leap”. Is this a hint toward the mom? Are the writers aware of the fan theories and just messing with us? What do you think?

St. Patrick’s Day Theory aka “Bump Girl”

“Bump Girl” is the nickname fans have given to the character played by Nicole Muirbrook Wagner in the third season episode “No Tomorrow.” Her entire scene amounts to Ted accidentally bumping into her while walking through a nightclub, Ted briefly apologizing and her graciously dismissing him. This was discussed immediately after the episode when fans, myself among them, noticed this girl.

Because Ted earlier notes that the Mother was in the nightclub that night but that he didn’t meet her, some casual fans have jumped on the theory that since the scene is pointless otherwise, Bump Girl must be the mother.

However, most of the more seasoned fans have come to the consensus that Bump Girl is simply a red herring; HIMYM has a recurring habit of subverting fiction tropes, often tied in to Future Ted’s recurring theme of “that’s not how it is in real life.” In real life, people don’t get over a broken heart overnight right after a seemingly healing epiphany; in real life, people don’t triumphantly push a dead Fiero to 200,000 miles; in real life, friends don’t always do the smart and thoughtful thing and tell their friends that purchasing an expensive apartment despite a horrendous interest rate and huge credit card debt is a stupid thing to do.

The trope that “Bump Girl” is riffing on is that of The Conservation of Information, also known as “Chekhov’s Gun“–you don’t show something if it’s not important. The writers are aware of this, and know that sparking a discussion is always a plus when it comes to the show. Bump Girl was thrown in to inspire that discussion, but one needs to keep in mind that “that’s not how it happens in real life,” and while she’s not technically ruled out as a candidate for “Mother,” knowing the life lessons HIMYM puts forward, it’s not a path that the writers are likely to pursue.

Stella saying she was at a St. Patrick’s Day party only contributes to this theory considering her inclusion in the general storyline surrounding the yellow umbrella (which Ted picked up from the bar after that party.)

Is Robin/Victoria/Wendy the Waitress/Coat-check girl the mother?

No.

Really, no.

As for Robin, we learned it in episode one. “That’s how I met, your aunt Robin.” Radnor and Smulders chemistry is so good that fans have kept trying to figure out ways to justify her being the mother.

No, “Aunt Robin” doesn’t necessarily mean he’s married to Robin’s sister. Future Ted also refers to “Uncle Barney,” “Uncle Marshall,” and “Aunt Lily,” meaning that his kids employ the custom of referring to their father’s close friends as “aunts” and “uncles.”

Further proof that Robin is not the mother is in “Something Blue,” where Future Ted’s closing narration not only establishes that he had not yet met the mother at the time of Marshall and Lily’s wedding, but also that Robin and the mother are two separate people.

In “No Tomorrow,” Ted and Barney go to a club where (Future Ted tells us) the mother is attending the same St. Patrick’s Day party; Robin spends that same night with Marshall and Lily.

As for other girls from past episodes of the show, it’s not possible.

  • At the end of “Lucky Penny,” Future Ted wraps up the story by saying that the firm he was interviewing for hired someone else, and that person had to move to Chicago three months later. He points out: “Kids, funny thing about destiny; I thought I was destined to get that job. But I was wrong. My destiny was to stay in New York. Because if I hadn’t, I never would’ve met your mother.” Aside from strongly suggesting that he meets the mother in New York, it clearly means that he had not yet, at the time of “Lucky Penny” (and some window of time afterwards, prior to when he would have moved to Chicago) met the mother.
  • At the end of “Something Blue,” Future Ted closes the story with this revelation of his and Robin’s futures: “And as hard as it was at the time, in the end we both got what we wanted. She did eventually go on to live in Argentina, and Morocco, Greece, Russia, even Japan for a little while. And I? Well, I met your mom.”

So anyone Ted can be construed to have “met” before the events of “Something Blue” can be definitively ruled out as the mother, including Victoria, the coat check girl, the Slutty Pumpkin, Wendy the Waitress, Trudy, and most other female characters Ted has personally significantly interacted with from Seasons 1 and 2.

There are, of course, subsequent statements that nonetheless establish Ted as not having met the mother yet:

  • “No Tomorrow” – Future Ted makes a point of the fact that he learned years later that the mother attended the same St. Patrick’s Day 2008 party that he did, but did not meet her there.
  • “The Three Days Rule” – after telling the story of how things with Holli went, Ted mentions that when he met the mother, he didn’t hesitate to call her back as soon as he got her number, strongly implying that this event has not happened yet in the timeline.
  • “Right Place, Right Time” – Ted implies that the sequence of events that lead to his running into Stella “changed his life forever,” further implying that these events were crucial to his meeting the mother (and that Stella is going to be a key factor in this path). Take that all together and it means he hasn’t met the mother yet.

Finally

Carter has said in phone interviews that the reveal of the mother will not take advantage of a loop hole or clever twist. That promise further debunks many of the above theories.

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In Casting/Gueststars, Predictions, Show Analysis | Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 01:25 pm GMT -4 | By JD
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482 Comments to “How I Met Your Mother Theories – Tracey, Yellow Umbrella, and more”

  1. John Darc |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 05:36 pm GMT -4

    And yet people still think they're super smart for "figuring it out!" and thinking Robin/Bump girl is the mother.

  2. JustinDickinson |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 05:39 pm GMT -4

    I figured we'd get it all out there to catch the new readers up to speed with the long-standing theories thus far.

  3. stu |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 05:56 pm GMT -4

    i think, and hope, we won't actually meet the mother until the very final episode. cause i think the show needs to end where Ted meets the mother, that's what the show is about, How he Met the mother, not how he met the mother and what happened after.

  4. Jeremy |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 05:58 pm GMT -4

    Okay- I agree with everything you said. But I think you have to think the way Carter & Bays do. Firstly, they said there's no twist/loop hole in meeting the mother. Okay, that means it's going to be some girl that Ted meets at some point in his journey (and it could've been Stella or Victoria)- but there's one problem. C & B also have said that they've already filmed the last scene(s) of the series. They know how this thing is going to end already. How does that make sense if in theory the mother could be anyone?

    Here's what I think, based on all the times C & B have thrown me for a loop- Why is Older Ted telling this story in the first place? Why is he sitting down with his kids to tell about it? The mother is gone. Maybe she died, or whatever, but he's telling this story as a lead-in to the news he's breaking to his kids, that he's getting married to…

    Well, who would be the obvious choice? Probably Robin, because that's who everyone (except for the diehard BRO fans) would want him to end up with. The fact that Robin isn't the mother doesn't exclude Ted ending up with her at the end…

  5. dcw |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:06 pm GMT -4

    As JD pointed out to me already today we've already met Robin's sister – and she's too young – maybe. Could she have another sister? Did the plot already reveal that? If that's not it – chances are we have yet to see the mother on the screen.

    Next question – as I believe this is waaaaay better than Friend's or other sitcoms we have to realize that coming up on the end of season four time is not on our side. How many seasons do they have left? Three? More? I know Carter and Craig have said they would like to end the show with the reveal of the mother but I would like to see a season or two after we figure out who it is as they date and court. Might not happen…

    Either way – I'm guessing we'll learn crucial information uber soon.

    Cheers!

  6. dcw |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:14 pm GMT -4

    So he's telling them the story after there mother passed away and about to introduce their Aunt Robin to them as their new mother? I'm confused.

  7. dcw |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:18 pm GMT -4

    I agree with the whole meeting the mother in the last epsiode deal… only problem is that it might make the show drag on if they wait another three seasons to reveal the answer – ADD will kick in and they'll lose viewers. Tell us who it is and work us up to the marriage. If not that, they end the show next season with the answer. Go out on top…

  8. dcw |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:21 pm GMT -4

    Also… I heard that too about the last scenes – does anyone have a link for that? I thought they did that after season 1 or 2 when they heard they might only have one season left = so they didn't want to leave any of us hanging, hence, film the last epsiode just in case. They could still scrap that and finish the story however they want…

  9. Danielle |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:21 pm GMT -4

    I do not think C & B already saying that they filmed the last scene with the kids really causes a problem. I think it is mainly just their reaction to his whole story really. Not just the meeting your mother part but everything he has told them to get to that place.

    I think it is more of a coming of age story for them about finding true love.

    And I really hope that is not the case that he is going to be with Robin..that is WAY played out.

  10. Danielle |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:24 pm GMT -4

    Just because the kids call her Aunt Robin does not mean Ted married Robins sister. He also calls them Uncle Marshall, Aunt Lily and Uncle Barney.

    My friends kids call me Aunt.

  11. dcw |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:44 pm GMT -4

    I thought about that already. I have Aunt's and Uncle's that are not related – I get that… So Lily and Marhy could fit that role. Robin and Barney might actually be related to Ted's kids if they end up getting married. Just a thought.

    What epsoide did we meet Robin's sister in? How old was she actually? Could she come back now more grown up and ready for Teddy?

    It is what it is… all speculation. That's why we all watch…

  12. JustinDickinson |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:47 pm GMT -4

    We met her in First Time in New York and she was about 16 to Ted's 29. I think that's a little icky, even for Barney.

  13. Danielle |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:48 pm GMT -4

    I totally agree. She was only about 16..and PLUS, the mother was at the bar on St Patricks day. I am doubting Robins little sister who I believe lives in Canadian and would have been only 17 would be at that bar.

  14. BSMOOTH |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:49 pm GMT -4

    Great Post JD… now the next time you get Carter on the phone, don't forget, find out where they got that yellow umbrella!

  15. Danielle |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 06:59 pm GMT -4

    ooppss Canada.

  16. dcw |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 07:08 pm GMT -4

    Agreed. But a 17/18 year old at a bar in New York? Not really that crazy.

    Now, Ted = 29 (two years after we first meet Ted) and Robin's little sister = 16; yeah, that isn't going to work.

  17. Jean Pierre |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 07:23 pm GMT -4

    I think that the mother could be Tracey and I also think that she could be the Slutty Pumpkin.

  18. Ayah |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 07:28 pm GMT -4

    So much references in one post! Nice to be clear with all those theories…
    You did a very good job writing this: I'm gonna miss the show so much this summer
    /and/ I want to re-watch it too.

  19. JustinDickinson |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 07:38 pm GMT -4

    Can't be the Slutty Pumpkin, he meets the mom after Lucky Penny, which is way after that fateful halloween.

  20. SSJ |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 07:48 pm GMT -4

    Hmmmm… I'm just wondering about one thing – when we meet the mother, will she became an integral part of the show? Will she became a regular cast member? Because it wouldn't be good for the show… This is a story of 5 people, not 6, just 5 and adding someone else to this group would be a cheap shot… Something like 'jump the shark', if you know what I mean. What do you think about that, JD?

  21. carlitoa |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 07:56 pm GMT -4

    Two questions.

    1. It seems a lot of twitter users think last night was the season finale or that the show is otherwise ending. Is this the last season? I thought I read somewhere (here, probably) that more seasons were lined up.

    2. Can the show still endure even after the mother is revealed?

  22. JustinDickinson |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 07:58 pm GMT -4

    I think that the writers know what they're doing and if they want to add a 6th character it'll be fine. The Victoria era had a sixth and everybody LOVED that time period.

  23. JustinDickinson |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 07:59 pm GMT -4

    The show isn't over. There'll be a season five.

  24. Danielle |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:01 pm GMT -4

    I totally agree. I think the Victoria as the 6th and even Stella as the 6th worked out fine.
    I really hope we meet the mother at least a couple episodes before the end. I want to see her with Ted and the gang. I want to make sure Lily thinks she is porch worthly

  25. Samuel |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:05 pm GMT -4

    I'm pretty certain they just filmed the scenes with the kids just in case they got cancelled/the kids got old.

  26. SSJ |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:06 pm GMT -4

    Actors have a 7-year deals, the ratings are acceptable, could be better, but they are also steady, and the show is in the syndication so I'd be suprised if CBS ended the series earlier than actors' contracts would expire.

  27. Amy |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:13 pm GMT -4

    I'm actually not opposed to meeting the mother early… I mean… the very first episode when I first watched I thought Robin was the mother and I wasn't opposed in any way. It wasn't until the end of the ep that we found out she wasn't.

    I would have no qualms with meeting the mother and watching the relationship with Ted develop, up to the wedding and maybe, just maybe up to the first kid.

  28. Amy |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:19 pm GMT -4

    I'm confused here. I am pretty sure they haven't filmed the meeting of the mother. They filmed the end of THIS season because lily was too preggers, and they have filmed the reactions from the kids because otherwise they would get too old.

    In no way would it make sense to have filmed the Ted and Crew part. Look how much their appearances have changed. Lily doesn't even have the same hair. Etc etc etc. Plus they are all getting older it would be weird if they were all suddenly young again.

  29. Amy |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:20 pm GMT -4

    I don't think the girl will be related to any of the people we know. Not even Stella.

  30. JustinDickinson |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:23 pm GMT -4

    You're right, they've only filmed scenes with the kids. The big joke is that even the cast doesn't know what's going to happen.

  31. ELS |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:26 pm GMT -4

    I, too, expect the show to end as soon as he meets the mother—it's really how the story should end. "And that's how I met your mother."

    On the other hand, some of my friends have made the argument that the audience should fall in love with the future wife in the same way that Ted does. Have to say, they make a good point.

  32. Bruna |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:31 pm GMT -4

    I do agree with that! And I really think that Ted´s point is not just telling his kids how he met their mother…
    I really agree with Jeremy´s theory about ted telling his kids something BIG like: "Kids, after almos 20 years of a happy marriadge, me and your mom splitted, as you guys already know… And, you know now all the history that exists between your aunt Robin and me, so I guess i´m i can finnally say to you, that we are together!"
    And would really love to see this ending!! It would really make sense to me!
    I think that we could meet the mother at the end… but he could interact more with the kids… so we could have some tips… Such as "and then i went with Marshall to eat BEANS". Then the kids get happily surprised and he says "Yes kids… i did like beans even before meeting your mom..". Somethings about the mom´s personnality, so we can feel like we know her already, even if we just see her at the very last episode!

  33. Danielle |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:41 pm GMT -4

    yes I know that a 17/18 year old at a bar is not crazy.

    And I know that Ted is now 31 and the sister would be at 18. That still does not make it any less gross.
    He would have met her when she is 16. That is eww..plus you do not date your ex's sister.

  34. SSJ |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:42 pm GMT -4

    IMO it should end when Ted fall in love with her and they will be together. Firstly, they don't necessarily have to like each other, you know, it could be like in FRIENDS with Monica and Chandler – just friends for four seasons and eventually discovering mutual feeligs. Secondly, the story may go on and we don't have to know that we have met the mother, it could be revealed later.

    Carter once said that after meeting the mother HIMYM will be going on like a typical sitcom… I'm not sure about that. This history, this plot, this tension 'who's the mother?' is what maked show so special and it distinguish this series from other sitcoms which haven't planned-out plot like Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, Two and a Half Men etc.

  35. JustinDickinson |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:46 pm GMT -4

    SSJ makes a good point. What if Ted meets a girl and they get along horribly, we hate her. Then Future Ted says \”That's how I met your mother\” and then the show follows the path of how they eventually fell in love.

  36. Amy |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:46 pm GMT -4

    JD I am so so glad you wrote this post. I am glad you've addressed all these concerns. I appreciate it as a longtime and regular viewer that other people accept the major hints and clues we've been given such as in Lucky Penny, etc.
    :)

  37. CourtneyE |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:47 pm GMT -4

    My dad once told my brother and I how he met our mom. I'm pretty sure she hadn't died or left. … I should call her and make sure though.

  38. CourtneyE |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:51 pm GMT -4

    Why can't people just be happy with the idea that the mother will just be someone that Ted comes across at some point in the future? She doesn't need to be Keyser Soze.

    Though that would be awesome…

  39. little barney |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:52 pm GMT -4

    First of all the last scene that Jeremy was talking about is a reaction from the kids, C&B have filmed hundreds of shots of the kids because they realised that if the show carries on for years the actors will get older, so they have filmed the last scene which would show their reaction when Ted says "and that kids, is how i met your mother."
    Regarding the ending of the show I dont want the mother to be revealed very soon, but I feel when we meet the mother, we should watch them date and fall in love (season 2 Ted & Robin) and watch him propose in the season finale. The next season should about how they got married. LAME's wedding was awesome and the planning and build up was good.
    We can just end the show when we meet the mother, you wouldn't like it if you saw a woman's face and old ted saying that how I met your mother, think about it, why do we love victoria and robin so much.
    One last thing to note that this show is not only about Ted, its about the whole gang, it would be great to know what happens to the other guys in the future as well as Ted.

  40. little barney |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 08:54 pm GMT -4

    BTW there was a spelling mistake, I meant " we CAN'T end the show"

  41. bumpguy |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 09:05 pm GMT -4

    One thing about this new "Tracey" in the finale… the actress is blonde, and I don't know about you, but I think that the mother will not be blonde because of when he flashed toward what the kids would look like if Stella was the mother. Maybe I'm just making a wild assumption.

    Secondly, I think that Stella being involved in the path to getting Ted to meet the mother might have something to do with Tony's movie, "The Wedding Bride". Because Future Ted said 'more on that later'. Maybe that was just a red herring, but you never know.

  42. Danielle |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 09:23 pm GMT -4

    unfortunately, I know from an inside source, as of last night, only 4 episodes for season 5 have been scheduled..CBS is really playing hard to get with the Fox people

  43. bumpguy |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 09:31 pm GMT -4

    One thing about this new "Tracey" in the finale… the actress is blonde, and I don't know about you, but I think that the mother will not be blonde because of when he flashed toward what the kids would look like if Stella was the mother. Maybe I'm just making a wild assumption.

    Also, I think maybe Stella's involvement with Ted meeting the mother will have to do with Tony's movie, "The Wedding Bride." Future Ted said 'more on that later', but maybe that's just a red herring. You never know.

  44. carlitoa |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 09:34 pm GMT -4

    Thanks for that. Just the chuckle I needed this afternoon.

  45. SSJ |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 09:39 pm GMT -4

    That's not possible. HIMYM is definitly safe. If they wanted to cancel it they wouldn't make new deals with actors.

    Besides, 4 episodes? That's a weird number. It is always 22, 24 or 13…

  46. Tim |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 10:48 pm GMT -4

    Not Stella is responisble for Ted meeting the mother but one of Tony's Job offers is. Don't know if i'm allowed to spoil about next weeks episode here but Josh Radnor told in a interview how he "meets" the Mother next week

  47. steve |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 11:27 pm GMT -4

    I remember that you posted an article where the writers said they "know what the last five minutes of the series are going to be, whenever that happens." They already have a plan in place, and ultimately I believe that the "mother" will not be revealed, shown, seen, or cast…only mentioned at the end of the series finale. It would be pathetic to have one actress be classified as the titular character in the series, while being in just one episode with one line.

  48. Bennoid |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 11:27 pm GMT -4

    i think it's Ted's perfect match from the dating service that he never went to see in season 1. and those years in betwean needed to be seperate because something happend in those years that solved a major fluke that could have caused their relationschip to end

  49. steve |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 11:31 pm GMT -4

    btw you should call this the "no mother" theory.

  50. aaron |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 12:16 am GMT -4

    dude! I wrote about this same thing a little over a year ago! It's amazing how little has changed a season and a half later! It's definitely a pretty hot topic now with what's been happening in this season plus some really dumb reporting from Yahoo.

    Still, you write it well. Maybe we can rule out some theories after this Season finale.

  51. Joni |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 01:17 am GMT -4

    There's also the bit about Ted vowing he'd tell his kids everything because his parents didn't do so with him ("Oh, great story. We met in a bar." "That's it?!"). It's kind of just a Ted thing to do.

  52. SSJ |  Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 09:43 pm GMT -4

    I think that this movie was a precaution. If the show get another season the writers always can make up a storyline reffering to this movie…

  53. Tom |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 03:02 am GMT -4

    does anyone know when the season finale is?

  54. Tom |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 03:03 am GMT -4

    Also, does anyone have the Robin Sparkles ring tone that you can share w the rest of us fans? Thanks!

  55. mrc |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 04:30 am GMT -4

    Great post, JD! Any chance you can summarize all of the appearances/references to the yellow umbrella? Did we first see it blowing in the wind (maybe at the end of an episode) but with no voiceover/reference to it? (My memory is blurry!)
    Were there other appearances besides "No Tomorrow" (at the beginning, held by the girl on line… and then at the end when Ted picks it up the next day) and then the recent 2 episodes?

  56. Ike |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 11:36 am GMT -4

    The yellow umbrella first made it's appearance in the Season 3 opener Wait for It. Ted reminds the kids, and tells us, that the short story has something to do with it blowing around on a wet, windy street. The next time we see it is in No Tomorrow, this is where Ted picks it up. They've shown it, and 'the mother' walking around under it a couple times from above (BTW the person under it is director Pam Fryman), but I forget if those were in the aforementioned eps or in other episodes.

  57. Jeremy |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 12:06 pm GMT -4

    Don't forget how good C & B are at the art of misdirection. Something is coming, and I'm sure they have it planned already. Just think about the end of "Ted Moseby, Architect".

  58. anon9631 |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 02:59 pm GMT -4

    Not that I agree (or disagree) with the "tracy theory", but I don't think the fact that the actress is blond would be a reason to discredit it. Just becuase the *actress* is blonde doesn't mean the *charater* that she plays will be – she wouldn't be the first actor to dye their hair for a role.

  59. Teorias How I Met Your Mother - Tracey, Guarda-Chuva e mais - TELLPEOPLEWHAT.COM |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 01:06 pm GMT -4

    [...] Traduzido de Have You Met Ted: [...]

  60. David |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 05:47 pm GMT -4

    What about the girl that "Love solutions" found for Ted back in season 1?? Even though we don't know who that girls is, it's still a possibility.

  61. David |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 05:49 pm GMT -4

    next week

  62. Bennoid |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 06:30 pm GMT -4

    i also think it is her. but something happend to her in the past years that would have caused ted and her to break up.

  63. moshe |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 06:57 pm GMT -4

    on imdb says next show (the finale) there will be a girl with the name tracey

  64. JustinDickinson |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 07:00 pm GMT -4

    right, that's what spurned this post in the first place, since it brings the Tracey theory into the spotlight.

  65. Danielle |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 07:42 pm GMT -4

    http://www.weddingbridemovie.com/

    Is now working.it just has the same little picture we saw on the episode.

  66. Eric |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 07:45 pm GMT -4

    I've always thought it was the girl he stood up too.

  67. JackAtak08 |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 08:03 pm GMT -4

    This post should be a handbook for anyone looking to try to figure anything out! Thanks for this great post!

  68. Bennoid |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 08:17 pm GMT -4

    you could see it that way, but the way i see it: she is the "right one" for ted, but just not "right now", he has to go trough some things before she can really be the one

  69. Zinder |  Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 08:52 pm GMT -4

    I have a teory that can link everything, or has much has i can remember.
    The mother could be a friend of stella that goes for ted to get stella adress in LA or something like that.
    Stella would be a key factor, the girl would have been at saint pratick with stella, and could even be the bump girl

  70. Starbid |  Thursday, May 14th, 2009 01:13 am GMT -4

    About that moive, maybe it's not about the mother…
    "The Wedding Bride"? Two men and a blonde on the cake? It's about Ted & Stella's wedding. I believe they have some follow-up story to tell regarding what had happened in that wedding, hopefully, making Stella's character more understandable and lovable. I'm not a huge fan of her at this point.

  71. Starbird |  Thursday, May 14th, 2009 01:46 am GMT -4

    No way the show ends at the moment Ted "met" the mother. At least a wedding scene is a given. No wedding? I'll sue! : )

    About the mother, I was so sure that she'll have something to do with the goat (or why they had to postpone the goat story a season later with such a lame excuse?), and even jumped to the conclusion that the mother will appear at the end of season 4, regardless whether or not there would be a season5. Seemingly I was wrong.

    A good thing is, though, finally we may find out what the "miracle" in last season is about. It's been driving me crazy. This cliffhanger is hanging for so long that the cliff is worn down to the ground.

    I believe the mother hasn't appeared in the show yet, but they may have a general idea about the actress at the very beginning, though it may change through all these years. I mean we can vaguely see her picture in 2030 Ted's room, right? (or has anyone figured out who the actress is?)

  72. Blitzen |  Thursday, May 14th, 2009 01:04 am GMT -4

    So Carter & Bays say we'll meet the mother in the season four finale? Forgive me if this theory has already been floated, but it seem quite possible for us to meet the mother, but not in the present. What if the mother enters the picture, but only to help future Ted tell the story. And because future Ted does not have Josh Radnor's voice, the future mothers voice won't give us any clues to her present identity. What do y'all think?

  73. sru |  Thursday, May 14th, 2009 10:20 am GMT -4

    i'm not saying that would ruin the show but i just think that in someway the real Idea behind the show would die. it's the story of how ted met the mother, and i really hope they keep it that way. but if they decide to begin the story after ted meets the mother, then it's not like i'm not gonna watch it. i bet the show stays funny throuhg its existance.

    then again they could do it that way that ted meets some girl and falls in love (like with stella) and we wouldn't really know if that girl was the mother until they'd got married. i just really don't wanna know who the mother is until the end. maybe not in the finale episode, but at least in the last season.

  74. sru |  Thursday, May 14th, 2009 10:20 am GMT -4

    i'm not saying that would ruin the show but i just think that in someway the real Idea behind the show would die. it's the story of how ted met the mother, and i really hope they keep it that way. but if they decide to begin the story after ted meets the mother, then it's not like i'm not gonna watch it. i bet the show stays funny throuhg its existance.

    then again they could do it that way that ted meets some girl and falls in love (like with stella) and we wouldn't really know if that girl was the mother until they'd got married. i just really don't wanna know who the mother is until the end. maybe not in the finale episode, but at least in the last season.

  75. MotherShip  |  Thursday, May 14th, 2009 03:42 pm GMT -4

    The mother will be someone NONE of you suspect.

    Very funny http://www.christinescottbennett.com/ (Music Intro)

    By Modest

  76. MotherShip |  Thursday, May 14th, 2009 03:57 pm GMT -4

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GBn-BpkNsA

  77. MotherShip |  Thursday, May 14th, 2009 06:35 pm GMT -4

    =)

  78. Rebecca |  Saturday, May 16th, 2009 06:41 am GMT -4

    I absolutely agree with everything you said in this post. I get really frustrated when people try to find excuses to say that Robin is the mother. They had their shot together and it didn't work, move on people!

  79. definitedoubt |  Saturday, May 16th, 2009 02:51 pm GMT -4

    I know everyone's concerned about the mother now, but what about Barney and Robin?
    According to that maddening little clip CBS released, the first thing out of Robin's mouth when Barney confesses is "Let's get married" which (considering Robin) is not like her at all.
    Is she taking him seriously? Or does she still think it's a joke to him at that point?

    And then of course there's the return of our little goat friend. Who seemed to be strangling Ted in the clip. Uhhhh ok?

    Nothing against 'mother theorists' because I'm interested too, but there seems to be a lot more going on than just the mother for this episode.

  80. jenjen |  Sunday, May 17th, 2009 04:39 am GMT -4

    hey there! just thought I would put in my 2 cents here. I believe in the tracey theory and bump girl theory. But i am also one of those who am okay if i'm wrong. for me, meeting the mother is more than "Hi, I'm Ted" kind of thing. I want to see ted fall in love with this girl. because if you think about it, this girl has meet or exceed barney and lily's expectations. I think they have a lot more impact on ted's life than he realizes. If you remember, in lucky penny barney is CRYING at ted's wedding.

  81. DSizzle |  Sunday, May 17th, 2009 06:04 am GMT -4

    Personally, I disagree. While everybody is anxious and jittery to find out who the Mother is, the loyal fans who tune in every week don't do so to relieve it; they do so, rather, to enjoy the journey that Ted Mosby embarks on in the path to his final destination, which is meeting the Mother.

  82. valdemaar |  Sunday, May 17th, 2009 02:49 pm GMT -4

    I think Ted's gonna be best man at Tony's and Stella's wedding and there he meets his wife. From this story, Tony comes up with this movie. (maybe someone posted this before, did not read all comments). Greets

  83. CHL |  Sunday, May 17th, 2009 04:31 pm GMT -4

    i don't quite agree… she ain't the mother until she marries him… so i think that they can like meet early in a season and the rest can be a courtship….

