Heartwarming / How I Met Your Mother

"And that, kids, is how Barney became Uncle Barney."

Moments pages are Spoilers Off.

Season One

• Marshall's speech to Barney in the pilot, asserting that he loves Lily and will definitely marry her. Especially when Lily walks up right behind him in time to hear this.
• Ted's unwavering belief in "Slutty Pumpkin" (and his chat with Robin at the end).
• In "The Limo," Marshall and Lily finding each other in time to give each other a New Year's kiss. Also Ted pointing out that for all the trouble the group went through to find an awesome party, they had everything they needed right there with them - each other.
• Almost the entirety of "Drumroll, Please" (but especially the very end). What totally makes it is Victoria saying "Thank God," as soon as she sees him, showing that she evidently regretted the whole "one night only" thing as much as Ted had, and had been hoping they'd be able to find each other.
• Marshall going up to do karaoke with Lily in 1x17 Life Among the Gorillas. First because Marshall is ruining his reputation with the corporate sleaze bullies, but also because Barney immediately smiles, puts down his mic, and walks away so Marshall can do so.
• Barney buying corsages for Lily and Robin in "Best Prom Ever."
• Ted made it rain for Robin. It was a Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter that paid off.

Season Two

• Barney rushing to Marshall's side as soon as he got the message about Lily leaving, expressing genuine empathy, and (in his own way) trying to help Marshall through it.
• Marshall and Lily getting back together at the end of "Swarley".
• Marshall and Lily kissing at the end of "The Limo".
• Marshall and Lily getting married in "Something Borrowed".
• Barney finding out that his brother was adopting a baby and he was going to be an uncle. The pure happiness that appeared on his face and the hug between him and his brother said it all. Especially since the entire episode has been about him being angry at his brother for 'abandoning' the companionship he had gotten used to. But the SECOND he's told he's gonna be an uncle, he stops and just hugs him. It's beautiful. And then of course, there's just the little scene of him promising the little guy that when he gets old enough they're gonna hit the town 'uncle and nephew style'. With "I'm gonna be an uncle?", Barney drops his jerkassery and embraces his heart of gold.
• One of the Christmas episodes features Marshall trying to get Lily the perfect gift. He's forced to run after the delivery truck, and helps the delivery guy deliver Christmas packages. Aww.
• That "perfect gift" was an E-Z Bake oven, which Lily told Ted, way back when the two of them were getting stoned in college one night circa 1997, was something that she had always wanted but couldn't have because her mother wouldn't let her conform to gender stereotypes. After all that time (and weed) Ted still remembered that throwaway line and was the one who told Marshall to get the oven for Lily.
  Lily: I can't believe Ted remembered that after all this time.
  Marshall: And all that weed.
• Ted and Lily make up: "Can we just skip apology and go straight to the forgiving?"
• "First Time in New York" is about Robin getting the nerve to say "I Love You" to Ted, opening with a montage showing how much Ted cares for her (Taking care of her when sick and becoming sick himself because of it, offering to take a day off work to show her and her sister around town). When her sister started asking uncomfortable questions about how much she cares for Ted in return, Ted made it clear she didn't have to say anything she wasn't ready for. But with Ted managing to convince her sister not to lose her virginity to a douche, she found that she did love him and lost her "I love you-ginity" to him.
• During the montage when Robin is sick, Ted goes to kiss her after bringing her food.
  Robin: No, don't, you'll get sick. [Ted smiles and kisses her anyway]
  Cut to Ted sick in bed and Robin bringing him soup
  Ted: [sniffles] Totally worth it.
• Barney lied multiple times about the way he lost his virginity (taking stories from movies like Dirty Dancing, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Risky Business) and finally tells the gang at the end of the episode the truth. It's...less than awesome, and obviously discomforts him, so they roll with his initial story and let him have it the way he wants it.
• Lily sitting back down and watching to the end of Barney's play, even though it's deliberately designed to torture her, because he's proud of all the work he did on it. Really proves the point she was making about how she would sit through any play he was in.
• The flashback in "Bachelor Party" to Barney's visit to San Francisco to get Marshall and Lily back together, and the revelation that he stole women from Marshall in "The Scorpion and the Toad" because he wanted to make sure they got back together. Well, partly, anyway.
• From the episode Showdown: "Congratulations on thirty-five wonderful years hosting The Price is Right."
• Barney giving all his prizes to Lily and Marshall for their wedding.
• There's Barney—Barney!—trying to hold back tears at Marshall and Lily's wedding.
• The couple whose engagement ring accidentally shows up at Ted's and Robin's table, yeah, they're extras, whoop-de-doo, right? Except that they weren't actors, that was a real proposal where the girl didn't know what was coming. She actually said yes, she was really crying, and the cast and crew applauded. (Cobie Smulders cried, too).
• This bit, when Barney is trying to stop Ted and Robin from moving in together.
  Barney: How are you going to feel when he sees you without any makeup?
  Robin: I'm not wearing any makeup right now.
  Barney: (mild Double Take) Holy crap, you're beautiful!
  Robin: (surprised, but flattered smile)
• In "Bachelor Party", Future!Ted illustrates Barney's alleged tendency to leave when things get tough by flashing back to a year earlier when Marshall is crying over Lily leaving him and Barney just left. At the end, when Marshall is mad at Barney for ruining his bachelor party, Lily reveals something Barney wanted kept secret. When Barney left in the aforementioned flashback, he jumped in a cab, went straight to the airport, and flew out to San Francisco, where he gave Lily an impassioned speech convincing her to come back to New York and salvage her relationship with Marshall.
• The perfect end to a relationship: "You stole a blue French horn for me." "I would have stolen you a whole orchestra."

Season Three

• The 3rd season episode "Little Boys", which revolves around Robin dealing with her discomfort with children, does not end with Robin softening towards children, but it does end with Future!Ted reminding his own children that "Aunt Robin eventually made her peace with children, and she went on to star in some very important works of art: yours" followed by a montage of crude, affectionate crayon drawings of Ted's two kids going to the beach, the zoo, etc, with their Aunt Robin.
• The last scene of "How I Met Everyone Else", where all the way in the year 2020 at their college reunion, Ted, Marshall, and Lily — even though Lily's wrinkled, Ted's gray, and Marshall's balding — are still thick as thieves and goofing off exactly the same way as they have always been, smoking confiscated pot in the hallway and complaining about being old. It becomes even more heart-melting when a very stoned Ted looks around in confusion and giggles "Dude, where's my wife?"
• Ted allowing Marshall and Lily to think that Lily was drawn to Marshall's room by destiny, when Ted actually knew that it was because he (Ted) and Lily had been making out at the freshman kegger the night before, and he had given her his room number, and keeping quiet about it for several years. Sure it turned out he was wrong and had actually made out with a different goth girl, but he thought that's what happened. Shows just how much Ted treasures Marshall and Lily and their relationship.
• Barney, of all people, tearing up when he thinks Marshall and Lily are getting a divorce in "Dowisetrepla".
• Everybody's yelling at each other about their little annoying habits, but it ends with everyone singing Marshall's nonsense... his forgotten password. The fight ends and everyone celebrates Marshall passing the bar.
• The two-minute date.
• Barney's sincere apology to the woman talking to Robin at the end of "The Bracket" because he thinks she was a woman he slept with and then forgot about. It turns out he didn't sleep with her, but it was still a sweet moment. In-universe, Lily documents it "Barney's Redemption."
• In "The Chain of Screaming", after Marshall confesses to Lily that he quit his horrible job in a fit of pique and promises to go crawling to his ex-boss tomorrow to beg for it back, Lily softly tells him "No you're not", and launches into a gentle, inspirational speech.
• Ted selling the brand new car that he had excitedly bought to celebrate his promotion, so that he could give Marshall and Lily a loan.
• The final 5 minutes of Sandcastles In The Sand, especially this part:
  Future Ted: And so they watched it again... and again... and again. They watched it over and over that night, until finally... they stopped watching. (Barney and Robin start kissing)
• Robin gets dumped by Simon, watching Barney try to comfort her however he could - including giving her a hug and making her laugh
• In the episode "Miracles", Barney left a business meeting and ran all the way to the hospital because Ted was in a car accident. It's even more touching when you take into account the fact that the two were supposed to be done with their friendship. This, and Barney getting hit by a bus and ending up in far worse condition than Ted was, allows Ted to forgive him and they reconcile.
  Barney: Ted?... can we be friends again?
  Ted:: Barney, we're more than friends. We're brothers. (hugs Barney) Marshall, come here. (Marshall joins in with the group hug)
  Marshall: (tearing up) We're all brothers!
  Barney: ...yeah, but I'm your best brother, right?
• Barney asks Marshall to high-five his injured arm. Marshall hesitates, then does it, causing Barney to yell in pain. Then he smiles and says, "It was worth it." Pay close attention—he's not looking at Marshall when he says that. He's looking at Ted.
• That look of longing Barney gives Robin at the end of "Miracles," the season 3 finale. Marshall and Lily ask Barney what he'd seen flash before his eyes during his life-or-death moment, they jokingly suggest boobs, scotch, money, suits, and boobs wearing a suit of money and lactating scotch. Barney watches Robin laugh, and nobody sees.

