The journey to meeting your mother definitely had its ups and downs! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the scenes from “How I Met Your Mother” that hit us right in the feels!
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00:00 "We're getting through this argument."
00:01 "Okay. No pot shots at my mom."
00:05 "Fine, no distracting me with your calves."
00:07 "Fine."
00:08 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the scenes
00:12 from 'How I Met Your Mother' that hit us right in the feels.
00:15 "He's lying, Robin. He's trying to be strong, but it's killing him."
00:20 Number 20. Barney and Robin divorce
00:23 Much of the last season of 'How I Met Your Mother'—
00:25 and indeed, the last few seasons of the show—
00:28 are geared towards Robin and Barney, specifically their wedding.
00:32 That's why this moment is such a gut punch.
00:35 "How was Argentina?"
00:36 "Great. It was great. It was great."
00:41 "It was great."
00:42 "It was great."
00:42 "It was great. It was great."
00:44 When the gang gets together to talk about how things are going,
00:47 Barney and Robin reveal they've been having problems.
00:50 "We both hate it when I'm gone. We both hate it when I drag you with me.
00:53 Neither of us is happy."
00:57 "Is this just not working anymore?"
00:58 After a flashback demonstrates that their way of dealing with them
01:01 isn't exactly healthy, the two explain that they've divorced.
01:05 "If there was an exit ramp right here at the three-year mark,
01:09 would you take it?"
01:12 While many marriages don't work out, we still hoped that Barney and Robin
01:16 would be able to make theirs work—particularly after all that buildup.
01:20 "I've made a vow that I would always tell you the truth."
01:25 "We got divorced."
01:26 Number 19. Barney walks away.
01:29 Barney doesn't seem like the type to settle down.
01:32 "I want to get married. I mean, not tonight, or even to you necessarily,
01:37 but that's what I want. And if that's gonna scare you off,
01:40 then I'd rather it scare you off now."
01:43 That's why, when he tells his girlfriend Nora that he does,
01:46 we believe him when he later confesses otherwise.
01:49 "That's exactly what I want, too."
01:51 When it turns out to have actually been the truth, however,
01:54 Barney sets intentions to make amends with Nora,
01:57 and tell her that he does want to settle down.
02:00 "I said I lied, that was a lie, and I'm sorry."
02:03 "I'm confused."
02:04 "So am I."
02:05 He finds her at a cafe, apologizes, and they reconcile.
02:08 "I want to be confused with you."
02:12 Except the camera pans over and reveals that the whole scene
02:17 was in Barney's imagination.
02:19 In reality, he walks away.
02:21 "These stones keep my feet on the ground."
02:26 It's a sad scene because it's so relatable.
02:35 How many of us have imagined happiness for ourselves,
02:38 but not pursued it or self-sabotaged for one reason or another?
02:42 Number 18.
02:44 Robin drifts apart from the gang.
02:46 Following Robin and Barney's divorce, the group worries they'll drift apart
02:50 as friends often have to choose sides when couples break up.
02:54 "You guys do not need to pick sides."
02:56 "Nothing has to change."
02:57 Lily makes sure to secure promises that they'll be together
03:00 for the big moments.
03:01 "Just promise me no matter what, we will always be there
03:05 for the big moments."
03:06 However, despite this promise, Robin ends up estranged
03:09 from the group throughout the years afterward
03:11 since her job leads her to travel the world.
03:14 "I mean, Robin's really taken off at work."
03:15 "Robin's really taken off at work, huh?
03:17 It's like Robin Scherbatsky, Worldwide News, Caracas.
03:20 Robin Scherbatsky, Worldwide News, St. Petersburg."
03:23 While the rest of the group stays closer together.
03:25 "The gang is a married couple who I never see anymore
03:29 about to have their third kid.
03:31 It's my ex-husband hitting on slutty cops right in front of me."
03:36 It's a sad reality that people who were once close friends
03:39 often grow apart from each other,
03:41 but it still hurts to see it happen to Robin and the group.
03:44 "I know I've missed a couple lately, but I said
03:49 we'd always be there for the big moments."
03:51 Number 17.
03:52 Ted Dumps Barney
03:54 Barney and Robin sleeping together complicates things
03:57 for both of them, and not just because they're friends.
04:00 "Now we go back to exactly the way things were before."
04:03 "Okay."
04:04 "Okay."
04:05 "Right."
04:05 At this point, Robin and Ted had already dated,
04:08 and dating the ex of a bro goes against Barney's
04:11 much vaunted bro code.
04:13 It also doesn't help that this whole thing takes place
04:16 shortly before Ted's birthday.