  84. stu |  Sunday, May 17th, 2009 05:01 pm GMT -4

    of course she is if ted tells us so. i just think the perfect ending would be "and that's the story of how i met your mother" and we'd bearly seen the mother. at least when i was a kid and asked my mom how she met my dad she always told the story and stopped it there. it didn't go on like and then we started dating and got married 6 years later… i think people tend to want too much and that can ruin things. like with scrubs. why would anyone want more seasons when this season ended perfectly, but still people do want more it.

  85. Luis S. |  Monday, May 18th, 2009 05:59 am GMT -4

    nice theories, all of them pretty good… I just wanna say that there´s a picture of a supposed Ted´s wedding, with the bride not showing her face, and the rest of the cast aside with an interesting ugly and disgusting face all of them, referring to the bride… I think this is a great spoiler, meaning Ted´s friends are shocked of who he is marring to, specially Lily and Robin.
    So, with all this i say that of course the mother is someone outside of the main female cast -Lily and Robin-, but in the end the winner of Ted´s heart will be Robin, even though she´s not the mother …. Yeah, i know, many of you don´t believe anymore in the Ted/Robin scheme, but i must say this is the strongest and meaningful relationship of the whole story, it has been built in that way since the beginning, all other Ted´s relationship have been nice, beautiful, lovely, etc, but non of them relies in solid base like the Ted/Robin relation.
    This is my sincere point of view, i hope some of you agree or disagree.

    PS: if you haven´t seen the picture i´m telling you, do some Google search and you´ll find.

  86. buffy_mars |  Monday, May 18th, 2009 08:26 am GMT -4

    I'm not sure if this has ever been mentioned before but in "Milk" from season 1, Ted is supposed to have a date with the perfect woman for him set up by Love Solutions but decides to not meet the woman because he is so convinced Robin is the right woman for him. I believe this woman who Ted has not yet met, to be the mother.

  87. Bruna |  Monday, May 18th, 2009 02:13 pm GMT -4

    I guess we meet the mother two episodes to the end, and the Bob Saget´s narration has to keep us tuned… like "it´s not all on how i met your mother, but how i really met her", then we see a little bit of them together and then his weeding to the last episode! Then I would LOVE that the last scene should be about Ted´s weeding with the mother, and as in Milk´s scene of Ted´marriadge… he searches Robin in the crowded guest people, and smiles at her, and she smiles back… and then Bob Saget narrates that he really had something great with their mother, but that in life, everything has it´s own timing… and that he finnaly could have then (already with 50 years old or something) a shoot with Robin… ´cause he always felt they should be together somehow!

    Uau! I Know ROBIN crap again… but seriouslly… can you guys see some future on "RoBarn" relationship? It´s great to see Barney making moves on Robin… but, no future on it!

  88. Geri |  Monday, May 18th, 2009 10:43 pm GMT -4

    I don't know what's going to happen tonight and that's the way I like it! :)

    I know I don't post as much as I used to, but those of you who've read my previous posts know my position on HIMYM. I get enjoyment out of just being along for the ride, regardless of who the mom turns out to be.

    Unless she turns out to be Britney's character Abby…..then all hell will break loose!

  89. Geri |  Monday, May 18th, 2009 10:45 pm GMT -4

    ok I just read your post too fast and thought you wrote "mother terrorists". ha ha ha!

  90. Geri |  Monday, May 18th, 2009 10:49 pm GMT -4

    That would be suicide.

  91. Mike Hancho |  Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 10:16 am GMT -4

    Its Barney

  92. Bender |  Monday, June 8th, 2009 03:39 pm GMT -4

    Sorry to break this news to you the-show's-got-to-end-with-and-that's-the-story-of.how-I-met-your-mother-people, but if it gets to at least eight seasons, it's not how it is going to end. If you notice Ted's future daughter, who is older than her brother, you can see that she must be at least 18, which means that she has to be born by season seven (maybe earlier), and I suppose that Ted won't get a girl preagnent without knowing her… I guess he'll meet and know her in season 5, marry and get her preagnent in season 6, proceeding with the show after he meets her.

    Well, that's all I have to say that's new around here, since all of my other theories were already mentioned…

  93. LEtice |  Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 02:34 am GMT -4

    We all know that Stella is a key factor because when they (Ted, Stella and Tony) met that rainy day, Tony thought Ted was sad and offered him the professor position at the university where he's going to meet the "mother" after all.. that's why it changed all his life, that's all… I don't think Stella is going to take any more important role in the story than this..

  94. mark |  Sunday, July 12th, 2009 10:30 am GMT -4

    what if the kids hes telling the story too are not his say they might be Barneys? and he is uncle ted?

  95. Scherbatsky |  Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 05:45 pm GMT -4

    the theories sound like they could be right but i don't really think that the script author thought about the story in such a extremely complicated way…

    but who now lets just get surprised by the story ;)

  96. DC44 |  Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 03:34 pm GMT -4

    The mom is tracy from the pinapple incident

  97. asd |  Friday, July 24th, 2009 10:52 pm GMT -4

    MAN THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!!! I GOTTA KNOW WHO THE MOTHER IS! AHHHH

  98. Vanna |  Thursday, August 6th, 2009 01:48 pm GMT -4

    Who is woman under yellow unbrella?

  99. saar |  Thursday, August 20th, 2009 09:14 pm GMT -4

    i think that the mother is the date he never went to in season 1 because he loved robin
    and you know why?
    earlier that episode the love soulutions guy tells ted to look in the file and then ted says she is perfect and then they show bluerd pictures of her the point is:
    when he says"she wants 2 kids, a boy and a girl" why does the pictures of the 2 kids is blured???
    what do you think?
    sry for my english im not american

  100. saar |  Thursday, August 20th, 2009 11:31 pm GMT -4

    trudy*

  101. Geena |  Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 11:04 am GMT -4

    Is Future Ted disguising all the names of girls he dated? because obviously, if he did remember all their names and said them, the kids would automatically know who is the mother. The kids should know their mothers name, right?

  102. Missy |  Saturday, September 26th, 2009 11:25 am GMT -4

    have you noticed the last scene in season 5 episode one? a girl with dark hair came out from mclaren’s just as barnman and robin went to brunch AND just before ted, marshall and lily went out. i compared her with bump girl and they look similar.

    i was thinking she could have been looking for her umbrella or something..

  103. Shane |  Saturday, September 26th, 2009 07:39 pm GMT -4

    I think Brad will end up with Robin. They have such great chemistry when they went out on a date. Remember Brad showing his biceps saying 'do i have to put a gun in your face'? I think that the character Brad will eventually fill in for Barney's 'funny man' position as Neil Patrick Harris' contract is only scheduled for 5 seasons. (3 more seasons for Brad?)

    Well, I personally believe that Brad could bring a different perspective to the show, might as well another well-establsihed fan base.

  104. TheSteelBlade |  Sunday, October 18th, 2009 05:25 am GMT -4

    I think a lot of the old theories could still be valid since it was stated that Future Ted is an unreliable narrator. I generally relate this to the last big TV mystery that had me fascinated which was the final cylon on Galactica. One thing I carried with me from that is that sometimes the characters lie or mislead the audience (intentionally or not). in Galactica Baltar tested Ellen Tigh and said she wasn’t a Cylon and then later it was revealed she was. Maybe that’s happening here too, it’s possible Future Ted has said things that are technically true but untrue at the same time. Like he said he never met the Mother at the St Patty’s Day party, but technically he never really met Bump Girl. Or the girl from Love Solutions in Milk since he never did meet her either. However I agree that it’s possible Bump Girl was thrown in to spark discussion which has always been an awesome means of free advertising for a show.

    I think the Robin’s Sister theory is wrong as well. She was 16 when they met in First Time In New York and Ted was 29. Meaning she shouldn’t even be able to get into a bar here in Canada until 2010 let alone a bar in the States before 2012 (assuming she was carded). Plus I doubt a 13 year age gap between Ted and the Mother. I’m expecting a 0-5 year gap since that tends to be the cultural norm.

    @Missy: Possible, but the St Patty’s Day party wasn’t at MacLaren’s so why would she look there?

  105. Swarley |  Friday, October 30th, 2009 06:13 am GMT -4

    Just a short statement: The Fact, that the last episode will answer the question “How I met your mother?” will not mean that the viewer will see who actually is the mother.

    Maybe the viewer will never see who she is. It would seem to be a bad joke of the producers but it’s possible and maybe not the worst end. No matter what, the show is called “HOW i met your mother” not “WHO your mother is”. The Kids probably already know.

  106. Purple Giraffe |  Sunday, November 8th, 2009 11:57 am GMT -4

    So I would just like to point out that Robin’s sister was actually 17 in “First Time in New York” because when Ted is talking to her he says something along the lines of “I don’t know why your sister is making such a big deal about this. I mean, I was your age my first time.” and we know that Ted was 17 his first time from that same episode. Not that any of that changes anything, it just kind of bothered me that everyone on here decided for some reason that she was sixteen.

    Anyways, I think that the mother could be the girl from Love Solutions but I’m not really sure. I also kind of believe in the Tracy theory but I also think that Ted will disguise the mother’s name when he tells about how he meets her so that he can get into more of the story before his kids know for certain that he is talking about their mother. Even if her name is Tracy I don’t think they will cast her as a character named Tracy.

  107. luke |  Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 08:11 am GMT -4

    another thought towards the tracey side of things os that, and excuse me for not knowing her name, the actor that she is played by is a rather well known one (austin powers, etc =])

  108. Mike |  Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 12:35 pm GMT -4

    There has never been any indication that the biological mother and the maternal mother are the same person.

  109. Colin |  Thursday, December 17th, 2009 06:45 am GMT -4

    One other thing I came across on a message board revolves around Ted and Robin. Let me first say that I do not support the Ted/Robin marriage, although I do like them as a couple. I just think it would be a bad twist if they did end up together.

    Nonetheless, someone pointed out an interesting clue in that episode Ted was dating the purse designer who he met online. He couldn’t remember her name and referred to her as Blah Blah.

    She got upset upon learning Ted used to date Robin. At one point, she says something along the lines of Ted likely to forget her name the moment he gets back with Robin.

    And sure enough, he did forget her name.

  110. nic |  Monday, December 28th, 2009 09:22 pm GMT -4

    i think we havent met the mother yet. because ted says that he met the mother in his teaching class (which is why stella would be vital- because tony is the one who got him the teaching job).

  111. Hilary Yates |  Friday, January 15th, 2010 08:20 pm GMT -4

    FOR PEOPLE SAYING THAT THE SHOW WILL LOSE VIEWERS IF THEY DON’T REVEAL THE NUMBER NOW THATS JUST STUPID BECAUSE LETS FACE IT, WE WATCH THE SHOW BECAUSE IT’S AMAZING AND HILARIOUS NOT ONLY BECAUSE WE WANT TO FIND OUT WHO THE MOTHER IS. DON’T LET YOUR CURIOSITY GET IN THE WAY OF JUST ENJOYING THE SHOW BECAUSE I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT IT WILL END ONCE THEY REVEAL WHO THE MOTHER IS AND WE DON’T WANT IT TO END SO LET THEM STRETCH IT OUT AS LONG AS THEY WANT!

  112. Jeff |  Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 05:00 am GMT -4

    I’ve read all the theories on here, but everyone seems to have a theory based on a fan’s point of view and not a writers point of view. The underlying theme of the show has been misdirection. Lets use the season 1 finale as an example. At the end of season 1 we are lead to believe that Marhall and Lily are broken up and Ted and Robin will live happily ever after. By the end of season 2 we know that’s not the case. This same theme of misdirection has been repeated dozens of times. The narrator often says things like “but it wasn’t” or “that’s what we should have said”. The writers trick you into thinking one thing while it’s actually another. I’ll use one more example to prove this point. In an episode in season 2 at the beginning of the episode Barney hears Marshall crying over Lily and instantly leaves. We as the audience are tricked into believing that Barney is being insensitive and doesn’t want to hear about Marshall’s problems. However at the conclusion of the episode we learn that he actually flew to San Francisco and convinced Lily to come back.

    So where am I going with all this? The writers have tried so hard to convince us that it can’t possibly be Robin, and have even given us hard evidence….or have they? Lets use the St. Patricks day episode as an example. Ted says to his future kids that their mother was at the St. Patricks day party but he didn’t know it. Well hold on a darn second, Robin was with Marshall and Lily all night!…or at least of what we saw of it. It was also set up in that episode that Ted’s phone had been dialing Marshall several times that day. Marshall says something along the lines of “that’s the 4th time Ted’s butt has called me today”. We also see Ted get punched in the face in that episode and fall on his butt. Who would be in his contact list that may get called upon falling on said butt? Perhaps Robin. So then why would Robin not say something the next day. Because the writers know that would blow the surprise.

    I could go on and on with little nuances like this but lets close with one final piece that theorists can’t seem to get over. Future Ted refers to Robin as “Aunt Robin”. That could possibly be the best misdirection play of all. Just because he refers to her as Aunt Robin, doesn’t mean that is not the mother. He could simply be playing a trick on his kids, or trying to see if they could pinpoint from his stories that “Aunt Robin” is actually their mom. Further, people will be quick to jump at that Robin’s character has been set up as afraid of marriage and kids, although those issues have been addressed in various episodes.

    Basically it comes down to this. As a writer you don’t set something up without payoff. Thus setting up Robin and Ted as an item right from the get go was no fluke. Showing Ted and Robin with other partners is done for nothing more than to make you think the mystery is headed another direction, when in actuality the answer was in front of you right from the first episode…

  113. Leon |  Sunday, January 24th, 2010 12:23 am GMT -4

    Jeff, I love it when a fan can bring interesting arguments for Ted & Robin. I’m all supporting of the “answer was in front of you the entire time” perspective.

    Against all odds, it would make HIMYM the biggest twist on television.

    Fans can always argue on points on who the mother is, but the fact remains, this show is abundant with misdirections.

    Fingers crossed!

  114. Hannah |  Thursday, January 28th, 2010 08:09 am GMT -4

    I am surprised people think that Robin and Ted will end up together. Have you learnt nothing from Ted.

    He has a belief in love. He believes that there is someone out there who is the love of his life and the mother of his children. It’s going to be forever. And it’s not Robin.

    Also, I think that people forget that the show isn’t Who Is Your Mother but How I Met Your Mother and as Ted points out he is telling the kids about the paths he took and decisions he made that lead him to become the man he did so that he could find that love.

    As for the comments about the mother now being dead – we saw in the Stella episode how she popped her head in in the future scene. People don’t have to be dead to be discussed…

  115. Hannah |  Thursday, January 28th, 2010 08:15 am GMT -4

    Jeff, you have used about 2 points to present your theory when there are many many more which wouldn’t make sense for Robin. The most obvious being Robin didn’t do economics in college and live with a girl who Ted dated.

  116. Brendan |  Sunday, February 7th, 2010 12:51 am GMT -4

    While I do not know who will be the mother, please let me post a detail that has been overlooked

    “Right Place, Right Time” Ted mentions Tony’s movie “the Wedding Bride” which is set for May 2010. He then goes on to famously say “but more on that later.”

    as far as I can see, Tony AND Stella will be back, this spring, only bringing everything closer to figuring it all out

  117. Brendan |  Thursday, February 11th, 2010 06:09 pm GMT -4

    also, we know that from the episode “How I Met Everyone Else,” Ted will be married by the year 2020. His kids also appear to be in their late teens. It can be assumed that they are, lets say 16 an 17? That means Ted will be a father by 2014. Sound good? I know it does to me.

  118. kanin |  Monday, February 15th, 2010 09:12 am GMT -4

    I also don’t think Robin is the mother. I get why many of you would think that the writers are just misdirecting us viewers but it really is odd if Robin ends up being the mother. The kids know who Ted’s friends are and they have drawings with Robin in them and they refer to her as Aunt Robin.

    I also disagree with the whole plot in which Robin isn’t the mother but will end up with Ted anyway because Ted is already divorced or widowed. I don’t think Ted is the type to get divorced. He’s a head over heels romantic and we know that he’s into it for the long run. Although, I think Robin and Ted have great chemistry, I don’t think they’ll be perfect for each other.

    I enjoy the show and I watch it in its most obvious sense. For me, that’s really how I could enjoy it. I think the mother is someone who Ted hasn’t met yet but will soon.

    Also, the Wedding Bride isn’t about Ted meeting his wife and marrying her. It’s about how Ted and Stella was supposed to get married but didn’t.

  119. Craig |  Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 12:28 pm GMT -4

    with recent occurrences i think it can be put quite strongly that robin is not the mother, as we find out that the mother is the room mate of Cindy.
    and it also does link in with the story as a whole if you track it backwards, he meets cindy in one of his lectures, he wouldnt of been a lecturer if tony had not been responsible for him getting the job, he wouldnt of had that opportunity of he hadnt of met stella, he met stella removing a tattoo which he got whilst drunk trying to prove he was over robyn, which again could only happen if he and robyn inevitably got together, which takes us to episode one…

    so, all in all, although it has taken them 5 series and ongoing, i can see an end coming in the revelation of cindy’s room mate…

    …although if thats not enough for the people who still want to believe that robin is the mum, you could alsways think that the kids mum is not their birth mother, but a mother in law, and this is the way hes telling his kids… in no way does future ted refer to robin in a present of future tense, which could lead you to think robin is now dead… meaning she could be the kids biological mother, and ted remarried. afterall, robin had admited in one episode that she would have teds babies (although the conversation did end up with robin and ted breaking up, saying that theyre “all talk”)

    so anyone who wants to believe the show is progressing towards the revelation that is, the kids mother, then point two is a clear cut out

    anyone who still wants to think that the writers are playing mind games, then point 2 is some food for thought, enjoy =’]

  120. Sasha |  Thursday, March 4th, 2010 03:18 pm GMT -4

    I can’t imagine Ted’s wife being deceased. I mean, at the heart of it, this show is a comedy. Can you imagine the last few minutes of the series finale having old Ted telling his kids about how he met their mother before she died. In the same view, I can’t imagine him being divorced from the Mom in question. Also major buzzkill, in my opinon *salute* major buzzkill (haha). I read this on a forum somewhere, and this is my favorite idea for an end: The last scene, Ted marries YM (probably some big name actress) and we see Robin in the audience, and Ted and her share a sort of sad look. I think that would address the fact that Ted and Robin will always have something between them, but it’s never been quite enough to keep them together.

  121. Brendan |  Thursday, March 4th, 2010 07:28 pm GMT -4

    please understand that this is def not something i actually think

    but

    what if…Ted is in fact gay and ends up marrying Robin’s ex-boyfriend Simon? I know that ur probably saying to yourself “How would he even think of something like that?” But, Simon is a bass player AND he works at a water park (just plain awesome if u ask me)

  122. blabla |  Saturday, March 6th, 2010 08:09 pm GMT -4

    i don’t think it is bumpgirl, because ted actually DID meet her at the party, and he mentions later that he DID NOT meet the mother there. Also, though it could be the light, bumpgirls pants are dark blue, while the girl holding the yellow umbrella outside has light blue pants… I think bumpgirl is nithing nore than a distraction, and that we won’t see the face of the mother before ted clairly states “and this is how i met your mother” (end of series)

  123. Theodore |  Sunday, March 7th, 2010 01:58 am GMT -4

    FOR PEOPLE SAYING THAT THE SHOW WILL LOSE VIEWERS IF THEY DON’T REVEAL THE NUMBER NOW THATS JUST STUPID BECAUSE LETS FACE IT, WE WATCH THE SHOW BECAUSE IT’S AMAZING AND HILARIOUS NOT ONLY BECAUSE WE WANT TO FIND OUT WHO THE MOTHER IS. DON’T LET YOUR CURIOSITY GET IN THE WAY OF JUST ENJOYING THE SHOW BECAUSE I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT IT WILL END ONCE THEY REVEAL WHO THE MOTHER IS AND WE DON’T WANT IT TO END SO LET THEM STRETCH IT OUT AS LONG AS THEY WANT!

    THEODORE

  124. 90 |  Monday, March 8th, 2010 06:33 am GMT -4

    I know it’s farfetched,
    but has nobody explored the possibility that ‘Future Ted’ is not future ted at all?
    First off, I do not actually believe at all this is true, but I’m throwing it out there.
    the show is full of misdirection and fantasy sequences – imagine if towards the end of the series it’s revealed that all of the storytelling was just a fantasy in teds head, the way he imagined he’d be in 2030, telling his two kids, a boy and a girl (EXACTLY what he DREAMT of), the story of how he met their mother.

    I can even imagine a joke along the lines of,
    “And why do I have Bob Saget’s voice?”

  125. Neil |  Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 01:18 pm GMT -4

    Are we 100% sure that Ted is the father of these children? What if he is telling the story to kids of a friend of his or relative of his, and telling them how he met their mother as a friend instead of romantically. That way, some of these people that are undeniably compatible with Ted but proven not to be the mother could still end up with Ted.

  126. follika |  Thursday, April 8th, 2010 03:39 pm GMT -4

    NO I DONT THINK ROBIN IS THE MOTHER

    though i wish she was… their mother cant be called.. AUNT ROBIN !

    plus its all about ted marshall lily robin and barney
    its not all about THE MOTHER !

    season 6 is the last one!

    true story :) ”Barney’s inside joke”

  127. emptyaddy |  Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 09:04 am GMT -4

    I can understand the overall desire that most fans want Robin to be the “mother” given the series began with their initial relationship debacle. Producer assertions of no clever twists means nothing and subjective to the laziness of the writers. In fact, the telling of story is reverse and not verbatim in temporal accuracy so a “twist” could very well be a Bob Saget “Oh wait, did I say Tuesday I meant Wednesday” and be in continuation with the entire style of the series.

    I’m actually starting to think the series creators, producers, and writers shot themselves in the foot with the storyline from get-go with the initial Ted-Robin thing. It goes far beyond actor/actress chemistry since it is a re-occuring theme that future seasons have tried since to both water down (with emotionless acceptance of Ted/Robin alternate relationships) and build up (with Ted-Robin animosity to anything deeper than alternate flings). However, the Barney thing came and went with Robin as expected, but that establishes a link early in which it wouldn’t be weird to see those two together at the end of this. Sorry, it’s going to be (and needs to be) a Ross-Rachel paradigm simply because they cannot find and cast anyone who can establish a higher emotional connection with Ted or the audience…unless the series goes into something like 10 seasons and we “meet” the mother in this season 5′s finale.

    I read that even though he hasn’t met their “mother” or will eventually met the mother which excludes Robin physically, it still may very well be Robin peering over that couch in the final episode because they could have ended up together despite him having children with another. Not such a far-fetched idea given Ted was arguably comfortable with a similar situation with Stella (whom could play a role in helping Ted marry Robin with children from the mother). Just a speculation. You could also contribute Robin’s duality regarding committment and children. Perhaps her feelings change and Ted metaphorically “meets” the new Robin. Another speculation.

    One thing is for sure though, despite all the theories and guesses, the Ted-Robin pairing whether the writers initially aimed for it or not is what fans have come to yearn for. Through the initial writing of their relationship tribulations, the chemistry of their characters, and the duration of the theme….it is what is expected. If there is someone else at the end of Ted’s saga then the show in a lot of eyes is a bust and will go down as something “wrong” like Ducky not getting the girl in Pretty in Pink. However, if the writers can manage to make fans feel otherwise and establish it effectively I will be impressed and we would see a great demonstration of some of the best alternate writing in television history.

  128. Mas |  Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 07:02 pm GMT -4

    i think that the mother is the woman that Ted was suppose to meet from the dating agency at the bar. They never showed her face in any of the pictures and they never mentioned her name. There was a statement how there was only one perfect match out their for Ted, and it was suppose to be that woman. Just a theory, wanted to get off my chest. :)

  129. Mas |  Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 07:06 pm GMT -4

    oh, and also, i have a theory that Barney and Robin will get back together in the end, simply because of the statement made after they split up, future Ted said that “they really did just need to let things run their corse”… bam, you just got lawyered. lol :)

  130. kazou |  Saturday, June 5th, 2010 03:31 pm GMT -4

    I personally was never crazy about Ted and Robin but I would really like to see Barney and Robin end up together.
    I also think that the series should end right as he meets the mother, I mean, it’s not called “How I Married Your Mother” it’s “How I Met Your Mother”.
    I also really hope they actually get Bob Saget in the series finale as opposed to just doing the narration.

  131. Brendan |  Monday, June 7th, 2010 01:39 am GMT -4

    crazy idea…what if the narrator is Barney?

  132. adam |  Monday, June 7th, 2010 06:40 am GMT -4

    guys guys!! i remember an episode where the future ted was telling the kids the story the mom’s voice was heard in the background saying “is ur dad still telling u the story”….could u guys tel me which season was tat…bcoz i guess that would be a big clue..

  133. Merrilee Bines |  Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 06:59 am GMT -4

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  134. sherry |  Monday, July 5th, 2010 06:10 am GMT -4

    My theory is Robin abandend her kids when they were born. And they don’t know who their mother is. He is gonna say Aunt Robin is your mother. By then they will understand she left because she is a commitment phobe. Or he used Robins eggs because he wanted kids because he had prostate cancer and didn’t have time to meet someone. I don’t think the kids know who mom is either that is why he is building it up.

  135. Jono |  Sunday, July 18th, 2010 08:14 pm GMT -4

    I’m still fairly convinced that bump girl is the mother and that if you pay very close attention to the people hanging around in some scenes she will crop up a few more times.

  136. Nor |  Monday, August 9th, 2010 12:26 pm GMT -4

    I really do hope barney and robin get back together ): they were perfect for eachother!! but i am almost 100% certain Robin and Don get married or something since in the episode where robin meets him future ted goes…” and that’s when she met DON” – saying it with emphasis, making it quite important. and then marshall and ted make fun of how she is going to marry him… well, i wouldn’t be surprised if they did get married! robin is not the mother FULL STOP! i think the mother will be someone we haven’t seen before and she will be a big surprise and also in the episode about the window being opened (forgot what it’a called) he says she told them the SECOND best love story ever and i think the first was deffinitely his own (: so don’t worry fans i’m sure we’ll be in for a treat!!

  137. mike r |  Friday, September 3rd, 2010 01:54 am GMT -4

    As far as the Ted and Robin theory goes, has anyone brought up the fact his future wife was roommates with Rachel Bilson? We’ve seen Robin’s apartment since the early episodes and though they could technically add in that she had an unseen roommate (like they did with the cigarettes when we found out they all smoked) there would still be no explanation why it looks different or why Ted didn’t recognize it. Personally, I think Robin maintaining an auxiliary secret apartment is too tall of a task for even good writers to fit in (at least in a plausible manner). I’m hoping it’s not Robin. I like Robin but that would just be too cliche.

  138. mike r |  Friday, September 3rd, 2010 02:01 am GMT -4

    But if it is Robin, I think the last scene will play out like in episode “Spoiler Alert” (perhaps why it’s called Spoiler Alert), in which the glass shattering sound reveals a never noticed attribute of each of the characters. When Ted is finally winding down the story, Robin would walk in and the sound effect would go off, as the kids realize the Aunt Robin character he’d been talking about the entire time was actually their mother.

  139. agree |  Monday, September 6th, 2010 12:08 am GMT -4

    And yeah what if Robin wasn’t really named Robin in real life… I mean when you recount a story you can use code names etc just so you wouldn’t reveal the twist that early.

    And your mother is the aunt robin in my story.. and that kids is how i met your mother.

  140. Ala |  Monday, September 6th, 2010 12:34 pm GMT -4

    The mother is the girl that love solutions found for him, the one he stands up to go after robin AGAIN…

  141. AmiRandy |  Friday, September 17th, 2010 01:59 pm GMT -4

    wow, this sitcom really got people goin nuts….. including me!! too bad malaysia is only abt to start season 4.. i may not know how many more women they’ve showed in season 4 and so on, but for what i’ve watched, i have 2 ideas of who’s the ‘mother’ could be.. first, it could be Ted’s perfect match in that love solutions matchmaker co. since they never showed who’s she.. and second, i don’t know which episode was this but there’s an episode where they’re all in the bar and the camera zoomed at this long blonde hair girl in the same bar by the counter where Ted said something that makes u think whether she’s the ‘mother’.. :)

  142. Brendan |  Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 11:10 pm GMT -4

    Has anybody noticed that Ted has multiple times displayed scenes from the future of older Marshall and older Lily have been included, but Barney and Robin have not? I don’t know if this could provide any outsight to the mother situation, but hey, what can you do? By the way, can you believe Barney got married!?!?!?!?