Season Four

• Barney's love for Robin throughout Season 4, but most notably this explanation in Do I Know You:
  Barney: Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. Boyfriend? I don't want to be Robin's boyfriend.
  Lily: What do you want, then?
  Barney: I don't know! I just wanna be with her, all the time. I wanna hear about her day and tell her about mine... I wanna... hold her hand, and... smell her hair..."
• In Mosbius Designs:
  Barney: Let's be clear. I'm not in love with her, I just... miss her when she's not around, I think about her all the time, and I imagine us one day running toward each other in slow motion and I'm wearing a brown suede vest.
• In "I Heart NJ", Ted and Stella plan on marrying, but then Ted finds out he'll have to move in with Stella. Who lives in New Jersey, a state Ted hates. He spends the entire episode moaning about how Stella needs to move in with him, to New York, to the point where Stella says 'You know what? Live wherever you want, I don't care.' But then, Lucy, Stella's daughter, can't sleep and asks Ted to read her a story. She falls asleep on Ted's shoulder. Ted then realizes he doesn't care where he wants to live and instantly decides, yeah, he's fine with moving to New Jersey after all.
• In Shelter Island, when Robin arrives at the wedding and tries to talk Ted out of marrying Stella. Regardless of who you ship, Robin pretty much sums up Ted in a soft, sweet, gooey nutshell: "Look, you're rushing into this. It's- it's like you're trying to skip to the end of the book. Ted, you're the most romantic guy I know: you stole a blue french horn for me, you tried to make it rain! ... But after all that, this is how your great romantic quest comes to an end? You're just disappearing into someone else's wedding, someone else's house, someone else's life without a second thought. That's not the amazing ending you deserve. That's not Ted Mosby."
• A small one in Happily Ever After when the group is under the table talking about the people they would want to avoid more than anything Robin tops them all with her story about her dad and how he was a jackass who raised her as his son instead of a girl. Even claiming after he found her kissing one of her teammates after they won a big hockey game that he has no son. Marshall comments afterwards that while it sucks what she went through with her dad, he congratulates her on winning the game. Even though it was probably over 20 years ago at this time it still makes her smile after reminiscing about her horrible dad.
• Marshall gets a marching band to make up for the lost little love rituals he and Lily had in the past days in "Three Days of Snow." Best because it's double-subverted. It shows Marshall and Lily about to meet, subverted when it's revealed that it takes place over three days, and double-subverted with the marching band.
• Barney stopping Robin from being deported by landing her a job.
  Barney: Congratulations, Miss Scherbatsky. It looks like you're gonna have to stay.
  Followed by...
  Future Ted: So thanks to your Uncle Barney we got to keep your Aunt Robin.
• The look on Barney's face when Robin hugs him...
• Barney was seriously considering marrying her so she could become a US citizen.
• In "The Stinsons", when Barney introduces his mom to his friends, she says that Barney "goes on and on about you when we talk". This shows how much Barney adores his friends.
• When Robin considers moving back to Canada and Marshall tells her that the group love her and would come to Canada after her - it would be an adorable speech coming from any of the other three, but it seems especially heartwarming coming from Marshall; he has relatively the least close relationship with her, but still obviously adores her.
• In "Front Porch," Robin shows a picture of her and her best friends hanging out at their favorite bar, only to start tearing up. Sadly, only the listening viewers know this.
• Lily shows how much she loves Marshall.
  Marshall: Number one reason to wear a night shirt. You don't have to wear anything underneath.
  Ted: I can vouch for that, could you cross your legs buddy?
  Marshall: Number two, they're sexy.
  Lily: I can vouch for that, could you uncross your legs buddy?
• In "Right Place, Right Time", Robin gets food poisoning and throws up into a purse on-air, later she's lying on the couch with a bowl, being comforted by Ted and Barney runs in yelling that he needs to go on You Tube to see Robin puking. And, yes, "someone" uploaded it. Barney watches Robin's show every day.
• Future Ted's feelings on all the little things that he went through in his life to meet the Mother, and become the person he is today, is nicely summed up by the last two minutes of his narration of "Right Place, Right Time". Present Ted, before reaching the end of the episode, turns and runs back through the story excitedly, hugging the characters during their various scenes, each and every one of them happily hugging him back, while "Glad Girls" plays over the montage.
• When Ted decided not to confront Stella after she goes back to Tony, and to be happy for her instead.
• Pn "Fast As She Can" when Ted is in Stella's car and is honest about how badly he wants to find his true love, she returns the favor by giving him reassurance to go on.
• Stella and Ted in the car at the end of "As Fast as She Can":
  Ted: Okay, I'm going to say something out loud that I've been doing a pretty good job of not saying out loud lately. What you and Tony have, what I thought for a second you and I had, what I know that Marshall and Lily have, I want that. I do. I keep waiting for it to happen. I'm waiting for it to happen and I guess I'm just tired of waiting. And that is all I'm going to say on that subject.
  Stella: You know how I talked my way out of a speeding ticket?
  Ted: How?
  Stella: I was heading upstate with my parents, I was doing 90 on the country roads. I got pulled over. So this cop, gets out of his car, swaggers over and he says, 'Lady, I've been waiting for you all day.' And I said, 'sorry Officer, I got here as fast as I could.'
  Ted: For real?
  Stella: No, it's just a joke. [pause] I know that you're tired of waiting. And you may have to wait a little while more but, she's on her way, Ted. And she's getting here as fast as she can.
• Lily's speech to Ted about how life isn't planned and how that things aren't always going to carry out and sometimes you just gotta go with it.
• The very end of The Leap:
  Future Ted: That was the year I got left at the altar. It was the year I got knocked out by a crazy bartender. The year I got fired. The year I got beat up by a goat. A girl goat at that! And dammit if it wasn't the best year of my life! (Present Ted finally jumps) Because if any one of those things hadn't happened I never would've ended up in what turned out to be the best job I ever had. (flashforward to Present Ted teaching at Columbia University) But more importantly? I wouldn't have met your mother. Because, as you know, she was in that class. Of course, that story's only just beginning!
• The look that Barney and Robin gave each other near the end of "The Leap. And the speech that Barney gave to Robin when she said she wanted to save Barney the trouble —
  Barney: Maybe I don't want to be saved the trouble. Maybe I want the trouble. I haven't wanted the trouble in so long but with you, the trouble isn't so... troubling

