How I Met Your Mother

Evening. I've been watching HIMYM since the begining. I've seen every episode at least 3 times and most recently watched the entire series again over winter break. I hope to disprove a number of theories in the community to help boil down the search to the essential facts. Note 1: While it has been noted that Narrorator Ted is an unreliable story-teller all of my assumptions are being made on the idea that he has made edits to his own story for the sake of telling it to his children/censors (Sandwiches = Weed) or correcting mistakes in the telling of the story (the goat incident). If it happened on screen... it happened.

1.0 Robin is not the mother. Let it go.

1.1 In addition to the fact that this is specifically told to you in the very first episode there are those out there that would still hang on to the idea that Robin is the mother. Let me show you specifically why this is incorrect.

1.2 In S03E012 (No Tomorrow) we are shown a woman standing outside the St. Patty party holding a Yellow umbrella. We have specific evidence that tells us that the Mother possesses a yellow umbrella and was at that party. Therefore it would be safe to assume that this woman is infact the future mother of Ted's children.

1.3 In that same episode Robin was across town with Lilly and Marshal finding out that the floors were crooked. There is no way that she could be 2 places at once, therefore Robin is not the mother.

1.4 The term 'Aunt' is used for close family friends. If we are to believe that the evidence presented in the 'present' (2030) is factually accurate 'the children's drawing shown at the end of S03E4 (Little Boys) is real. Therefore the kids know her as Aunt robin. (see also: Name Shifting)

2.0 Victoria, Blah Blah, Talking Girl, Wendy the Waitress, Etc is not the mother.

2.1 We were told in S03E012 (No Tomorrow) that Ted was 'Glad that they had not met that night or she wouldn't have liked (him)'

2.2 Therefore the mother is not a periphial character. We have yet to be introduced to the character as this would make Narrorator Ted's words invalid.

3.0 The mother's name is Tracy... Maybe.

3.1 Back in S01E09 (Belly Full of Turkey) the reaction of the children is one of surprise when Narrator Ted tells the children 'and that was how i met your mother'. This leads to one of two possibilities.

3.2 The children were suprised that their mother was a stripper in her youth and they made the connection because of the name.

3.3 Narrator Ted had not told them the name in the telling and the children were just surprised at his statement.

4.0 The children are his. No doubt about it.

4.1 In episode S01E02 in the first minute of the show the Daughter specifically says "Oh dad".

5.0 Name Shifting and why it doesn't fly.

5.1 In several theories around the web there has been this idea of name shifting and how it could be that if the names were changed around that it would be possible for Robin to be the mother or lilly or something radically different from what exists.

5.2 Name shifting only name the name of the identity of the individual if little is known about the person. It would have to be that the children knew nothing about the person that was their mother for this to be plausible.

5.3 To stretch the idea that the children didn't know that their mother was a TV reporter or a Kindergarden teacher is ludacris. And in fact the evidence presented in the children's drawings prove that 'Aunt Robin' is actually Aunt Robin.

6.0 Then who is the mother?

6.1 The 'Excuse Me' Girl from S03E012 (No Tomorrow) is entirely possible. It fits all the criteria that one needs to be the mother at this point.- At the St. Pattys party- Approximate age of Ted- The brown hair matches that of the childrenNow that being said there I see a major flaw in this theory. It's simply too easy. It locks in an actress to coming back to the show before the storyline is fleshed out. Sitcom writers very rarely write an entire arc years out and i doubt that the mother is being introduced this season.Personally i think 'Excuse me' girl is simply a curve ball to drive the community nuts.

6.2 We haven't met her yet. This is easily the strongest of arguments to be made specifically to the statements made by Narrator Ted. It allows the writers flexibility in their storyline and perhaps never even introduce her until the final episode.

6.3 (Updated 5/4) - From our previous knowledge we know that Stella was at a St. Patties day party- the same one that Ted was at but left early. Presumably she had attened with freinds and one of them left the yellow umbrella. Even though the end of S04E22 gives us an impression otherwise- i'm yet unconvinced that Stella is the mother.