  143. Josh |  Thursday, September 23rd, 2010 07:37 pm GMT -4

    I understand everything that’s been said here. But I’m still rooting for Victoria. The latest revelation that he meets the mother at a wedding actually points back to Victoria. Perhaps Victoria is not her real name. She was extremely hesitant to reveal it, after all. So she’s got a different identity that took her to Germany. But she came back because she loved Ted, but she was too embarassed to hone up the truth. Until they meet at another wedding, where yet again she is the cakemaker. Crazy? Sure. But it would make for a way better ending than some random girl from a throwaway episode.

  144. Ladeeda |  Saturday, September 25th, 2010 04:35 am GMT -4

    I feel that it is possible that the love story on HIMYM is an amalgamation of all of those little hints that we have been given throughout the seasons.  Maybe she is the perfect match from Love Solutions, the Slutty Pumpkin and the bump girl.  She has obviously been within his reach several times like in Cindy’s apartment and he even has one of her possessions.  The invisible “Mother” character has been just out of reach for Ted because there is something that he needs to accomplish before he actually gets to see her (I don’t know what).  It is after all the first greatest love story ever told as eluded to in “The Window”.  She has been weaved into his history, but she can’t be unveiled until the timing is right.

    The Robin story will end with her happy and in love like we all want to see.  Perhaps the wedding where he meets the mother is Robins wedding.  This will be the day where Ted truly closes the love door on Robin.  This means that all of the die-hard Robin & Ted fans will need to be satisfied with who she ends up with so we can also let her go.  The question is will it be Barney or Don?  My vote’s Robin and Barney live happily ever after so the happiness of two main characters is neatly resolved.

    This leaves us with a genuinely happy Ted, still a romantic and finally ready to meet mama.  The fog finally clears and he meets the woman of his dreams.  It really should happen on a warm fuzzy last episode her omnipresence is finally revealed.  She’s always been there in Teds life, like star crossed lovers they were destined to meet.

  145. TLilopa |  Saturday, September 25th, 2010 07:06 pm GMT -4

    To those people who still believe that Robin or Stella could be Ted’s wife(if there’s still anyone out there) please watch season 5 Episode 1 and 12. and also Season 6 episode 1, I don’t think they are the one.

  146. Jeremy |  Friday, October 15th, 2010 10:02 am GMT -4

    No clever twist? Well, honestly that’s quite a pity. To be entirely truthful I never really liked the show that much- it’s characters weren’t too developed (like most other sit-coms), it’s plots were drawn out (like most other sit-coms) and it’s humour was often exagerated to breaking point and not character drawn (JUST like other sit-coms). Still I thought the big reveal of the mother would make up for it, the big smack in the face “I should have known” or “That’s clever” twist would summarise the series. Nope. It’ll be a blah event. Which for me kind of wraps up the series well.

    Maybe I’m just a drama fanatic. Maybe I just liked it when Ugly Betty married her hot boss she’d known from the start but I would have liked a LITTLE forshadowing. Ah oh well, there will be other shows.

  147. divya |  Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 11:23 am GMT -4

    i guess everything’s already been said here but hey,so what?i really hope the mother’s someone like lily ’cause she’s sweet and funny and would be perfect 4 ted.i think the mother’s gonna be a blonde cause ted likes to date blondes and he’s definitely dated more blondes.i dont know if robin and ted would be a good couple but i’m almost sure its not her.i mean,she’s AUNT robin,right?

  148. Daniel |  Thursday, October 28th, 2010 11:02 am GMT -4

    According to the producers, they have already filmed the closing scene where the “Mother” makes an appearance with the children in the future. They did this so the kids don’t look too old when the series finally comes to an end. The scene was shot sometime during Season 3, which by chance is the same season as “Bump Girl”.

  149. Taz |  Friday, October 29th, 2010 04:50 am GMT -4

    WOW, there are so many theories on who the mother is (duh)! After reading it all, I am still under the assumption that the Mother is the match from ‘Love Solutions’ in the episode ‘Milk’ from season 1.

    When people had made this theory, from what I had seen, they back it up by the fact that ‘she was the perfect one’ and ‘why was her faced blurred out?’. Sometimes we look past these obvious facts but they are strong ones. But after some further investigations, I started questioning some really interesting things! Sure, we don’t actually see Ted MEET this person but it is somewhat enough closure? Just read on…

    First off, when Ted gives the description on how ‘perfect’ this lady was, why does he use photos for visuals? The writers could of done MILLIONS of other things to portrait Ted’s likes but used photos. This is where the blurred face plays an important role. Is this Ted’s wife and did he take these photos?

    When I looked further into the photos, I noticed that there is a ring on her ring finger. Unfortunately what makes this argument weak is that the ring finger is on the right hand, not the left. So yes, it could be just a random ring (to obviously throw off fans). The only way that we are assuming this theory of the mother is correct is then assuming Ted has Eastern Greek Orthodox as his religion (because they generally use the right hand for proposal). Yes, this can seem a bit too technical (though Ted’s mother does look sort of Greek and Ted’s sister does have Greek features too). This argument was just a bit too weak and not backed up very well. So I was ready to throw this theory away. It is just assumed that the photos were just given to Ted on a paper and he was just showing it (blurring the face for privacy reasons (even though it is just a show)).

    But until I started questioning the last picture; the two kids (a boy and a girl). What is this picture? If these pictures are given to Ted in the paper description then where do these pictures come from? It can’t be her kids already because she claims she ‘WANTS’ a boy and a girl too. Why would she just show a random photo of a boy and a girl? AND WHY, TOO, ARE THEIR FACES BLURRED!? Again, the writes could of chosen any direction (visually) to describe she wants a boy and a girl, but used blurred photos of 2 young kids.

    Being a die hard fan, no where in any any episode does it say that Ted doesn’t see her again. Generally we are given SOME closure whether we may or may not see a girl Ted has met before (even if it is slightly vague) but no closure was given to us with this one. So the mystery lies open.

    Watch this episode again and pause on every photo to find clues. We did see items in some of these photos and my girlfriend and I checked to see if any of the items are behind the kids on the shelves (at the start of some episodes). They weren’t.

    Finally, even though not considered important, the writers of the show are at the start of this episode. They play the paramedics when Barney picks up that chick. Is this a sick and twisted head play to make the writers say ‘when we revealed the identity of the wife, we were in the episodes too’? Bit piss weak but still up in the air.

    Anyways, hope this theory makes sense,

    Taz =]

  150. nychelle |  Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 09:15 pm GMT -4

    I don’t think the kids’ mom died. if you remember in the episode that ted finds out his parents have been divorced for sometime, he gets upset and says he is going to tell his kids ever little detail about how he meets their mom. he said he’s going to sit them down and tell them the whole story.

  151. hay |  Wednesday, November 10th, 2010 02:36 pm GMT -4

    ^

  152. Russ |  Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 01:08 am GMT -4

    I really want Victoria to be the kids Mother. And it makes sense due to the fact that Ted says he met their mother at a wedding. Who’s to say it wasn’t a past wedding. And the truth is that Ted needed to grow up some to make being with Victoria work in the long run. I would love if it was her. It would also be pretty clever I think. She is by far my favorite of Ted’s girls. So if you are reading this writers, I think that would be awesome

  153. Brian |  Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 01:53 pm GMT -4

    “I feel that it is possible that the love story on HIMYM is an amalgamation of all of those little hints that we have been given throughout the seasons. Maybe she is the perfect match from Love Solutions, the Slutty Pumpkin and the bump girl. She has obviously been within his reach several times like in Cindy’s apartment and he even has one of her possessions. The invisible “Mother” character has been just out of reach for Ted because there is something that he needs to accomplish before he actually gets to see her (I don’t know what). It is after all the first greatest love story ever told as eluded to in “The Window”. She has been weaved into his history, but she can’t be unveiled until the timing is right.”

    I completely agree with Ladeeda’s post here. I definitely think the mother has popped up in different moments, and if she is all of these things then it will truly be the perfect woman for Ted. I think that Ted just needs to get ready: in the season 3 premiere, “Wait for it…” Ted explains that in order to correctly tell the story of how he met the mother, he needs to explain how he became the person that would meet the mother. This ties into Ladeeda’s post, how Ted needs to accomplish something and become the person that would be with the mother. I also like the idea that Barney and Robin’s wedding is the thing that Ted needs to COMPLETELY get over Robin, that could set him on the true path of finding the mother. I think Barney and Robin will get together before Ted meets the mother, and these events will lead to one another. When Barney and Robin broke up, future Ted says that that was only the end “for now,” so I truly believe Barney and Robin’s wedding will lead to Ted finding the mother (someone that’s been the slutty pumpkin and the perfect match) and becoming the person he has to be.

  154. duh |  Sunday, November 28th, 2010 08:20 am GMT -4

    I’ve read all the theories on here, but everyone seems to have a theory based on a fan’s point of view and not a writers point of view. The underlying theme of the show has been misdirection. Lets use the season 1 finale as an example. At the end of season 1 we are lead to believe that Marhall and Lily are broken up and Ted and Robin will live happily ever after. By the end of season 2 we know that’s not the case. This same theme of misdirection has been repeated dozens of times. The narrator often says things like “but it wasn’t” or “that’s what we should have said”. The writers trick you into thinking one thing while it’s actually another. I’ll use one more example to prove this point. In an episode in season 2 at the beginning of the episode Barney hears Marshall crying over Lily and instantly leaves. We as the audience are tricked into believing that Barney is being insensitive and doesn’t want to hear about Marshall’s problems. However at the conclusion of the episode we learn that he actually flew to San Francisco and convinced Lily to come back.

    So where am I going with all this? The writers have tried so hard to convince us that it can’t possibly be Robin, and have even given us hard evidence….or have they? Lets use the St. Patricks day episode as an example. Ted says to his future kids that their mother was at the St. Patricks day party but he didn’t know it. Well hold on a darn second, Robin was with Marshall and Lily all night!…or at least of what we saw of it. It was also set up in that episode that Ted’s phone had been dialing Marshall several times that day. Marshall says something along the lines of “that’s the 4th time Ted’s butt has called me today”. We also see Ted get punched in the face in that episode and fall on his butt. Who would be in his contact list that may get called upon falling on said butt? Perhaps Robin. So then why would Robin not say something the next day. Because the writers know that would blow the surprise.

    I could go on and on with little nuances like this but lets close with one final piece that theorists can’t seem to get over. Future Ted refers to Robin as “Aunt Robin”. That could possibly be the best misdirection play of all. Just because he refers to her as Aunt Robin, doesn’t mean that is not the mother. He could simply be playing a trick on his kids, or trying to see if they could pinpoint from his stories that “Aunt Robin” is actually their mom. Further, people will be quick to jump at that Robin’s character has been set up as afraid of marriage and kids, although those issues have been addressed in various episodes.

    Basically it comes down to this. As a writer you don’t set something up without payoff. Thus setting up Robin and Ted as an item right from the get go was no fluke. Showing Ted and Robin with other partners is done for nothing more than to make you think the mystery is headed another direction, when in actuality the answer was in front of you right from the first episode…

  155. craig |  Sunday, November 28th, 2010 08:41 am GMT -4

    thats a very good theory and i agree that in most aspects the writers do try and misdirect you, but the mother has already been said to be someone who ted meets for the first time at a wedding, and that ted will ring her straight away, and that she is a roomate of another girl he was dating, whilst robin was living with ted, so, as you pointed out that everyone is seeing things from a fans point of view, unfortunately so are you, the writters originally wanted us to think robin was the mother, but theres just too much that shows evidence to the contrary. heres what i say, lets just watch it and see how they go with it, because the way that its going is that its going be someone who we havent met yet, i think the room for theory about the mother is all but at a standstill. at least for the moment. right now im curious about the relationship between ted and his love hate relationship with the protestor, i forget her name. why would the writters start a season off sayin ted meets the mother at a wedding, only to bring in a new love interest, right after letting us know what wedding ted will be best man for in the future… seems rather pointless seeing as watchers of the show we know from the get go its not going to go anywhere

  156. Taz |  Sunday, November 28th, 2010 08:48 am GMT -4

    Well, if ‘duh’ is correct on the theory that Robin is the mother, then the writers have many inconsistencies to patch up or try to explain through the story about

    - Meeting Robin at the wedding (season 6)
    - Robin being in an Economics class
    - Robin living in a random apartment
    - Calling her Aunt Robin in the first place (it would be lame if Ted would use this as a trick to mislead the kids, seems a bit too weak to be tactical)

    Sure, they could be interpreted as ‘misdirections’, but what can writes REALLY do or say or portrait in order for Robin to be the mother? Let’s just say that they have one HELL of a job to do…

  157. Brendan |  Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 06:46 pm GMT -4

    I am going to guess that the wedding is Punchies. Also, just because you MEET somebody somehwere, doesn’t mean that you are meeting up with them for the first time.

  158. GTS |  Wednesday, December 1st, 2010 08:40 pm GMT -4

    you could also look at it from a total other angle.
    someone does not become a mother until she is pregnant.
    so it could also be possible that Ted has known the girl the whole time and its not until she becomes pregnant that she is the mother.
    so the wedding could be the first time he meets the mother of his child if its conceived at the wedding……

    way left field i know but just a thought.

  159. Taz |  Thursday, December 2nd, 2010 03:25 am GMT -4

    GTS, that is probably one of the most sufficient and most plausible theory…I like :)

  160. nashy29 |  Thursday, December 2nd, 2010 09:33 pm GMT -4

    There’s a few things i want to add:

    - Is it only assumed that these kids are Ted’s?

    - and also i’m thinking that since we are watching the show through the eye’s and images of the kids, that maybe they have put the image of their mother (robin’s character) in place of aunt robin for us to see.

  161. wazzup |  Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 09:19 am GMT -4

    It has to be the matchmaker girl that Ted couldn’t see that night. One of the unique things about this show is that everything that happens, happens for a reason; We often get flashbacked to a previous moment which lays out each episode quite perfectly. This is not the type of show to pull something out of the blue to move the story forward, it has to link to previous moments in the series. He came so close with the matchmaker incident, then at the party and he hasn’t seen the roomate yet but he talks about those moments specifically and how the mother relates. The matchmaker girl would be the same girl who went to the st pattys party as she clearly lives in NY. This is all destiny/fate, which is often spoken about by Ted. It’s a solid theory, but then again the show’s writers are pretty unpredictable.

  162. Brendan |  Sunday, December 19th, 2010 11:39 pm GMT -4

    Victoria.

    I’ve finally figured it out. Victoria’s favorite color? Yellow (goes along with the umbrella. She left in season one for two years, meaning it would be season three by the time she came back. When was the party that Ted and his wife were both at? Season three. It fits. I know that you all think it’s somebody else, but I’m right.

    And awesome

    True story.

  163. Barney jnr |  Tuesday, December 21st, 2010 12:13 am GMT -4

    It could not possibly be Victoria, or wiki it says this.
    Victoria
    Played by Ashley Williams. Baker at Buttercup Bakery. She and Ted met at a wedding reception for which she had made the cake, where they spend the night hanging around by themselves under the promise that they will never see each other again so as not to ruin their memory of that night. This promise is soon broken and they start up a relationship with each other. This is complicated when she is offered a cooking fellowship in Germany. They eventually decide that a long distance relationship cannot work and break up. A vision of her appears to Ted shortly before the break-up, when he lies to Robin about having already ended the relationship before the fact. Appears in 6 episodes- would have been made the mother if the show was canceled after the first season.
    If you read the last line, it doesn’t say ‘so far’. therefore she prob aly wont be in future episodes.

  164. Brendan |  Tuesday, December 21st, 2010 12:23 am GMT -4

    Here’s the problem: the writers haven’t come out and said “Ashley Williams WILL NOT APPEAR IN ANY MORE EPISODES”. And also, don’t you find it coincidental that Ted claims that he meets his wife at the wedding, and that’s where he meets Victoria? Isn’t it quite possible she is back and working at Buttercup Bakery?

    Can you really find some hard evidence against this? Try to be yourself by the way, don’t just copy and past from HIMYM Wiki.

  165. Russ |  Tuesday, December 21st, 2010 12:35 am GMT -4

    I love Victoria. The thing is that the writers have said the last scene where the Mother is revealed has already been taped due to not wanting the kids to appear aged. So they have to have the girl picked out years ago. So Victoria fits. They couldn’t just pick some girl at random when the show is nearing its end.

  166. Nihar |  Sunday, January 9th, 2011 11:42 am GMT -4

    The Series is really amazing… Every single episode is enjoyable and builds the temptation to follow it…

    Such a great direction and story… all the time.

  167. llgg |  Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 08:06 pm GMT -4

    I just re-watched “As Far As She Can”…
    Correct me if I’m wrong… but I thought that Stella moved to California with the father of her daughter at the end of the episode.
    Doesn’t that suggest that she’s gone? Or did I miss something?

  168. Casey |  Wednesday, January 12th, 2011 01:11 am GMT -4

    I’ve just read the entire comments section and am astounded by the in depth look the fans have brought to the show for me personally. I don’t have any particular theories regarding the show, however I don’t think the writers will simply end it on such a simple note as discovering the mother (as has been mentioned) and yet I don’t expect the series to continue after her discovery.

    I don’t think the writers will throw in a character we’ve been anticipating since episode one without giving us the chance to connect with her on some level. I’m not sure how they’ll do it but they have proven themselves talented and I hope they’ll pull off a classy final episode (I expect a simple epilogue narrated by bob saget).

    I don’t personally think the “Mother” is a member of the existing cast either, but that’s just my opinion after reading these comments.

    Also Kudos on keeping this discussion going regularly after well over a year, I’ll be sure to keep reading.

  169. TP |  Saturday, January 15th, 2011 10:26 pm GMT -4

    How sure are we that the kids are Ted’s children??
    He calls them kids, but it could be the kids of someone else.
    Maybe he is telling the story how Ted met the mother of her children, not theirs…
    I don’t really think this, but has he ever pointed out that those children are his?? Adressing someone elses kids by ‘kids’ is normal, right?
    Maybe Ted en Robin end up together, but I don’t think this is true :P

  170. GWSTB |  Sunday, January 16th, 2011 01:35 am GMT -4

    The girl does refer to Ted as “Dad” in an episode. I think it was the season 2 premiere?
    I’m sure Zoey isn’t the wife, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of her either. I’m sure she and Ted will somehow become involved.
    For those who are so sure it’s someone we’ve already met- just because the writer’s have filmed the scene with the kids doesn’t mean they’ve filmed anything to do with the actual mother. She could be a character that hasn’t been introduced yet. Even the character name wouldn’t be necessary. All they’d need is a shot of the kids nodding or cheering or whatever and they could voiceover whatever they want.

  171. Squirrel2 |  Sunday, January 16th, 2011 08:28 pm GMT -4

    i don’t think the mother has been revealed yet but all the clues being left for us to try to figure out is really killing me. I just don’t wanna think i’m wasting my time watching the show and it ends with something stupid like “your mother lived across the street from me after she moved out of her dorm” or something like that. I also question Ted’s motives to telling the kids this LONG story of how he met there mother. It does seem as if there mother has passed away or something bad has happened. i also don’t want the show to end with them revealing the mother the kids are shocked and then no more HIMYM.

  172. Bryan |  Monday, January 17th, 2011 12:52 am GMT -4

    Personally, Ithink the writers have a few different options they are considering, and they can always fall back on any number of storylines in case one option doesn’t work out for various reasons.

    But here is my theory:The mother will be Victoria. And here is why. It’s going to seem a little out there at first, but bear with me.

    The creators of the show are from Wesleyan, where they studied literature. Knowing literature, I think it’s likely they would try to create literary motifs and character clues — and colors are often the best motifs.Ithink Victoria’s “color”is yellow, because she gave her name as Buttercup in season 1 when Ted meets her — and the name of her bakery is Buttercup Bakery. I would not be shocked if this yellow motif connects her directly to the yellow umbrella.In fact, if you think about it, a buttercup flower ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R
    anunculus ) looks very similar visually to a yellow umbrella. I think this is the hidden clue about the real identity of the mother.

    OK, you say — how could it be Victoria, when further episodes indicate that Ted has not met his future wife yet, and wouldn’t the kids recognize their mother’s name?Ithink that’s true, but Bays and Thomas have said in interviews that Ted is an “unreliable narrator.”He doesn’t always get his facts straight, and in fact he might be purposely throwing in false clues to throw the kids off and make them listen to the rest of the story. As for the kids knowing her name, yes, that’s a problem. But I think it can be explained. The kids may KNOW this is their mother but are forced to hear the rest of the story anyway. After all, you rarely hear them REACT to Future Ted. The show isn’t about the mother, anyway — as many have said, it’s about Ted’s journey.

    The big clue for me was Episode 1 of this season, when Future Ted says “the day I met your mother was the day of a wedding.”Notice how he does not specify that it is the wedding being shown in the clip. Ted DID meet Victoria at a wedding…

    So here’s my prediction:it will be revealed that Victoria is the mother in the last episode or close to it, and the writers will tell “Victoria’s Story.”I think it will go something like this.Victoria wanted to call Ted at 11 pm the night he went to Robins. But she didn’t want to break up with him — she wanted to tell him she loved him and that she was coming back to NYC. Then Ted screwed it up by being at Robins. Victoria was heartbroken. She stayed in Germany for a year or so, then she came back because she was miserable. She was at the St Patricks Day Party — they just never ran into each other. She left the yellow umbrella. She took an economics class (the one Ted mistakenly taught) because she wanted to run her own business and get some marketing skills. She saw Ted of course, but was still too hurt to confront him.

    Ithink this is all fairly plausible — kind of a stretch, but plausible. I think it’s also plausible that she is Cindy’s roommate and that Cindy just never told her the name of the guy (Ted) she was casually dating. I think it would be brilliant if the writers can bring that story to life in flashbacks — in a sense, it would be a brilliant way of showing the interconnectedness of the whole series and allow them to tell a whole new story in flashbacks.

    OK, here’s one more reason why I think Victoria (“buttercup” is the mother. And Iadmit this one is a bit crazy: The movie The Princess Bride. That movie also features a bride named Buttercup. It’s a love story about someone you meet and then have to keep fighting for and finding again. It’s told in a narrator style, with the old Uncle (Peter Falk) reading to the young boy (Fred Savage). Bays and Thomas have also said in interviews that with HIMYM, they wanted to re-create the style of their favorite movies by playing with time and narration. Would it be a stretch to think that The Princess Bride is one of their favorite movies?It was made in 1987, when they were likely in middle school/high school. For a certain generation, The Princess Bride is the ultimate movie.

    Anyway, interested to know what you think.

  173. Casey |  Tuesday, January 18th, 2011 12:24 pm GMT -4

    Bryan, I am very impressed with your theory, even if you did lean a little towards fanfiction in the middle, you have me reconsidering Victoria who I hadn’t even suspected. You do have a point, relating colours to nicknames, the fact that we have heard nothing of Victoria since the breakup and the consistency of the term “buttercup.”
    Kudos on what I bet was much time spent on concocting that theory and putting it into words.

    WARNING: spoilers for recent episodes below (up to ep. 126)

    However, with that said, I would just like to note the dramatic themes that have been hanging around this season; namely Lily and Marshall trying to have a baby, The death of Marshall’s father and, revealed at the end of this weeks episode, Barney’s desire to meet his father. With all this happening on a usually comedic show, only halfway through the season, I can’t help but wonder if the mother will be revealed this season or, at the very least, building up to another big revelation. Since we’ll, in all likelihood, be meeting the mother at Punchie’s Wedding which can’t be far off, I think that this might be the season we’ve all been waiting for.
    It’s a pretty big “what if” but I thought I’d throw it out there.

  174. Peter |  Wednesday, January 19th, 2011 08:03 pm GMT -4

    Well I love all these theories. I have read every single post on here and I have to warn you that I think that what we all so longingly seek is of course who Ted’s wife is, is far from being solved. We are in the 6th season out of 8.

    Anyway. My theory of the mother is simply. Notice how you do not see Barney and Robin at the beginning shots of this season. Also Marshal and Lily are do not really know Punchie that well to be really considered to be at the wedding. Another thing is if you notice Ted and Marshall are wearing matching tuxs/suits so all signs point towards the wedding being Robin and maybe Barney.

  175. sirTLO |  Friday, January 21st, 2011 04:18 am GMT -4

    peter, i really like your theory here. it makes a lot of sense as do many. and i also love this blog and have read every post so keep posting!!

  176. Jason |  Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 07:38 pm GMT -4

    awesome threat…has anyone else noticed that the slutty pumpkin is in the background of the leap?

  177. Jason |  Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 07:39 pm GMT -4

    thread not threat

  178. Richard |  Sunday, January 23rd, 2011 02:47 am GMT -4

    Hello. I love how i met your mother. greatest show on today in my view. This has nothing to do with who teds future wife may be but anyone ever notice ALL of teds major relationships have been ruined in some way by robin. He cheated on victoria with robin. he never went to meet the Perfect match girl because he wanted to chase robin some more. Stella left ted after ted invited robin to the wedding. Well you know in the episode ted tries to make up for inviting robin by getting stellas daughter and ended up bringing the ex boyfriend and boom. After stella no real realtionship for a while. So yea i love robin bt has anyone else noticed this

  179. jill |  Sunday, January 23rd, 2011 10:34 am GMT -4

    Its great to finally find a discussion about this that dosent talk endlessly about the ‘bump girl’.

    Im beginning to really believe the Victoria theory.

    I would prefer if Robin ended up with Barney rather than Ted

    Has anyone else noticed that the ‘hand’ thing on the shelf behind the kids in the future is also seen in Stella’s apartment at one point in season 3? Though i think the mother has a connection to Stella, rather than the mother actually being Stella.

  180. Barney |  Monday, January 24th, 2011 12:58 am GMT -4

    Think about this…

    We don’t know Ted’s kids very well, and have no reason to care who their mother is.

    Why, you ask?

    Because, whoever the mother is, doesn’t have to be Ted’s wife.

    Correct me if these have been disproved, but the Mother could be a girlfriend of Ted’s or Ted’s ex-wife.

    What we really care about is Ted and who he ends up with.
    With such a high divorce rate, it’s plausible to suggest Ted is not married to his childern’s mother.

    The real story is
    ‘How I Met My Wife or Companion/Siginificant Other’.

    And the answer to that, my friends, could very well be…

    …wait for it…

    ROBIN SCHERBATSKY!

    What Up?!

    Also, Ted could be gay and their mother was artificially inseminated.
    This making it plausible that Robin is the mother, or even Lily for that matter.

    Also, adoption.

  181. sirTLO |  Monday, January 24th, 2011 03:06 am GMT -4

    just saw the slutty pumpkin! good call jason

  182. Brian |  Tuesday, January 25th, 2011 11:41 pm GMT -4

    Since Ted HAS to end up with Robin, I suggest this: the children’s mother has passed away, and after a reasonable amount of time, Ted is explaining the story of how he met their mother to explain why he and “Aunt Robin” have fallen back into love and are now going to be married!

    I don’t really care who the mother is (since it’s NOT Robin). If Ted doesn’t end up with Robin it is worse than if Rachel had not ended up with Ross on “Friends” and the producers of this show are sick bastards.

  183. Sandy J |  Thursday, January 27th, 2011 07:53 pm GMT -4

    Has anyone considered the idea that he isn’t talking to his own children?

  184. Jason |  Saturday, January 29th, 2011 12:45 am GMT -4

    The kids call him dad, so while not conrete evidence, it is safe to conclude that he is their father. On their mother being dead, it is my opinion that that would be a cop out and bad option for the writers.

    It is also my opinion that Ted and Robin will not end up being together. Ted has tried so hard for her, but time and time again things do not work, so there is no reason to assume fifteen years down the road that anything will change. Some people are just better off as only friends and that is where Ted and Robin should be, and each have their own family.