Season Five

• Barney and Robin deciding to lie about them being girlfriend and boyfriend, without realizing that's what they really want.
  Ted: (to Lily) You do realize they were lying, right?
  Lily: No, Ted, they don't realize they weren't lying.
• Ted being as great as anyone can be when their best friend starts dating their ex. Not only he's totally okay with it, he wants to make sure Barney and Robin stay together:
  Ted: Barney, I'm only gonna say this once so listen up. I love you, and I love Robin. And I wanna make this work.
• Robin smiling and telling Barney "You're an idiot" (Earlier in the episode Ted told Barney if Robin did that it meant she loves him)
• The Rough Patch: After realizing that their relationship is wearing both of them out, Barney and Robin get back together as friends.
• Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap: Lily making up with her father. And Ted and Robin, and Marshall, saying that's what it was all for. Five passes of the slap, to tearful music and long speeches. Immediately subverted when Marshall lays out the fourth slap.
  Marshall: That's four!!
• The Window:
  • Maggie Wilkes, from the following episode. She and Adam's love story and the ending of "The Window.", since both started as each other's Childhood Friends, shared their first kiss, but had to be separated when Adam had to move away. According to Future!Ted, Maggie's window was never opened again.
  • This is a minor one, but the scene where Ted tries to speed through his class so he can get back to the bar in time. He flips through the powerpoint in a matter of seconds before leaving the class, but then a student stops him. Just the fact that his students love him so much is incredibly heartwarming.
    Student: Wait, we get you for the whole hour.
    —>Ted: Oh come on. Who wants to see me yap about bridges for an hour?
    —>(All his students raise their hands)
    —>Ted: (In disbelief) Really?
  • The class continued with Ted opening to his students about his insecurities after being left at the alter and if he is ready to be in a serious relationship again. They all tell him to go for it.
• The Last Cigarette Ever: After complaining that the gang never watches her show because it's too early in the morning, Robin is about to crumble before Don's cynicism and light a cigarette on air, until the gang calls her to give her support and stop her from breaking. They end up having their "last cigarettes ever" for the moment, watching the sunrise from the roof. Future!Ted tells that they eventually quit smoking at different times. Lily quit first when she was trying to get pregnant, Marshall's was before his son was born, Robin quit in June 2013 (the month after her wedding), Barney in March 2017 (after he met his newborn daughter), and Ted when he was two weeks into dating The Mother.
• In the episode ,The Perfect Week, the gang find out that Barney could lose his job. Lily tells Barney that if he has to, he can stay at her and Marshall's place. When questioned by Ted, her response is that "I'm talking to my friend who is going through a tough time... sleeping with 7 women in 7 nights is not doing fine, it's a cry for help&".
• Of Course: not only do Ted, Marshall and Lily run into the bathroom and hug Robin to stop her crying, but Barney gives her the Superdate, giving her her first date with Don. Fireworks both literally and figuratively.
• The end of Of Course. So. Much. D'awwwww.
• In "Say Cheese", Lily has been insulting Ted all night for his history of dragging the random skanks who shack up with him and then invariably dump him within a few weeks (he can't even remember most of their names) into important or memorable events with the group, leaving photographic evidence marring cozy familial group shots. At the end, Lily finds an old photo of her, Marshall, and Ted in college and realizes that it was Ted and Marshall's first picture as roommates, and Marshall was wary about Lily being photographed with them ("what if we break up?"), but Ted insisted on including her ("what if you don't?"), and she would have never had that picture if Ted had treated her like just another random skank.
• In "Home Wreckers", Marshall being the only one siding with Ted when he bought a broken-down house out of pure impulse. The scene where Marshall was grilling sausages in the patio where Ted said he would one day do was just plain sweet. And the end of the episode, where we see shots of the old, decrepit house eventually transforming into the very house that Ted and his family would live in.
• In "Doppelgangers", after Robin has been dumped by Don, she turns up on Ted's doorstep:
  Robin (in tears): Say yes to this.
  Ted: Okay.
  Robin: Can I move back in?
  Ted (pulls her into a hug): Yes.
• Barney pretending to be a doppelganger of himself so Marshall and Lily would start trying to have kids (It Makes Sense in Context), as well and Marshall and Lily's obvious gratitude and appreciation for his gesture, complete with a mention that Barney still loves Robin. If Barney's not their kid's godfather it'll be an injustice.
  Lily: I think I know what happened. Yesterday Barney thought he had to say goodbye to someone he truly loves. And it got him thinking, maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if a baby joined our little group.
  Not!Doppelganger Barney: Babies... can be cute.
  Lily: And someday, he's gonna make the best uncle in the world. Because this Barney? He's family to us. (Lily puts her arm around his shoulders and kisses him on the cheek. Barney smiles. Marshall tips him.)

The tipping part is going along with Barney.

• Barney's reaction to Robin saying that she is taking a job in Chicago in "Doppelgangers". The expression on his face when she delivers the news is touching in itself, but it's even more so when he completely loses his cool and starts spluttering that "This is a group decision! You can't just leave us!"

