After hearing one of his inspiring lectures, Ted craves Vinick's approval and shows him a sketch of the GNB building.
He invites them to his house; Marshall and Lily fear they will be killed, but find that Daryl's company has become successful, and they unknowingly reject his offer to give them $100,000, claiming it was partly their idea.
At the end of the day, Barney secretly tricks Ted into saying his name by showing him a wedding ring, breaking the jinx.
Ted's new building is opening that night, but he is distracted by his promise to Barney; he winds up asking Robin to be his date to the gala when he loses the nerve to tell her.
Finally letting go of his pursuit of her, Ted takes Robin to the WWN building where Barney intends to propose to Patrice.
Marshall and Lily are excited to have their first evening away from baby Marvin, thanks to her father Mickey taking care of him.
While Robin, Barney, Marshall, and Lily are shown happily in their respective couplings, Ted stares out from the GNB building alone; his future uncertain.
... Episodes 11 and 12 really felt like two halves of the same story, so we thought, let's make this our big hour-long Christmas special.
[2] Bays said that "the idea of a long con" represented by Barney's play to win Robin was influenced by "the final run of episodes in season four of Breaking Bad and that they "wanted a moment of, 'Ohhhhh, that's what's been going on.'
"[3] Series co-creator Craig Thomas added that Ted and Robin's scene in the limo packed unexpected power because the script did not call for the two characters to be teary-eyed.
He referred to the presence of Peter Gallagher and Seth Green as "the upside" of the episode and using the "Silence of the Lambs motif as both a comic and dramatic device" as "the downside".
"[6] Michael Arbeiter of Hollywood.com writes that "this week's 'big twist' that Barney was actually using his relationship with Patrice as a cover for his plan to propose to Robin is a far cry from surprising, and as such not as effective as the show might have hoped it would be."
He writes that Seth Green's "pathetic obsession with Lily and Marshall offered a few chuckles, as did Barney's sustained silence throughout the proceedings."
He says that "in the second half ... Marshall and Lily's story took a notable downturn" but that it ends "with a satisfying reunion for Barney and Robin.