    On a side note, while we are in the 6th of 8 seasons, I am not convinced that the writers have decided on who the mother is going to be. They write the episodes only weeks before shooting and airing so there is no pressing need to introduce us to the mother in the near future. They have the ability to keep all their doors open until really as late as the final season depending on how they decide to introduce her

  185. Huma |  Sunday, January 30th, 2011 02:12 pm GMT -4

    In regards to the Victoria Theory:

  186. Huma |  Sunday, January 30th, 2011 02:24 pm GMT -4

    I really like Victoria but I don’t think she’s “the one” because at Marshall and Lily’s wedding the guys were wearing a tie. At the start of season 6 we find Ted and Marshall wearing a bow-tie. So it’s obvious that they are two different weddings. I think the latter is Punchy’s or maybe… maybe Robin and Barney’s.
    And I don’t think that the Future Ted is a widower or divorced, because if I had been so keen on finding the right one as he is, I would be thrilled to tell my kids how i did so…

  187. Brian |  Sunday, January 30th, 2011 10:19 pm GMT -4

    But he’s NOT telling the kids the story of how he met their mother: he’s telling them the story of how he met and fell in love with Robin, and about their ups and downs. I know he keeps telling them it’s about that, but it clearly isn’t. There hasn’t been one story that was really about their mother.

  188. Chenoan |  Monday, January 31st, 2011 12:44 am GMT -4

    Brian, I think you’re just blatantly denying a lot of straightforward information to make it to your own end; Robin is definitely a possibility, but as Ted mentions on several occasions he is telling his kids how he became the person that met their mother as you seem to deny (whether that be Robin or not). The later seasons shifted heavily on clues towards the mothers identity and entire episodes have indirectly focused on those clues and therefore the mother.

    Because Ted was stood up by Stella he ultimately got a job in the university the mother went to.
    Because he dated Cindy we discovered where she lived and a little about her personality
    Because of St. Patricks’ day we discovered her yellow umbrella and an early connection between them, later returned when he dated Cindy.
    We discovered the circumstances in which they would meet in “Big Days” which is a wedding where he is the best man—either Punchy’s or Robin’s when considering the previous clues.

    In short, he really is telling his kids the story of how he met their mother, whether that be robin or not. I don’t see why Future Ted would blatantly lie throughout an entire series just for him to contradict himself in the end and ruining the ending for those who have followed the mystery closely. The writers wouldn’t pull something so seedy and anti-climactic as to go back on such critical information.

  189. Brian |  Monday, January 31st, 2011 03:20 pm GMT -4

    I’m not going to try to deny that I would prefer an ending with Robin and Ted getting together or that this predjudice may be coloring my view. I am, however, not ready to concede that this show is more about the future wife and less about Robin. I think it would be far more “seedy and anti-climactic” to end this show by introducing a character that we don’t know or like to be Ted’s wife. (Yipee–mystery solved, but who cares, except those who follow the show so closely that they would post on this blog.) Say it is Victoria or some other minor character that is revealed at the end. What pleasure is there in that…except maybe for a few people that “solved” the mystery in advance. The show would have far less meaning than if they end it “my way”.
    By the way, I don’t think it is possible for Robin to be the mother. The writers have made that pretty clear, unless they use some cheap trick to explain away why Robin is called Aunt. And I don’t know why anyone would think that finding an old love again after a long and happy marriage to someone else ends is “seedy and anti-climactic”.

  190. Lila |  Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 11:05 pm GMT -4

    Wow , I looked at every one’s views and I got so confused that it clearly took me off my theory , But I do not think , Robin will end up with Ted , as I was watching one of the episode on season 5 , I heard that the room mate was Cindy’s room mate , and we all know she has brown hair rather than blonde because both kids have brown hair genetics you see. There couldn’t be a possibility that the mothers dead , as you can clearly see tons of pictures around the house and none seem to be Robin.

  191. david green |  Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 11:45 am GMT -4

    we were told that the mother is in ted’s classroom, and at one point zoey was protesting and ended up sitting in the class. is it too far fetched to believe that she would end up with them — fake blond hair and all !
    they look very cute together

  192. Melissa |  Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 02:58 pm GMT -4

    ZOEY!!!!!! It’s obvious after she left her husband last night!

    Also– so excited for Josh Radnor’s new movie which is coming to theaters in MARCH! http://www.happythankyoumoreplease.com/#/home

  193. Melissa |  Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 03:00 pm GMT -4

    ZOEY!!! She left her HUSBAND for Ted… I think she’s the winner!

    Also– so excited for Josh Radnor’s new movie, which is coming to theaters in MARCH!

    http://www.happythankyoumoreplease.com/#/home

  194. Craig |  Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 12:34 am GMT -4

    I love Jenn Morrison as Zoey but she is not the mother.

    She didn’t meet Ted at a wedding, she is probably not in a band and I doubt she’s a robot drawing artist.

  195. mike h |  Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 04:44 pm GMT -4

    can anyone confirm that the kids refer to ted as dad?

    i just got into the show and im up to season 4 but do not recall them calling him dad.

    that would debunk a lot of the theories here.

    i think the writers do an excellent job on this show and as a big fan i hate to have them ruin it at the end by saying “and heres so random girl youve never seen before and she is the mom” on the other hand id hate to see them make some huge stretch and say it was the girl he bumped into and the st pattys party or the slutty pumpkin. Something like that would be so insignificant and such a let down.

    The 3 best ways i would like to see the show end is him ending up with robin, stella, or victoria, but the writers would have to do a phenomenal job proving that.

    Love the show, but im expecting to bet let down at the end, although i hope they prove otherwise.

  196. Craig |  Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 09:55 pm GMT -4

    Ok guys, “Future Ted” tells every story in the first person through Ted’s eyes. So of course he is their father and of course he is the narrator.

    Come on!!!

  197. Silver |  Thursday, February 10th, 2011 07:29 am GMT -4

    1) They are his kids! The daughter has called him dad plenty of times. I know this show by heart – seen all the episodes probably 5-10 times over the years. Love it!

    2) I see a lot of you want the show to end right after Ted meets the mother. But why? I’d sure want to get to know her a bit – see what’s she’s like. I want at least 5-6 episodes with here (plus a 2-episode wedding scene – just as Marshall and Lily had).

  198. Huma |  Friday, February 11th, 2011 09:14 am GMT -4

    In season 1 episode 23: 22 seconds into the episode (including the intro) the girl said “That was a great story DAD.” BAM! Lawyered!!
    BTW Can anyone tell me the best man in Stuart and Claudia’s wedding?.

  199. Chenoan |  Saturday, February 12th, 2011 01:40 am GMT -4

    Zoey can’t be the mother, I think Ted would have remembered the name of his wife’s cousin

  200. Emma |  Saturday, February 12th, 2011 08:10 pm GMT -4

    I still believe Robin to be a possibility in the series; if not the mother then maybe just Ted’s wife. I mean, all future Ted ever mentions is “how I met your mother” not necessarily “how I met the love of my life”. Besides, if the case was otherwise, why couldn’t they have started the series on a different note? Why with Robin’s introduction?

    Hypothetically, it would be nice to have the show end as it started – with Ted staring into Robin’s eyes knowing she’s the one.

  201. Himym FANS |  Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 10:54 pm GMT -4

    And about the theory of sons?
    Are We sure that the kids are Mosby’s?

  202. Leezan |  Friday, February 18th, 2011 02:26 am GMT -4

    I am so unsatisfied with the way the series came to an abrupt end. Hello atleast there should have been a mention of the main theme but totally love the show otherwise.

  203. Jason |  Friday, February 18th, 2011 07:29 pm GMT -4

    To further the victoria theory…in the stinstons episode Ted says he was in germany and was able to see barney’s fake wife’s play. This is never mentioned again and was never metioned before. We never find out why he is there, so it is possible he was there to see Victoria who would still have been in Germany.

  204. Aefor |  Saturday, February 19th, 2011 11:42 am GMT -4

    Robin and Ted should be together and i dont want Robin and Barney end up together because their relationship is not going to work because when Robin and Barney datet Barney got fat because they werent happy and Barney need to be single and victoria is cat person and ted is dog person but this is my opinion

  205. the best |  Sunday, February 20th, 2011 08:30 am GMT -4

    do we know if teds wife hasnt been in an episode? like fully she may have been seen but has she ever talked?

  206. mike h |  Sunday, February 20th, 2011 05:20 pm GMT -4

    she could very well have been in an episode, all you really know is that its cindy’s roomate.

    IMO it has to be “bump girl” It would just be nonsense that for that to mean absolutely nothing.

    NOTE: She may not look like the same girl because when Ted is talking to his kids he often forgets or mistakes thing, i believe it is bump girl but she dosent necessarily look like the girl in the episode.

  207. Allan |  Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 07:52 am GMT -4

    I read this comment from a fellow HIMYM fan”The wedding is between Judy Erikson and the Captain. Think about it Ted would be his best man because he is one of his only friends. Marshall would be a groomsman at his mother’s wedding and Lily would be their with them and would probably be helping out which is why she knew Ted was needed.Most likely Barney and Robin are there too they just aren’t shown to throw everyone off to think it is one of them getting hitched. It would make sense considering they were at the same church Marshall’s dad funeral was at in Minnesota. She would want to have the wedding there and she probably meets him during an upcoming vist. It would also shed light on why Zoey is such an important character because if there was no Zoey they would have never meet the Captain and there would never be a wedding, a wedding of which ted will finally meet the mother. It would also make marshall’s dad dieing more significant to the overall arc rather then just marshall’s, just as the creators had said. As the creator’s stated that Marvin’s dieing would push the show forward and would be the turning point for the stuff that would happen in the second half of the season. All pieces are now coming together now.”

    This is exactly how I feel as well… very well thought out theory

  208. Tez |  Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 09:06 am GMT -4

    So what do we know?

    He meets her at a wedding (or something related to a wedding).

    She was Cindy’s roommate and an Economics student.

    That “the yellow umbrella” is the short version of how they met.

    I’m not seeing how this comes together? How is the yellow umbrella the short version? How is the umbrella bringing this thing together enough to be referred to as “the short version”?

    Wouldn’t “you know, the wedding” be the short version? Rather than an umbrella he found in 2008 and left in his future wife’s lounge a year or two later.

  209. Stevo |  Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 03:13 pm GMT -4

    @Allan

    That is very cool, and somewhat plausible. My question would be the church connection. I haven’t ever noticed the churches being the same, however, I do always seem to notice the quote that is on the sign on the church in “Big Days” as the episode starts.

  210. Nicole |  Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 07:03 pm GMT -4

    It’s not Robin… if she was his wife, I highly doubt the kids would refer to her as aunt Robin. Who calls their stepmom that? And he’s completely in love with their mother. Their mother = his wife. Not “Aunt Robin”.

  211. Rich |  Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 07:36 pm GMT -4

    Buttercups? Yellow Umbrella? “The day I met your mother was the day of A wedding”. Wait a minute…

    The title of this entire series is How I Met Your Mother. Clearly this is a story about an amazing meeting of two people. The meeting itself is no doubt a most amazing affair. We know it’s at a wedding. Ask yourself this, how can they possibly out-do what has already happened?

    The theme of series 6 episode 3 is VERY important. But there’s a small hidden clue to the identity of the mother in it. And if you think about it almost every episode in this series has the same theme. No doubt it will end with a climax relating to that theme.

    Anyway, I’m off to search google images to see what I find when I search for a flower called a buttercup.

  212. Tez |  Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 08:27 pm GMT -4

    Actually, I missed a bit didn’t I?

    In Big Days Ted says he doesn’t have an umbrella so what we actually think we know is…

    Ted is best man at a wedding and meets the mother there… due in part to the yellow umbrella which she took to a St Patrick’s Day party in 2008 but left behind, and then it turned up in her apartment a couple of years later. Notably on the wedding day it starts to rain and Ted says he doesn’t have an umbrella so presumably he shares one with the Future Mrs Mosby. The mother is Cindy the lesbian’s roommate and was in Ted’s accidental Economics lecture but I guess there could be any number of as yet unexplained links to the eventual wedding there. She has a number of character traits that Ted already likes the sound of and he was keen to meet her previously when he thought she was Cindy’s friend at the bar.

    Personally I still think we are going to see Ted narrate a flashback to the St Patrick’s Day party with a little red circle around future Ted’s wife in the background. I don’t think she’s been relevant to the story so far or that there is any real twist in the tale.

    Conspiracy theories are great but I reckon this one will be an unsolvable… until we meet her. She’s effectively been in the background the whole time – not central to the story but I think we’ll see many references to just how she was involved in the story the whole time and how it was fate that they eventually met.

  213. rjones4 |  Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 09:58 pm GMT -4

    We all know Ted meets his wife at a wedding in which he is the best man of, common speculation makes the connection to either a Robin Barney wedding or Punchey’s wedding, but what if the writers throw a big twist, this i probably way off but its just an idea. Zoey and Ted fall through and Ted somehow finds a way to bring the captain and Zoey back together making him grateful and having Ted become the best man. Marshall and Lilly are at the wedding because the Captain has ties with GNB. Zoey met Ted’s future wife in the class when she sat in and befriended her and she is invited to the wedding where Ted meets her

  214. kitty |  Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 02:02 am GMT -4

    Watched the episode commentary of Season 1 today and NPH says (I don’t know if jokingly or serious) that the coat check girl was the mother hmm.

  215. Henry |  Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 05:14 am GMT -4

    I think it is Barney’s sister as i think ted refering to Barney as “Uncle Barney” is literal, and they meet at Barney’s Wedding

  216. Brendan |  Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 10:19 am GMT -4

    I think Ted goes incest and marries his sister

  217. Brian |  Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 01:45 pm GMT -4

    I think the solution is tied inextricably to the Kennedy assasination, and until we find the hundreds of shooters that day in Dallas, we have no chance to figure out who the mother is.

    On the other hand, it could be the brunette sitting behind them in McLarens in the 2nd season, 4th episode, drinking what appears to be a “Ted-on-the-beach”.

  218. Tez |  Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 06:23 pm GMT -4

    Hmmm, I think you might be right. Ha ha.

    Barney and Ted’s sister maybe?

    The idea that Zoey and the Captain get back to gether had crossed my mind… though Ted says it didn’t end well. You wouldn’t say that yet still be the Captain’s best man?

    Though the captain would be weird enough to choose the bloke who stole his wofe as the best man for his re-wedding back to his ex wife. And it might explain the nervousness that Ted is showing.

    Best man would usually be sitting outside the church with the groom wouldn’t he?

  219. Jeff |  Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 09:55 pm GMT -4

    The one theory that I have bought into more and more as everything has progressed, is that the kids aren’t actually his. People have responded that the girl called him dad, but so what? A teenage girl being told a long story filled with life lessons may sarcastically be saying, “dad” as is, “why are you lectoring me, what are you my dad”.

    If we take this theory at face value then he probably hasn’t met “their” mother yet. All the little hints about the mother could then still have their payoff. Ted could still end up with Robin in the end, and “Aunt Robin” would be correct for the story Ted is telling.

    Looking at it on even a deeper level it would almost explain the title. How I Met “Your” Mother, instead of How I Met Mom. Also “Met” being emphasized, instead of “How I Fell In Love With Your Mother”. “Met” suggests that the underlying theme of the whole show is that he simply has to meet her, not that he has to be in love with her, married to her, etc. So he “meets” the kids mom through a series of events throughout the years that shape Ted Mosby. To me that is the real story. Seeing how Ted, Robin, Barney, Marshall and Lily have grown and bonded over the years. This theory lets you have your cake and eat it to. It satisfies the title (i.e. Ted does in fact meet the kids mom), but also satisfies the audiences desires to see Ted and Robin end up together happy.

    I’ll play devils advocate and give the biggest piece of anti-evidence in that when Ted buys the run down house, at the end of that episode he tells the kids that house is the house they are now sitting in, hearing the story in. However, I can get past this by suggesting the kids were over for a visit in Ted’s house, and Ted is friends with the kids mom, explaining the school bus and pictures on the mantle. There is also the most recent episode where Ted says he has two kids to the future “Wendy the Waitress” but that could easily have been a misdirection play by the writers to make you assume he’s referring to the kids on the couch, when in fact he has two different kids of his own (perhaps even friends of the kids on the couch?).

  220. himymfan11 |  Thursday, February 24th, 2011 11:33 am GMT -4

    I think there’s a new theory now, the “Nora is the mother” theory – established after S06 Episodes 16 and 17 xD

    http://www.cbs.com/forum/posts/list/145801.page

  221. Olive Theory |  Thursday, February 24th, 2011 04:48 pm GMT -4

    I’ve always wondered if Ted meets the Mother they get married have children and then she dies. That is why he is telling the story of how he met her to them. In one episode Ted and Robin made a pact that they would be each others safety valve if they were a certain age and single. So I think he then ends up with Robin, but she is not the mother of his children.

  222. Jeff |  Thursday, February 24th, 2011 08:52 pm GMT -4

    This is not necessarily a theory of who the mother is, rather speculation on what is to come. Reading an interview with Carter Bays he said Barney’s character will grow up somewhat this year. Given his recent desire meet his father and the introduction of the character Nora, here is how I see it going down.

    Barney meets his father. Discovers his father is a player just like him. At first he is proud of his dad for being such a ladies man, but his dad reveals to him later that he wishes he would have settled down, and that he is secretly sad and lonely. Barney takes this to heart and gets serious with Nora, to the point where he proposes to her.

    Which takes us to the flashforward from the opening of Season 6. It’s actually Barney’s wedding…

  223. Tez |  Thursday, February 24th, 2011 09:24 pm GMT -4

    And given that Ted is his best friend… would perfect sense that he would be best man, and that Marshall would be a groomsman.

    But if Barney marries Nora… then why is CIndy’s roommate and her yellow umbrella there?

    Nora isn’t a student, she works with Robin.

  224. FrenchFanFlo |  Friday, February 25th, 2011 07:51 pm GMT -4

    Personnally, I don’t think it’s gonna be Barney’s wedding. What about Ted’s friend , Punchy ?!

    But Jeff, what you have just said is really interesting ! ;)

    (sorry for my english, I’m French, so…correct me if you can. lol)

  225. Jason |  Saturday, February 26th, 2011 12:46 am GMT -4

    The mother plays in a band so it is plausable that she is preforming for the wedding and that is how they meet. So tieing Cindy to the wedding is not really a necessity. The wedding just has to be between someone who would consider Ted to be a really good friend.

  226. FrenchFanFlo |  Saturday, February 26th, 2011 11:07 am GMT -4

    I was wondering…if Ted meets his soulmate at this wedding, at the end of the 6th season…are we going to have a seventh ?

  227. Tez |  Sunday, February 27th, 2011 06:47 pm GMT -4

    Something else that occurred to me… it has to be this season doesn’t it? Maybe the final act of season 6 but then that leaves a full season with the mother revealed in the first episode of series 7?

    They’ve flashed forward to the wedding so presumably Ted and Marshall have to look the way they do (and be there!).

    People can change appearance pretty quickly… after all this time would they risk them looking different in the key episode to the flash forwards? Or has it already been filmed?

  228. Brendan |  Monday, February 28th, 2011 01:18 am GMT -4

    This isn’t necessarily a mother theory, but more of a “will this happen” type of thing.

    If you listen to the lyrics of “Let’s Go to The Mall”, Robin’s opening lines said “c’mon Jessica, c’mon Torie”. We’ve already met Jessica Glitter this season. Any chance we’re gonna meet a Torie?

    Maybe it’s Victoria and that’s the mother!!!!!!!!!!! (LOL, not really, but Victoria is the mother, I promise!!!!!!!!!!!)

  229. FrenchFanFlo |  Monday, February 28th, 2011 08:28 am GMT -4

    Or ! The wedding won’t happen in this season, maybe the next. Watcha think about it ?

  230. Pablo |  Monday, February 28th, 2011 10:01 pm GMT -4

    Hi, first at all, excuse for my english, I am Spanish, and I want to say that I am agree with the Bryan Theory: Victoria is the mother.
    I had think something like that, and I love her character, is the sweetest girl of the serie. Furthermore, I just watch Victoria´s episodes again and when Ted meet her he says, and this the moment when everythng began or something like this.

    And I think that Barney a Robin make a very good couple, and there was a episode where MArchall an Ted say to Robin that in six months she gets marry, so…

  231. SANDEEP |  Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 04:05 am GMT -4

    Yea Tez makes perfect sense,i think Barney is going to get married to Nora as his father advises to do so,and thats where ted meets his wife as a best man in marriage.I dont think it would be puchy as he is only in the show for some episodes and do not have a good connection with other members in the show.I hope Barney is going to wind up with Nora,he is wasting life picking girls

  232. Pablo |  Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 06:15 am GMT -4

    Ok, some points else for Victoria´s theory:

    - When Ted lies Robin, he said that was my bigger mistake of ever, with the other girls, he always says and she wasn´t your mother

    - The song when they dancing is you don´t know the me, and the the song says you don´t know me and you will go with other man, really Ted don´t know her and she isn´t the perfect woman still…
    but she can become in the perfect woman in some years, because he wants a girl that study and play the guitar, and when he is the mother´s house is just five years after met with Victoria, the mother is in fifth of Economy, casually? I don´t think so.

    -The yellow umbrella is just in third season just when Victoria comes back

    -He watch a yellow bus in the apartment, bus in Germany are Yellow

    -She sings in the shower iike Cake, Victoria makes cake

    -And for me the most important reason: HIMYM is a tale about the destiny, you have to watch the episode when they met, (I just watched yesterday).

    They stole the bridal bouquet, stole this moment to the destiny (the next “wedding”) but Victoria give the bouquet to Robin because she is in love with Ted, and she is the next girlfrend of Ted, and the next woman that get marry…

    Also this episode is one of the best and most important of serie, because
    Victoria is Buttercup (Promised Princess), Cinderella (Ted found her for the shoes) and the girl of his dreams (they dissapear and he doesn´t see how she does it)

    And Ted and me felt in love with her in the fist moment

    It´s simply the perfect final for HIMYM, other final sucks

  233. Pablo |  Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 10:04 am GMT -4

    My mind is a storm in the last days, other goods reason for Victoria:

    - She make the tasty weding cake that ever Marshall tested

    - She chosen the wedding dress for Lilly

    - She relate the spiciest story that Barney heared (censured in the episode)

    - And she did that Robin discovered that she was in love with Ted

    She had a really important conexion with all characters

    Have to be Victoria or the writers are really bastards

  234. Tez |  Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 04:05 am GMT -4

    Next episode promos are on… that’s the church…

    …isn’t it???

  235. Christ |  Saturday, March 5th, 2011 07:46 am GMT -4

    Honeslty I think it could be Victoria.. but Comon look at the kids!! both of theim have brown hair! Sorry! Do you remeber the episode where Robin is dating a guy that has a kid?! He draw her and they showed some pic that ted kids made for aunt Robin.. But wierdly in the pic are ted kids and “aunt robin”

    My guess is pretty simples :

    Is telling the story of how he met their mum… but something happened to her when they were young but then he end up with Ted!!!

    It cant be stella she is to old! in 2030 he is 53/54 he may had is kids when he was between 36/38! in 2008 she looked to be almost 40..

    Episode 1 Season 1:
    Ted says “And their she was [...] see that girl I going to marry her someday[...]“

  236. Troy |  Saturday, March 5th, 2011 09:41 am GMT -4

    Hey guys. There’s one thing you guys keep trying to do to the end of the series. I read several comments talking about, “Future Ted and Robin will gaze into each other’s eyes as the lights close.”

    Or Ted and Robin, or Ted and this girl will meet and he’ll say hi or hello and that’s the end.

    You’re forgetting one very important thing, in my opinion~

    The end of the series, at least, this is what I’ve always hoped it would be is quite simple. The lights dim, perhaps, but we’ll just hear one thing. The thing we’ve really all been waiting for. Yes, Ted and meeting the mother is great, but deep down we all really long for this.

    SLAP.

  237. carter bays |  Saturday, March 5th, 2011 09:21 pm GMT -4

    at “tez”, where are the next episode promos i cant find them anywhere, what church??

  238. stacey |  Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 02:53 pm GMT -4

    its stacey guys…. remember s03e04 … tht girl plays bass guitar in a reggae band…stacey is d mother !

  239. Nik Winchester |  Thursday, March 10th, 2011 07:20 pm GMT -4

    So i keep trying to wrap around the thought of the goat episode. It confuses me so much. If the goat is suppose to be there for his 31st birthday, why is stella mentioned?

    Stella is with Ted the time Robin sleeps with Barney BUT are we to believe that the gang invites stella to the 31st birthday?

    Why would she want to come at that point?

    Something seems SOOOO unsettling. Im telling you. my guess is the writers are trying to pull something incredibly clever to mess with the plot ONCE you put together the scenes properly….anyone ever noticed this?

  240. Nik Winchester |  Thursday, March 10th, 2011 07:24 pm GMT -4

    Oh, and to get incredibly skeptical and deep, what is Robin was the perfect match for ted.

    In the episode where everyone tells something embarassing, Robin never actually tells her most embarassing story. They assume it was the hourse crap stunt.

    What if she was going to say that she applied to a matchmaking site and they couldnt find me a match?

    I know im going really out there but it is sort of fun.

    I am the first person to say that Robin isnt the mother but the writers always seem to give truth to any scene they construct. Nothing is left to chance.

    Lots to take in, i know.

  241. carter bays |  Friday, March 11th, 2011 12:35 pm GMT -4

    ^nik winchester u are NOT AT ALL the first person to say robin isnt the mother, any decent, semi-smart HIMYM knows that robin CANT be the mother.
    ATTENTION ALL IDIOTS: watch season 5 episode 12 and season 6 episode 1 and you will KNOW that ted has NOT met the mother yet.

  242. Rich |  Sunday, March 13th, 2011 04:26 pm GMT -4

    Some interesting theories there Pablo. Isn’t a buttercup a flower? I wonder if there might be a connection to anything to do with the mother?

  243. ITK |  Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 09:30 pm GMT -4

    I thought I posted this already but can’t see it anywhere. Ok here it is again:

    - Ted meets the woman he is to marry
    - Robin and Ted have one last fling before he gets married
    - Robin decides she’ll go travel the world
    - After Ted and wife get married they try for a baby but she can’t get pregant
    - Robin comes back from travelling….with two babies
    - Ted finds out they’re his
    - Ted and Wife adopt as Robin doesn’t want children

    The real reason Ted is sitting the kids down is not to tell them “How I met your mother” (i,e. his wife) but “Kids, your real mother, is your Aunt Robin”.

    End of discussion :-)

  244. FrenchFanFlo |  Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 02:09 pm GMT -4

    C’mon ITK ! I think you’re going too far ! ^^

  245. Jeremy |  Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 02:30 am GMT -4

    This is an Opinion based on Kirks opinion in comments from another thread on this site. Want to give credit where credit is due.

    The mother is Barney’s half sister and Ted meets her at Barney and Robins wedding.

    Ted is the best man and Marshall looks like an Usher in the 1st episode of the 6th season. It has to be someone close to both of them.

    Also in the episode where Barney meets his father he mentions he has a daughter in college (who could be taking econ 305 and lives with Cindy). She would also be at Barney’s wedding

  246. Jeremy |  Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 02:53 am GMT -4

    Everyone needs to watch S05E12. It is the most important episode in the show. It gives you like 6-8 clues and 100% points to the fact that it is NOT ROBIN. We need to get over this Ross and Rachel bullshit. It’s not FRIENDS, they are not destined to be together.

  247. Rich |  Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 09:19 am GMT -4

    Watch Blitzgiving again. There is a huge clue.

  248. sarah |  Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 10:28 am GMT -4

    Just give us the clue

  249. Nik Winchester |  Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 12:01 pm GMT -4

    My thoughts exactly Jeremy.

    Notice how Barney’s dad mentioned Carla in passing? She also didnt appear on the show.

    She is in college now (which explains how Ted was in the lecture with his future wife in the economics class).

    Barney’s dad use to tour a lot as a manager (which explains her interest in being a bass guitar player).

    Barney’s dad is a driving instructor (which hints at the yellow school bus that Cindy’s roommate has)

    Last point and i havent checked it yet. Why does Barney’s dad drink milk at a bar? he could of said a water or anything else. Maybe it could be telling the viewers to refer back to the milk (2nd last episode in season 1) episode where ted found his soulmate and didnt meet her. Maybe this is the way of the writers hinting that Carla was Ted’s soulmate. If it wasnt for Robin, he WOULD HAVE met Carla.

    Something to think about..i know. I think all these points make sense..least for now.

  250. Christ |  Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 12:09 pm GMT -4

    @Nik Winchester

    I just can agree with u!! Carla is the mom for sure! this last episod told everything… and ted is going to tell the kids or they r going to see that the basketball hoop they ve , that uncle barney stole use to belong to their mother!!