Season Six

• Cindy "going for it" in "Big Days", when she just throws herself on the mercy of fate and luck and probability and kisses the woman she's in love with...and the woman reciprocates. And is overjoyed. And becomes her girlfriend. And probably her wife. And has a daughter with her. Because Cindy took that chance. She sure elicited a lot of emotion for a two-shot character.
• Cindy and the woman smiling and laughing in sheer joy and disbelief after the Big Damn Kiss, before leaving the bar hand-in-hand.
• Future!Ted's monologue as this happens is great.
  Future!Ted: (as Ted approaches Cindy's friend at the bar) Kids, nothing in this life quite compares to the sweet, terrifying exhilaration of making your move. When you just put it all on the line and go for it. And that night, by golly... Cindy went for it.
  (Cue the Big Damn Kiss. Ted, Robin, and Barney watch in shock, before Barney begins snapping pictures.)
  Future!Ted: So no, kids, that girl wasn't your mother. (over a flashforward of Cindy and her girlfriend getting a family portrait with their daughter) She ended up being someone else's mother. In fact, they both did.
  (cut back to the present)
  Robin: (as Cindy and her girlfriend leave) Like I said... she's here on a date.
• The ending of Cleaning House. Oh, Barney...he was seriously woobified in that episode.
• Barney shows up in Ted's classroom with the plans he did for GNB's headquarters. Even though the project got scrapped, Barney held on to the plans for the building for two years just in case he might get the chance to work with Ted again.
• Recurring character Punchy Punchinello, who hasn't done anything but punch Ted when he shows up in the series, shows that he actually really cares about Ted. We find out that after a brief, very shallow conversation with Ted, he hung up and immediately turned to his fiancée and said that something felt off and he thinks Ted sounds like he's going through a hard time (which, as the viewers know, is true). Said fiancée, Kelly, encouraged him to go visit him in New York and cheer him up and find out what's going on—so Punchy hopped a flight the next day. Say what you will about the guy, he's a good friend when it matters.
  • In the same episode, Robin reconciles with her former BFF, who had a baby and ditched her years earlier.
• When Future-Ted reveals that although Barney is still adamantly denying it even in the year 2030, he's 100% sure that Barney tackled him so that Robin would be the one to win the race to Woody Allen's restaurant, because it would have given her one bright spot in the incredibly shitty month she'd been having. Also, he saw Barney smiling when she won and then immediately covering it with cursing and annoyance.
• From "Natural History":
  Marshall: Lily, I know you'd be okay if we were poor and I was trying to save the world. But would you still be okay if I made a lot of money and spent all of it spoiling our kids?
• In "Glitter, Alan Thicke also showed up at the Hoser Hut. Either he randomly likes to hang out at the Canadian bar, or Jessica Glitter called him so he could be there for her and Robin's reunion.
• Ted, upon realizing how lonely Zoey actually was on Thanksgiving, returns with the gang to her place to celebrate the holiday.
• Marshall's father coming through for his son one last time.
  • And the speech after. Marshall truly cares about his friends.
  • Note that, unlike in the earlier episode where Marshall and Lily fight about Marshall telling his dad everything, Barney and Ted don't make a sound of protest when Marshall says he lost his best friend.
• In the tail end of the episode, Marshall shows his love for his friends again, and follows his dad's example to make his friends laugh again.
  Marshall: If I don't come back, then these are my last words to you all. I really really love all you guys. [Beat] Now I'm going to go drop a deuce.
• In "Desperation Day", Marshall relates how his father used to take them on road trips, and even when they were driving in the middle of the night and Marshall couldn't see anything at all past the headlights, he always felt safe with his father behind the wheel, and how now he feels lost in the dark without him. Later when Marshall has to drive in the middle of the night in a snowstorm, his father's ghost seemingly reaches out to him;
  Marvin: Here's a secret: I couldn't see worth a damn either, buddy. I just kept driving forward, hopin' for the best.
• The fact that Barney can't stop smiling every time he says Nora's name.
• Barney's imagination spot in "A Change of Heart":
  Barney: I want to be confused... with you.
• At the end of "Legendaddy", when Barney was attempting to remove his younger half-brother's basketball hoop, he and his father had this exchange:
  Jerry: Barney, what is going on?
  Barney: This is mine.
  Jerry: I don't understand..
  Barney: J.J gets a childhood, a dad, a real family, and a basketball hoop? No, no, I at least get the hoop, I’m taking it with me.
  Jerry: Please, just come down, and talk to me.
  Barney: Why, why should I? You're lame, okay. You're just some lame suburban dad.
  Jerry: Why does that make you so mad?!
  Barney: Because if you were gonna be some lame suburban dad, why couldn't you have been that for me?!
• Jerry still teaching Barney how to use the screwdriver.
  Jerry: Righty tighty lefty loosey.
• And then followed by Barney taking the basketball hoop to Ted's new house and (calling back to something Ted had said earlier in the episode) asks if he still wants a basketball hoop for his kids.
  Barney: No, you were right. A kid needs a hoop.
• During the dinner scene, Barney is clearly bitter, and tries to act as if he's been with the family all along, treating J.J. like an Annoying Younger Sibling. After Barney leaves, J.J. gleefully says, "I like having a brother!"
• Marshall hugging his ex-boss Arthur who lost his dog Tugboat in his divorce. Remember that Arthur is the reason Marshall didn't get the job at the NRDC.
• In the Flash Forward to Season Seven Barney saves a pregnant Lily from getting hit by a motorcycle. The way she says "You saved me. You saved us," just adds to it.
• Barney to Robin after she asks him if she ever made him feel needed whilst they were dating and Barney replies that she didn't:
  Barney: Wait, where are you g- that's a compliment! You're the least needy woman I've ever met. That's awesome! I mean, no guy's gonna say "Who's your daddy?" to Robin Scherbatsky: you're your own daddy. And mommy. And weird survivalist uncle who lives in a cabin with a shotgun blaming stuff on the government. And that is what makes you the most amazing, strong, independent woman I've ever banged.
• Barney's conversation with John Lithgow as his father at the end of "Hopeless", doubling as a Tearjerker.
• Zoey revealing why she wants preserve the Arcadian, along with Ted telling her he loves her.
• The last two minutes of "Challenge Accepted."
  Lily: Baby... I'm pregnant.

Including Marshall peppering his beloved's face with gentle kisses.

• Barney giving the detonation of The Arcadian to Ted.
  Ted': Hey... New is always better, right?
• From the episode where Marshall gives his speech at the hearing about why the Arcadian should be preserved, it's a very minor and unremarked upon detail but Lily is so enraptured in her husband's speech that she's mouthing it along with him, and it's implied she helped him practice. It's such little details throughout the show that reaffirm how loving a couple they are.
• Challenge Accepted:
  Barney: Want to get a cup of coffee? 20 minutes? Look, I was such a jerk to you, you can spend the entire time calling me every dirty name in the book.
  Nora: I speak four languages. I'm gonna need more than 20 minutes.
  Barney: I'll call you. You look beautiful, by the way. And here I thought it was too late for sundresses.
  Nora: It's never too late, Barney.
• Seeing how invested Marcus Eriksen becomes in Ted and Zoey in Oh Honey. Marshall's brothers are usually portrayed as bullies towards their younger brother, and kind of uncaring and aloof. Seeing Marcus care that much about things working out for Ted and Zoey, even cheering loudly and hugging his mother and brother when the pair admit their feeligns and share a kiss, is really sweet.
• It's rather heartwarming to hear him call Marshall "Your honour" with pride in his voice during season eight.
• In False Positive Barney either donates a large portion of his suit collection to or buys several racks of new suits for Sam's church.
• Crazy Jerry was a party animal whose life was a mess and couldn't keep anything together. However, he held on to that button with his and Barney's picture on it, in perfect condition, for nearly thirty years.

