- After Barney and Robin's wedding, Ted builds up the courage to approach "the mother" at the train station. Meanwhile, three years after the wedding, Barney and Robin drop a bombshell on the group.
- The continuing story Ted is telling his kids about how he met their mother picks up at Robin and Barney's wedding reception. Despite being mesmerized by her when he first spots her as the bass player in the wedding reception band and despite Barney believing that she too could be Ted's true soul mate, Ted, after an emotional goodbye to his friends, left the reception early without speaking to her to head back to the city as he was moving to Chicago the next day, and thus did not want to start something he couldn't finish. With help from a woman at the Farhampton train station, Ted received what he and that woman both believed was a sign for him to actually speak to their mother. Following that initial meeting, Ted changes the focus of his and his mother's story to the not so straightforward road to their wedding day. With the kids' "aunts" and "uncles", Ted tells them of the next four years, which includes their Aunt Robin's burgeoning news career doing international assignments, their Aunt Lily's third pregnancy and how that affected her and Marshall's life, and Marshall hating moving back into corporate law after returning from Italy just waiting for the day when the telephone would ring again with the person on the other end telling him that they are appointing him a judge.—Huggo
- After 3 years of marriage between Barney and Robin, they decide to get a divorce. They say that this won't change anything, but they might not be able to hold onto that promise. Lily is pregnant with her and marshals third child and Tracy becomes pregnant, delaying her and Teds wedding.
- Part 1
In a flashback to September 2005, Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor), Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel), Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan) and Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) accept Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) into their group. Robin has just moved to NYC from Canada 2 months ago and has no friends in the city. Marshall invites her to their gang, as till then she had been hanging around with Ted after his 3 failed attempts to woo her. Lily, optimistic about Robin's friendship, decrees that Ted and Barney cannot hook up with her unless they marry her, and Barney scoffs at the idea.
In May 2013, Ted discusses his move to Chicago with Marshall and Lily at Barney and Robin's wedding reception. Meanwhile, Barney recognizes the bass player as the woman-already introduced in previous episodes as the Mother / Tracy McConnell (Cristin Milioti)-who advised him to pursue Robin. When he hears she's single, he decides to introduce her to Ted, who declines the idea as he has to leave in order to get ready to move the next day. Outside, the group sadly bids Ted farewell, and he does a final high-five with Barney - a high-five to echo through eternity to include all the high-fives that they could possibly have in the future. A high infinity. Marshall and Lily are preparing to leave for Rome.
Later, Ted goes to the Farhampton train station; however, his train is late. He tells an elderly lady about his weekend, and she asks many questions about destiny. She looks up and spots the Mother standing nearby, but Ted insists he can't talk to her because he's moving.
The next night, Marshall and Lily are surprised to see Ted sitting at their table in MacLaren's. Ted justifies this by telling them that he met a girl, which they approve after finding out she is the bass player from the wedding. Marshall is certain that Ted will blow it even this time as he tends to go way too big way too soon. Lily feels this is different.
In 2015, Ted, now engaged, meets Robin and Barney at MacLaren's to discuss wedding ideas. Ted is spending all of his money to plan his wedding at a French castle. As Robin goes to buy drinks, Barney admits their marriage is suffering because of Robin's rising career, which requires her to travel frequently. The Mother arrives and tells Ted they have to delay their wedding because she is pregnant.
In May 2016, Ted and the Mother host a get-together with the rest of the gang. Marshall is miserable at his new job, having been forced to return to being a corporate lawyer. Barney and Robin reveal that her constant traveling for work put a strain on them (They even traveled together to Argentina where they had the incident with the stranger's kid. But they end up fighting as Robin had to work even then), and after three years of marriage, they have divorced.
The mood turns positive when Barney realizes that Marshall and Lily are expecting their third child, but Lily is worried about the group breaking apart. Together they promise they will all be there for the big moments and will remain friends. Five months later, Marshall and Lily decide to move out of their old apartment and put together a final Halloween roof party.
Robin is sad to see Ted and the Mother with matching "hanging Chad" outfits, alongside Barney who has returned to his womanizing ways. She decides to leave and confesses to Lily that she can't be in the group any longer as she has outgrown them and still has unresolved feelings for Ted, which devastates Lily.
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