  251. vicki |  Thursday, March 24th, 2011 02:18 pm GMT -4

    I like the “Barney’s sister” theory. And if Barney & Robin end up together, then those two really would be “Aunt and Uncle”

  252. Germanpark |  Thursday, March 24th, 2011 05:40 pm GMT -4

    Although I don’t know who the mother is. I do know that even though she may or may not be a natural blonde she was definitely a blonde at one point.

  253. Tez |  Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 04:54 am GMT -4

    My favourite show on TV but the news they’ve renewed it for another 2 seasons isn’t good. What is it with the American desire to take something good and classlessly bleed it for every last drop?

    Could have been a classic series… will just end up as another trashy US series that dragged its sorry arse to 200 episodes so that the reveal could be on a milestone number.

  254. Nik Winchester |  Friday, April 1st, 2011 12:07 am GMT -4

    question: when they show the sign of the arcadian, why is the “H” not lit up?

    http://www.cucirca.com/2011/02/08/how-i-met-your-mother-season-6-episode-15-oh-honey/

    at 0:29 seconds in.

    Could it be a clue to a jumble of a warning or the true identity of ted’s wife?

    Far fetched i know but let’s hear some feedback…

  255. Tez |  Friday, April 1st, 2011 01:28 am GMT -4

    Note… Thomas dooesn’t think the Slutty Pumpkin is ruled out as “he never met” her.

    http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-how-i-met-mother-himym-pictures,0,2503546.photogallery

  256. carter bays |  Monday, April 4th, 2011 05:58 pm GMT -4

    the wedding in the season 6 finale WILL be a flashforward to barney’s wedding

  257. condouno |  Saturday, April 9th, 2011 07:42 am GMT -4

    when it shows teds kids look cloce to the pic in the fram it shows the mother i think

  258. Cory |  Wednesday, April 20th, 2011 03:41 pm GMT -4

    The “Mother” will be playerd by Eliza Dushku. One reason is that she can be seen (very slightly) in the st. patricks’s day episode. Also she is a Joss Whedon alumn, and many of those have been actors on the show. Additionally, she looks like the children, and has similar features to them and Ted.
    Now, as for how they reveal her to be the mother……..who the hell knows, and I’m pretty sure the writer’s don’t know either…

  259. Ted-Robin |  Monday, May 2nd, 2011 10:41 am GMT -4

    How I wish Robin is the mother.. :) Ted & Robin look good together

  260. Rich |  Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 06:45 pm GMT -4

    So, as we approach the end of the season and I’ll drop one of my hints… I have a feeling that Ted meeting the Mother and the events following that are based on a very well-known fairy tale.

  261. Troy |  Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 06:54 pm GMT -4

    Rich is right. Its totally Goldilocks!

  262. carter bays |  Thursday, May 5th, 2011 10:53 pm GMT -4

    @ rich. what fairy tale exactly? spare no details!

  263. person voting 4 Robin |  Saturday, May 7th, 2011 08:28 pm GMT -4

    I just know that Ted is going to mary Robin, wether the facts about ”Aunt Robin” say she is not the mom, but Ted and Robin are destined to be together, everyone knows it. I mean, he could have been joking when he was saying she was an aunt and that his wife was at the party, maybe Robin came to the party after it was finished. I mean, have you even seen how Ted looks at her? He said he loves her, they are destined, admit it. I mean, Robin’s middle name could be Victoria, maybe when Ted said that Robin and Victoria are different people because after they had kids she became more caring. Also, in the first episode, after Ted finished telling the story of meeting Robin, the kids didn’t seem startled that it was Robin because maybe they know that her middle name is Victoria. I believe in Ted and Robin/Victoria’s relationship, do you agree?

  264. person voting 4 Robin |  Saturday, May 7th, 2011 08:38 pm GMT -4

    I know Ted and Robin will mary, they are in love, watch the first episode, watch the episode where Lily and Marshal break up, they are destined. Their are plenty of explanations for why the hints indicate that it is not Robin, suppose Victoria is Robin’s middle name, or Robin is her middle name and everyone just calls her Robin. About the party, maybe robin showed up afterward. I know they call her Aunt Robin but maybe he was just joking about that to the kids. Barney and Marshal aren’t going to mary her, is has to be Ted. Plus, on the first episode after Ted finished telling the story to the kids, they didn’t seem surprised until Ted said “Aunt Robin”. I know they will be together.

  265. a |  Saturday, May 7th, 2011 11:38 pm GMT -4

    @person voting 4 Robin, Robin’s middle name is Charles…

  266. Rich |  Monday, May 9th, 2011 01:37 pm GMT -4

    I could be wrong about this one, but there are definitely a few things that point to a specific fairy tale. One in particular was a reference to a character this season. If it is right, I think it points to my theory about who the mother is. Figure out the reference in this season and then backtrack.

    I have a feeling that the next 2 episodes will either prove I’m right or completely wrong about the mother.

  267. person voting 4 Robin |  Monday, May 9th, 2011 05:10 pm GMT -4

    her middle name may be Charles, but I know robin will be together with ted, it will happen…

  268. Nik Winchester |  Monday, May 9th, 2011 05:45 pm GMT -4

    hmm. where do i begin.

    Robin hates Lasagna and ted’s perfect woman loves lasagna.

    Robin does not play bass while the mother plays bass.

    Ted meets the mother and two weeks later quits smoking. When they all smoke together, Robin had know Ted for 4 years then.

    Robin hates kids(although it is shown that teds kids have picture of AUNT ROBIN taking them to the zoo and park)

    Robin never had a room mate named Cindy. If Robin was living with a female roommate, it wouldnt be hidden.

    Robin didnt go to the St. Patrick day party where the mother was there. She was with Lily and Marshall.

    It really goes on like this…

  269. person voting 4 Robin |  Monday, May 9th, 2011 06:47 pm GMT -4

    Ok, I know it seems like Robin isn’t the mother. She must be. Maybe after the real mother dies he gets back together with Robin. Because the reason Ted is telling the kids the story is because of the mom’s death. But Ted loves Robin and that is a fact.

  270. Troy |  Monday, May 9th, 2011 07:48 pm GMT -4

    Person Voting 4 Robin I hope you’re wrong. Not only are you grasping at straws but that would be unbelievably depressing.

    And frankly, Robin and Ted aren’t that amazing of a couple. Cute together? Root for them early on? Sure. But now? Mih.

    I’d be really sad if Ted backtracked to Robin and she ended up being the mother.

  271. person voting 4 Robin |  Monday, May 9th, 2011 08:00 pm GMT -4

    Look. I didn’t say that Robin had to be the first mom. After the real mom died, then Ted could have went back together with Robin. And frankly Troy, I don’t care if you are happy about Ted and Robin.

  272. Troy |  Monday, May 9th, 2011 08:50 pm GMT -4

    Then keep up with your depressing Ted and Robin delusion that has been solidly buried years ago.

    While the rest of us move on and root for Ted’s happiness. The best part is that we’re going to be right. Not you. :D

  273. Lila |  Monday, May 9th, 2011 08:57 pm GMT -4

    Sorry…. Robin and Ted?!!!! Just don’t do it for me its rather unlikely they will end up together …Really after all the twist that they put on their relationship , the producer know that they are a fizzled out couple.

    No use Ted and Robin aren’t going to be together…has no logic.

    The mother will be a Brunette but it’s not Robin.

    Its more likely for Robin to end up with Barney at the end.

    I rather watch Robin and Barney …… ( At the end because them together through out the show , kissing will destroy all of Barney’s theory’s)

    But who knows the wedding that Ted meets his wife is Barney and Robin ….could be possible?.

  274. Brian |  Monday, May 9th, 2011 09:24 pm GMT -4

    Lila and Troy are sadly confused. “Person voting for Robin” is not saying Robin is the mother (though she might end up being a stepmother), he or she is just saying that eventually Ted and Robin end up together. And Lila, your comment “..after all the twist…they are a fizzled out couple…” Did you hope that Rachel and Ross on “Friends” wouldn’t end up together because they were a “fizzled out couple”?
    And Troy, it would be “…unbelievably depressing” if the mom died? Really? You would be upset that a character you’ve never met died prior to the beginning of the show??

  275. Troy |  Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 12:30 am GMT -4

    I’m not mistaken, Brian. I knew what he was saying.

    And yes, it would be unbelievably depressing if the story, “How I Met Your Mother,” kills off the mother that has been built up as Ted’s romantic interest. Especially if its just so we can bring back the TedXRobin angle.

    And sorry, but I kind of want Ted to have his happily ever after with his mom. Not find out she got whacked and Robin and him are getting together even though Ted was clearly married to the mother for the past 15 years. (Meaning Robin never moved on, either).

    And who cares about Ross and Rachel on “Friends”? This is How I Met Your Mother. Not, How I Met Your Mother But Really Loved Robin For These Past 15 Years And Now That She’s Out Of The Way Romance Is A Go.

  276. person voting 4 Robin |  Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 01:05 pm GMT -4

    Troy, you are really mistaken because either you don’t know what I am saying or you are just being ignorant. I am happy that somebody (Brian) actually understood what I have been saying. Lila, a lot of relationships are “fizzled up” and yet they still work out.

  277. person voting 4 Robin |  Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 01:10 pm GMT -4

    Robin and Barney isn’t going to happen. They dated once and if you watched the show you would know that it didn’t work out and they are better off as friends. Robin and Ted are a different story…

  278. Brian |  Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 01:57 pm GMT -4

    Troy,

    I’m kind of curious how you see the last episode of this series. Will it introduce some new character we’ve never met to be the “mother”? If so, I have no emotional investment in this character…she is just a solution to a riddle. To me, and I hope to the producers and writers of the show, the final episode must provide more than this. And I think it’s clear that using one of Ted’s former girlfriends (including Robin) as the mother is not likely based on all the clues being left for us that exclude each one. I don’t see any way to resolve these two issues without revealing a “mother” who has passed away before the show even began. Ted’s story to his children then is not REALLY about how he met their mother…but instead about how he met and fell in and out of love with Robin…and why he and Robin fell back in love after their mother died.
    I know this is a less likely scenario since recent seasons have not played with the Ted/Robin relationship, but I think they will write more of this in, hopefully soon.
    I admit that my preference for Robin and Ted ending up together is based partly on the fact that Cobie Smulders/Robin is the most beautiful woman in the world and it just seems silly for Ted to end up without her in the end.

    By the way, I was using Ross and Rachel as an analogy…I wasn’t inferring that HIMYM needed to follow any storyline in “Friends”. The storyline I hope they follow is from “Love in the Time of Cholera”.

  279. Lila |  Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 03:03 pm GMT -4

    Sorry …. The producers will not add them together.

    Why would he go talk a story about his mother and keep Robin and Ted together ( sounding more like that movie with Ryan Reynolds were he tells his daughter how he meet his mother and ended up with some one else).

    Do Notice that Rachel and Ross had a kid together making their relationship bound and everyone knew that they were going to end up together due to the fact that it was predictable.

  280. Troy |  Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 05:34 pm GMT -4

    You’re saying Ted meets the kid’s mother, but she dies so he marries Robin. There’s nothing that complex about what you’re saying, PersonVoting4Robin. Its just stupid, is the problem.

    I think your inability to find any emotional investment in the mother is shallow, Brian. The mother is someone Ted loves and cherishes. Someone that made him unbelievably happy and fulfilled his romantic longings. Regardless of whether or not she’s a brand new character or an old girlfriend that returns, she’s the perfect person for Ted and she’s made Ted extremely happy.

    And that’s all that I need to know about her. I mean, yes, it’d be great if we learn more about the mother over time. But throughout the series if you’ve been paying any attention you should know that Ted’s been talking about how much he loves their mother and how much she matters to him.

    That tells me absolutely plenty about the mother. And I’d much rather him end up with someone that makes him that happy then have her die so that we can make way for Ted X Robin.

    So maybe the story REALLY is about how he met their mother. A woman he truly loves and cherishes.

    It beats whatever the heck you and PersonVoting4Robin want it to be. By a lot. Because as I said, too. If Robin does end up with Ted because the real mother died, that just means neither Robin or Ted moved on at all in over 15 years time. And frankly, that’s kind of depressing.

    And unlikely, when you consider that since Ted and Robin have broken up they’ve mostly moved on with their lives.

  281. Tez |  Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 07:38 pm GMT -4

    If the mother’s dead it sort of opens up some interesting endings. It might turn out that all of this is a beautiful recollection of the woman he met and fell in love with, but that he’s ‘still Ted’ – maybe that he’s just off on a date or that he’s going out with Barney and the gang and still hoping to meet someone. Might even leave the possibility of Robin and Ted hanging for the viewer to play out in their mind.

    Its going to be fascinating seeing how they bring this together to a satisfactory ending. We have to know the Mother for a while – but do we get to know her prior to her being revealed as the mother or afterwards? Afterwards only works if there is more to the story (such as she died or they separated).

    In fact, why couldn’t they have separated? Its nice to think that people meet their true love, have a great life, and stay together forever but “life isn’t always like that”.

  282. person voting 4 Robin |  Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 08:28 pm GMT -4

    Troy, if Ted didn’t end up with Robin then why would the writers bother to put her in the show? The only reason you don’t understand the TedXRobin relationship is because you just want anybody but Robin to be the mom. But if you could accept that you are just playing a guessing game hoping you don’t get Robin, then maybe you would understand how foolish you are being.

  283. Brian |  Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 09:10 pm GMT -4

    Troy, if my having to actually see or hear or even just get some vague information about a TV character before I feel any emotion about them is shallow, then I guess I am shallow.

    This story is clearly NOT about the mother. The mother has not even appeared, as far as we know. This is a story about Ted and his friends…not about the mother. The only way the mother enters into it is as a device to introduce stories about Ted and his friends.

    Also, regarding this comment— ” If Robin does end up with Ted because the real mother died, that just means neither Robin or Ted moved on at all in over 15 years time. And frankly, that’s kind of depressing.”—this is only true if you believe that a person can only have one true love in their life. I kinda think it’s romantic when people re-find an old love. Actually, having the mother die before Ted and Robin get back together kind of leads to the idea that Ted and the mother did have a true love, which would have never ended without her death. Tez: this is why I’d rather not have Ted and the mother separate…then Troy’s criticism becomes valid…Ted and the mother didn’t have a “true love”, so would make silly all the affection Ted shows in his comments to the kids about their mother.

    Oh, and did I mention that Cobie Smulders/Robin is a goddess?

  284. Stevo |  Thursday, May 12th, 2011 11:58 am GMT -4

    First of all,

    @ Brian

    “I admit that my preference for Robin and Ted ending up together is based partly on the fact that Cobie Smulders/Robin is the most beautiful woman in the world and it just seems silly for Ted to end up without her in the end. ”

    You’re argument invalidates itself when you slapped this on the end of it. In all seriousness, you cannot sit here and say why your theory is the best one and others’ don’t make sense and then say your argument is based on the fact you just think the actress is hot. Really?

    Also, the one thing I do not understand is why people are coming up with crazy theories now that the mother is dead or whatever. If you guys have paid attention to the entire series, which I am sure at least Brian/person voting 4 robin have, then you will remember the numerous times that Future Ted has thrown in the reason why that part o the story is important to the endgame – meeting the mother. Near the end of season 4, Right Place, Right Time, the whole episode is about how if he didn’t do everything exactly as he did, then he wouldn’t have ran into Stella. Him running into Stella allowed for Tony to help Ted, then he gets Ted the teaching position to which the mother is in his first class.

    This show is about meeting the mother, and how the experiences of his life led Ted down the path that eventually crosses and joins with the mother, who we have not met yet.

    It’s not Robin, I’m sorry.

  285. Brian |  Thursday, May 12th, 2011 01:24 pm GMT -4

    AAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!

    How many times do I have to say I KNOW ROBIN IS NOT THE MOTHER!!!

    My argument is that I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE MOTHER. She doesn’t exist. She is a fictional character about which we know almost nothing of any importance. So she has a yellow umbrella, a roommate who is envious of her, and attends college where Ted teaches. This tells me NOTHING about her. And I know someone will say: “But Ted loves her…sob, sob….that’s all I need to know.”

    Please! Ted has dated all kinds of women and they are all different and Ted’s judgement is not all that great. Ted’s liking her doesn’t tell me whether I would like her. Didn’t you ever have a close friend who married someone you didn’t particularly like?

    I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE MOTHER, OR THE RIDDLE ABOUT WHO SHE IS! In fact, I think I am starting to dislike her, just because everyone else is so interested in her.

    I like Robin, because I know her character is beautiful and intelligent and sweet and funny and the mother, whoever she is, will not compare.

    So there.

  286. Tez |  Thursday, May 12th, 2011 06:42 pm GMT -4

    But why does meeting the mother exclude anything that might happen later?

    Aren’t you kind of interested to see how they wrap this up? At some point the mother will be a part of the show – what then? Roll the credits?

    My theory about how they may have separated or she may have died is based around the notion that life isn’t always happily ever after. That you meet people, you make decisions all the time, but its all just another vital part of your journey – it doesn’t stop. Every decision or action leads you down a very specific route. These are themes throughout the show.

    So maybe at the end he’s still with the mother. Maybe she’s dead or they’ve separated. Maybe he’s single, dating one of the girls we’ve seen or heard about in the show, or maybe he and Robin do eventually get together (not my personal preference – life’s not like that). Nothing he has said so far has excluded any possibility – except maybe his comments about Zoey to Wendy the Waitress.

    This isn’t How I Met Your Mother and My Current Partner. Anything is possible and personally I don’t see how they can simply introduce the Mother and then just end. But then, I don’t have an ounce of the writers’ talent or creativity – so there’s every chance I’m wrong.

  287. person voting 4 Robin |  Friday, May 13th, 2011 03:16 pm GMT -4

    I really like Robin, and it seems that Ted likes her to. They may not end up together but they loved each other at one point.

  288. carter bays |  Monday, May 16th, 2011 11:23 pm GMT -4

    im gonna make this simple. this is a sitcom and like ted getting left at the altar not everything is happily-ever-after however it would be an extremely dark ending to a sitcom if they had this hyped-up, perfect-for-ted girl die in the future.
    let me be clear
    ROBIN WILL NEVER GET BACK TOGETHER WITH TED. i am sure 100%, they have moved on and its not just about the whole “kids and marriage thing” they are just too different. look at season 6 episode 6 for example. ted wants someone who is needy but robin is independent and strong and ted did not like that and that is big.

  289. Common Sense |  Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 06:32 am GMT -4

    So after reading all of these I am amazed at some of the things people come up with. A ton of these theories it seems like people are just trying to find any way that the writers can back track at the end and say that basically everything they said was a lie. The Robin theory is the one that confuses me the most. The writers didn’t even want people to think she was the mother from the very first episode. They wanted people to realize then and there that she wasn’t. And for people saying that maybe she isn’t their mother, but is with Ted; well who refer’s to their step-mother or their dad’s girlfriend/wife as Aunt? They even drew crayon pictures of her that they show at the end of an episode in the first season. So Aunt Robin, Robin, is clearly a different person than the mother.
    Second, for the argument that Ted is no longer with the mother when he is telling this story, the whole point of the series is that Ted is a sappy romantic looking to find the love of his life and going through all of the steps along the way in order to finally get to that point. Do you really think that at the end they would say “I finally found her, met your mother, married her, had you kids…and then we divorced”. Plus, the mother’s little yellow schoolbus is in the background behind the kids as Ted pointed out to them. If they were no longer still together, why would he still have her schoolbus, and why would he say that her painting of the robot’s playing sand volleyball was hanging in the kitchen and that her singing Memories with her English Muffin in the morning is the most beautiful thing he has ever heard? They are clearly still together. And she is clearly the love of his life, and clearly not Robin.
    I don’t understand why at this point in the series people are still wanting Ted and Robin to get together anymore. They have grown so apart over the past few seasons that the chemistry isn’t even there with them anymore. And now we know it is Barney’s wedding that they are at, so the only question is who is Barney marrying. Either Nora or Robin in my opinion. Also, for the Victoria people, Ted didn’t just say he met their mother at a wedding, he said he met their mother at a wedding that Ted was the best man at. That eliminates her right then.
    I think the writers are giving us these clues, the yellow umbrella, the fact that the mother was in the economics class, the fact that she was Cindy’s roommate AT THE TIME Ted was dating Cindy, to take at their word. I think people are looking for too many ways to justify other people who don’t fit just because they want them to fit.
    Slutty pumpkin: he MET slutty pumpkin at that party, talked to her, and even got her number (which Lily accidentally gave away). So he wouldn’t be able to then say that he met the mother at the wedding later on, so it can’t be her.

    Now for my personal theory: I think that it would be cool if it was Barney’s sister that we have recently found out he has. No one has met her yet, not even Barney, but we do know that she IS going to college in the city, so she could have definitely been Cindy’s roommate, been in the class, and it would explain why he would be meeting someone for the first time that was going to Barney’s wedding. I think that by telling us that he has a sister in college, but that we haven’t met, is just as significant as him ‘bumping into’ a girl at a party. Even more so since he really hasn’t had any interaction with the sister yet.

  290. Nik Winchester |  Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 04:56 pm GMT -4

    can someone help me out here? I remember that Lilly says to Ted “best man, youre being summond.” But there is also a clip with Robin wearing a pink shirt coming out of the same wedding chapel. If i am right, what episode is that clip from?

    Also, if this is true, that means barney is NOT marrying Robin in that episode unless the bridge wears pink :S

  291. Common Sense |  Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 04:59 pm GMT -4

    None of the wedding clips in any episodes showed anyone but Ted, Marshall, and Lily until the last one when it finally showed that it was Barney’s. But no, they have not shown Robin at all in them. I assume the whole point is so that they don’t reveal who it is/isn’t

  292. Casey |  Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 03:40 am GMT -4

    I Always pictured Barnie having a more lavish wedding. If we judge it on face value, That wedding chapel screams Norah, though I personally look forward to a Robin and Barney wedding.

  293. carter bays |  Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 06:41 pm GMT -4

    @ Common Sense. that is one of the best posts in the history of this site, you r completely right.
    @Casey: robin jokingly says in the leap “im gonna marry barney in a big church wedding”. although she says it sarcastically, the writers would do something like that to make it sorta be like foreshadowing/prophecy lol

  294. sirTLO |  Thursday, May 19th, 2011 01:29 am GMT -4

    ok.. the barney wedding to me has him and norah written all over it.. but in my personal opinion, he wont end up with her.. a few things may happen but i feel like he is going to end up with robyn… he may realize on stage he loves robyn, he may mess up his words and say “I take you robyn schbatsky” instead of norahs name and mess it up like in friends with ross/emily… norah may leave him at the alter cuz she realizes that he loves robyn not her.. I dk.. personally i want him to be with norah cause she is the perfect girl in my opinion, but i can see him ending up with robyn.. unfortunately im not a psychic so i cant see into the future but im soooo excited for the next season

  295. Maximus |  Monday, May 23rd, 2011 01:11 pm GMT -4

    Anyone listened to the lyrics of Build Me Up Buttercup by the Foundations? =)

  296. Pablo |  Monday, May 23rd, 2011 03:10 pm GMT -4

    Great!!! I just see last season and, Barney get marry, Robin and Barney are in love still and Ted say this is the story abut how I meet your mother… he already know his wife. I think my previous post is right at the moment (you can check it two months ago) and think about it.

  297. Kelsie |  Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 09:49 pm GMT -4

    I say that Barney is getting married to Nora, I mean common! The wedding looks like it’s going to be theirs. As for Robyn I think she’s going to end up with Don just because he was someone she loved like Barney loved Nora.

    Dang it! I want the next season to come NOW!

  298. Nik Winchester |  Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 10:47 pm GMT -4

    Barney marries Robin. Imagine the twist if Nora is the mother???? She is a down to earth girl that wants to settle down. Not likely though.

    All signs point to Carlie or Carla(Barney’s step sister) being the mother. She is in college, went on tour with Barneys father, is into music (Bass player) and the yellow school bus is what the father does -a driving instructor-

    She was mentioned in passing and wasnt shown at the dinner with JJ and Barney’s dad.

    Although there was something unsettling with the last episode in season 6 when ted said “and kids, thats how i met your mother. just kidding, it was just some chick”

    Let’s show some evidence of when big moments happened in the show. When robin and barney hooked up, NO ONE SAW THAT COMING.

    when robin and ted did, it seemed like it eventually would so it wasnt that shocking. The writers like to build up these moments and they never leave anything to chance. I never thought that Marshall would be left by LIlly in the first season and they were separated for almost a year.

    ok, im done…for now

  299. Nik Winchester |  Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 10:53 pm GMT -4

    oh, and correct me if im wrong but i dont think that Nora hasnt met ted yet.

  300. Tez |  Thursday, May 26th, 2011 12:16 am GMT -4

    Remind me again why its significant that Ted has already met Nora?

    Doesn’t that theory only exclude people he met prior to season 4 or so?

  301. Common Sense |  Thursday, May 26th, 2011 12:20 am GMT -4

    It doesn’t matter that he hasn’t met Nora. Nora isn’t a college student, so we know it isn’t her. I am still sticking with what I said earlier in that I think it is Barney’s half-sister. She is the only person who has been mentioned at all in the show that still fits all of the facts we have been given.

  302. Maximus |  Thursday, May 26th, 2011 10:24 am GMT -4

    What’s the bet it is Robins wedding, and Ted is her best man……

  303. Nik Winchester |  Friday, May 27th, 2011 06:51 pm GMT -4

    How do we know she isnt in college. What does she do at Robin’s work? Is she an intern? My point is that if Ted hasnt met the mother and hasnt met Nora, then why cant Nora be ther Mother?

    I dont think she is but im pointing out the facts.

    Has she ever said she ISNT in coolege? doesnt she want a family?

  304. moora |  Saturday, May 28th, 2011 09:08 am GMT -4

    lmao, you cannot try to figure this out. its a world controlled by the writers. so for all i know it could be robbin, IF the writers wanted. He said she was in class on his first day. is it so hard for the writers to add a story where robbin sneaked in and wanted to see ted on his first day teaching! there could be an episode where they can hint that its robbin by simply showing you that she owns a yellow umbrella. whatever direction this show is going now (i didnt start season 6 yet) i really wish it was robbin. because they have the perfect setting, the romantic slow motion first time seeing each other, their cute moments together.. thats my opinion..
    I say the writers have people monitoring these kind of websites, so they always leave a chance for the story to change.. THEY ALWAYS WANT TO BE UNPREDICTABLE!!!!

  305. Common Sense |  Saturday, May 28th, 2011 01:51 pm GMT -4

    @moora, you are focusing on only one of the things we know. It isn’t just the college class and the umbrella. We DO know that Robin did not live with Cindy, and we know that she did not meet Ted at a wedding that he was the best man at. He met her at the bar, and she lived in her own apartment, she doesn’t paint robots, doesn’t play bass, etc. Therefore yes, we know that it isn’t Robin.

  306. Destiny |  Saturday, May 28th, 2011 05:53 pm GMT -4

    You know, if it were Barney’s sister it could serve to solve the never ending debate Barney has over him vs. Marshall as best man. Marshall could be Teds and Barney could end up growing close to Carla and she asks him to stand up for her (I have seen both a male maid of honor and a female best man…actually, I was both best man and maid of honor for my two friends who are married). Barney would then willingly give up the title of Best Man and crisis averted.

  307. David |  Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 09:30 am GMT -4

    My tip is: Barneys Half sister and here are the facts.

    1, We know that this woman is a college student, in season 6 episode 19 barneys father shows him a picture which we never see of him, his wife, his son and wait for it, barneys sister carly who is in college.

    2. We know that he meets her at a wedding which was revealed at the end of season 6 to be barneys? maybe? so his sister would be there would she not?

    3. Look at the start of season 6 ep 19 behind the kids is some sort of golden/brass statue then have a look at 12:52 in between barneys father and step mother is the same golden/brass statue

    BOOM! Lawyered!

  308. Ada |  Thursday, June 2nd, 2011 11:50 pm GMT -4

    You have to remember the episode where Ted goes to a girl’s apartment. He is trying to convince her that they make a good couple but everything he points out he actually has in common with her roommate. Future Ted then says that he caught a glimpse of his future wife that day but didn’t know it at the time. He sees the girls roommate going from the bathroom into her bedroom and he catches a glimpse of her foot before she shuts the door. He also leaves the yellow umbrella at her apartment.