Season Seven

• Season seven premiere, Marshall & Lily are trying to keep Lily's pregnancy a secret until the third month, so go to the bar so they can order the drinks without the others knowing that Lily's off alcohol. The second they make that order, Carl immediately realises Lily's pregnant & happily hugs her. And towards the end of the episode, they tell Ted, Barney & Robin. They react as you'd expect their best friends.
• When Ted starts tearing up while he's giving his best man toast, and all the guests are assholishly laughing and jeering at him (since Ted is infamous for having meltdowns during all his best man toasts for his old friends), and Marshall stands up, shuts everyone up with a furious "HEY!" and tells them all to back the hell down, because Ted's only crying because he's so happy for Lily, and says that Ted's "the best guy I know."
  • Barney and Robin dance in the Season 7 premiere. Robin almost confesses to him that she still loves him, if only she were a second faster than Nora's call.
  • Combination Tearjerker example:
    Ted: I used to believe in destiny, you know? I'd go to the bagel place, see a pretty girl in line, reading my favorite novel, whistling the song that's been stuck in my head all week, and I'd think, "Wow...Hey, maybe she's the one!" Now I think, "I just know that bitch is going to take the last whole-wheat-everything bagel."
    Robin: You've just been focused on work.
    Ted: No, it's more than that. I stopped believing. Not in some depressed I'm-gonna-cry-during-my-toast way. Not in a way I even noticed until tonight. It's just, every day I think I...believe a little less, and a little less, and a little less, and that sucks. What do I about that, Scherbatsky?
    Robin: You're Ted Mosby. You start believing again.
• In the next episode, Barney, for the first time, sticks to his promise to a woman. He makes up with Nora.
• In "Field Trip," Marshall almost gives up on his environmentalist dream after his new boss Garrison Cootes softballs an offer an abusive pharmaceutical company and gives a nihilistic speech about why any effort to make positive change is pointless. However, he changes his mind after going to the doctor with Lily and seeing the first ultrasound of their baby, which he subsequently shows to Cootes when pushing for stronger action.
  Cootes: Boy or girl?
  Marshall: I don't know. But I know I sure as hell can't give up now.
• In "Disaster Averted", Barney apologizing to Robin for calling her pretending to be her dad:
  Barney: No, it was so not okay. I was a jerk. And if you don't mind my saying, your dad is a complete idiot for not calling. He should never let a day go by without calling you because when I let a day go by without talking to you... umm, that day is just no good.
• In the episode "Symphony of Illumination", Robin learns she can't have children. She doesn't tell any of her friends about this because she doesn't want their attempts to help. Ted still tries and Robin yells at him that she doesn't want his help. After Robin returns to the apartment, however, Ted reveals how he set up a light show to surprise her and tells her: "You don't have to tell me what's wrong, but I will never stop trying to make you feel better." Robin then breaks down crying and Ted just holds her close as he comforts her.
  Future Ted: Kids, your Aunt Robin never became a pole-vaulter. But she did become a famous journalist, a successful business woman, a world traveler. She was even briefly a bull-fighter; that's a funny story, I'll get to that one later. But there's one thing your Aunt Robin never was... She was never alone.
  • Another small one from the same episode: Robin makes the decision to not tell her friends because she knows they'll overreact, and then she imagines each of their over-the-top reactions and desperate attempts to help her feel better. Later on, her friends still notice something is bothering her, so she tells them the pole-vaulter story. And, even though pole-vaulting is something most people wouldn't care about and they had never heard Robin mention it before, they all had the same over-the-top reactions and desperate cheer attempts to the news as she had imagined earlier for the serious problem, because they knew Robin was upset about her problem.
  • And then, when she does tell Lily and Marshall for real, they don't have the over the top reactions and instead just hug her and comfort her, holding back their own sadness in their concern for her.
• "Tailgate":
  • Marshall attempts to have a private discussion with his father while having a tailgate, but his brothers and other people keep interrupting him. As he's about to lose it, someone accidentally calls him Marvin, and he looks back on all the tailgates he had with his father and realizes they aren't meant to be private.
    Marshall: You know what? The more, the merrier.
  • Lily told her deadbeat dad the news of her pregnancy while he attended a board game convention in Chicago, his response was an emotionless "Great, thanks". Turns out the second he heard the news, he screamed in joy and ran off. He bought a big teddy bear and spent the entire night driving to New York.
  • Also, when Lily is in labour without Marshall there he tells her that he's proud that Lily has had so much bravery her whole life.
• In "46 Minutes", Ted, Barney, and Robin are distraught when Marshall and Lily officially move to their house in Long Island. After spending the entire night coping by getting drunk, being miserable at a strip club, bickering, and getting dragged into Manhattan's sleaziest poker den and then robbed by Stripper!Lily and her boyfriend, they finally turn up at Marshall and Lily's house early in the morning, where the couple is pleasantly surprised to see them:
  Marshall: What're you guys doing here?
  Barney: Just...wanted to know if the spare keys worked.
  *pause*
  Robin: We missed you.
  Lily: Aww...come give Mama a hug!
  *group hug*
  • And Future!Ted's narration afterwards:
    [as the five of them devour pancakes and laugh around Marshall and Lily's kitchen table] Would the five of us always live within a few minutes of that booth? No. That's life, kids. But here's what I discovered: our booth was wherever the five of us were together.
• "No Pressure":
  • Ted is devastated that Robin makes it clear that they're Better as Friends. Marshall knows how hard this must be for Ted, so he requests Robin that she move out of the apartment.
  • The opening flashforward, where Ted and the mother are standing in the rain under her umbrella, and Ted looks at her and mouths "I love you" under the narration.
• The ending of Karma: After spending the whole episode trying to figure out what to do with the spare room, Ted gives his apartment to Marshal and Lily who miss New York and revealed that he made the extra room into a nursery with its own crib. Which suddenly falls apart.
• The ending of "Trilogy Time." After several flashbacks showing Ted and Marshall's failed expectations for what their future holds, we see that, by 2015, Ted finally has a family, bringing his newborn daughter to watch the trilogy with his friends.
• The entirety of Ted and Robin's last date, with a special mention for when they go to the same restaurant as they went to in the pilot episode, and see the infamous blue french horn that Ted stole for Robin, now chained and padlocked to the wall.
  • Also, despite the fact that Ted was thinking about getting back together with Robin, he realizes that Robin is in love with Barney and vice versa after putting two and two together regarding the events of "Tick Tick Tick", and immediately tells Barney that Robin and Kevin broke up and that Barney should go after her. Barney then counters with another heartwarming moment, when he tells Ted that Robin isn't in love with him, but she's still his friend, so anything that makes her happy will make him happy, even if that something means getting back together with Ted.
  • The end of the episode, with Ted stepping out into the rainy street into a stream of dozens of women all carrying yellow umbrellas, as Future!Ted notes that "When one door closes...well, you know the rest."
• Part one of The Magician's Code. All of it. But especially when all of the characters are sitting together as a family, plus one more in the form of Lily and Marshall's son, named partially after the latter's late father: "Marvin Waitforit Erickson."
  • Marshall and Lily accepting their son's hypothetical gender preferences:
    Marshall: (to Marvin) You'll love the park, buddy, it's a great place to meet chicks. Or dudes. Or both!
    Lily: We'll love you no matter what.
• The very last scene in Magician's Code (Part 2), shown at Barney's wedding. We finally see who he's marrying, Robin
• Magician's Code part 1. When Barney gets back to his apartment and sees his apartment decorated like "The inside of Tinkerbell's vagina" and Quinn asks him "What do you think?". Barney's response? "Thank God you're still here"
• "She's going after Ted Mosby. That's the best decision she's ever made." This may well be the most touching thing Robin has ever said to/about Ted.
• Barney's proposal to Quinn in The Magician's Code Part 2.
  • If you look in the background of the proposal scene, you can see one of the officers brings out a camera to record it for them.

Season Eight

• Barney tells Robin that he's destroyed and erased all the evidence that they've ever been a couple as he's marrying Quinn. Robin spends the whole episode trying not to be upset, but she finally asks Barney how he could just erase their relationship. In reply, he gives her a key from his keychain and an address—it's a storage facility with one box in it, containing pictures and mementos from their relationship.
  • The song accompanying this moment, The Funeral by Band of Horses, made it double as a Tear Jerker.
• Arthur Hobbs getting Tugboat back.
• In Nannies, all episode long, Lily and Marshall search high and low for the perfect nanny to babysit their kid, Marvin. Lily's father wants to volunteer but Lily is reluctant because of all the years her dad has neglected her. When Marshall and Lily think that Marvin has gone missing, they find out that her father had Marvin all along and took really good care of the child. Mr. Aldrin then explains that while Lily's mom was off working, he was the stay-home dad and that her grandparents visited a lot, instead of just her grandparents taking care of her as Lily saw it. It is then revealed that Mr. Aldrin had managed to save a photo album from a fire that burned down their house which is told earlier in the episode. The photo album then reveals all the times Mr. Aldrin shared with newborn Lily, capping it off with Lily's first day of preschool. Mr. Aldrin then apologizes to his daughter for all his neglectfulness and promises to be around for Marvin, if Lily is fine with it. Lily then decides to make her father the new nanny and a slideshow is shown of the moments Lily, Marshall, their son Marvin, and Mr. Aldrin shared, the slideshow ending on a picture of Marvin's first day of preschool.
  • The implication that he only began gambling to deal with missing Lily when he used to spend his whole day with her.
• In "Who Wants To Be a Godparent?" Marshall and Lily putting Robin, Ted and Barney's name down as the godparents after the three argue over who should be godparent more.
• The Robin. Of note, "Actually burn it. You don't need it anymore." about the Playbook and the final step being "Hope she says yes."

• Also from The Final Page paraphrased "Tell Ted and tell him not to tell anyone. Because if he tells Robin, that means that he's really your best bro and he's ready to let her go" right in the feels
  • Special note: Barney included that portion in the play to make sure Ted was really over Robin. In other words, Barney was willing to lose Robin if it meant that Ted wanted to still pursue a relationship with her.
• Patrice in both parts. In Part 1, Robin finally lets herself out of her pit of Irrational Hatred towards Patrice and they hug. In Part 2, The Reveal that Barney and Patrice were only pretending to be dating to get Robin jealous. It's heartwarming for 2 reasons: 1. It shows just how much Patrice really cares for Robin and wants her to be happy. 2.The relief that comes from realizing Patrice won't be hurt at all by Barney and Robin being together.

