How I met your mother never resolved Ted and Robin’s biggest fight

While How I Met Your Mother had some unsolved plot holes, one of the sitcom’s most egregious abandoned stories came in the form of a fight between Ted and Robin. Many plot gaps indicate practical problems with the pacing of an action or logical problems with the storytelling in a work. However, sometimes plot holes are more about character inconsistencies. For example in How I Met your motherr, it’s incongruous that Barney spent years secretly working to take down the amoral financiers behind Goliath National Bank while spending those same years portraying the incorrigible to friends and romantic partners.

This particular plot hole could be to blame for Teds How I Met Your Mother The narrative was intent on making Barney look bad, and as such portrayed him in an exaggerated, largely negative light. There are other character inconsistencies that are included in , however How I Met Your Mother that’s harder to explain. For example, Lily’s interest in a career as an artist led to her leaving Marshall (albeit temporarily) at the end of season one, but by the series finale of How I Met Your MotherTed never mentions if she pursued this passion after becoming a mother.

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Ted’s Robin insult was worse than it seemed

One of the most egregious examples of this type of character inconsistency came in How I Met your motherr Season 4, Episode 7, “No Father’s Day”. Before Marshall and Lily became parents in one of them How I Met Your MotherIn his saddest episode, “No Father’s Day,” Barney celebrated his child-free status. This leads to Ted starting an argument with Robin about her decision not to have children, with Ted telling her that it’s just as well that she doesn’t want children considering what a “ice queen” She is. That’s brutal from a man who always knew he wanted children.

By the end of Not A Father’s Day, Ted’s reactionary declaration that people without children are losers is seemingly correct and Barney is shown his mistake. This point is reinforced later when a daughter immediately makes Barney a good person How I Met your motherr’s final. However there How I Met Your Mother‘s Saddest Christmas Special reveals that Robin’s decision to remain childless isn’t entirely her own, and Ted’s appalling comments about her personality aren’t addressed by either character. Ted never apologizes or even seems to realize that what he said was a shocking view of Robin and the couple ending up together.

Ted and Robin’s argument underscores their worst problem

Ted’s fantasy of finding the one always included marrying this imagined love interest and having children. A bit like Robin loving dogs while Ted didn’t, this seemed like a major conflict of interest How I Met your motherr’s supposed hero ignored. The couple wanted very different things from life in No Father’s Day, and Ted was quick to take personal offense at Robin. While the finale paired them, this is How I Met Your Mother Plot hole was never answered. Viewers have never learned how Ted and Robin squared this circle in the long term, as Robin prides himself on being childless while Ted’s worldview means he is suspicious of that.

HIMYM justified Ted and Robin’s fight (but not his finale)

The fight in No Father’s Day proves that Ted wants marriage and kids (which he eventually gets, but not with Robin), while Robin wants more freedom from life (which she gets before finally ending up with Ted). However, How I Met Your Mother never explained when their interests aligned in the years following her mother’s death/Robin and Barney’s divorce. Robin’s lack of interest in raising children extends to the rest of her pursuits and shapes how she goes about her life, much like Ted’s views drive him to get married, have children, and settle down.

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While Ted Robin has wanted since How I Met Your Mother Season 1, he never shared her outlook on life or her worldview. The couple disagrees on important life decisions, such as whether to have children, but the series finale implies that this won’t pose a problem for their romantic reconciliation. Not only that, Ted personally insults Robin’s character when her interests don’t align with his, and How I Met your motherHe never explains why this behavior wouldn’t quickly turn their relationship into a bitter, resentful affair.

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