04:18 "There's something that I have to tell you,
04:19 and I wanted you to be in the best possible frame of mind
04:22 before you heard it."
04:22 "You slept with Robin."
04:23 While Barney looks for a loophole in his dubious legal document,
04:27 he ultimately decides to own up.
04:29 Except Ted already knows.
04:31 "I don't know if you'd even want it, but if you do, it's yours."
04:33 "I slept with Barney."
04:34 "What?"
04:35 Ted's extended rant on the subject does have its funny moments.
04:38 "Oh hey, I just remembered, my mom is coming into town next month.
04:42 Maybe you'd like to nail her too!"
04:44 But eventually he posits that,
04:46 much like a box of things he's getting rid of,
04:48 he's considering Barney's worth to him too.
04:51 "I started putting things in a box, and that box was labeled
04:53 'stuff I have no use for anymore.'
04:55 "And what does that mean?"
04:57 "It means... maybe you belong in that box."
05:01 Barney and Ted do eventually reconcile,
05:04 but it's still sad to see Ted sever their friendship temporarily.
05:08 "Are you saying you don't want to be bros anymore?"
05:10 "I'm saying I don't want to be friends anymore."
05:12 Number 16.
05:13 Ted breaks up with Victoria.
05:16 Among Ted's many relationships throughout the show,
05:18 arguably the third most important after Robin and the mother is Victoria.
05:23 After a long period apart, the two of them get back together,
05:27 and Ted even proposes.
05:29 "Will you marry me?"
05:29 "Yes, of course!"
05:32 However, Victoria is insistent that Ted break off his friendship with Robin,
05:38 since she's the reason they broke up the first time.
05:40 "You won't marry me if I'm still friends with Robin?
05:43 Wait, she's the thing that's been holding us back?"
05:46 "There's just too much history there."
05:48 Ted reluctantly agrees, but when the time comes for him to tell Robin he can't do it.
05:54 Instead, he tells Victoria that Robin is like family to him,
05:57 and asks if she can handle that.
05:59 "I'm not in love with Robin.
06:01 But she's like family to me, and I can't end that.
06:09 So, can you accept that?"
06:13 She can't, and she breaks up with him for good.
06:16 "I really hope you get her someday."
06:18 Ted's lingering attachment to Robin causes him a lot of heartbreak during the show,
06:23 and our hearts break along with him here.
06:25 Number 15.
06:27 Stella leaves Ted.
06:28 Ted doesn't have the best luck with weddings.
06:31 "It's my wedding! You have to be there!"
06:33 "Okay, okay, I'll be there."
06:35 Still, he doesn't help his track record when he invites not only his own ex,
06:39 Robin, to his wedding with Stella, but also Stella's ex, Tony.
06:42 "I wasn't even invited to the wedding."
06:44 "Well, you are now."
06:45 Stella is upset, telling Ted she's worried about his lingering feelings for Robin.
06:51 However, ultimately, when Ted finds a note from Stella,
06:54 it turns out she was merely projecting her own worries about her ex.
06:59 Stella leaves Ted at the altar to go off with Tony.
07:01 "How do you know that that spark won't come back with your ex sitting up there?"
07:04 While it's easy to say that we want the person we love to be happy,
07:07 it still cuts like a knife when their happiness means not being with you.
07:11 Number 14.
07:13 Lily and Marshall fight over his judge job.
07:16 Marshall and Lily have a fantastic relationship, for the most part.
07:20 One of their biggest and only fights occurs in the final season,
07:24 when Marshall applies for a judgeship without consulting Lily.
07:27 "How could you take that job without telling me?"
07:30 "Baby, I'm sorry, but they needed an answer right away. This is a huge opportunity."
07:34 Despite their attempts to put the fight on pause,
07:37 they can't delay it forever, and they eventually explode.
07:40 Lily is understandably furious that Marshall didn't tell her,
07:44 particularly with their trip to Italy planned.
07:46 "We're going to Italy."
07:48 "But I could be a judge. We can't give that up for what is clearly just a hobby."
07:53 Meanwhile, Marshall reiterates that the opportunity was time-sensitive, and his dream.
07:58 Lily insists that she has never been so selfish, but Marshall brings up a good point.
08:03 She has.
08:04 "You were more selfish than I have ever been to you!"
08:07 "You broke up with me and moved to San Francisco."
08:12 Both of them are in the right and in the wrong at the same time,
08:15 so it tears us apart watching them fight.
08:18 "Why are you bringing up San Francisco that was seven years ago?"
08:22 "Because you are being selfish all over again."
