It’s understandable that How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas would want to amp up the tension in the series’ final run, but the latest plotline is more than questionable.

How I Met Your Mother Cast
How would the tragic twist affect the rest of  the characters?

Yesterday on the show, fans were brought 10 years into the future, where Ted and the Mother were recounting old stories. Ted revealed that Robin’s mom came to her wedding after all, which was a surprise to the whole gang. The Mother countered that this wasn’t really a surprise: “What mother is going to miss her daughter’s wedding?” Suddenly: teary-eyed Ted.

Several blogs and articles online have pointed out that this seems to fit in perfectly with the suspected final twist – that the mother will eventually be terminally ill and die. It’s not exactly a new theory – fans have been speculating online for years that the Mother dies in the future and that’s why Ted starts telling the long-winded story in the first place. Or of course, it could all be a red herring, or the mother could have an illness and then get miraculously better –there are several possibilities here, but all would stray into the side of cheap tricks. While How I Met Your Mother has sometimes been heavy-handed with the grief – like when Marshal’s father died or when Robin found out she was infertile – it would be very surprising if the Friends type sitcom goes for such a morbid conclusion. Not to mention it would haunt fans for a long time to come. On the other hand, if it’s all a ploy to bump up ratings, wouldn’t that make the whole thing a bit cheap? Tell us your opinion below.

Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Josh Radnor
This wouldn't be the first time the writing team have surprised fans with a tragic twist.