  309. carter bays |  Friday, June 3rd, 2011 11:12 am GMT -4

    @Nik Winchester ted did meet nora. lawyered

  310. Nik Winchester |  Friday, June 3rd, 2011 11:45 am GMT -4

    when did ted meet nora? what episode? The one where they monitor barney’s heart?

    If so, damn.

  311. Common Sense |  Sunday, June 5th, 2011 02:54 pm GMT -4

    @David, it isn’t really lawyered if I already said it was Barney’s sister and gave the facts a while ago :)

  312. sirTLO |  Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 01:28 am GMT -4

    Ok this post is something absolutely unrelated to who the mother may be but something I just caught in the episode of “bad news” where you find out that marshalls father has died. Starting from the beginning of the episode to the end of the episode there is a countdown from 50 to 1 in random places.

    It starts in the doctors office on the pad theres a big red 50, then they talk n say they went back a month later and the same pad says 49 in big red lettering. next comes the 48 on Marshalls ketchup bottle in the bar a few seconds later. the 47 then comes on barneys laser tag invitation saying the 47th annual.. then in dr. stangels office behind lily theres a certificate on the wall saying “the 46th society”. then right after the into lily throws stuff in barneys face and the menu right under him says something for .45$. then at 3:07, hanging behind barney is a sign that says 44 in the bar.

    its fun to go through and see if you can see all of the numbers in the countdown if this is something you havent noticed yet.. enjoy fellow fans.

  313. Mychal Leverage |  Friday, June 10th, 2011 06:05 pm GMT -4

    I’m not 100% sure, but if my memory is correct, Future Ted once mentioned that Stella and the mother were college roomates. Maybe Stella’s big contribution to the meeting of the mother was that she either introduced them or helped convince the mother in any way to stay with Ted. Future Ted also said that he met the mother at a wedding (hopefully Robin and Barney’s). Plus, Barney has a sister that “goes to college; doesn’t stay at home.” Maybe Ted meets the mother at Barney and Robins wedding, later finding out that she was at the party and was in his class. That would therefore explain te relation to the kids and Aunt Robin Uncle Barney. Plus, that would also be legendary!

  314. Common Sense |  Friday, June 10th, 2011 06:14 pm GMT -4

    Ted never said the mother and Stella were roommates. Stella lived in New Jersey with her 5 year old daughter. I don’t think Stella has anything to do with introducing Ted and the mother, I think the whole thing where he says Stella helped get him where he was is just she was part of the path he had to take, and had he not been involved with her, then he would never be where he was, because his path would have just gone another way. Stellas lives in California now with her husband and daughter. They have already revealed that Ted meets the mother at Barney’s wedding. They did not show who he was marrying though.

  315. Persephone |  Tuesday, June 14th, 2011 01:04 pm GMT -4

    —–FOUND THE MATHER——

    Nicole Muirbrook Wagner or in other words ”Bump Girl” can be seen in —SEASON 5 EPISODE 1— as well. At the first day of being a professor of Ted, in wrong class, The Bump Girl is sitting just behind the blonde girl raising hand. And, as we know, the mother was in both the St. Patrick Party and the class Ted has accidentally been first.

  316. Common Sense |  Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 10:32 pm GMT -4

    @Persephone. No. If you check out her acting history on IMDB, Nicole Muirbrook Wagner was only in the episode in the bar, “No Tomorrow”. She has not appeared in any other How I Met Your Mother episodes. The girl in the classroom might have looked like her, but it was not the same actress.

  317. carter bays |  Friday, June 17th, 2011 11:54 am GMT -4

    @ Persephone i went back and analyzed that episode and that is not her haha

  318. nij |  Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 01:46 pm GMT -4

    it might be robin (((note it,))),

  319. Lisa Evans |  Monday, July 4th, 2011 07:45 pm GMT -4

    Is there any proof that both of these kids are Teds. I mean could one of them possible be Lily and Marshals child and the other Ted and “the mother.” When he says, “and thats how I met your mother,” he could be only reffering to one of them. I don’t know???

  320. Common Sense |  Monday, July 4th, 2011 08:33 pm GMT -4

    @Lisa, both kids have several times referred to him as Dad throughout the series, so we know they are both his. And he always says “Kids, here is the story of how I met your mother,” he is addressing both of them.

  321. very happy |  Saturday, July 9th, 2011 09:32 am GMT -4

    the program is mildly funny… and just like friends it is stretched to the limit!! only americans would stretch a good idea beyond recognition by have 6 series of over 20 episodes. supersize anybody? goes with the the whole american ethos…typical!!!

  322. ladyacord |  Saturday, July 9th, 2011 11:37 am GMT -4

    I want to know why some people, such as “very happy” are on here complaining about the show? If you don’t like it, don’t watch it and definitely don’t get on here or any site like this and complain. It’s as simple as that…

  323. pplcs |  Saturday, July 9th, 2011 11:37 pm GMT -4

    First of all, I DO KNOW THAT THE MOTHER IS NOT ROBIN. Just wanted to make that clear enough.
    Now, after doing the math Ted has a maximum of two more years (it might be less) to meet AND get his future wife pregnant. Taking into consideration that be have no idea when this wedding will be, my guess is that he doesn’t get the woman pregnant ON PURPOSE, he dates her for a little while maybe and accidentaly gets her pregnant. After this happens he feels like he MUST marry her, and as we know Ted is VERY romantic so he actually falls in love with her and marries her but after being together for some time, living together in the house Ted had bought before, he realises that he doesn’t actually love this random girl he just got pregnant. At this point, the wife may feel the same way and abandon Ted and their kids. This abandonment could be the reason why the kids feel they’re been punished by being told the story of how their dad met their mother who abandoned them. Ted only tells them the story now because he needed time to get over what had happened and he also tells the kids how he’s now getting together with the true love of his life, Robin. They both tried to go on with their loves apart but they failed in each attempt, whice leads them to the conclusion that they can only be truly happy together. Here are some reasons that make Robin Teds true love:

    - In an episode, Ted reads the list of why he should not get back with all the women hes dated. When he reads Robins, it says “Shes perfect, but she doesnt want to commit” The only thing “wrong” about Robin has already changed, she was ready to marry Barney and whenever the topic marriage kids comes up she says “Yes, No, maybe, some day”. This proves shes ready to commit so the letter would be “Shes perfect for me”

    - Ted hasn’t been as romantic with any woman as he’s been with Robin, he stole the blue thing for her and got a band to play for her. Besides, they have a great relationship and their own inside jokes.

    - In the first episode, Ted says, and I’m quoting here: “it’s like, ok, I’m ready, where is she?” when referring to the love of his life and FUTURE TEDs voice answers “And there she was” and shows Robin for he first time. In other oportunities Ted swears that he’s found the woman that will give birth to his sons but only when he met Robin did Future Ted say so.

    - After their first date (ep. 1), when Ted’s telling Marshall how it went, Robin fulfills all the items on the list of “the perfect woman” for him and describes her as “no ordinary girl”.

    - It would be kinda lame if it all goes just the way its been said from episode 1, im sure there will be a twist to make it more interesting, it would really be depressing if he just sees the girl, falls in love with her, marries her, has kids, end of show, im sure that most people would like to see some kind of twist.

    Yeah, so it’s unlikely to happen, but it might, right? Think of all the reasons I’ve given to why Robin and Ted should end up together.

  324. Common Sense |  Saturday, July 9th, 2011 11:41 pm GMT -4

    @pplcs: I am just copying this from what I said a long time ago because it addresses exactly what you are suggesting and it is why I think that is in no way the case
    “For the argument that Ted is no longer with the mother when he is telling this story, the whole point of the series is that Ted is a sappy romantic looking to find the love of his life and going through all of the steps along the way in order to finally get to that point. Do you really think that at the end they would say “I finally found her, met your mother, married her, had you kids…and then we divorced”. Plus, the mother’s little yellow schoolbus is in the background behind the kids as Ted pointed out to them. If they were no longer still together, why would he still have her schoolbus, and why would he say that her painting of the robot’s playing sand volleyball was STILL hanging in the kitchen and that her singing Memories with her English Muffin in the morning is the most beautiful thing he has ever heard? He wouldn’t say all of that if he was with Robin or wanted to be with Robin. They are clearly still together. And she is clearly the love of his life, and clearly not Robin.”

  325. hop on baby |  Sunday, July 10th, 2011 06:28 am GMT -4

    you people have WAY to much time on your hands…..!!

  326. pplcs |  Sunday, July 10th, 2011 10:33 am GMT -4

    Well, here’s my thought:
    As you said, Ted is a “sappy romantic”, and I believe that the true love of his life is Robin:

    “In the first episode, Ted says, and I’m quoting here: “it’s like, ok, I’m ready, where is she?” when referring to the love of his life and FUTURE TEDs voice answers “And there she was” and shows Robin for he first time. In other oportunities Ted swears that he’s found the woman that will give birth to his sons but only when he met Robin did Future Ted say so.”

    So when he ACCIDENTALY got the Mother pregnant he saw himself forced to marry her and, as he is a romantic, he did eventually fall in love with her, thus talking so nicely about her. However, Ted has fallen in and out of love hundreds of times, and we all saw him say “This is the future Mrs. Mosby” of something like that many many times, so because he is in love with one woman at a certain point doen’t mean that it’ll always be that way. Also, I didn’t say he got divorced, I said that the Mother left him after a while, and he keeps the schoolbus and the drawings because, as you well said, he’s a romantic and we are told in an episode in season 2 that he keeps gifts from all his previous girlfriends, right?

    A bit better?

  327. Common Sense |  Sunday, July 10th, 2011 12:55 pm GMT -4

    I feel like you are just trying to stretch things out to some convoluted story in order to get it to end the way you want it to. If he is not with her he would never still have her stuff and he would not say her singing was still to this day the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. It just isn’t realistic. Look at the past couple seasons. Ted and Robin don’t even have the chemistry anymore. Robin was crushed at the end of the last episode when Barney ran into Nora. Ted and Robin haven’t had anything going on in a long time. I mean you are obviously pretty set on this, but you are just trying to force it to fit something that isn’t there. Ted and Robin are not in love anymore. They haven’t been in a long time. That is how I see it at least.

  328. pplcs |  Sunday, July 10th, 2011 01:48 pm GMT -4

    Sure, you make a point, but you are being kinda subjective. I’m not saying that what I said MUST happen, I’m just saying that it might. He has good memories of many of his past girlfiends and keeps their gifts, so it totally may have happened. Besides, I do believe that they still have chemestry and the Robin & Barney thing obviously won’t work, you saw how they ended up last time, why would it be any different?

    On a side note, I’ve noticed something. As we know, Barney’s getting married. However, in the 20th episode of season 6, they show a short scene in 2021, when Barney pretends he’s dieing. In this scene, Marshall, Lily and Ted are wearing a ring, but Barney and Robin are not. This tells us that Barney is not actually getting married OR he’s getting divorced, right?

  329. pplcs |  Sunday, July 10th, 2011 01:58 pm GMT -4

    And the main reason I’m trying to find an alternative ending is because it would be depressing if he just met the mother, fell in love with her, married her, got her pregnant and lived happily ever after… That’s the easy way out and it’s too straight forward, I’d like to see some kind of twist to make it more interesting, I loved the show so far but Ted ending up with a random girl we just met and know nothing of doesn’t sound too exciting.

  330. Common Sense |  Sunday, July 10th, 2011 02:03 pm GMT -4

    I agree about the random girl thing, but that is why I think that it will be Barney’s sister that we haven’t met yet. She fits all of the clues. She is in college in the city, she would definitely be at Barney’s wedding where we know Ted meets the mother, and it would tie things in and wouldn’t just be some random girl. I think that is why they made sure to mention to Barney that he had a sister when he met his family, and yet they didn’t introduce her to him.

  331. pplcs |  Sunday, July 10th, 2011 02:35 pm GMT -4

    Yeah, I’ve read about that and it wouldn’t be so random if it was Barney’s sister, it’s definetely a possibility but still we don’t actually know her, and I’d really like to see Ted and the Mother together for at least one whole season before the show ends, it would be too sudden otherwise, I think that the writers should make the audience “fall in love” with the mother too :D

  332. beckerr |  Thursday, July 14th, 2011 06:52 pm GMT -4

    idk if many of you will agree with this, but now that its been confirmed that there are AT LEAST 2 seasons left after the WEDDING scene, I have been debating the possibility that perhaps a 6th member will be brought into the group..a young woman. Perhaps after many years of tried (and failed) relationships, Ted decides that he wants a family and maybe this girl is a means to an end for him….the need each other and, as friends, decide to co-parent their children.
    This may sound far fetched adn a little rediculous to some, but why else would much of the phrasing be what it is?? how I met YOUR mother?? NOT how I met MY wife?? how I met the love of My life??

    maybe the woman we havent met yet truly is nothing more than THEIR mother??

  333. Common Sense |  Thursday, July 14th, 2011 06:55 pm GMT -4

    It is how i met YOUR mother because he is telling the story to their kids…if your parents were telling you how they met, would they say “hey, let me tell you the story of how I met my husband,” no. They say “hey, let me tell you the story of how I met your dad (or mother)”

  334. Promwolf |  Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 03:19 am GMT -4

    Robin marries Don, I believe Future Ted states that they end up getting married. I might be wrong, Could’ve had a very lucid HIMYM dream.

    Also, I believe that Robin has the biggest influence on how he meets the mother. Why start the show with them meeting?

    just realized…. that I can’t recall if future Robin is ever shown.
    please prove me wrong!!!!!!!!

    Maybe Robin has the kids and dies(some how) and Ted takes them as his own?
    Disproved with Ted and the mother meeting at a wedding.

    Ted could get to the part of the story where he meets his future wife finds out they cant have a child Robin has the children for them and BOOOMMMM TWIST! That would leave the kids in Awe.

    This show has to end with a recap on everything that has happened and explain exactly how this all ties together. Why the stories he is telling to his kids mean something important to how he met their mother.

    I HATE THIS! TOO MUCH HIMYM THINKING!!!!!!!!!! CAANT WAIT!

  335. Ted M. |  Friday, July 22nd, 2011 01:12 pm GMT -4

    I believe we are going to meet the mother in season 7, or the beginging of season 8, because, why would Ted, tell us in copious amounts of detail about all his other girl friends and then end the show on him meeting the center point of the show, meeting the mom, i believe the final episode is going to be their wedding….. as for Robin marrying Don… not gunna happen Don’s a jerk and Robin knows it, at the end of season 6 Barney is getting married, we don’t know the bride but i feel it very strongly to be Robin… or Nora and then Barney is going to leave Nora at the alter bc he realizes Robin is his true love. Him and Robin are perfect for eachother… we wont really know, all we know is season 8 is the end of HIMYM from what i’ve heard in news feeds, the prodiucers believe 8 seasons is past its course they stroy wuld jsut drag on after that. so we will see how next season goes.

  336. Micheal Darrington |  Monday, July 25th, 2011 06:52 pm GMT -4

    Great post and also a excellent read. You might have raised some valid points. Wonderful function, keep it up

  337. Ted M. |  Monday, July 25th, 2011 08:07 pm GMT -4

    Thank you Micheal, I have been a fan of HIMYM since 8th grade and now im a freshman in college so It’s been a big part of my highschool years. Alot of my friends are also fans of the show and we actually nicknamed ourselves based off the characters we are most like so i read alot into the show… I’m Ted but yah, i hope we find out very soon who the mother is its been a long wait.

  338. Aaron |  Saturday, July 30th, 2011 01:11 pm GMT -4

    I honestly don’t think Robin will be the mother but I am open to the dead mother theory or even her not being dead. I think the writers are really good. They were able, in seasons 1 & 2, to build up to Marshall and lily’s wedding so much and meet the high expectations of everyone. If there’s anyone I trust to do the whole show justice with the ending, it’s these 2 brilliant writers. I’m not sure if anyone pointed it out yet but has anyone noticed that we still haven’t seen future Barney and Robyn? We’ve seen future Ted, Marshall and Lily in tht reunion episode with bla bla.. Could this open up any theories? I’m not sure..

  339. Ted M. |  Saturday, July 30th, 2011 01:59 pm GMT -4

    I think they haven’t shown future robin and barney because they don’t want to give away the fact that Robin and Barney are married to eachother. If they showed them then they would have to show them together as a couple and that would ruin to much. And i don’t think the mother is dead, why would she be dead? i think the last thing Ted would want to do while mourning the death of his wife is tell his kids his life story building up to meeting his late wife. so we will ahve to see where the writers take us in season 7.

  340. pplcs |  Saturday, July 30th, 2011 02:42 pm GMT -4

    Well, you two are wrong. In one of the last episodes of season 6, the one about the meatball, they show a scene in 2021 i think in which the five of the gang are showed. Marshall, Lily and Ted are wearing a ring while Robin and Barney are not. This tells us that they are not married and they didnt seem to be a couple eigher since Barney was pretending to be dieing and Robin wasnt closer to him than the rest.

    I do believe that the dead mother theory is plauusible, he could be telling the kids the story in order to move on after his wifes death and so he would then be able to date and possibly marry someone else (Robin). An other possibility is that his wife left him and ran away.

  341. Ted M. |  Saturday, July 30th, 2011 06:44 pm GMT -4

    i remeber that episode actually, but if robin and barney were wearing rings it would give to much away again…. Barney is getting married, unless he is going to get left at the alter by Nora, because Nora is the only otehr plausable perosn to wed barney, but i believe it is Robin because they are inl ove with eachother and that would be perfect for the show…. Ive seen this show for a long time and i have every season on dvd and there is no other plausable thing… also there is NO way the other can be dead, carter bays even said they are in the process of picking out someone to play the mother. I don’t think the mother is dead because also remeber the episode “How i met everyone else” the one with Blah Blah? Ted has his wife at the high school reunion. There is a possibility the mother has died but its a very slim chance. that wouldnt be good for a Sit Com… to end on a sad note.

  342. pplcs |  Sunday, July 31st, 2011 01:34 pm GMT -4

    It wouldnt actually end on such a sad note if the mother simply lefy Ted and he could get together to his true love, Robin. I dont think Barney and Robin are in love with each other, remember how it ended up last time? And it did give away something that episode, they wouldnt have introduced that scene if they didnt want us to know. Barney IS getting married but it is very likely that he will get divorced

  343. Ted M. |  Sunday, July 31st, 2011 07:53 pm GMT -4

    Yes, but during the last episode of season 6 did you see robin’s face when barney started talking to nora? it went from “happy and satisfied” to “ohh crap! im still in love with him” telling us there are unresolved feelings there…. we really won’t know until season 7 or 8…. and robin isnt going to marry ted, because he keeps callign her “aunt robin” if she was anything more tahn she wuld jsut be “robin” so we will see…. but you make very convincing arguments

  344. Ted M. |  Sunday, July 31st, 2011 07:56 pm GMT -4

    also you have to pay attention to small details.. if the motehr had left Ted, he wouldn’t be happy he’d be heartbroken so he wuldn’t say things like “your mom’s rendition of memories performed by an english muffin is the most beautiful thing ive ever heard…” and things like that. small details and the way he says those small things says alot about the story line and his relationship with the mother.

  345. pplcs |  Monday, August 1st, 2011 12:10 am GMT -4

    I know that, and i think that robin and barney may be together for a while but i really do not think they will end up together. It didnt work and nothing says it will be any different. As to the mother, I guess that he wouldnt be story right after she left. He would be sad and depressed for a while but eventually would get over it and be able to remember her as a great woman who he once loved and happens to be the mother of his children. Robin may be referred to as aunt because as far as the kids are concerned, she is still their aunt, Ted is telling them the story to present Robin as his new girlfriend/wife. This would also account for the fact that the kids show absolutely no interest in hearing the story. In the first seasons they try to leave and not hear the story. Why wouldnt they want to hear it? Because their mother abandoned them could be a good reason :D

  346. Peter |  Monday, August 1st, 2011 11:21 am GMT -4

    What about the pumpkin from halloween?

  347. Suit Up |  Friday, August 5th, 2011 11:22 pm GMT -4

    sit coms always end on sad notes. no matter how funny the writers make it, it’s inevitably sad because the the show is coming to a close and the audience knows it.

    i’m not an avid watcher of the show, but i always seem to catch a lot of the episodes on tv. from what i’ve seen, i’m a big supporter of the idea that the mother is dead.

    i’ve got no idea where the writers will take the show from here, but there is a lot of scope, and i like that. they could introduce the mother early in the final season, but amongst the band that the mother is a part of, and without specifying who plays what instrument. “and that, is how i met your mother”. then they spend the rest of the final series alluding to 3-4 girls, kind of like the movie Definitely Maybe.

    also, (apologies for not having seen the entire series) can anyone confirm if Future Ted ever specifies to the kids that they are HIS children? what if the Mother has already had the two kids before he meets her, and he’s a step dad? what if the great irony/twist is that this is a story he’s telling the kids of the mother the long and convoluted story of how he met THEIR mother at the mother’s wake, justifying why he’s at the wake to begin with?

  348. Ted M |  Saturday, August 6th, 2011 01:04 am GMT -4

    I think maybe the slutty Pumpkin could be the mom, but i doubt it, but there has always been that thought lingering in my head for a long time. We will just have to see. As for the dead mother, there is no way the mother is dead, the writers know that the people such has myself that have stuck wit hthe show all these years would never forgive them for hanging us this long just to kill her off. it youldn’t be right, and they never would be able to crawl out of that bc of how big this show is. Its one of the defining shows of CBS but idk for sure. who really knows lol all i now is im ready to meet her i have waited 6 seasons lol its time!

  349. Meghan |  Thursday, August 11th, 2011 01:00 pm GMT -4

    I’m just assuming that you guys are American and HIMYM is ahead in the US (I’m from England), but from what i’ve watched I think it’s Stella.

    Maybe Ted didn’t marry the mother, but married somone else….. Have they showed the episode when barney gets married in america? If they have can you please tell me what it’s called,

    Thanks :-)

  350. Meghan |  Thursday, August 11th, 2011 01:05 pm GMT -4

    Maybe the mother died or Ted didn’t marry the mother… I think it’s Stella though, ‘cos in Right Time, Right Place, she’s got a yellow umbrella. what do you guys think?

  351. mike |  Thursday, August 11th, 2011 03:58 pm GMT -4

    i have a feeling that its just ted and those 2 kids living together.. and they dont know who their mother is. u see in the background a picture of just the 3 of them.. maybe robin left them and after a while she came back and was introduced as aunt robin so as not to shock the kids.. and now ted is about to reveal to the kids that robin really is their mother. i dont know just want to hope its still robin.. but then again ted mentioned that the mother was the roommate of that student that he dated. so it couldnt be robin

  352. Ted M |  Friday, August 12th, 2011 03:45 pm GMT -4

    It can’t be Stella because, yes she has a yellow umbrella, but remeber stella wasn’t a college student with a roommate, she had her own house in Jersey, and Ted Dated the mom’s roommate, plus stella already has a daughter and Was still in love with her ex husbnad…. And he calls Robin… “your AUNT Robin” indicating that she is NOT their mother lol so Stella and Robin theory’s are both canned because of those 2 reasons. there is so much that we can go on and hunch, but when you have seen ever episode as many times as i have u read into the episodes deeper and deeper everytime lol, and u begin the be able to throw out theories of possible mothers lol

  353. Ted M |  Friday, August 12th, 2011 03:49 pm GMT -4

    And no they haven’t showed barney’s wedding, season 7 starts here in america on september 19th. So we aren’t that far ahead of we are at all lol… but ive learned this show is like a puzzle and u have to be able to piece together the clues and as each thing falls into place you start to figure out who can’t be the mother… lol

  354. Ted M |  Friday, August 12th, 2011 06:50 pm GMT -4

    I just watched “right place, right time” and Ted has the Yellow umbrella NOT Stella, i was thinking it was Stella to, but that didnt seem right, and then i rewatched it and saw Ted with it and remebered that Ted found the mothers yellow umbrella at the club where him and Barney went for St. Patrick’s day during season 3. So Ted has the yellow umbrella not stella lol…. i sound obsessed i know lol, but i prefer passionate :) haha

  355. brenda |  Friday, August 12th, 2011 08:27 pm GMT -4

    The writers didn’t start the series with him meeting the mother but more at the point where he realized he wanted to get married and have a family. To Ted, that is the beginning of the story. Robin is included in the story because she was probably the first girl he wanted to marry, not that she was actually his wife.

    Sorry but I honestly don’t think she is the mother or future wife. She is simply a good friend to Ted in the future. Yes, I know it is entirely possible that he could end up with Robin because a lot of fans like them together, however a lot of fans like her with Barney too and now fans want to see her with the mysterious “crush” guy.

    The mother is probably a girl that we haven’t met yet. She could still be in college or possibly already graduated. She could be Carly or even the Captain’s daughter ( another theory that I have heard) or just someone else different entirely. Personally I think it would be interesting if she has had a crush from afar on Ted, the man who returned her yellow umbrella that she lost at a St. Patrick’s day party, this whole time. There truly is no way of knowing what suprises the writers have in store for the fans.

  356. rob |  Monday, August 15th, 2011 11:50 pm GMT -4

    i would say almost 99% of you are all wrong or flawed in your theories. first of all, why does everyone keep assuming they are at barney’s wedding at the end of season 6? it is most likely punchy’s wedding.

    also, the bump girl is just a distraction. deal with it.

    also, robin is not the mother. stop trying to find loopholes in the story to justify this; i don’t particularly know about barney and robin, but ted and robin? this theory has been disproved so many various ways that im astounded some of you are still stubborn enough to believe this to be the case.

    also, the captain’s daughter? first off, it’s plausible, until you understand that zoey would not be giving a stuffed animal (thanksgiving episode) to someone who fits the age timeline of someone ted can marry in the future. and if you think grown teenagers can receive cute stuffed animals… then god bless you.

    the mother hasn’t been introduced yet, and like one poster said, stop trying to turn this into LOST.

    please understand the general workings of extended sitcoms, and the writers who write them. the reality is that they will introduce many girls throughout the years in which they can POSSIBLY marry off to ted, but as long as viewer ratings are up, they will always, i repeat, ALWAYS, extend the story by tying off the knot with each of these girls as to how their potential mothership ends, thus always leaving the opportunity to keep viewers enthralled until the writers, and the television production company, feels its time to end the series.

    they’ve already set up guidelines about who the mother is, in regards to the fact that she is a college student at the time, and she lives with cindy, she has a yellow umbrella, and she plays in a band, etc. is it really so hard to fathom that these guidelines were set with the idea that anyone (by anyone i mean someone new, not someone who has already met ted throughout the storyline) could just come in and fill it on a whim when the series doesn’t get the green light to renew for the next season?

    HIMYM is not the mysterious enigma that is Lost.
    however, it is operating similarly to Lost in the sense that with every season extension green light, the writers have to find creative ways to drag out the story and keep viewership suspense at its max. do you think JJ Abrams had a plan in mind in the case that the show never made it to season 2? yes.

    similarly, Robin might have been the potential mother up until season 2, but as the show kept getting renewed, the writers had to find new ways to capture the audience, and to close off these “easy fix” girls such as Robin, stella, zoey, etc to make room for another girl who will also become a quick fix in the case that the company finally decides to pull the plug on the show.

    the reason why the mother hasn’t been formally introduced yet? because the company already has the green light to season 7 and potentially a final season 8. but if season 8 is not the final one, then the vicious cycle will continue.

    so until that time, please no more theories. its fun i know, but you give the writers too much credit. its about how much money HIMYM can earn, NOT about creating a set number of seasons to accurately fill ted’s story to his kids. shows are cancelled every year, and HIMYM can EASILY be cancelled as well. they will have contingencies, but for now, they’ve set up vague guidelines to have anyone come in when its necessary to draw the series to an indefinite close.

  357. brenda |  Sunday, August 21st, 2011 04:24 am GMT -4

    Ehh, I don’t think it’s implausible for Zoey to give Hannah ( the Captain’s daughter) a stuffed turkey if she is a grown woman. Besides in the previous episode with the mother’s roomate, they said she was a bit quirky. So who knows, maybe she is a kooky character that likes to collect holiday themed stuffed animals? I am just saying it’s not implausible. I mean how many grown women get stuffed animals on Valentines Day ?

    Hey, I’m not saying it is gonna happen because that is highly unlikely, I’m just saying it is a theory I’ve heard. The theory goes that Marshall’s mother moves to NYC to help them with the pregnancy and the baby, but she bothers them so much that they ask the Captain ( the only person they know Marshall’s mom age) to hang out with her. They end up falling in love, marry and Barney invites the whole family to the wedding.