08:26 Number 13.
08:28 Leaving the reception.
08:29 Ted has a hard time handling Barney and Robin's wedding,
08:32 so he decides to move to Chicago.
08:34 "I have to go."
08:38 "What, now?"
08:40 To that end, he leaves the reception early.
08:42 On the patio outside, he and his friends say what they believe
08:46 will be their last goodbyes for a while.
08:48 "Robin, it's been a major pleasure."
08:52 "Major pleasure."
08:54 Each goodbye is emotional in itself,
08:56 with callbacks to many episodes throughout the show.
08:59 But they all happen one after the other.
09:01 "Good luck out there in Chicago.
09:03 I'm gonna be kind of jealous of you getting to have
09:05 gazola's pizza whenever you want."
09:08 "You're gonna be in Rome."
09:09 While this isn't the end of the show or their friendships,
09:12 it still makes us teary-eyed to look back on everything they've been through.
09:16 Not to mention, Lily crying makes us cry.
09:19 "I'm right here."
09:24 "It helped that that was really creepy. I don't want to see you for a while."
09:29 At least Ted and Barney get an epic high five.
09:32 "Nice working with you, Dr. Bankman."
09:34 #12. Marshall tells Robin what Ted can't
09:46 Ted's love for Robin is persistent, as we've mentioned and will continue to mention.
09:51 "As long as the door's even a little bit open,
09:53 I have this feeling that I'll just be waiting around
09:56 to see if I win the lottery when you turn 40."
09:59 After laying it all on the line with her,
10:01 Ted is despondent, even if he refuses to acknowledge it himself.
10:05 Despite Marshall believing that the two will end up together,
10:08 if only for the purposes of a bet with Lily, he can still see that Ted is hurting.
10:12 "I can finally move on. This is a good thing."
10:16 Marshall tells Robin what Ted is unable to. She needs to move out of their apartment.
10:20 "I have to say something that he loves you just way too much to say.
10:26 You gotta move out."
10:27 "I know."
10:31 It's the end of an era for the two of them,
10:33 but at least it opens up some new possibilities for Ted.
10:36 And it's a great musical moment for the show too.
10:38 # I like to keep some things to myself #
10:43 Even so, this gesture isn't enough for Ted,
10:46 something his move to Chicago proves in the end.
10:49 "For a guy who loves New York this much to leave it,
10:55 you must really need to go, huh?"
10:57 "Yeah, I really do."
11:00 #11. Robin doesn't love Ted
11:03 This one comes right off the tail of the last entry,
11:05 but we thought it deserved its own mention.
11:08 After some confused feelings and a kiss, Ted's feelings for Robin are rekindled.
11:13 "I'll continue this when I get back."
11:14 He declares several times to Robin that he loves her.
11:18 While she waffles, Ted insists on a definitive answer.
11:21 And she gives him one, just not the one he's hoping for.
11:25 "Do you love me?"
11:25 "No."
11:33 Even if you're not a fan of their relationship,
11:35 seeing Ted get shot down after being so vulnerable is still tough to watch.
11:39 "We're great as friends. Let's just forget I ever said anything."
11:43 It hits even harder when we see it again in Ted's montage
11:46 of all the worst times he's been hurt in his life,
11:49 considering it ranks right at the top.
11:51 "But when I saw that text message and found out Robin was engaged, it was like..."
11:56 "Unbelievable!"
12:00 "Times a million."
12:04 #10. Lily leaves Marshall
12:06 "You know, if you're having these kind of doubts now,
12:08 what's gonna change in three months? Maybe we just shouldn't get married at all."
12:10 "Maybe not."
12:11 Marshmallow and Lily-Pad are the kind of couple that we all aspire to.
12:15 Their communication, support, and general adorability are all fantastic to watch.
12:21 So when Lily accepts a fellowship across the country
12:24 without telling Marshall in the season one finale,
12:26 their ensuing fight is rather unexpected.
12:29 "I'm not asking you to understand it. I'm not asking you to be happy about it.
12:33 I'm just asking you to support it."
12:36 Although the two try to delay having to deal with the issue by pausing their argument,
12:40 eventually they break up, leaving Marshall crying in the rain.
12:44 #11. Tracey talks to Max
12:49 Even this early on in the series, these two seemed like they would be together forever.
12:54 So their seemingly permanent breakup hits home.
12:56 #9. Tracey talks to Max
12:59 "There's someone that I need to talk to. I'll be right back."
13:05 The titular mother, Tracey, has her own journey towards Ted Mosby,
13:09 and it's a tragic one. In her early 20s, Tracey's first love, Max, dies abruptly.
