This is the bit I find most risable. It's their story, and they can plot out whatever actions they want. The specifics of the outcome don't matter as such, but given that this ending has been planned for nine years, with the kids' segment being taped back in the first season or two, why did they drag us through so much Barney and Robin relationship drama, and not at all telling the story of a doomed couple rushing into something they didn't really want and are not ready for? Why did they bother with the Mother at all, much less write for her in a way that made her interesting as a character, especially for fans who were starved for something new and not ridiculous on the show?
Indeed. It looks like another case of having a good idea without thinking the execution through, committing to it and carrying on long past the point where it was working. They announced that the last season would be set entirely at the wedding weekend, around the time the previous season finale was aired, so they had to stick with it, even thought they ran out of things to say. They hit exactly the wrong amount of airtime for Tracy, too much for what her role turned out to be (a step in Ted's development and a standard to prove that his love for Robin endures anything), but not enough to salvage the season for those who found her presence a breath of fresh air, or who were mislead into becoming too invested in her. It would be one thing if she was in every episode with flash forwards, and flashbacks, and near-misses at the inn, and it was great and everyone loved it and then they yanked the rug out by revealing her eventual death a deacade later. At least the fans could say they had season 9 (and really, what do those last few minutes of the finale matter against the length and stretch of an entire show or season? ). If they had gone with happily ever after, then they could say the scant appearances in the last season are acceptable because what's really important is the lifetime with Ted. But to do as much as they did for a placeholder relationship?

I was actually hoping, as late as two days before when I expressed as much at a family party where several of us watchers were discussing it, that they might pull this off, since it was something plotted out back when the creative team was at their peak.