Ted and The Mother meet at the Farhampton train station following Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin Scherbatsky's (Cobie Smulders) wedding; this scene is shown in "Last Forever", the series finale.

The Mother's death from an unspecified terminal illness in 2024, also revealed in the series finale, received a mixed reaction from fans.

Many fans expected that another would play the role, but creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas wanted an unknown.

The whole idea is that Ted's never seen this woman before, so it better feel that way to the audience", similar to how Cobie Smulders being cast as Robin Scherbatsky had "kept the show alive" when it began.

[1][2] Bays and Thomas chose Cristin Milioti after seeing her on 30 Rock and Once; her musical ability was also helpful, as The Mother had been described as a band member.

[a] The Mother, joined by her roommate Kelly (Ahna O'Reilly), awaits the arrival of her boyfriend Max, only to receive a call informing her of his death.

She is still grieving, but Kelly encourages her to go out and date again, bringing her to the same bar where Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) and Ted are celebrating.

[4] On his first day of teaching as Professor Mosby, as seen in the season 4 finale "The Leap", he is seen in front of the classroom of students, one of which Future Ted says is the titular mother.

In the last episode of season 7, "The Magician's Code" it is shown that Barney will marry Robin, and Ted will meet the Mother the day of their wedding.

In the premiere of season 8, Ted's wife appears after Barney and Robin's wedding, outside at the "Farhampton" station while holding a yellow umbrella and her bass guitar, though her face is not seen.

", Ted runs into Cindy and her partner on the subway and tells them that the band Barney and Robin hired to play at their wedding cancelled at the last minute.

In "Bass Player Wanted", the Mother picks up a hitchhiking Marshall, carrying his infant son Marvin, on her way to Farhampton Inn.

On their way, it is revealed that the Mother is the bass player in the band that is scheduled to play at the wedding reception, but Darren forced her to quit.

She looks skyward and asks Max for permission to let him go and move on; she takes a sudden gust of wind as a "yes", says goodbye, and declines Louis' proposal when she goes back inside.

[7] In the series finale, it is revealed that six years prior to Ted telling the story to his children, Tracy died in 2024 from an undisclosed illness.

[9] Bill Kuchman from Popculturology said that the Mother was "an amazing character"[6] and that "over the course of this final season HIMYM made us care about Tracy.

[10] Kuchman said that "asking fans to drop all of that with a simple line about The Mother getting sick and passing away was a very difficult request", that the finale "advanced too quickly" and that "HIMYM was a victim of its own success on this issue".

[15][16] Future Ted is heard saying, "...When I think how lucky I am to wake up next to your mom every morning, I can't help but be amazed how easy it all really was...", indirectly stating that The Mother is alive.

The video ends right after the train passes at Farhampton station and credits start rolling, implying that Ted never went back to Robin and went on to have a long, happy marriage with Tracy.