most popular sitcoms ever that has aged the poorest, in part thanks to its notorious finale and endgame couple. Infamously, after nine seasons of Ted (Josh Radnor) recounting the years that led up to him meeting his two children's mother Tracy (Cristin Milioti), it is revealed that he has been an unreliable narrator all along. Tracy ed away some years ago, and Ted is actually determining how his kids would feel about him rekindling things with Robin (Cobie Smulders).

How I Met Your Mother suffers from what is also one of the harsh realities when rewatching Friends, when multiple of the main cast are stuck in a cycle of relationships and break-ups yet must be in each other's constant presence afterward for the friend group-focused show to continue. People in sitcoms rarely act like people in real life would, as they do exist for the sake of comedy. However, as much as people may have loved How I Met Your Mother at the time, several of the relationships don't hold up now.

Barney & Robin Didn't Need To Stay Together In HIMYM, But Ted & Robin Never Made Sense

Barney & Robin's Individual Arcs' Endings Worked - But Her & Ted Didn't

The plot of the final season of How I Met Your Mother revolves around Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin’s wedding, while Ted wrestles with his unresolved feelings for the woman who is about to marry his best friend, and the mother is on a collision course with him as the bass player at the wedding. Robin and Barney's relationship never made sense for several reasons; Barney's womanizing behavior in general is the aspect of How I Met Your Mother that has aged the worst, and really only ever worked because Neil Patrick Harris is a brilliant comedian.

Robin and Barney bond and fall in love over shared wit and a fondness for causing chaos, but they were perhaps always destined to break up. Their individual stories actually end fairly well, as Barney has a daughter who becomes his whole life and finally motivates him to be a better person, while Robin achieves everything she ever wanted to in her career. This could have been enough for everyone, but Ted and Robin then had to get back together, despite their different goals and personalities being completely valid and unchanging reasons for them not to.

Over 10 Years Later, I Still Don't Believe Ted & Robin Would Have Lasted After The Finale

A Lot Of The Same Things Could Break Up Ted & Robin Again

Ted and Robin's differences are glaring during the time they are officially together in How I Met Your Mother season 2, and these things never go away. Ted always wanted to have kids and put down roots, while Robin didn't want them and wished to travel for work. Beyond this, Ted is very idealistic and dreamy, while Robin is pragmatic, something that causes conflict between them for entertainment for short beats throughout their romantic relationship and friendship. When Ted and Robin, presumably, start dating again, they will have to reckon with these things.

We also don't know what exactly Ted wants from their potential relationship at this point.

Robin is probably still traveling for work while Ted must remain in New York with his kids. She would probably be a better stepmother to teenagers than a mother to young children, as her responsibilities are far fewer to kids who can take care of themselves sometimes. But we also don't know what exactly Ted wants from their potential relationship at this point, and if it would frustrate him that Robin is constantly out of town, as it did Barney. As happy as she appears in the finale, Robin might find herself again nervous about Ted's romantic "it was meant to be" mentality.

There is also the fact that Robin essentially removed herself from the friend group for years, and the implication that both she and Ted remained in love with each other the whole time he was with Tracy. Penny (Lyndsy Fonseca) and Luke (David Henrie) are ive about it now, but it wouldn't be unwarranted if they started to resent Robin and their dad at some point, while Robin reentering the fold might cause tension with Barney, Marshall (Jason Segel), and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) after so many years. Yet How I Met Your Mother always presents a romanticized vision of real-world relationships.

It's Controversial, But I Don't Think Lily & Marshall Would Have Lasted In HIMYM Either

Marshall & Lily Stayed Together Despite Overwhelming Odds

Namely, Ted's search for love and the messy love triangle between him, Robin, and Barney is set against the steady relationship between Marshall and Lily, who have already been together for a decade when the show starts. Marshall and Lily's best moments show how a couple can evolve as they change as individuals, and consistently make an effort to make the other feel appreciated. However, this happening with people who got together when they were so young is somewhat unlikely. But How I Met Your Mother is deeply romantic, so it lets Marshall and Lily stay together against the odds as set dressing.

The biggest fights in their relationship surround Lily going to San Francisco and whether they will move their family to Italy, highlighting the things that might have driven them apart in real life. They got together when they were 18, and their career goals changed several times. They never did really have a chance to explore life as individual adults when they were always bound together and a bit co-dependent. It's nice that they do stay together, both have the careers they want in the end, and are happy with their children, but this is certainly a story rather than reality.

How I Met Your Mother Hasn't Aged Well & Its Endgame Couples Are Part Of That

Ted & Tracy Should Have Just Lived Happily Ever After

Which is where How I Met Your Mother fell apart: the disagreement between the hopeful vision of love it wanted to present and how that played out in the show. Marshall and Lily might have been unlikely, but some people do marry their high school and college sweethearts, and luckily, never find themselves thinking about what might have been if they'd had some more independence. However, the show really leans into the premise of Ted's epic journey to finding the perfect woman, who is an endearing, beloved character herself, only to rip the rug out from under us at the last minute.

How I Met Your Mother had some sweet and iconic moments over the course of its nine-season run, and certainly left its audience with much to think about concerning destiny and relationships.

Even Robin and Barney's relationship is held up as a grand love story for a time, when his horribly misogynistic actions should have been a dealbreaker, not just in their relationship but in his friendships with the rest of the gang. How I Met Your Mother had some sweet and iconic moments over the course of its nine-season run, and certainly left its audience with much to think about concerning destiny and relationships. However, it was at its best in its time and is only getting worse as that drifts further into the past.