13:15 "Would it be okay if I moved on?"
13:19 She takes many years to get over the loss, though she eventually does start dating again,
13:24 even if her boyfriend, Louis, isn't exactly perfect for her.
13:27 When Louis proposes, Tracey takes a moment in private to speak to Max,
13:31 asking permission to move on.
13:33 "I think that I have been holding myself back from falling in love again.
13:38 And I think it's because I can't let you go."
13:43 While she rejects Louis, she plays a rendition of 'La Vie en Rose' on the ukulele,
13:48 in a bittersweet and beautiful moment that Ted bears witness to.
13:51 # "Give your heart and soul to me, and life will always be
14:01 La Vie en Rose."
14:04 Also, Tracey's lost love is foreshadowing for a later entry on our list.
14:08 #8. Lily's Confession
14:11 "Say how much you hate that Robin and Barney are getting married."
14:14 "What? No!"
14:16 Barney and Robin's wedding, particularly its planning stages,
14:20 proves to be a stressful time, and not just for them. Ted especially becomes stressed as he tries
14:26 to reconcile his feelings for Robin with his attempts to be a good friend.
14:30 "Robin shouldn't be with Barney, she should be with me."
14:32 Ultimately, Lily sits him down on the roof to get him to admit to this,
14:36 and in doing so, she admits something even worse. Sometimes, she wishes she wasn't a mother.
14:42 "Sometimes I wish I wasn't a mom. Sometimes I want to pack a bag and leave in the middle
14:48 of the night and not come back."
14:50 She admits that working with children and being a mother makes it all feel like work,
14:54 and that she sometimes fantasizes about leaving her life behind.
14:58 Feeling trapped by what you love is sadly a very relatable experience.
15:02 "I spend the whole day taking care of kids and my job, and I come home and it's more of the same.
15:08 It never lets up. It's just really, really hard, Ted."
15:15 #7. Barney's Longest Second
15:18 "You weren't at the top of your game, but it was still pretty good."
15:20 "Oh my god! I just cheated on Kevin! He is the nicest guy ever! I'm a terrible person!"
15:27 Barney and Robin had a long and difficult path to get to the altar.
15:31 Following their first attempt at a relationship,
15:33 they each cheat on their partners to sleep with each other.
15:36 "I wish last night never happened."
15:38 "I don't."
15:43 Although both feel guilty and attempt to confess their indiscretion,
15:47 Barney believes that he and Robin can still get together once they have ended
15:50 their current relationships.
15:52 "Hey! How's it going?"
15:53 "Uh, not great. Nora and I broke up."
15:56 However, although Barney breaks up with Nora, Robin does not tell Kevin,
16:01 and Barney's realization that she doesn't feel the same about him
16:04 leaves him feeling like time has stopped.
16:06 "For Barney, the second that would never end was this one."
16:10 While time is frozen, we're right there with him,
16:18 and him cleaning up the rose petals right afterward only adds insult to injury.
16:23 Number 6. Marvin Sr.'s funeral voicemail.
16:27 "Marshall, do you remember the last thing your father said to you?"
16:30 Marshall's father Marvin tragically passes away midway through the series,
16:34 naturally leaving Marshall devastated.
16:36 "Baby, are you okay?"
16:37 "I hold in my hand the last words my father will ever say to me."
16:43 During his funeral, Marshall discovers that he has one final voicemail from his father,
16:48 and while he puts off listening to it, he eventually can't take it anymore,
16:51 only to be disappointed that it's a pocket dial.
16:54 "He always came through for me, and now he's just gone.
16:58 What am I left with?"
17:02 He goes on to express what his father meant to him,
17:04 and how he feels robbed of a chance to hear his final words,
17:08 only for his father to realize that his phone was on,
17:11 and tell his son he loves him one final time.
17:14 "Sorry about that, buddy. Um, anyway, your mom and I had such a great time seeing you.
17:19 I love you."
17:21 This moment is a tearjerker, but they're both sad and happy tears.
17:25 "Looks like your dad came through one last time."
17:27 Number 5. Barney Stealing the Basketball Net
17:33 "Barney, I...I got your letter."
17:36 "Dad?"
17:42 After years spent in ignorance, Barney finally meets his father.
17:46 While in typical Barney fashion, he first tries to play up his father's accomplishments,
17:51 but it turns out he's actually just a typical suburban dad.
17:55 During a dinner with Jerry and his family, Barney mocks his half-brother and storms out,
18:00 ineffectually trying to steal the basketball hoop and the backboard above Jerry's garage.