    There are also possible links to the Captain to other episodes. Maybe they are hints, maybe they are just wild goose chases? Who knows but the Captain’s last name is Van Smoot and I think that Lily and Marshall try to get married in the Van Smoot Mansion. Also wasn’t that smug party they attended the Van Smoot Party ? Again this might alll be nothing but you never know. It’s just a theory. That is all.

    Oh and the wedding at the end of Season 6 isn’t Punchy’s. The writers have said many times that the wedding is Barney’s. Now the whole gang will go to Punchy’s wedding next season and Barney and Robin will dance a la Dancing with the Stars style, but the wedding we saw at the season finale is Barney’s.

    http://tv.ign.com/articles/118/1187315p1.html

  358. Jill |  Monday, August 22nd, 2011 08:51 pm GMT -4

    These photos have just been released of the season 7 premiere episode entitled ‘best man’, the banner in the background clearly shows Punchys name. The writers are going to avoid giving away too many clues about Barney’s wedding and this will be more than likely be the distraction.

    http://www.tvfanatic.com/gallery/at-a-wedding/

  359. HIMYM FAN |  Monday, August 29th, 2011 10:36 pm GMT -4

    i know i’m not the only one who pushes this theory.. but i think the mother could be victoria.. i was just searching clues for season 7 when i stumbled upon the fact that she’ll be returning this season 7.. see wiki and see the 2nd episode.. she’s there.. :o and they did meet at a wedding.. and its been a long time since they last saw each other.. she could have gone back and not give ted a heads up.. i mean.. he did almost cheat on her.. so she might have still been angry.. and ted might have missed her in a class of 150 students.. :o

  360. Rich |  Saturday, September 3rd, 2011 07:18 pm GMT -4

    Watch “Unfinished”. Also watch the classroom episode and look at all the people in the background.

    Then again, maybe Zoe is Cinderella’s evil stepmother…

  361. jo |  Saturday, September 3rd, 2011 11:29 pm GMT -4

    anybody else think that he could be talking about “their” mother and not his wife? He could easily be telling them the story as their uncle and the first time he met their mother. Which could be any cast members sister that we havent met, most likely Barney’s sister. Has he ever said that he is their dad?

    This theory opens up the possibility of Ted ending up with anyone else that he has referred to as “Aunt” because he would be their uncle and his wife would be their aunt.

  362. HIMYM FAN |  Sunday, September 4th, 2011 07:12 pm GMT -4

    the kids have already called “future ted” dad in several episodes.. i just couldn’t cite one at the moment but i’m pretty sure of that.. :(

  363. pplcs |  Sunday, September 4th, 2011 10:50 pm GMT -4

    In ep 1 in the end and ep 2 as well the kids call him dad…

  364. Online Listings |  Tuesday, September 6th, 2011 09:07 am GMT -4

    And no they haven’t showed barney’s wedding, season 7 starts here in america on september 19th. So we aren’t that far ahead of we are at all lol… but ive learned this show is like a puzzle and u have to be able to piece together the clues and as each thing falls into place you start to figure out who can’t be the mother… lol

  365. Brendan |  Monday, September 19th, 2011 10:45 pm GMT -4

    OK, here is my big final theory.

    Victoria is the mother. We already know that if the show had been cancelled in season one, she would be the mother. Then the writers have said that they filmed the scene with the mother early on. Aside from Robin (who, let’s face it, is not the mother), Victoria was the only serious girlfriend Ted had from the first two seasons.

    Let’s go with what we know. We know that the mother was in Economics 305 on the first day of class in 2009 at Columbia. We know that the mother was in New York on Saint Patrick’s Day 2008. I have theories for both. First off, Victoria took a two year fellowship in Germany in 2006, meaning she came back in 2008, which would be a perfect time to be in town at the same club Ted was at on St Patty’s Day. As for the college, we know that Victoria is a business owner. It is very possible that she is taking an economics class just to stay ahead of the game. It is also quite possible that know that she is back in the States, she has decided to actually go back to school.

    It seems as though everything makes sense with this theory. I am finding it hard to debunk this one, it just all seems to have come together.

  366. pplcs |  Monday, September 19th, 2011 10:53 pm GMT -4

    yea Brendan except for several facts, including that Ted says that he stops smoking just after meeting the mother and he already knew Victoria a long time ago and that he says that he would meet the mother AFTER breaking up with Robin, which happens in the end of season 2 so no, it is definetely NOT Victoria.

  367. puhschy |  Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 07:03 pm GMT -4

    I am pretty sure that barny’s stepsister is the mother.
    His stepsister is studying in NY and has an own appartment in NYC where Ted found the yellow umbrella.
    And Ted was telling us that he will meet the mother at a wedding, Barney’s wedding … probably.
    I am not sure about that, but has Barneys Dad mentioned that his daughter is studying economics?
    Greetings from Germany ;)

  368. robinsparkles14 |  Friday, September 23rd, 2011 06:55 pm GMT -4

    While I’ve gotta love all these theories, and the half sister theory, and even the ones not mentioned, I really hope they’re all wrong. What’s better than a great “ohhhh” moment? Barney’s wedding, on the other hand, I’d like my Barney-Robiness to be proven for good…this time. Anyway, I think they put these little theories in there on purpose, so that they can shock us later.
    So, if Katie Holmes was cast as the Slutty Pumpkin, does that mean the Slutty Pumpkin isn’t the mom? If so, thats the end of MY number one theory…

  369. stephanie |  Saturday, September 24th, 2011 01:54 am GMT -4

    ok so i totoally rewatched legandaddy and i say the same gold statue in the backgroung of teds kids, also on barneys dads shelf…so i am convinced that the mother is barney’s half sister! it is a solid assumption…i think all the clues and answers we need really lie on those shelves behind teds kids when they show them..thoughts???other theories??? it all adds up

  370. *BUTTERCUP* |  Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 01:47 pm GMT -4

    so this is my first time commenting on this blog. love how there are so many people out there that love this show just as much as i do.

    so last night “the-ducky-tie” i just had that felling that victora was gonig to be um “taken” just i expected that she was married and had a kid not just getting engaged! i was one that wanted her to be the mother so bad !! they could make it work but its a long shot i love TEDS saying at the end to victora WHAT IF? he sayed if i asked you to stay we would went to the ball together when home to are home you cook i wash dishes what if? and victora saying its robin its always been robin. i think this really open my eyes as a viewer. next weeks ep, is The Stinson Missile Crisis – Barney tries to woo Nora and prove he has real feelings for her so what if robin sees how much barney really wants to be with nora and if you remember back when ted and robin brok-up she says all these places she wants to live and visit and future ted says and kids she did go to ….. this meaning that robin will be leaving soon to go to one of these places and her time being gone barny and nora fall in love that leading them to get marry! idk

    i am a huge fan of robin&barney in the end we know the wedding is no time soon bc will lilly is no longer pregs! and not seeing robin could mean shes the bride makes since seeing that the end of last weeks ep. the bride calls for ted. or if robin does leave that time ted and nora could bond and become friends that leading to see him before her wedding idk seem to far out

    i did read online a couple of days a go the writers say there is a love square that being TED/BARNEY/ROBIN/NORA what if barney and robin get married and ted and nora bond he finds out the she took eoc. class plays bass in a band and makes robot paintings still i hope nora is the not the mother she does were a lot of yellow mothers fav. color .

    i fell the wrighter are playing with us the mother is someone who has been right there under are noses the whole time or not yet close to seeing. if you look in the first ep of this season ted on new-yorks-time mag. there is a title HISTORY VS. MISTORY i think this is a huge clue the mother is still a mistory or someone who ted has had history with?

    do you think it could very well end up being the girl from the love soultions and ted did not go to “there date” i think it was to help lily not sure? but him canceling that date could end up being the best thing he has ever done because he would have blown it with her just like he did with victora for robin. and he need to go thought all he has the last past 6 years to be ready for his future wife and have kids.

    anyway here is how i would love to see the last seasons of this show go lilly has baby – barney get married – ted starts dating lets say he has been with this girl for a year he ask her to marry him.. and the screen goes blacks end of that season beging of the next season she says yes furture ted says and kids thats how i met your mother
    than we see them falling in love getting married honeymoon her being pregs with first child then they show the future kids and ted with mother marshall/lilly come over barney/robin come over marshall and lilly have 3-4 kids barney and robin are marry may be one kid or something and barney is now legandaddy! ha! and the end . thats just me i really want to see TED fall in love with this woman and she the whole part leading up to the wedding and after . we know these kids will be born in the next 3years! so there really going to move on it i love this show sooooo much that i will be waching no matter how long they are on and the friends ship is so strong that they can go on after we met the mother i mean look at 2&1/2men there show has nothing to do with the title anymore but people are still waching.just saying

    thanks everyone for reading sorry i went back and forth a lot i have so many ideas they can all wind up together! love this show anyone else notices how cuite TED is getting. :) and if there are any guys out there that are just as sweet as TED call me! :)

  371. Ted M |  Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 03:14 pm GMT -4

    The half sister of Barney actually is a very valid theory… I support it actually… First valid theory i’ve heard from anyone and I am a huge HIMYM fan i have followed the show sincet he beging, so i know it better than the next guy.. HAHA so yah Barney’s half sister is a very valid assumption.. we will ahve to see.

  372. Kevin |  Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 05:42 am GMT -4

    1) Ted is the step dad of the kids
    2) Ted met the pregnant mother at wedding of Barney and Robyn

  373. Brian |  Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 01:23 pm GMT -4

    I can’t believe how utterly cold you folks are. This show has been about Ted and Robin from the very first show and though they moved away from that storyline, the first show this season clearly shows they are moving back to the Ted/Robin dynamic. A guy who is an utter romantic falls for a girl who is utterly UN-romantic. You really think that means nothing?? Robin with Barney?? They are so alike, there is no tension or romance in the relationship. Barney is like the “safe” guy that the girl is dating at the beginning of every romantic comedy, and Ted is the guy she meets who is nothing like what she thinks she wants, but, of course, ends up with (happily). Don’t you people ever watch any chick flicks?

    I am not saying, obviously, that Robin is the “mother” referred to in the show’s title (so don’t rant at me about all the reasons Robin can’t be the mother). I can’t think of any way that could be true without some kind of plot device that would be dumb. I am just saying that one of the main points of this show is the romance between Ted and Robin and that, by the show’s end,they will end up together somehow. someway.

  374. pplcs |  Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 06:19 pm GMT -4

    I couldnt agree more with Brian, I certainly could not have voiced my opinion in a better way :D

  375. Jeff |  Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 07:57 pm GMT -4

    Ok so I’ve posted here throughout the years and I want to smugly say I’m right, at least partially.

    The latest episode in at least theory proved that the writers aren’t done with Ted and Robin. I accurately predicted the season 6 finale, and I’m saying that as a writer you cannot possibly set up in the pilot episode Ted and Robin being a couple unless it has a payoff.

    The counter argument as always being devils advocate is they already paid it off years ago when Ted and Robin had a relationship but I’ve always insisted they have to revisit it because the Pilot screenplay basically suggests Ted and Robin end up together.

    So back to my theory. In the season 6 finale and season 7 premiere there is the mystery of who Barney ends up with in his marriage. In the premeire the writers make it seem like it’s going to be Nora…a clever ploy some might suggest to make it seem like it will be a surprise when it turns out to be Robin. And that very well might end up being the case, but before that the writers will address Ted and Robin at least one more time.

    So many people kept posting that he calls her Aunt Robin and blah blah blah, but as a writer I can tell you that the basic rule of a story is you cannot set up a plot point without paying it off. The best example in sitcom history is Ross and Rachelle in Friends. They set up early on they were an item and had to pay it off in the end.

    Again I’ve already admitted defeat in the sense that Robin is the mother, but that does not mean that I’ve been wrong in suggesting Robin is the girl he ends up with in the end. This recent episode suggests if nothing else that Ted and Robin as a couple will be explored at least 1 more time.

  376. *BUTTERCUP* |  Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 08:27 pm GMT -4

    i have read some comments and i have to say to anyone who thinks that the mother is robin or vicorta i say ya! if “right-place-right-time”
    it could have worked out. i really dont think that the wrighters have plan that far with all theses great clues to throught us off by having robin be the mother.

    as many time as i have wacht all eps. i feel as a fan the mother can not and should not be robin. and i dont think that ted/robin should be compared to ross/rachel.

    i get really into this show and do not see that happening! i also dont like the theory of the mother being dead and “aunt robin” becomes “step-mother” . as a true fan you would know that ted loves this woman to death! and really cares so much about her to tell “HE’S KIDS” (not step kids ya i hate that theory to)
    to tell every little details about how he met there mother and how
    he is head over heels in love with her.

    how does everyone else feel?

    this is a ture modern love story!

  377. pplcs |  Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 09:34 pm GMT -4

    I like Jeffs theory better. Sorry, but im a Ted/Robin fan :D

  378. Troy |  Thursday, September 29th, 2011 03:11 am GMT -4

    What makes HIMYM different is that they don’t do the Ross-Rachel dynamic. As a writer, that’s what I love. Sure, they may revisit it a bit, but it won’t go there. They always keep that tension because you tero fans love it so much. But yeah. HIMYM has always been a bit more real life than that, you know.

    And just because you set something up in the pilot doesn’t mean the entire show revolves around that. I’ve written some stories and often big plots in the pilot go by the wayside as bigger stories come out of it. That’s Ted. He’s got a bigger story. May have been pushed by Robin, but its not Robin. Move on. :)

  379. Destiny |  Thursday, September 29th, 2011 11:42 am GMT -4

    I am thinking, based on Ted’s phrasing of how Him, Barney and Robin hanging out as friends would not work out, that perhaps he is foreshadowing to Robin and Barney again.

    For reference:
    Victoria: Yes. She is so much bigger in your world than you realize. And this thing that you’re all doing, you, Barney, and Robin, where the three of you hang out at the bar, night in and night out, like you’re all just buddies, that doesn’t work. Trust me.
    Ted: You’ve got it all wrong.
    Victoria: I’m right about this. Goodbye, Ted.
    Future Ted: And sure enough, she was right. It didn’t work. We just didn’t realize it yet.

    It is ambiguous, I think the way he says it is meant to mislead people into thinking he and Robin reunite, but I think it is a red herring.

  380. Brian |  Thursday, September 29th, 2011 01:26 pm GMT -4

    I’ve said this before but will repeat it here. We spend 7 or 8 years watching this show, and in the end, Ted ends up with some woman we’ve never met before, know nothing about (other than useless trivia like she has a yellow umbrella), and have no emotional attachment to. Really. You all think this would be a satisfying conclusion to the series?? While this ending might please some who are only into the mental exercise of clue-deciphering, for the rest of us with a heart, this would be the worse possible ending for the producer/writers to chose. Ted has to end up with someone we already know and have some feeling for…in my mind, Robin is the only real choice.
    (And as I repeat each time I post, I accept that Robin is not the mother.)

  381. Troy |  Thursday, September 29th, 2011 04:09 pm GMT -4

    I would be very satisfied with that ending.

    Robin isn’t the perfect girl for Ted, even though he thought she was at first, we’ve seen several seasons proving that the two aren’t as compatible as they were thought to be.

    But there is a girl out there that Ted thinks is completely perfect for himself. And knowing he found that girl and he’s happy? What better ending do you need than that?

  382. Brian |  Thursday, September 29th, 2011 06:33 pm GMT -4

    Troy, Ted is a fictional character, so his being happy over his decision is meaningless compared to my being satisfied about it. I believe I am a better judge than he is. And I would be completely unsatisfied with anyone I don’t know at all. And compatible?? How many “compatible” couples end up together in romantic comedies? There is a reason why “incompatible” characters end up together in the movies.

  383. *BUTTERCUP* |  Thursday, September 29th, 2011 08:14 pm GMT -4

    i agree with TROY 100% :) ! i have been trying to say that in my last comments your the only one that seem to be on the same page as me! great!

    yes @brain ted is a fictional character but as fans we dont feel that way we feel like the 6th member of the group and want whats best for ted.

    if you think about it as if it were you am sure there has be one that you thought was “the-one” but end up not being i feel that is how ted use–to feel about robin but if he knows now what his life well endup like with “the-mother” he will be fine that he did not end up with her! right? think about it? :)

  384. *BUTTERCUP* |  Thursday, September 29th, 2011 09:33 pm GMT -4

    hey everyone for got to add on post above there is a 35sec. video on cbs of a clip from next week robin is at a theraoist bc she assaulted someone am thinking thats nora cuz of her strong feelings for barney and its killing her for him to be with nora! :)

  385. Brian |  Thursday, September 29th, 2011 09:48 pm GMT -4

    Oh Buttercup, as you wish.

    No wait, I can’t let you get away with this. Ted will not be “fine” with it because he is not real and ALL that matters is how I feel about it. What’s best for Ted is what I think is best for Ted. And Ted loves Robin AND THAT’S IT AND I REFUSE TO LISTEN TO THIS BLASPHEME THAT WOULD LEAVE ROBIN AND TED SEPARATED FOREVER.

  386. pplcs |  Thursday, September 29th, 2011 10:59 pm GMT -4

    Brian, seriously, how do you read my mind? I think exactly like you!

    Buttercup, im sorry to disappoint you, but HIMYM is NOT a real life story, its fictional. therefore, unreal things happen all the time. This si supposed tu amuse people and I am sure that there are much more people that would like it far better if Ted ends up with robin than with a randy… so, like Brian said:

    Ted loves Robin AND THAT’S IT AND I REFUSE TO LISTEN TO THIS BLASPHEME THAT WOULD LEAVE ROBIN AND TED SEPARATED FOREVER.

  387. *BUTTERCUP* |  Thursday, September 29th, 2011 11:24 pm GMT -4

    @Brian & @pplcs

    k ya you have your theory and i have mine thats fine! i think this show can go anyway! you could very much be right or very wrong! same for me! this blog is just for us HUGE HIMYM fans to have fun and try to come up with theroys of all theses clues we have been given. here is a list of what i think all of us think will happen or want to happen.

    1). as you 2 ted&robin
    2). as a like to see robin&barney
    3). ted and barneys 1/2 sister as the “mother”
    4). for us who have a little hope than it was crushed last ep. ted&amazing victora!
    5).barney&nora wich he leaves her for robin at there wedding.

    and mother clues
    1); see loves yellow (umbrella- school bus)
    2).meets at barneys wedding
    3). was in the econ class
    4) paints robot paints
    5) makes a awesome english muffin show!
    6). was cindys college roommate

    anything else i miss sorry! has to run! :)

  388. Mai |  Sunday, October 2nd, 2011 05:11 am GMT -4

    Okay i have a theory but i need someones help to rule it out.

    The show is titled ‘how I met your mother’ but is there any evidence given that Ted is talking to kids that are his own?

    The show isn’t titled ‘how i met my wife’ what if Ted and robin end up together and the ‘mother’ isn’t actully teds wife but simply the mother of the kids on the couch who somehow plays a significant role in teds life?

    when has he ever used the term ‘wife’?

  389. *BUTTERCUP* |  Sunday, October 2nd, 2011 08:37 pm GMT -4

    @Mai

    k about your theory i really dont think that will happen! and if it does i will be very p*** off at the show !

    cuz… if you were going to tell your kids how you met there mother you are not going to say
    (hay kids come here i want to tell you how i met my wife)
    “wich is there mother” no you say
    (kids i want to tell you how i met your mother! ) think about it! once you get marry and have kids she is not just your wife anymore but a mother so to me no that theory makes no sense! and i really dont want the mother to be robin sorry!

    on another note i just wach the Season 5, Episode 22 –
    Robots Vs. Wrestlers and if you remember lily talking to barney she says one-day we are going to go are own ways. then at the end ted say kids i would like to say that we dont drifft apart . but no matter what we get together once a year for robots.vs.wrestlers. and at slapsgiving2 we know that they have thanksgiving everyear at lily/marshal apartment! :)

    anyway…. i think we are going to see this more in the next coming seasons! and if you go back and wach all ep. that has (Vs) in the title there is something very important to the finding of the mother! RIGHT? and i found out that the 6ep of this season is called HISTORY.VS.MISTORY so keep a good eye on this ep. :)

  390. Purpleapple |  Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 08:43 am GMT -4

    I have another theory, Just because Robin is not the mother of Teds two children doesn’t mean anything. I mean what if after ‘they’ had the kids Ted and the mother broke up. Cuz he has never said that he is still married to the mother…

  391. tedfan101 |  Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 05:54 pm GMT -4

    Hi guys i love how i met your mother, have been watching the lot of them again how about carls girlfriend in the first episode,?

  392. Jazz |  Sunday, October 9th, 2011 01:11 pm GMT -4

    Guys, as much as I enjoy reading your comments and debates, please do keep in mind that HIMYM is not a series meant to satisfy JUST ONE person (meaning: the writers’ ideas do not revolve around YOUR fantasies). So if there’s something you don’t like about it, there’s nothing you can do really because you’re not the writer of the show and you’re not paying those guys to produce this show for you. So don’t assume that HIMYM is meant to satisfy you–sure, it’s meant for entertainment and whatnot, but in the end the plot’s completely up to the writers and THAT will not guarantee your satisfaction. As a wise person once said, ‘you can’t please everyone’.

    Of course, there’s always fan fiction. Since you guys want something so much for your favourite characters anyway, why not just make fan fiction instead of pointlessly trying to force your own beliefs and desires into someone else’s mind?

    As for my opinion on this… I do like the ‘Carly as the mother’ thing, but I suppose the writers would possibly rule that out because it’s now quite a famous theory. And no offence to TedxRobin fans but I do think they’re better off as friends. However, I trust Bays and Thomas on this because I believe they’re fantastic writers so whatever happens I really am not too fussed.

  393. *BUTTERCUP* |  Tuesday, October 11th, 2011 02:47 pm GMT -4

    well the love solution girl and milk are the same girl ! milk is the title of the ep. were he gets his love solution girl mach and they have never roled her out they only talked about her in that ep. he did say that she went college that would be perfect to set her up in eco. its a advance college course and she can very well be in there i dont know dont count her out! :)

    if you wach the ep. something that he says still gets to me he told his friend that day on his 28th b-day that he would let fate bring her to him and future ted says and kids it did when he is saying this we see teds face with mach on it on the love soultions computer.

    if you read into what he is saying about fate bring her to him and he say it did what does that make you think? i bet (“when they bring her back”) on there first or second date she well ted “i did something really silly or stuiped a few years ago-i went to a love mach and the guy stood me up” and sooo on.

    i dont know i think it would kinda work in a way giving a whole new meaning why he didint go back into the bar he could have but didint thats bc he had to go throught everything he is now to become the ted that can have a wife and kids! :) – just a thought! :)

  394. Ted M |  Saturday, October 15th, 2011 04:47 pm GMT -4

    Brian!! How can you even think it is Robin? Have you watched the pilot episode she is “AUNT ROBIN” to the kids, and there is an episode where Ted talks about his kids drawing pictures of them with “AUNT ROBIN” so stop thinking what you are. Plus Ted dated the mom’s roomate in season 5 and Robin isnt the owner of the YELLOW UMBRELLA!! The writers would be stupid to make Robin the mom. Nora is going to leave robin is going to marry Barney and Ted is going to marry whoever he marries, plus the mom is IN Ted’s classroom from season 5 open “defintions”… The only plausible theory that can be open is he going to marry Barney’s step sister, that is the only theory open enough and plausible enough. So stop going on the dellusions of Robin being the mom!

    Obviously you don’t watch the show at all or enough.

  395. carter bays |  Sunday, October 16th, 2011 12:26 am GMT -4

    i dont know how many times i or other smart fans have to say this but…
    TED AND ROBIN ARE NOT GOING TO “END UP” TOGETHER. sorry but its the truth and you better deal with it because she is probably the bride (at Barney’s wedding).

  396. Brian |  Sunday, October 16th, 2011 02:46 am GMT -4

    Ted M: You didn’t read my previous posts or you wouldn’t have bothered with your post. I have stated several times that I understand Robin cannot be the mother, and my posts, which you haven’t read very carefully, do not say anything about Robin being the mother. (And yes, I have watched all the shows, many several times, and have the dvd’s) I have stated that I believe he will end up with Robin in the end, which is an entirely different issue.

    By the way, this is an entirely fictional show, so you can’t be “delusional” about it as this would infer there was some actual “reality” to be separated from.

    Carter Bays: Congratulations on being one of the “smart” fans. I’m so sorry to be so dumb and upset you with my dumb views.

  397. Brian |  Sunday, October 16th, 2011 02:57 am GMT -4

    Jazz: I’ve tried to write my own “fan fiction” but it always ends up in a soft-core porn scene between Robin and Lily. While this is temporarily satisfying, I always end up feeling dirty (and sticky).

  398. carter bays |  Sunday, October 16th, 2011 04:17 pm GMT -4

    @ Brian watch “Baby Talk” season 6 ep 6.
    it shows why T/R arent right for each other. Ted likes needy, dependent girls who make the man feel like he is needed while Robin is the complete opposite. Barney likes that about Robin though.

  399. Brian |  Monday, October 17th, 2011 11:10 am GMT -4

    Carter: If this were real life, I would agree with you. When I saw the scene between Barney and Robin at the end, it was clear that, if eHarmony was involved, they would be the perfect match. Also, it appears the writers are pushing us in that direction. The problem is, this is just too obvious. If this had happened in the last show of the series, we would all agree that Robin and Barney belonged together. But we have a long ways to go, and why would we taken in this direction by the writers so early?
    My opinion is that HIMYM is following the tried and true story line of every romantic comedy movie: Girl is with a guy that seems like a perfect match but meets second guy who is nothing like what the girl thinks she wants. Falls in love with second guy because she finds out that, deep down, she really does want what the second guy represents. Robin thinks she wants a guy like Barney, who values her independence and strength. But deep down (remember her relationship with her father) she just wants to be loved deeply and completely. This means NEEDING the person you love, and acceptance of a certain level of dependence on them. Robin will eventually discover this about herself, but she may already be married to Barney when she does.

  400. Ted M |  Monday, October 17th, 2011 04:47 pm GMT -4

    Brian: I did go back and reread ALL your comments and I retract my previous statement about your comments. I just get defensive. I’m very much into the show and have been since season 1. I hope you did not take any offense to what I said. It’s all just fun arguments and debates. Hope we are on cool terms.

  401. Brian |  Monday, October 17th, 2011 08:02 pm GMT -4

    Ted M : We are definitely on cool terms. Sorry if I got too snippy. Part of the fun of this forum is that we all enjoy the show so much we are willing to argue about it. There is, obviously, no right answer other than what the producers and writers could provide, and I am pretty sure they’re not here.

  402. Adam |  Monday, October 17th, 2011 08:34 pm GMT -4

    It’s the bump girl. If you look at the Saint Paddys day episode when it shows her in the queue with the yellow umbrella you can see shes wearing black jeans and her bag and when he bumps into the girls she has the same things. Plus why would it put the bump incident into it otherwise? Something so insignificant, there has to be a reason!

  403. cupcake* |  Monday, October 17th, 2011 09:15 pm GMT -4

    I really dont think there is a hand bag when they show the mother in line under the “yellow umbrella” ! i have stop that fram and she has no hand bag! also i think its just a bump! he sayed that they did not not see each other or meet but later on found out they both were there i thnk if he bump her he would have sayed later on i found out that we did run into each other and didint know it but they would have just made him say that and not show this bump anyway i think its just random! :) but am not right your not right so we dont know we well wait and see!

  404. Ted M |  Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 05:43 pm GMT -4

    Brian: True that. No one really knows all we can do is guess and See where it ends up in the end, hope it ends somewhere interesting that catches us all off guard.

  405. carter bays |  Thursday, October 20th, 2011 01:38 pm GMT -4

    @Brian i know this show does wacky stuff but they try to make it pretty realistic. Im paraphrasing now but Bays and Thomas have said (referring to the pilot and about T/R) “you dont just say i want to meet my future wife and then 15 minutes later you go downstairs and thats it”.
    from the stuff i read ted will probably have one final interest in robin in what will be a “geometric shape of love” and they may even kiss one more time but the writers have hammered the idea that ted and robin just wont work but not b/c of the “babies and marriage” thing anymore

    Besides who is Barney going to marry? (he does marry someone, B&T have said he does actually get married…no tricks) the only real candidates so far are Robin, Nora or someone we havent met yet but odds are its Robin. then you may say that they get divorced and then T/R get back together but c’mon man you are just twisting things for what you want. Look we know ted has HIS happy ending it is just with the “Mother” not Robin.

