Last Forever - Part Two

Recap
In 2018, Barney, Ted and Lily are at the MacLaren's hanging out again for the first time in a long while. Barney says that they are going to stay late. Lily laments that Robin is not with them even though she promised she'd be there for the big moments. Ted says that this is not really a big moment, but Barney says it is. Just then, Marshall walks towards their booth and tells them that it is a big moment, because he is going to be a judge. A few hours later, while they are still talking at the bar, Barney sees a girl and gets up to walk towards her but Lily stops him. Lily asks if he has changed even a little from his old womanizing ways and he says he hasn't. There was a time when it seemed that he was capable of going the distance, but if it didn't work with Robin, it won't work with anyone else.

In 2019, Marshall, Lily, Ted and The Mother are at an arena watching Robots vs. Wrestlers. Marshall asks Ted and The Mother if they ever plan on getting married. Just then Barney comes and sits next to them. He tells them that he just had the perfect month, but found out the the last girl, Girl #31, is pregnant. When Lily congratulates him, he says that this is a disaster and he's too old for this.

In 2020, Ted takes his daughter Penny to the GNB tower where they run into Robin. He tells this to Lily and Marshall at the hospital who are there for the birth of Barney's child. A nurse comes and tells them that it's a girl, who has been named Ellie. The nurse lets Barney hold her. Barney becomes emotional and starts crying, telling his baby daughter, "You are the love of my life. Everything I have and everything I am is yours, forever."

Later, Ted asks The Mother to give him her engagement ring back so he can re-propose. He asks her to get married to him on the coming Thursday, and she says yes. The day of the wedding, The gang, minus Robin, are at MacLaren's. Just then, Robin walks in the bar, leaving them surprised. She apologizes for missing some of the big moments. She congratulates Barney for becoming a father. Marshall also tells them that he is running for State Supreme Court. When Ted says that Robin RSVP'd no, Robin tells him that The Mother convinced her to come. The Mother then walks in the bar and takes a picture of the gang together. Lily makes a toast to Ted for being so so emotionally enduring and is glad that they got here (Ted getting married).

Ted then tells his kids in 2030 that he was glad he reached there with difficulty as it made the lesson clear. He says that he knew the moment he met their mother that he had to love her as much as could, through all the times; good and bad. Even when she got sick(which we later learn she died from)he thanked God that he had the courage to talk to her at the train station.

At the train station, in 2013, Ted walks to the mother and taps her on the shoulder. Before he introduces himself, she says that she recognizes him as the Best Man. He says that she is Cindy's ex-roommate while she says that he is the professor who taught Econ 305 once. Ted then tells her that the yellow umbrella she was holding is his which he left at Cindy's, but she says it's her umbrella which she bought. Ted says that it has his initials; T.M. for Ted Mosby, but she says that those are her initials for Tracy McConnell. She remembers that she did lose the umbrella for a few years when she went to a party and Ted completes the rest of the story for her. They then say "Hi" to each other.

In 2030, Ted finally finishes telling the story to his kids. Ted’s kids realize that the story is not really about the mother but it is actually about how Ted still harbours feelings towards Robin, pointing out how obvious it appears when she comes over. They console him, saying that they "love Aunt Robin", giving him their blessings and encouraging him to call Robin. He picks up the phone but then puts it down.

Meanwhile, Robin enters her apartment with her dogs. Just then her doorbell rings. Robin attempts to call downstairs to see who it is, but gives up. She opens her window to look outside and sees Ted holding the Blue French Horn in a scene reminiscent to the pilot, with Ted even dressed the same way. Robin looks down and smiles at him. The screen fades to black and says "how i met your mother".

The episode concludes with stills of the main cast (from the Pilot) set to The Walkmen's "Heaven".

