Yep, that's the one I was thinking of. Was just digging through the wikia and found that before heading back. And yeah, all hypothetical, so no points for me there. Although on the plus side, the memory fit: they were older than they've been shown so far, and they were outside on a porch
Only hope here is that the writers are playing with the people online that have been pushing the 'dead mother' theory over the years. Maybe she had an illness (say, cancer) in 2024 and there was a chance she wasn't going to make it, but eventually got better/cured/remission, so can still be there alive in 'present day'. lets them feed the fire a little, but doesn't put such a wet blanket on the series. They thought she might be dying, went to the inn to get away and spend time together, but don't have to kill her. It being HIS mother that died just doesn't fit. They could have said what kind of parent misses their kid's wedding, but picked mother and daughter there, so that's the implication. That, and the kids don't seem sad enough for the story to be after the mother's death. Plus, super inappropriate to spend most of the 9 year story about your dead mother by telling the kids about how you used to screw their Aunt Robin plus half the floozies in NYC. Not impossible they're going that route, but seems a bit off. Also, the son's reaction to Ted in the pilot episode when he says he's going to tell them the story is "is this going to take long?" which is a pretty cold/dick thing to say if your mother is dead and your dad wants to tell you a story about her... Could be Robin that's dead, and references still fit. And why the story has so much Robin and not so much Mother. I know, path he took to get there, but little much of him nailing their aunt to be ok there. And if Robin somehow got pregnant and had a daughter, but died by 2030, she could be the one missing her daughter's wedding. Or Ted has Alzheimer's. That's why he's telling the stories while he can, why the stories don't always line up right, and why the Mother told him to live for the future and not so much about the past. I dunno, lots of ways to go, but hope it's just the writers teasing the Dead Mother crowd before moving away from it...
Breaking away from the "Is the Mother Dead?" storyline, there are some other questions that might be brought up by examining when the last time we've seen the major characters. Ted - 2030 (vocally) - telling Penny and Luke the story ("Pilot" - "Rally" [no appearance in "Vesuvius"]) Ted - 2024 (physically) - A snowy night at the Farhampton Inn ("Vesuvius") Marshall and Lily - 2029 - Marshall opens Lily's death letter ("We're Not From Here") Barney and Robin - 2021 - The exploding meatball sub redux ("The Exploding Meatball Sub") The Mother - 2024 - A snowy night at the Farhampton Inn ("Vesuvius") Ted makes it to 2030. No questions there at all. He's telling the story and regardless as to his mental state, physically he's there. One can assume that Marshall and Lily do as well unless something major occurs in that year. The Mother, well, that's completely up in the air and while everything seems to suggest she might not make it to 2030, it's a big question mark. Then there's Robin and Barney. While there are somewhat contemporary mentions of Robin (the pictures the kids draw of her and apparently references to a trip to the zoo). Putting those into account Robin likely is still around in 2030 but Barney? Well, where the hell is Barney? He's not referenced in the present tense in 2030 at all. Dead? Prison? Back to womanizing? I'm not certain I'd be okay with the idea of killing off one of the major (not to mention most popular) characters of a comedy even if it is a plot point to get Ted and Robin together in the last episode. Sigh. I get a feeling I'm not going to like the final episode.
I rewatched the start of the episode. The waiter calls them "the Mosbys", talks to her, and touches her shoulder. So either they were both imaginary, or she wasn't a ghost!
Wow this episode has provoked alot of conversation. As the weeks go by I'm getting more and more worried about seeing spoilers. I knew I would shun the internet during the 24 hours after the finale until I can watch it online, but now I am literally contemplating going offline for days or weeks beforehand. If I sm spoiled my heart will implode with the force of a collapsing black hole.
LOL, what is it with you guys always speculating about deaths and diseases? Nobody dies, and nobody has Alzheimers.
The show goes maudlin sometimes. Lily left Marshall and moved to San Fran. Ted was left at the alter and completely crushed. Marshall's dad died. Lily and Marshall had that huge fight over the judge-ship. Mother's first true love died unexpectedly and she mourned him for years and years. Ted is still in love with Robin and is going to move to Chicago to get away from her.
It would explain why it's Bob Saget doing the narration, but I can't believe they picked him all those years ago just to narrate a show where eventually they'd reveal the mother had died. Which would put her in the perfect place to prepare Ted (and the kids) for her death. It's a possibility. Have we seen Robin in the future (beyond last week's glimpse a year or so ahead)? Could possibly explain the kid's looks, if their mother has been dead a few years and they're hearing stories they've heard before (and, having grieved on their own, they could be bored instead of upset). I think the thing that's really got us is the whole, bit about the mother not attending her daughter's wedding. None of the characters are in a position where they could have a daughter old enough to be getting married in 10 years. The line only works if they know of some other mother who wasn't going to attend their daughter's wedding and since the kids aren't old enough, the only possibility is that it's a reference to one of the characters we know dying. It's a possibility that it's Robin who died, unless I'm missing a flash-forward somewhere showing her to be alive in the future past 2024. The mother could have taken Ted to the site where they met to remind him that his knowing Robin lead to them meeting, as a way of coping with the news of Robin's death (or life-threatening illness). That would explain the story he's telling the kids in 2030 (maybe right after she died or remembering her on the anniversary of her death). That would explain why the series began with how he met Robin, since it was at her wedding that Ted met their mother.
^ Oh, yeah! Thanks. There goes my theory. Does anyone have a link to a timeline of the past 2014 glimpses we've seen on HIMYM?
Oooh, what if the *daughter* is critically ill in 2024? Or maybe they have another child, and she dies around that time period? Miscarriage? Okay, incredibly unlikely, horribly depressing, and doesn't really fit too well. But hey, people have already guessed the deaths/illnesses of everyone else by now.
Why. Does. Anyone. Have. To. Die? If I make a list of all character names and say they die or get sick, I will eventually get one right.
No-one has to die. I'm just adding to the discussion because the subtext of the latest episode can imply a death easily. And taking someone's flippant comment seriously is kinda weird Edited to clarify - I know it's been an infuriating theory throughout the series, in the face of lots of arguments, but the scene at the Inn seemed designed to elicit speculation over a sad ending, so people are going to respond.
As far as seeing Robin in 2024, 2027, and 2030 holding babies, those might not be true future events. Especially since Mike Tyson is definitely not becoming a Senator. We do know that Robin at some point lives in Morocco and Greece; she has already lived in Japan and Russia, and she lived in Argentina after breaking up with Ted (apparently, she goes back with Barney later).
Here's a non-death theory on the tears in that scene for those who hate the death theory: allergies. It's just a coincidence that their eyes welled up during a seemingly significant piece of dialogue If someone takes this seriously like my last post, I will probably go slightly mad.
I refuse to believe they'll pull a Roseanne and have Ted reveal in the final moments that he tells his kids the story how he met their mother after she has passed away.. that would be a total bummer and while the show is long past its glory days it doesn't deserve that. Personally i believe Ted's own mother won't see his wedding because she died.. these things happen (btw.. Josh Radnor pulled this off in a brilliant way). While i love all the future scenes with the Mother i now believe we'll never see those first steps of them meeting, being attracted to each other and going out to their first date. I'd really love to see the very beginning of their love and the first landmarks happen in a relationship but that time has passed and the producers went another way. I just hope they don't feel the need to be clever and end the show on a sad note.
We do know that when Mother gave Ted her number he called her right away. So I'm picturing the show ending with Ted meeting Mother at the train station, they instantly have this magical attraction to each other, Mother gives him her number and he calls her right there in front of her.