• The flash forward to Robin's wedding who shows her dancing with her father, who is beaming.
• Robin getting over her fear of holding babies when she holds Marvin. She's overjoyed! Cobbie Smulder's voice seals the deal:
  Robin: This is exhilarating!
  • The tag scene for the episode shows Robin sitting in Marvin's nursery, still holding him at 3AM because she doesn't want to put him down now that she's conquered her fear.
• A small one, but Ted who is talking with an ex, with her wife and their baby girl. They also help Ted get a wedding band, thus saving Robin's and Barney's wedding and the bass player is his future wife.
• Ted and Lily's rooftop conversation in "Band or DJ." Also doubles as a tearjerker (damn you Alyson Hannigan). In conjunction with the story told in the previous seasons "Symphony of Illumination" the show presents a rather bold but incredibly honest depiction of not just parenthood in general but motherhood in particular.
• Robin discovering the True Power of the Ring in "Ring Up!" where she sees Barney basked in light because of how much she loves him.
• After explaining how depressed he was leading up to meeting the Mother, Future!Ted explains what he would've done if he could travel back to 2013 by having Present!Ted derail the story and meet the Mother 45 days early:
  Ted: (to the Mother) Hi. I'm Ted Mosby. And exactly 45 days from now, you and I are gonna meet, and we're gonna get married, and... We're gonna have two kids. And we're gonna love them and each other so much... All that is 45 days away. But I'm here now, I guess, because... I want those extra 45 days... with you, I want each one of them. And look, if I can't have them, I'll take the 45 seconds before your boyfriend shows up and punches me in the face, because... [[WorthIt I love you. I'm always gonna love you. Till the end of my days... and beyond.]] You'll see.
• The end of "Bro-Mitzvah", where it's revealed that the group intentionally gave Barney the worst night of his life, so he'd remember it from the many nights where he went out & lived what most men would call the best night of their lives. And they did it by twisting the list of things Barney wanted in his bachelor party, i.e. taking Barney's wish for a cameo by the man Barney considers the title character of the film The Karate Kid (1984), William Zabka, & getting Ralph Macchio, the ''actual'' title character. And then it turns out they actually got Macchio ''and'' Zabka, who had been dressed as a clown the entire night - he even calls Barney "one of the few people who actually understand the film" to boot! Made better by Robin being the one who did most of the planning.
• In "Something Old," Ted coming for Robin when he knew she needed someone. Also, everything he did once he got there, encouraging her not to lose her faith in Barney despite his own lingering feelings. This includes a Screw Destiny speech that can be found on the show's Awesome page.
• "Something New" is really more symbolic of what is going to happen than what actually happens. Every character has something big and life changing going on, Robin and Barney getting married despite some last minute jitters, Marshall accepting a job as a Judge and Lily believing they are all going to Italy and, lastly, Ted making plans to leave New York after the wedding because it hurts too much to see Robin and Barney together. In the midst of all of that, we see the Mother about to board the train to Farhampton and we know that the weekend will turn out to be legen...wait for it...dary.
• After not helping their friends, because of Marvin, telling them they only want to hear about problems that are an eight or higher, Marshall and Lily realize they've shut them out and want to hear about everything because "With you guys, everything is an eight or higher."
• When Marcus drops Marshall and Marvin off at the airport, he calls Marshall "Your Honor" with genuine pride in his voice.