Continuity

 * Ted and the mother are finally shown meeting, and the mother's name is revealed as Tracy.
 * Sasquatch and the Abominable Snowman are mentioned, referencing Marshall's belief in the occult.
 * The Mother's painting of robots bowling is seen in Ted's house when he re-proposes to Tracy.
 * Barney mentions the time he tried to accomplish.
 * Imaginary previously appeared in Perfect Week as well as a voice in.
 * Barney mentions "Not a Father's Day," a holiday Barney had created in.
 * Ted re-proposes to Tracy at their house (first seen in ) in the den where Future Ted of 2030 talks to his kids, as seen at the end of the episode and throughout the series.
 * Marshall pays Lily at the bar (in a quick scene after the gang takes group photos) for losing the long term bet before Ted and Tracy's wedding. However if Ted and Robin indeed end up together following the ending, then Marshall can be considered to be the victor of the bet.
 * Robin asks for a system to connect her to the camera of her house's entrance, but it doesn't work. This is a reference to Marshall in Trilogy Time.
 * Penny's birth year is confirmed as 2015, as first hinted in Trilogy Time.
 * Robin asks Ted what happened to the beautiful building that used to be where the GNB headquarters is now. The story of The Arcadian ran throughout Season 6.
 * Marshall becomes a judge after he returns from Rome and he later tries to be a judge for the Supreme Court which he did in 2020 as shown in a flashforward in Rally.
 * The gang calling Marshall Big Fudge has now upgraded to Judge Fudge and later, Fudge Supreme.
 * Ted's middle name, Evelyn, was first mentioned in.
 * Barring several visual discrepancies, the scene of Ted and Tracy's wedding was first depicted at the end of.
 * In the scene where Tracy is sick, Ted reads her World's End, a book first shown to be given by her to Cindy as a birthday gift in Girls Versus Suits. She is also shown reading it before going to the St. Patrick's Day Party in How Your Mother Met Me.

Memorable Quotes
"Ted"

- Excuse me, hi! "Future Ted"

- It was at times a long, difficult road. But I’m glad it was long and difficult because if I hadn’t gone through hell to get there the lesson might not have been as clear. [...] And I carried this lesson with me when she got sick. Even then, in what can only be called the worst of times, all I could do was thank God... thank every god there is or ever was or will be, and the whole universe, and anyone else I could possibly thank... that I saw that beautiful girl on that train platform, and that I had the guts to stand up, walk over to her, tap her on her shoulder, open my mouth... and speak. (Flashback of Ted meeting Tracy and having the dialog above) And that kids, is how I met your mother. "Future Robin"

- Hey, Penny! I haven't seen you in forever! "Future Ted"

- So, did you get a perfect month? "Barney"

- You are the love of my life. Everything I have and everything I am, is yours. Forever. "Barney"

- I'm sorry, what's the name of this third-world banana republic you claim to be from?

Goofs and Errors

 * In an earlier season, Ted makes it very clear to "never invite an ex to a wedding".  He ends up breaking this rule at his own wedding with Tracy, the same mistake he made with Stella.  However, it's worth noting that inviting Robin to his wedding with Tracy did not seem to have any positive or negative consequences. It's most likely because they are friends with Robin.
 * Although Barney claims The Playbook II: Electric Bangaloo features "all-new plays," the ones featured in the episode were previously seen in the printed edition of The Playbook.
 * In season five's Robots Versus Wrestlers, Future Ted says that every year the gang still got together for Robots vs. Wrestlers. In this episode, Robin distances herself from the group for years and she doesn't go to see Robots vs. Wrestlers with them for at least the one year shown in the episode.
 * Robin wasn't part of Robot vs. Wrestlers


 * In previous episodes, flashforwards have shown Ted, Tracy, Barney, and Robin wearing wedding rings during years where, according to this episode, they had not yet been married, or in Barney and Robin's case, married no longer.
 * In season eight's episode Bad Crazy, it shows Robin and Lily meeting for drinks every year, reminiscing about the past. In this episode, Robin and Lily are shown not seeing each other for several years.
 * It wasn't every year, just some specific dates where Robin felt guilty and gradually admitted to Lily some details about the incident with Marvin. The first occurs in 2017 when Robin sightings were are rare as Sasquatch, but could have still happened because Lily pushed Robin to get together with just her because it was an extremely special event - the birth of Lily's third child. The others range from 2025 to 2030, after Robin reunited with the group after Ted's wedding, Barney's daughter's birth, and Tracy's death.
 * In season three's Little Boys, Future Ted reveals that Robin was very present in Penny and Luke's childhood, appearing in a lot of their drawings. In this episode, Robin is so secluded from the group, Penny doesn't even recognize her, calling her the "Bus Lady."
 * Robin wasn't present from 2016-2020, it is implied that she became closer to the gang after Ted got married and Barney became more mature. That works out to Robin not being part of Penny's life from the time she was 1 until 5 (excluding rare incidents like "bus lady") but certainly a major part of Penny growing up after that as "Aunt Robin".
 * However given that Penny and Luke were still kid ages 9 and 7 respectively when Tracy died, the viewer could also conclude that Robin was spending more time with Ted's kids after 2024, helping the now-widowed dad raise them.