Conclusion: I hope this clears up several community questions. If you have more I will add them to this FAQ- just leave them in the comments. Cheers!

Finally, someone else that's intelligent enough to see that Robin IS NOT the mother. Unfortunately, some moron will probably try to debate you.

Great job dude.Hope it settles the doubts!

Great job dude.Hope it settles the doubts!

Very good job at describing that Robin is not the mother but, do you even want it to happen? Have a little faith. I do even though she might not be the mother maybe she is with Ted who knows. But also a question. Do you think the mother is married to future Ted? Because the kids don't know anything about the mother obviously meaning that either future Ted and her are divorced, broken up, or the mother is dead. Either way i understand why people believe that Robin isn't the mother or won't even end up with Ted but I just like to keep faith that there love throughout the entire series isn't wasted.

WAYDA BE! all my frends are just geting into it so thay all think stupid things like robin as the mother

Mecagundum6 wrote: WAYDA BE! all my frends are just geting into it so thay all think stupid things like robin as the mother

Bump- Too many posts lately still talking about robin being the mother- Someone from CBS please sticky.

Don't worry atominckeg, a few of us Barney/Robin fans have started an alliance to debunk any and all remaining Ted/Robin theories!

Robin is definitely not the mother. we know that for a fact. in fact, that's the only fact we are quite certain of. for all we know, it may even not be Josh Radnor talking. It could even be Neil Patrick Harris and his character's name may not be even Barney. for all we know, his name might be Ted. But that's just my theory...lol! But hey, nobody knows what's gonna happen. only the writers do.so let them theorize all they want. it is for these reasons that they are still fans of the show.but i hate to break it to you guys. TED the narrator (whatever his real identity is) and ROBIN? never gonna happen!

Future-Ted's wife is not dead! Don't you think that the children would be a lot more interested of how they met if she is dead.. ?

Great job atomickeg! Excellent points! Remember the episode where Lily, Marshall, and Ted are "eating a big sandwich" at their college reunion, and Ted looks around and asks where his wife is? I mean, sure, his wife doesn't have to be the kids' mom, but odds are good she is. Would Ted spend all that time telling his kids how he met their mom if he wasn't married to their mom? And like jonssonftw said, wouldn't they be more interested in the stories if that were true (and his wife wasn't their mom)?The narrator sounds a lot like Ted. What kind of weird accident would Barney have to be in to have his voice sound like that in the future? (Never mind the fact that a lot of the stories told don't even have Barney in many of the scenes; the stories focus on Ted.)

Ok I have to kill the theories about the narrator NOT being Ted. In the season 1 DVD extras they say that one of the reasons they picked Bob Saget as the narrator is because he sounds a little like Josh Radnor. So that proves that the Narrator is IN FACT Ted and not Barney, or whatever silly theories are out there.

Oh, Bob Saget! I knew I knew that voice. LOL Thanks sarge!

Updated in reference to your comments.I already made mention to name and time shifting but I still maintain that the evidence isn't there to support it as he refers to himself in the first person when narrorating. The narrator is certainly not Barney- it is defiantly the Ted character.

xzonia wrote: Great job atomickeg! Excellent points! Remember the episode where Lily, Marshall, and Ted are "eating a big sandwich" at their college reunion, and Ted looks around and asks where his wife is? I mean, sure, his wife doesn't have to be the kids' mom, but odds are good she is. Would Ted spend all that time telling his kids how he met their mom if he wasn't married to their mom? And like jonssonftw said, wouldn't they be more interested in the stories if that were true (and his wife wasn't their mom)?The narrator sounds a lot like Ted. What kind of weird accident would Barney have to be in to have his voice sound like that in the future? (Never mind the fact that a lot of the stories told don't even have Barney in many of the scenes; the stories focus on Ted.)