18:06 "Barney, what is going on?"
18:08 "This is mine."
18:09 "I don't understand."
18:10 "JJ gets a childhood, a dad, a real family, and a basketball hoop?
18:15 No, no, I at least get the hoop. I'm taking it, please."
18:18 When Jerry tries to find out why Barney is disappointed in Jerry's suburban lifestyle,
18:23 Barney tells him that he wants to know why Jerry couldn't have been a dad to him growing up.
18:28 He only wants the net as a consolation.
18:30 Neil Patrick Harris's acting is excellent, and we really feel for Barney here.
18:35 "You're just some lame suburban dad."
18:37 "Why does that make you so mad?"
18:39 "Because if you were gonna be some lame suburban dad,
18:41 why couldn't you have been that for me?"
18:43 Number four, Robin can't have children.
18:46 "I can't have a baby."
18:47 At first upset at the prospect of having kids,
18:50 Robin is relieved when she's told she won't be having a child.
18:54 But Robin is still surprisingly affected when the doctor later tells her that she can't have
18:58 children, at all.
19:00 "I never wanted that. Of course, it's one thing not to want something,
19:04 it's another to be told you can't have it."
19:06 She tries brushing it off, but she becomes more upset as the episode goes on,
19:10 and the feels are further piled on when it's revealed that the children
19:14 she's been narrating to aren't real.
19:16 "If you want to know the truth of it, I'm glad you guys aren't real."
19:21 This culminates in her breaking down into tears at Ted's attempt to cheer her up.
19:25 "But there's one thing your Aunt Robin never was. She was never alone."
19:30 Number three, 45 days.
19:34 "Look around, Ted. You're all alone."
19:37 After a night spent in the bar with hypothetical future versions of himself and Barney,
19:42 Ted realizes that he's actually been there alone, lost in reminiscences.
19:47 Future Ted tells his kids if he really could change the past,
19:51 he would do many things.
19:52 But the first thing he'd do would be to visit their future mother.
19:56 "Hi. I'm Ted Mosby.
20:00 And exactly 45 days from now, you and I are gonna meet."
20:07 He then imagines himself rushing to meet Tracy,
20:10 giving her an emotional speech,
20:12 telling her how much he's going to love her when they meet in 45 days,
20:16 and saying that he wishes he could have had that extra time with her.
20:19 "But I'm here now, I guess because...
20:23 I want those extra 45 days. With you, I want each one of them."
20:32 The moment is performed brilliantly,
20:34 and is made all the more heartbreaking given our next entry.
20:37 Number two, Tracy's death.
20:40 "I mean, come on. Of course she showed up.
20:43 What mother is gonna miss her daughter's wedding?"
20:45 Although the death of Tracy is foreshadowed several times during the series,
20:49 including the previous entry, as well as in that scene at the restaurant,
20:53 Tracy's death still packs an emotional punch.
20:55 "See kids, right from the moment I met your mom, I knew...
20:59 I have to love this woman as much as I can, for as long as I can,
21:04 and I can never stop loving her, not even for a second."
21:07 During the finale, just prior to finally telling his kids how he met her,
21:11 Ted reveals to the audience through a montage that Tracy got sick
21:15 through an unspecified illness,
21:17 and passed away six years before he started telling the kids his story.
21:21 "Even then, in what can only be called the worst of times,
21:24 all I could do was thank God."
21:26 While we may have only spent a season getting to know her,
21:29 Tracy was a great character and a pivotal part of the show, and losing her really hurt.
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21:49 Number 1. Marshall's Dad's Death
21:53 "My dad's death?"
21:58 We've already seen what the aftermath of Marshall's dad's death does to him,
22:02 but the moment he finds out is easily the saddest part of the entire show.
22:07 Marshall and his dad are incredibly close, despite living so far apart.
22:12 So Marshall struggles with whether to tell him about the fertility issues he and Lily are having.
22:17 "What I'm saying is, we love you no matter what."
22:20 After learning he and Lily can have kids, Marshall attempts to call his dad to no avail,
22:28 and when he meets up with Lily, she tells him his father had a heart attack and died.
22:32 "Something's happened. Um, your father, he had a heart attack. He didn't make it."
22:41 Marshall's devastation is incredibly authentic, and we're all the sadder because of it.
22:47 "I'm not ready for this."
22:48 Is there a "How I Met Your Mother" tearjerker moment we forgot?
22:57 Let us know in the comments, and then stop being sad and be awesome instead.
23:01 "When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story."
23:07 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms Mojo,
23:11 and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
23:15 [Music]