Season Nine

• "And kids, that's the story of how Lily met your mother." And that's just where it begins.
  • The high heartwarming point:
    The Mother: I know I'm just a stranger in a train who you tried to bite, but... do you want a hug?
• The very first scene with Ted & the Mother together, a flash forward to their one year anniversary.
• Ted giving Robin a picture of the gang from 8 years ago, when the show started. To be specific, it's the photo of the gang used in the show's opening titles.
• Barney stating that just because James and Tom are getting a divorce doesn't mean he no longer believes in love—after all, now he has Robin for that.
• Barney and Robin embracing their messy history. Particularly this line:
  Robin: I'm glad you slept with over 200 women before deciding I was your favorite.
• Ted deciding to give Cassie a shoulder to cry on over all the crap that has happened to her over the weekend, as opposed to sleeping with her even when she was completely fine with it.
• "The Lighthouse" seems to be one giant Episode of Heartwarming. To wit:
  • In a flashback, Robin confesses to Barney that she can't ever have children. Barney responds not by quipping or taking the piss, but by giving her a massive hug. It only gets weird when it starts raining.
  • Loretta upsets Robin by mentioning looking after her's and Barney's kids one day (something Robin is never able to have). Barney explains Robin's infertility to Loretta, and says he's marrying Robin not because she might give him children, but because he loves her and that she means more to him than kids, or his career. Or even a Lamborguzzi.
  • Afterwards, Robin finds out her mother won't be at the wedding, since she was too afraid to get on the plane. Immediately afterwards, Loretta hugs Robin awkwardly and tells Robin she's only allowed to call Loretta 'Mom'. Robin responds by returning Loretta's hug halfway through her apology, and saying that her eggs are fantastic.
  • Finally, the ending. A flashforward shows Ted and the Mother visiting the Lighthouse two years later, with the two of them awestruck by the beautiful view. The Mother comments that there's not much that could make this day better. Ted responds by proposing. She says yes before he can finish.
• In "Platonish" everything about Barney's first meeting with the Mother. She sees right through him, to the sad, broken-hearted man he was at the time. She gets him to talk about Robin, and urges him to spend all his time and energy to win her back, thus inspiring Barney to come up with "The Robin". "Challenge Completed."
• In "Rehearsal Dinner," Ted and Robin are caught up in rehearsal dinner drama with Barney and Robin tells Lily she "doesn't have time for her drama", but when Lily tells them about Marshall taking an offer to be a judge without telling her and possibly not moving to Italy after all, they both immediately express sympathy.
  Robin: I have time for your drama.
  • Barney planning a Canadian themed rehearsal dinner just to show how much he loves Robin. Especially after acting like kind of a dick the whole episode.
  • then there is the fact that Barney finally makes peace with his contempt for Canada
• In "Bass Player Wanted," just seeing the mother interact with Marshall is awesome seeing how Adorkable she is. In her previous appearances she helped Lily and Barney when they were in trouble. But when she picks up Marshall and Marvin she's the one who needs a friend and Marshall is the one who she talks it out with and all their interactions are just so sweet and adorable. It is like meeting the woman who you think is perfect for your best friend without Marshall realizing it.
  • Also later, when she practices to confront Darren, she does it while knitting because she "just met a baby and he needs a hat". Then you realize the baby she's talking about is actually Marvin. Isn't she sweet?
  • Also from "Bass Player Wanted," Ted stealing the Glen Mckenna for Barney after saying that he wouldn't want to risk going to jail for a friend even though Barney says going to jail for a friend is 'The Dream.' They are also in the middle of a huge fight after Barney finds out about Chicago and feels abandoned. Ted goes get that scotch for him so Barney knows he's important to Ted
• Marshall's return. "Pause."^note Lily and Marshall have a system where they "pause" their fights when they need to for whatever reason, calling back all the way to the first season. Lily is in the middle of expressing a lot of anger at Marshall on Marshpillow, but when Marshall walks in with Marvin, she's just so happy to see him that she puts aside her anger to reunite with him properly.
• After episodes of fighting, Daphne and Marshall have fun singing along to "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" together in "Mom and Dad."
• Also in "Mom and Dad", after Ted spends a whole episode trying to find out who poured ink on the headshot of Wayne Gretzky that Barney trusted him with, it turned out to be Billy Zabka. During the confrontation, we finally get why: ever since the 80s, he's been the bad guy in every movie he's been in even though he's really nice. He finally got his chance to be the good guy when Barney asked him to be the best man at his wedding, which was taken away when Ted regained the position, so he thought of a plan to discredit Ted and save the wedding. After explaining this, Ted has a chance to bust Billy Zabka, but lets him be the good guy for once.
  Billy Zabka: To Barney Stinson, I wasn't a bad guy. To Barney Stinson, I was the best man.
• The concept of "Bedtime Stories", which is a series of stories Marshall tells Marvin about his friends to help him fall asleep. The CMOH for the episode is near the end: after a hellish bus ride, Marshall and the rest of the bus are forced to stop on the side of the road, where they all watch a spectacular fireworks show. According to Future!Ted, the fireworks are the first thing Marvin remembers about his life.
• The Reveal of Barney's job. It was a Batman Gambit to make Greg pay for stealing Shannon from him.
• Although it's followed by a minutes-long Tear Jerker, Marshall and Lily make sure to take ten seconds before their fight over Italy and the judgeship:
  Marshall: I love you, Lilypad.
  Lily: I love you, Marshmallow.
• "Nothing good happens after two. Except you, Luke."
• Towards the end of "How Your Mother Met Me", the Mother arrives at the Farhampton Inn after turning down her boyfriend's wedding proposal, and asks for a room after explaining her situation to the obnoxious desk clerk who gave Ted grief about being single back in "Coming Back". Instead of being a jerk, the clerk takes a moment to think and gives her Room 6 - the room directly next door to Ted. Given the little smile he gives her, it's pretty clear he knew what he was doing.
  • The entirety of "How Your Mother Met Me" because it shows how sad and lonely The Mother was, when Ted was, making it even more heartwarming that they end up together. It reminds us that we're waiting for two people to get a happy ending.
  • The fact that she sings "La Vie En Rose" ^note Life Through Rose-Colored Glasses after everything that had happened. Made even better when Future Ted stated that it was still his favorite rendition even after every other time he had heard her sing it, including every night when she tucked the kids in to bed.
• Lily and Marshall reconciling in "Sunrise"
• "Sunrise" as a whole has the theme of "Let Go"
  • Ted finally has to let Robin go, so he can move on and meet The Mother.
    • And this also sets up that both Ted and The Mother simultaneously had to let go of past loves so they can move on with their lives. They both did on the same day.
  • Ted's speech to Jeannette about why he cares so much about Robin:
    Ted: Actually, there is a word for that. It's love. I'm in love with her, okay? If you're looking for the word that means caring for someone beyond all rationality and wanting them to have everything they want no matter how much it destroys you, its love! And when you love someone y-you just don't stop. Ever. Even when people roll their eyes, or call you crazy, even then, especially then! Y-you just don't give up, because if I could give up, if I could just take the world's advice and move on and find someone else that wouldn't be love! That would be some other disposable thing that is not worth fighting for... But that is not what this is. So please, can I have the locket?
  • Marshall has to let go of the idea of "winning" in the marriage, and his resentment over Lily's leaving at the end of season 1.
  • Lily has to let go of the move to Rome & following her dream there, due to both the impracticality of the move & that she would be forcing Marshall to give up his dream for hers when they can both follow their dreams by staying. Unfortunately, this all takes place off-screen, but Lily returns to to the hotel room & admits this to Marshall.
  • Barney passes the torch by teaching two guys how to live, and leaving them with the advice that things are only legendary if you do it with your friends there. It's the people you love that make it legendary, not the random shit that happens.
  • Despite how things ended, Victoria was still wearing the locket that she presumably thought was from Ted and, upon learning it was actually Robin's, overnighted it from Germany to New York.
• Despite the emotional turmoil she's going through; from missing Marshall, to being annoyed at Ted, to being infuriated at Marshall, and ordering drinks to deal with it all; she ALWAYS thanks the man serving her the drinks. A small gesture, but to audience members in the service industry, it's huge. A lot of people would take their anger out on the server, but Lily never does and makes sure to express gratitude. On the other end, Linus is genuinely happy to help her through the weekend by always putting a drink in her hand; for no other reason than he's a professional at his job and can tell she needs it.
• "Rally" shows just how much Barney loves his friends, he made a concoction that supposedly cured hangovers but really was a fake to help make his friends feel better after getting drunk at their lowest points (Marshall worried about the second day of the bar exam, Robin nervous about being an anchor again, Lily worried about a field trip, and Ted being left at the altar by Stella).
• Near the end of "Vesuvius", Robin's mother finally arrived hours before the wedding.
• In "Daisy" Marshall giving up his judgeship in order to go to Italy with Lily after she reveals that she's pregnant.
  • The ending has Has three generations of Lily and Marshall's family happily living together in Italy
• After a whole episode of unintentionally freaking Robin out with all the similarities between Barney and her dad, Robin's mom is greeted by a hug from Barney and says the following in response:
  Robin's Mom: Oh, he's a hugger. He's nothing like your dad.
  • Doubles as foreshadowing and a tearjerker. The show has been running on "you marry your parent" for years. And Robin and Barney divorce, and Ted goes after his Mombin one last time.
• In "Gary Blauman", Gary tells James not to blame him (Blauman) for his divorce but to think of the choices that he himself made. Later, James asked Barney to give his wedding ring back so he can make up with Tom. Future!Ted narrates that James and Tom eventually got back together and James tells their kids how he met their father.
• Ted and the Mother's first date, which on first glance was a complete disaster because the Scottish/Mexican fusion restaurant was NOT what they expected and they had to hide from her ex-boyfriend, who had proposed to her only days before. Ted recognized she was not in the right frame of mind to start dating again and so walked her home, all the while telling her a story from the wedding the previous weekend. The story had him muse about how close he will be with his friends in the future, and she pulls him into a kiss when he was done. Not ready for the date to end, they keep on walking while holding hands.
  • At the end of the date, she asks what he's doing when he stops and stares at her and he says "Remembering." He's taking a moment during his storytelling to savor one of his most cherished memories.
• In "End of the Aisle", Robin attempts to run away before the wedding starts until she bumps into The Mother, who, despite not knowing Robin personally, noticed her state and calms her down by telling her to take three deep breaths before making a decision. After Robin took her advice, she sees Barney who promises to her that he will be honest to her from now on after he witnessed Lily and Marshall, reworking on the vows which inspires him.
  • The whole wedding can really pull the heartstrings where both Barney's and Robin's parents and all of their friends watch as the newly wedded couple make their vows.
  • Just before the ceremony Barney starts freaking out so Marshall uses his last Slap Bet slap to get him to focus. Barney even thanks him for doing it.
• Marshall and Lily updating their own vows was adorable. Especially when Marshall vows to keep updating their vows, having realized that the vows made on one singular day cannot possibly cover a whole lifetime of changes. But that just means they're going to meet those changes together.
• At the Halloween party, post-divorce, Barney comes over to brag to Marshall about getting a slutty police officer's phone number. He sees Robin and immediately switches to saying he got the SPO's tax attorney's number, tearing it up at the same time. He seriously gives up a shot at getting laid just because of the possibility that seeing him playing the field again might hurt Robin's feelings.
• In the finale, Barney finds the love of his life... his daughter, who is born to him in 2021 after his latest conquest got pregnant. Even many people who hated the finale agreed that the scene where Barney meets his newborn daughter was incredibly touching.
  • His first words to her are something he had previously said sarcastically as a pickup line, but which he now says with utter sincerity.
  Barney: "You are the love of my life. Everything I have and everything I am is yours. Forever."
  • Specially thanks to Neil Patrick Harris, who delivers which is probably his best performance in the entire run of the show. Let that sink in for a moment... Even affirming "that's saying a lot" would be a HUGE understatement! Hell! Even a lot of people who hated the idea behind the scene were sold thanks to his acting alone!
• After finding out that Ted put everyone through the emotional wringer about moving to Chicago, only to change his mind because he met a girl, marshall and Lily are understandably upset. However, all is forgiven when they learn he is staying because of the bass player from the wedding, whom they already love.
  • When Marshall expresses concern that Ted is going to get hurt again, Lily notices that this time, it's different, and gives one of the happiest smiles she has ever given.
• Reactions have been very divided over the last three minutes of the show, but for some fans, Future!Ted showing up at Future!Robin's apartment with the very same french horn from the very first episode.
• The fact that Ted waited and grieved for Tracy six years after her death before thinking about asking Robin out and that his kids said it was all right for him to move on.
  • It really shows how much Ted really loved Tracy, that he was unwilling to even consider dating someone else, even if it was someone he had loved in the past for 6 years. That more than anything is a testament to how much her death affected him.
  • The fact that Ted asked his kids first before doing anything else in his relationship with Robin, just to see if they would let him be happy. They do.
• Barney's reaction to finding out that Tracy was single: immediately running to Ted and insisting on doing a "Have You Met Ted" move on her. He's never been this excited in the entire series.
• And last but definitely not least, THE moment every fan of the show waited for 9 years: Ted meeting the Mother (AKA Tracy). It doesn't matter whether they love or hate the rest of the finale. That scene in particular was everything the fans always hoped for: perfectly written, perfectly acted, perfectly directed.
• The official alternate ending summarizes everything about the series and Ted's life that led up to meeting Tracy.
• A small, easily missed moment in the season premiere. Barney has mentioned more than once over the past few seasons that he would like to have children someday. Yet on the way out to Farhampton he offhandedly mentions to Robin that they're never having kids (thus them having a common relative will never present an issue). Robin's engagement to Kevin ended over her not wanting kids but Barney obviously wants her far more than he wants children and gives up on that idea without any regrets in order to marry her.
• In spite of how the gang eventually drifted apart later on, that did not mean it would be like that forever. They were still in each other's lives, even if it was not as often as before. Robin's surprise appearance in the series finale highlights that although we all have own lives to live, some friendships are just too strong and are bound to last forever.