  406. ted and robin sparkles |  Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 05:06 pm GMT -4

    okay let me tell you who the mother and whos the wife this is what i think happens ted mets the womans he marrys the ted asks her to marry him robin and ted have a fling before the wedding robin and ted says that they cant be together so robin decides to travel everything is going good with ted until him and he’s wife try to have a baby but they cant lilly is still friends with robin even though she has moved away lilly tells robin what has happened so robin comes back to new york with two kids and she lets ted and he’s wife adopt the two kids and this is not the story how he met the mother its the story of who he’s mother is

  407. fcsuper |  Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 05:57 pm GMT -4

    I think the mom has been in several episodes, but never shows her face. There’s often a brunette with straight hair walking or standing with her face away from the camera in the background of a Ted shot. Even in Bump Girl scene, that same straight haired-brunette is in the background on the left of the shot.

  408. Ted M. |  Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 04:54 pm GMT -4

    ROBIN AND BARNEY KISSED IN LAST NIGHTS EPISODE! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT, i mean i can but it was just so random and shocking, i couldn’t belive it!!! We know they get together now!

  409. newHIMYMfan |  Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 09:17 pm GMT -4

    I feel we all discounted Robin’s Sister too early. If the wedding is in fact Barney and Robin’s, that would easily state why they are referred to as Aunt and Uncle, because Ted married Robin’s Sister.

    Robin was at one point a Canadian Pop Star we learned, so her sister could have easily played in the band, or even played in her own band as Robin’s family may all be musically inclined. Two years or so into the story, ted would have been teaching the economics class, which could have easily had Robin’s sister in attendance (met at 16, she’s a freshman in college economics at at 18), if she had followed Robin to NYC to be near family. She would be even older at the wedding. They are 16 and 29 at first ‘meet’, but 19 and 31 at the wedding, and Barney would probably promote it saying Ted should go for it since she’s 18 (some sort of Bro Code and high fives involved over shots at the wedding, before running off to a coat room at the wedding and satisfying NPH’s coatroom girl teaser).

    She could have easily been at the St Patty’s Day party underage, and not until Robin and Barney’s wedding, when Ted may get drunk and accidentally hook up with Robin’s little sister thus creating the children (possibly twins? I don’t recall their ages being discussed), and at the wedding she tells Ted she was in his class, and also at the St Patty’s Day party, and tell him she’s always had a crush but didn’t mention it.

    She sort of naturally fits all the hints and stereotypical timelines of most people progression for age, behavior, opportunities for meeting Ted, and reason’s he wasn’t aware of her, for the Aunt/Uncle namesake, and the first time he realizes they she will be her mother is at a wedding. Due to the drunken mishap of a flirty teen to her big sister’s ex-boyfriend and someone she’s seen a number of times but has ignored her, and people, especially this group, likes to drink, so easily plausible. Besides, if she’s like Robin and followed her to NYC, and lives in a random apt, she may also share Robin’s distaste for olive’s, taste in movies and passion for Scotch (like many Canadians) as many kids adopt the habits and idolize their elder siblings.

    19 isn’t too young to have kids, and Future Ted never really says he married the kids mother. Maybe she was too young for the responsibility, and since Ted had the house, he kept them and raises them himself? That’s all speculation beyond who the mother is, so entirely off the point of the show’s namesake.

    Hmmm….

  410. SuperBen |  Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 04:52 pm GMT -4

    ^
    Except that Ted met Robin’s sister already.

  411. newHIMYMfan |  Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 06:24 pm GMT -4

    I thought he just said he met her at a wedding, not that it was their first encounter. I was going along with the early comment the term ‘met’ was loose, as we know he finds out he’s encountered her a number of times and never really knew she’d be his kids’ mother. We know he’s technically ‘met’ the mystery lady already a number of times. So already meeting Robin’s little sister isn’t breaking the mold of the storyline so far.

  412. elvinL |  Friday, November 11th, 2011 08:18 pm GMT -4

    I think the mother is the blond woman Robin is talking with in the first episode. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but she does not show her face. Suspicious much?!!

  413. Sally Jupiter |  Saturday, November 12th, 2011 09:59 pm GMT -4

    Bryan said…

    “#

    Brian | 9 months ago

    Since Ted HAS to end up with Robin, I suggest this: the children’s mother has passed away, and after a reasonable amount of time, Ted is explaining the story of how he met their mother to explain why he and “Aunt Robin” have fallen back into love and are now going to be married!

    I don’t really care who the mother is (since it’s NOT Robin). If Ted doesn’t end up with Robin it is worse than if Rachel had not ended up with Ross on “Friends” and the producers of this show are sick bastards.”

    “Ted has to end up with Robin”? Uh, no he doesn’t. Where does he say that? And going back to Robin after being friends for twenty-five years while raising a family isn’t sweet. It’s pretty horrible and sad. Come on dude, why are you still harping on this after almost three years? The producers of the show aren’t sick bastards if they don’t end up together — why would they be? They’re doing great just being friends, no side is devastated or horribly destroyed or suffering from unrequited love because of the breakup.

    “It is worse than is Rachel had not ended up with Ross” — um, why? They are nothing like Ross and Rachel. They weren’t people who were broken up by mistakes and vitriol and who kept trying to have a relationship and failing until they finally succeeded. They were just the opposite. They were incompatible, though in-love, people with no bitterness who kept trying to stay out of a relationship and backsliding until they finally succeeded in moving past it.

    HIMYM is a minefield of defied tropes, so you should be on the look out for them anyway, but even if you’re not: seriously, if you know from *the very first episode* that Ted will not end up with Robin, you have no excuse for still harping on about them. If Ted got together with Robin again, the story would be pointless. Why would he bother to talk about how he met their mother? The show would be titled “Why I’m Getting Remarried”.

  414. Brian |  Sunday, November 13th, 2011 01:17 am GMT -4

    Oh Sally Sally Sally,

    The key phrase in the section you quoted from my post is the part at the top, that says “9 Months Ago”.

    Am I really being held to account for some statement I made 9 months ago? I can barely remember what I said yesterday.

    I do admit that I tend to look at a show like this through the sickly sweet prism of my own heart. I am glad others are able to see it more clinically. (I feel badly that I just said that sarcastically, but I’m not going to change it) I just think that the hero of any story has to get the girl…”the girl” in this story being Robin. Do not argue to me that “the girl” could be the mother. The mother is nothing more than a few bits of information–a glimpse of an ankle, a yellow umbrella–who I can’t feel any attachment to. She is clearly not “the girl” of this story, despite the title of the show. If she isn’t the girl, who, except Robin, could be?

    You said: ” And going back to Robin after being friends for twenty-five years while raising a family isn’t sweet. It’s pretty horrible and sad.” I think alot of people would disagree with you on this point. See the huge numbers of people reconnecting with old loves through social networking sites. I personally know a couple who were together in high school and reunited in their middle years. I think it IS sweet, not “horrible and sad”. If you are saying that being friends for 25 years is what makes it “horrible and sad”, I understand your point even less. A relationship is undesirable if you are friends for a long time first? I tend to think that love, wherever you find it, is pretty wonderful, and you should cling to it desperately. (“Love in the Time of Cholera” is one of my favorite books….I bet you’d hate that one.)

    I see your point about the difference between Ross/Rachel and Ted/Robin, though I wouldn’t call their relationships “opposite” . And I concede that the writers haven’t kept coming back to the Ted/Robin storyline as the “Friends” writers did with Ross/Rachel. We will just have to wait and see how that goes. It appears they may be revisiting that storyline soon, based on Victoria’s observation early this season, though clearly Robin is back in love with Barney right now.

    Your final point falls flat. You’re not really going to argue that this show is about “How I Met Your Mother”, are you? How many seasons (and years in the life of our characters) have there been? And we know only a couple of things about Mom? This show is about the growth of Ted and Robin and Barney and Marshall and Lily, not about the mother. His long, drawn-out explanation only makes sense if Ted is talking about something other than how he met their mother.

    Finally…”defied tropes”…it’s not fair to argue with me by using scary literary terminology that I have to google.

  415. azuri |  Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 11:31 am GMT -4

    Ted has left that yellow umbrella at that studentsdorm room. At the beginning of season 7 at the wedding you can see it starts to rain and she would bring it with her. There is very big chance that it would be Barney’s Stepsister Carly( College student, brown hair, living in dorms, Possible she was at that St. Patricks day party, Nobody has met her yet, Attending Barney’s wedding). All the given clues are pointing to Carly. But maybe they are tricking us in believing that. Anyways the show has to end in Season 8. Because they really can’t drag it out any longer. A Season 9 will kill this show so bad. The reason why I am still watching is for Barney and I reallyyyyy want to know who the mother is. I won’t let it to be in vain for watching it till season 7.

  416. Meee |  Wednesday, November 16th, 2011 02:16 pm GMT -4

    I didn’t read all these comments, but do u remember Ted said “your mother was in this class…” economic class…

    So Mrs.Mossby should be someone that we don’t know yet

  417. *CUPCAKE* |  Thursday, November 17th, 2011 10:18 pm GMT -4

    I can not belive i did not notice this early. so the ep right after we find out that ted and robin broke up well. it starts out with a yellow Umbrella blowing in a rain storm. and ted is saying kids you know the short story of how i met your mother but he is how it really all starts. well the umbrella is in front of the chursh barney gets married at. and we all know he mets her there. well i know how . in the first ep. of last seson ted tells marshall he hopes it will not storm becasue he did not bring a umbrella. well when the wedding is over we see ted standing at the church doors. the yellow umbrella blows by he runs after it picks it up and up walks “the-mother” she thanks ted for getting her umbrella. when she grabs it from teds hand . he brushs her and bam! get that she the one feeling she ask him something along the lines you want to share or something like that. she stops and looks at him says do i know you? they laugh about the econ. class mixup. so on…. but wach that clip again its the first 10sec. you see the Umbrella. TED MEETS THE MOTHER RUNNING AFTER HER UMBRELLA AT BARNEYS WEDDING NOT SOME RANDOM LOOK AROSS THE ROOM. I KNOW IT ! I KNOW IT! CANT WAIT TO SEE IT PLAY OUT! :)

  418. azuri |  Friday, November 18th, 2011 10:18 am GMT -4

    @cupcake huh i dont see a umbrella in 10 sec of s06e01 in front of the church. i think your hallucinating things :D

  419. Anonymous |  Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 12:45 am GMT -4

    SPOILER ALERT! In episode one, Ted said he will meet the girl of his dreams and said “and there she was” when he saw robin talking to a blonde woman with her back turned (hint). When Ted went to the wrong class his first time teaching he said that their mother was a student in that class. Future Ted also tells his kids that their mother was at Barneys wedding. And in the episode where Barney finally meets his dad; he is shown a family portrait of Jerome, his wife, JJ, and their daughter who was “attending college” (who probably could be blonde, and since they are step siblings she has a perfectly good reason to be at Barneys wedding). That’s my personal opinion though.

  420. Brian |  Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 02:16 am GMT -4

    Hey, has someone already commented on this? I just saw an old episode (think it was a Thanksgiving one) where, at the very end, Ted is in a strip club and a stripper walks up and introduces herself, and then whispers that her real name is Traci. The narrator then announces that “that is how I met your mother”, and the kids jump up in horror that their mother was a stripper. He is joking of course, but the kids heard the name as Traci, and thought it was the mother, so the mother’s name must be Traci, right??

  421. pplcs |  Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 04:53 pm GMT -4

    The mother’s name is not necessarily Tracy, strippers use fake names. And I agree with Brian in everything he says.

  422. Brian |  Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 09:45 pm GMT -4

    pplcs: In the scene, the stripper does give him a fake name, THEN whipsers that her real name is Tracy. The point, however, is that the kids in 2030 were initially willing to believe that the stripper, whose real name was Tracy, was their mother. This means that their mothers name has to be Tracy.

  423. pplcs |  Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 10:33 pm GMT -4

    I recall the scene and she could have perfectly lied twice. The point would be to make Ted think he is a special customer or whatever, she’s a stripper after all, it’s her job… :)

  424. carter bays |  Thursday, November 24th, 2011 10:10 pm GMT -4

    @ *CUPCAKE* i have thought that too about the specific way he meets her, but i think there is a good chance we never ever see her face.

    @ elvinL i have theorized that too and it would be so ironic that hes been looking for the one for so long yet she was right there in the beginning

  425. Brian |  Thursday, November 24th, 2011 10:51 pm GMT -4

    pplcs: The point is not whether the stripper could be lying, but the children’s reaction–the stripper is not the mother. If the mother’s real name was Ashley, for example, and the father tells them the story with the stripper saying her real name is Traci, and then says: “that’s how I met your mother”, the children’s reaction would be “so who’s Traci?” Their reaction ONLY makes sense if their mother’s name IS Traci.

  426. Azuri |  Friday, November 25th, 2011 05:53 am GMT -4

    @Brian

    it makes sense what you said. But it could be also like What the hell ? If you always taught Ashley was the mother and you suddenly hear she wasnt the realone. Think they would react the same way, because they are shocked to hear that someone else is the mother :P

  427. Reddo |  Sunday, November 27th, 2011 07:41 am GMT -4

    Bro code article 19. A bro shall not sleep with another bros sister. Will Ted break the all mighty bro code?

  428. Adamawish |  Tuesday, November 29th, 2011 01:55 pm GMT -4

    I’m still convinced Ted’s wife is the match Love Solutions found for him in Season one episode “Milk”. Like the article refers to, he didn’t meet her yet, but this girl is perfect for him, every detail is what Ted’s searching for, and because of Lily he can’t meet this girl.
    That’s why I’m sure it’s not Robin, or Victoria (that’s so bad) or The Slutty Pumpkin, or any Tracy (but I thought so at a time) but for me she’s definitely this girl.

  429. James |  Monday, December 5th, 2011 01:17 am GMT -4

    People seem to think that the mothers name is Tracy because of the episode with the stripper. But what Ted tells the kids and what actually happens aren’t always the same. S01e16 the last day with Victoria he says they went the museum the bridge etc when actually they were in bed, so changing a strippers that he would have met briefly over 15 years ago for dramatic effect (to the kids) doesn’t seem to farfetched. So in the story, to the kids, he may have used there mothers name but what we saw was “Tracy”

  430. Brian |  Monday, December 5th, 2011 02:28 pm GMT -4

    James: When Ted changes the story for the children, it has always been (as far as I know of, no exeptions) to avoid mentioning something sexual (like the older couple upstairs who were “playing the bagpipes”) or something unsavory about his or his friends’ actions (like saying they were eating sandwiches when they were really smoking marajuana). The writers don’t seem to arbitrarily change things from what the story is to what the children are told. And the Victoria story doesn’t even fall under this, as Ted and Victoria are teasing each other about what they did on their last day together and they come right out and say they really spent the day in bed. There is no indication the children didn’t hear this whole story. You are right, it is possible the children were told their mother’s “real” name while we heard “Traci”, but what would you base this on? And if your argument is correct, how could we trust anything about what the children are told? Maybe when we hear Ted tell them about “their aunt Robin”, he is saying to them “your mom”?? As a big Robin fan, I would love this to be true, but I don’t think it is.

  431. Brian |  Monday, December 5th, 2011 02:42 pm GMT -4

    HaHa, every time I think I’ve come up with a new theory, I later find out it’s been raised before and dealt with at the beginning of this blog by someone else. I guess I need to read this from the beginning. I disagree, however, with his/her reasoning which dismisses the Traci theory.

  432. JDober |  Friday, December 9th, 2011 09:02 pm GMT -4

    the last episode, symphony of illusion rules out robin as a candidate for the mother.

  433. james |  Monday, December 12th, 2011 09:49 pm GMT -4

    Maybe the kids are not even his?…Mind Blown Away!

    If anything, I believe that the mother died or divorced ted. Which is why he is telling the story. Which brings me to my point. Ted and Robin made an agreement that if they both aren’t married when they are 40, they would get married. Well what if after Ted’s 1st marriage, he is 40 and Robin and him get married? Thus, “Aunt Robin” becoming the mother and is the intro to telling the kids that he and robin are getting married. Which is why he would still call Robin by “aunt robin” because the kids still think of her as that. Perfect!

  434. pplcs |  Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 08:00 pm GMT -4

    @james Nope, ’cause Ted is 52 when he’s telling the story and it wouldn’t make sense to get married then since their deal was to do so when they were 40

  435. james |  Wednesday, December 14th, 2011 08:02 am GMT -4

    Well i think they should just end the show. Its been long enough, plus everybody wants to see who the mother is. They should end it at season 8

  436. luk |  Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 12:02 pm GMT -4

    where is barneys sister? his father said that he has a daughter and she is a college student in New York. Ted on his first day as a professor said that the mother was on the class(the one that ted was in the wrong class room). and i thnk after the last episode was clear that robin and barney are not going to be together. robin never in the hole story mentions anything about having a future with barney. and it is obviously clear that if it is between ted and barney she will pick ted. i dont know if they(ted robin) will end up together(he never says that he is still married with the mother) but i think at least once before the end there is going to be something between them again.

  437. Ria |  Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 02:44 pm GMT -4

    My theory is whoever the mother is, he isnt with her anymore, either they got divorced or she died. And he is in the future with Robin, hence why the kids call her aunt robin, because they always have done, and she isnt their mother.
    Anyone think this might be a feasible idea?

  438. james |  Friday, December 23rd, 2011 09:53 am GMT -4

    @ Iuk, Where is the sister? We have never really talked about her. And we never see her. Ted meets his future wife at barneys wedding so it is a possibility that it is Barneys sister.

    @ Ria, I agree mostly with you. Why else is ted telling this long ass story? Its simple, because the mom either divorced him or died. He might end up with robin but we are not really sure, but i highly doubt it.

  439. Destiny |  Friday, December 23rd, 2011 10:26 am GMT -4

    As much as I understand the love for Robin, I think trying to work her into being married to Ted either originally, or after some sort of separation, is just wishful thinking. The fact that they call her Aunt Robin means absolutely nothing.

    I had half a dozen aunts growing up, and not one of them was related to me by blood or marriage.

    Now that I am older and my friends are having children, I am always called Aunt Destiny, but again, not one am I actually related to in any way.

    Aunt and Uncle is often assigned to friends of the family that are close enough to be related, but not actually. I think the writers, and therefore Ted, have finally reached a point with Robin, that she and Ted are just friends, and are comfortable with that relationship. Expecting anything more, I am sorry to say, is only setting yourself up for disappointment when the show finally reaches its culmination.

  440. james |  Friday, December 23rd, 2011 03:23 pm GMT -4

    @ Destiny

    We understand that uncle and aunt means nothing. But robin doesn’t like the words “mom” or “kids”, so the kids would call her aunt robin if her and ted would marry at some point. Im not saying it would happen cause it probably wont. Because looking at the facts of what we know about the mother.

    She was at the st. Patrick day party
    she was room mates with a girl he dated before
    she plays bass
    she was in the class the ted was teaching and was in the wrong room
    she is at barneys wedding

    So off of that it is not robin, stella, victoria, wendy, or anyone he has dated. NONE play bass or were at the party

  441. HIMYM answered? |  Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 06:06 pm GMT -4

    Another mother theory.

    Nora.

    -She has dark hair, from the stella senario we can say the mother has dark hair.
    -She wants to settle down as soon as possible
    -She wants 2 kids
    -’People keep falling in love with her’ Barney fell in love with her.
    -She was wearing yellow the first time we saw her.
    -It has been quoted ‘she smells like rain’ -the yellow umbrella
    -Ted and Nora HAVENT actually met, although people disagree, they have however sat in the bar together, not been seen speaking.
    -She said on a first date (with barney) that she wants to get married- Ted told robin he loved her.
    -Ted will of course have to ask barney for permission to ask her out, but Barney dated Robin. They even hooked up without telling Ted.
    -She’s a journalist. But its possible that she was in his class.
    -It hasnt yet stated where she lives
    -Ted meets the mother at the wedding, maybe if things get cleared up Robin will invite Nora to her and Barneys, or Nora will turn up and try to get Barney back, maybe it will end up with a classic ‘Hi, haaave u met Ted?’

  442. HIMYM |  Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 06:11 pm GMT -4

    I think that Robin and Barney belong together, its great that they are both alike.
    -Barney wrote a note (when Robin was dating Don) to tell him to get back together with Robin.
    -He stated that ‘his dad’ would say ‘get back together with Robin, you belong together.
    -They have obvious chemistry.
    -They have been on and off, one night stands and a relationship.
    -They get together again (when Barneys with Nora and Robin is with Kevin)Barney tells Nora, she dumps him. Robin was going to tell Kevin but he told her that he loved her. She stayed with him. Barney had a special night planned for the 2 of them, he expected them to break up so they could have a relationship once again.
    -Robin had a pregnancy scare, she hadnt yet slept with Kevin, Barney was the only possibility. She found out she cannot have kids.

    But there is another possible man for Robin…
    The guy with the ugly sweater. Ted told him that him and Robin were engaged, lies of course, he was getting back at her at a party.

    Another mother theory.

    Nora.

    -She has dark hair, from the stella senario we can say the mother has dark hair.
    -She wants to settle down as soon as possible
    -She wants 2 kids
    -’People keep falling in love with her’ Barney fell in love with her.
    -She was wearing yellow the first time we saw her.
    -It has been quoted ‘she smells like rain’ -the yellow umbrella
    -Ted and Nora HAVENT actually met, although people disagree, they have however sat in the bar together, not been seen speaking.
    -She said on a first date (with barney) that she wants to get married- Ted told robin he loved her.
    -Ted will of course have to ask barney for permission to ask her out, but Barney dated Robin. They even hooked up without telling Ted.
    -She’s a journalist. But its possible that she was in his class.
    -It hasnt yet stated where she lives
    -It hasnt said if she plays bass. yet…
    -Ted meets the mother at the wedding, maybe if things get cleared up Robin will invite Nora to her and Barneys,or Nora will turn up and try to get Barney back, maybe it will end with a classic ‘Hi, haaave u met Ted?’

  443. Brian |  Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 08:13 pm GMT -4

    Ok HIMYM, I like your theory about Nora. Earlier this season I thought they were developing a love quadrangle with Ted in love with Robin again, Robin in love with Barney, Barney in love with Nora, and then Nora falling in love with Ted. Didn’t work out that way at all, of course, so that shows how much insight I have.

  444. james |  Thursday, December 29th, 2011 10:48 am GMT -4

    I do like the theory about Nora. Nobody has ever thought about her because she wasnt important. But Ted’s wife was the room mate of one of his old girlfriends and plays bass and she was at the st. Patrick day party. I dont believe Nora was there. So it cant be Nora.

  445. Persephone |  Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 12:28 pm GMT -4

    it might be irrelevant but,

    Has anyone noticed the countdown in season 6 episode 13 “bad news”?

    50 49 48 47…

    I think it would be great if the countdown had appeared in different episodes in a row and it was for the episode we meet the mother…

    P.S.
    ,,,than I wolud not sleep until the countdown ends.

  446. georgia p |  Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 11:19 pm GMT -4

    i think the woman is deifnetely brunette! because in the episode where ted and stella almost get married, the kids have blonde hair when he’s explaining how things would’ve been different if he had married her.

    the bump girl has brown hair!

  447. Kal Penn |  Thursday, January 5th, 2012 06:51 am GMT -4

    The mother is Lily. Yes! This is Carter Bay’s manager Kal Penn. Regardless of addressing Lily as the kid’s Aunt, what we wanted to portray was there is a second set of kids sitting right beside those shown in the screen. i hate to break to you all, but wait till this wraps up.

    Hang ” wait for it” On!

    KP

  448. james |  Friday, January 6th, 2012 05:29 pm GMT -4

    @ KP

    What do you mean?, I don’t think I understand. Your saying that his kids are lilys? Or that the kids aren’t his?

  449. Peanuts1222 |  Saturday, January 7th, 2012 02:41 pm GMT -4

    The ‘met’ in ‘how I met your mother’ may refer to all the changes robin has made (I’m a Ted/robin fan) in her life. Over the course of many years, don’t you find out new things about someone? Meeting them all over again….discovering new things about them?

  450. Daniel |  Sunday, January 8th, 2012 04:37 pm GMT -4

    The kids are Lilly’s not Teds, He never admits or claims that the kids he is talking to are his.. I believe that Robin is the mother of those kids and Robin is the Aunt but Teds wife?!!

  451. james |  Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 06:14 pm GMT -4

    @ daniel
    WTF?

  452. blah blah |  Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 11:55 pm GMT -4

    ITS NOT ROBIN!! SHE WASNT AT THE SNT PATIES DAY PARTY AND HE SAID THAT HIS WIFE WAS…

  453. brian |  Thursday, January 12th, 2012 11:29 am GMT -4

    Ok, here’s my theory. The umbrella is the key. When the guy on the grassy knoll raised the umbrella, that was the signal for the 2nd shooter in the sewer grate…wait…which conspiracy site is this??

  454. james |  Thursday, January 12th, 2012 06:24 pm GMT -4

    @ Brian

    What the hell?….lolz
    Its How I Met Your Mother bro

  455. D |  Friday, January 20th, 2012 05:56 pm GMT -4

    Ok Lilly is not the mother, in the episode when they all quit smoking he says to his kids, “Marshall quit the day his son was born and that i quit 2 weeks after meeting your mother”.. My prediction is that Barney and Robin get married and Ted is Robins best man (remember she asked him to be if she ever got married) and the mother is someone that is related to Robin maybe a cousin. Ted said to the waitress and her husband in a flash forward that he met his wife when he was a best man at a wedding.

  456. james |  Saturday, January 21st, 2012 06:15 pm GMT -4

    @ D
    We already know that Ted meets his future wife at Barney’s wedding. We don’t know who he marries but if you have watched the past episodes in January 2012, we know that the person Ted marries is at the wedding.
    I believe it is Nora or Barney’s step sister. We have never heard about her much or ever see her. She would also be at the wedding and Barney has said she goes to college in NYC for economics, the class Ted walked in on the first day of teaching.
    Or Nora because Barney “dated” her and he thought he still had feelings for her. She could be invited to the wedding and she could of been at the St.Patrick Day party.
    Those are just my 2 guesses.

  457. shankar |  Saturday, January 21st, 2012 10:15 pm GMT -4

    Robyn is so hot..I would have wanted her to the mother of my kids too… the only thing is Barney’s nailed her…. Barney is a bad bad bad man… like a big bad wolf.. :-)

  458. nicki |  Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 03:36 am GMT -4

    it cant be nora

    it has to be someone that wendy the waitress also hasnt met

    in a flash forward at an airport wendy asks about his life and if he is still with zoey

    he says no and starts to describe how he met the mother at the wedding – but is of course interupted

    the point – if it was nora or someone that wendy had already met – ted would just say no actually it is – blah or be cut off then

    it is also not tracey – the point of the stripper/tracey theory is that the kids arent listening to the story – they arent listening when he says her name is tracey – and thats why he says and thats how i met your mother – to get there attention

    it is also not robin – no matter how much we might like her to be – shes not the mother – she is a very important ‘aunty’

    we may actually get to know the mother before we find out she is the mother though – because ted says there are two parts to any great love story – the day you meet and the day you get married – so it may be someone we are yet to meet – probably barneys sister – who will break parts of the bro code if they were to date – but as barney is constantly ammending the bro code he will no doubt in time allow ted to marry his sister

    just my opinion

  459. Campbell |  Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 04:34 am GMT -4

    Anyone that Ted has met already cannot be the Mother, as the show is titled ‘How I “Met” Your Mother’, not how i ‘started dating’ your mother, therefore it cannot be a character ted has already met.

  460. brian |  Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 03:33 pm GMT -4

    Ok, here’s the real story…and I know it’s the truth because the voices in my head told me.

    Ted never finds the right girl to marry (because everyone knows that the right girl is Robin and we also know it’s not her). Therefore, in order to have children, Ted fertilizes the donated eggs of the umbrella girl and robin carries them to term for him.

    Unfortunately, as Robin and Barney are married, this is the ultimate betrayal of the Bro code (a bro never has his bro’s wife carry his baby), and a singularity appears which creates a connection to a parallel universe. A parallel Robin passes through the connection and arrive