Allusions and Outside References

 * Ted and Tracy being engaged for five years before getting married may be a nod to Jason Segel's movie .

Music

 * Downtown Train -
 * Played during Future Ted's speech and when Ted meets Tracy
 * Heaven -
 * Played in the final scene and during the pre-credits

Other Notes

 * The episode was trimmed by 18 minutes because it was too long.
 * There is an alternate ending to this episode that is set to be released with the season 9 DVDs.
 * The scene where the kids convince Ted to go out with Robin was shot back in 2006, when season 2 was airing.
 * The episode was set to air on April 28, 2014, but it was then changed to March 31, 2014.
 * This is the second part of the series finale.
 * The Mother dies of an unknown illness 6 years before 2030.
 * Barney has a daughter called Ellie with an unknown woman. The name Ellie may be a reference to her similarly-named cousin Eli Stinson, who as a baby also caused Barney to have a change of heart in.
 * When Marshall announces that he's running for the State Supreme Court he still has a full head of hair. That might imply that he lost his first race, but sometime in the future (after he lost his hair) ran again and won. Another explanation is Marshall is bald in 2020 (as seen in other flash forwards), but wears a toupee because a bald head reminds him too much of his own wedding.
 * This episode opens up the possibility of Robin and Ted dating in 2030.
 * Robin's always been a dog lover, so it isn't surprising that she'd have five dogs in 2030. They may look like the dogs she had in 2005, but clearly cannot be the same specific dogs because they would not be alive in 2030.
 * The cast did not know the name of the mother until they read the last script. In all the previous ones The Mother was named as TM. In the last episode we found out that TM stands for Tracy McConnell.
 * When Ted's under the umbrella with Tracy you can see that he's got a flesh-colored bandage on his right hand, from the ultimate high-five with Barney.
 * Alyson Hannigan confirmed via Twitter that they shot a scene in which Lily repays Marshall for their long-term bet after Robin and Ted end up together. It was cut from the final aired version of the episode.
 * Josh Radnor confirmed in an interview on his official twitter that the scene featuring Robin as a bullfighter is present in the 18 minutes cut.
 * HIMYM prop master David Baker confirmed via Twitter that they also shot a scene in which Robin is performing "Let's Go To The Mall" at her wedding reception with The Mother's band, Superfreakonomics. This too was cut from the final aired episode.
 * In 2018, Barney claims to want to be like bachelor George Clooney. Ironically, Clooney himself got engaged the month after this episode aired.
 * After shooting the finale, the cast and crew had a cocktail party at MacLaren's. Cristin Milioti confirmed that she and Cobie Smulders got drunk and that Neil Patrick Harris and Josh Radnor were sober.

Guests

 * as himself
 * Judith Drake - Bernice
 * Marshall Manesh - Ranjit Singh
 * Joe Nieves - Carl
 * Saudia Rashed - Nurse
 * Courtney Hope Turner - Girl
 * Brooke Lynn Howard - Sexy Girl #1
 * Justene Alpert - Sexy Girl #2
 * Alexandria Skaltsounis - Erin
 * Patrick Kang - 22-Year-Old Guy
 * Kerrigan Milker - Girl

Reception
The episode was viewed by 13.13 million viewers. It became the highest rated and most viewed episode of the series. The episode's reception has been mostly negative with a few fans agreeing that the finale delivered what it should have, while most saying that they were betrayed. Praise was directed towards how the episode connected the dots, while criticism was expressed over the twist in the end and some believe it contradicted much of the past 205 episodes.

In response to the negative backlash from some fans, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas went on record stating that the DVD set for season 9 will include an alternate ending. So far, there are no specific details regarding any changes that will be made. They did say that it would be made through editing existing material. No new footage will be shot.

It was voted on the web page eonline.com as the third worst finale of a television series shortly after airing. Donna Bowman on the gave this episode a B+.

Max Nicholson of gave the episode a 9.7 out of 10.

Dhruv Rao of The DR Club gave the episode an A-