Barney's Speeches

• Jerkish as he may be, Barney delivers some of the most beautiful, sincere, and profound speeches in the entire series. So many, in fact, that they deserve their own section entirely on this page.
  • The second season episode Bachelor Party opens with a flashback to the summer of 2006, when Marshall was still suffering depression over Lily's sudden departure to San Francisco. Barney joins Ted and Marshall at MacLaren's and asks "What are you guys talking about?" On the verge of tears, Marshall says "Lily." Barney jumps up from the table and says, "I gotta go." At the end of the episode, we find out the whole story. He left the bar, immediately took a cab to the airport, flew to San Francisco, tracked Lily down, and gave her this speech:
    Barney: Lily, you have to come home. You and Marshall belong together. The two of you have something that most people search their whole lives for and never find. I know you love him, and if you knew what he was going through right now, you wouldn't be here for one more second. '*reaches in his coat pocket and produces a plane ticket* I bought you a ticket home. Marshall is one of the best people I know, and it won't be long until someone else realizes that and you'll lose him forever. I can't stand the thought of that happening.
    • Put it this way: it was so heartwarming to Marshall, that he went from wanting to disinvite Barney from the wedding to promoting him to co-best man.
  • In the season four finale, The Leap, Barney finally expresses his feelings for Robin.
    Robin: I care about you, Barney, and this kind of stuff, the emotional stuff, it's not your thing. I thought I'd save you the trouble.
    Barney: Maybe I don't wanna be saved the trouble. Maybe I want the trouble. I haven't wanted the trouble in...a long time. But with you, the trouble doesn't seem so...troubling.
  • In The Magician's Code: Part 1, Lily is in labor, and Barney and Marshall are stuck on a bus headed for Buffalo, trying to get back to Manhattan so Marshall can be there for the birth of his son. After Marshall fails to convince the bus driver to deviate from his route, Barney steps up.
    Barney: Look, I'm a screw-up. I had something special with this girl Quinn, and I ruined it. *Points to Marshall* But this guy, he's done everything right. He's been loving and devoted since he was eighteen years old. There are only a few truly great people on this planet, and he is one of them. He deserves to be at the birth of his son. So, what do you say?
    • Even that doesn't persuade the bus driver. He still insists that he can only go off course if there's an emergency. But the passengers, a bunch of senior citizens, are so moved by Barney's words that several of them stand up and declare that they are having heart attacks and that they need to go to the hospital immediately.
  • When he declares his love for Robin in season 8. He later insists that he was just helping her get out of a tight spot with Nick, the guy she didn't have the heart to break up with, but the crack in his voice during that speech says otherwise.
    Barney: I love her, Nick. I love everything about her. And I am not a guy who says that lightly. I am a guy who has faked love his entire life. I thought love was just something idiots thought they felt. But this woman has a hold on my heart that I could not break if I wanted to. And there have been times that I wanted to. It has been overwhelming, and humbling, and even painful at times. But I could not stop loving her any more than I could stop breathing. I am hopelessly, irretrievably, in love with her. More than she knows.
• In season 9 during a drunken night before his wedding, he hangs out with two young guys who are inexperienced with women. As the night ends he leaves them some advice finishing with this... "And most importantly, whatever you do in this life... it's not legendary unless your friends are there to see it. Good luck boys. Take care of the game for me." Handing the guys The Playbook, which he took the time to write on a handful of napkins. Barney really does give up his womanizing and admits how important his friends have been to him throughout the show.
• Asked, when drunk to the point of honesty, how he was feeling about the wedding:
  Barney: Good. I mean, I'm a little nervous, but I love Robin more than I've ever loved anyone and I'm gonna do everything I can to make her happy. For a long time, deep down, I've felt sort of... broken? But I don't feel that way anymore. Robin, along with the idea that vengeance will soon be mine has made me 100% awesome.

Unsorted

• The website "Ted Mosby is a Jerk" really does exist, but so does a website called "Ted Mosby is NOT a Jerk." That's already cute, but on the "Testimonies" page, there are several letters all saying what a nice guy Ted is, and several of them are from ex-girlfriends. D'aww.
  • The kicker? Victoria is the one who made it.
• At the 2013 San Diego Comic Con, during the 9th Season panel, Josh Radnor recounts the story of how a fan told him how the show had changed his life, wanting to live life to the fullest every day so that someday he'd have great stories to tell too.
• A lot of the audience complaining about Marshall's being away from the group for half of Season 9, because the group just isn't the same without all five of them.
• After Vesuvius hinted the possibility that the Mother could die sometime soon in the future, several fans have already started to make an outcry, declaring that there's no way something so depressing should wind up happening. It's touching to see how much the character has grown on the audience that just the possibility alone of that happening could in turn provoke such a strong reaction from them.
• Following some of the...strong reactions to the series finale, Psych fans (whose series finale was a few days earlier) tried to comfort the HIMYM fanbase.
• The entire alternate ending is one for the creators to the fanbase, when they announced the ending there was a lot of distrust with many believing the alternate ending was 1) a scam to get more DVD sales and that there would be no alt. ending at all, or 2) using the deleted scenes(ie: Tracy's funeral, Lily paying Marshall up) to further entrench their ending that or to troll the audience. It turns out that was not the case. Not only does Tracy not die(she dosen't even get sick), the alternate ending implies, or gives hope that Barney and Robin may have a chance of getting back together too. The final shot with the umbrella is a better description of the show's themes—it has become a symbol of destiny and true love, and now that Ted and Tracy have found each other, they don't need it anymore. It's still out there for others who need it. This shows that the creators actually do pay attention to their audience.
• A deceptively simple and series-wide Moment of Heartwarming: the fact that the characters actually laugh at each other's jokes. That's something you don't often see in sitcoms, and not only does it add realism, it really displays what good friends the gang are.
  • That's because they weren't told the others' lines, only their own.