‘How I Met Your Mother’ Finale Spoiler: Is The Mother Really Dead?

How I Met Your Mother is barreling toward the series finale with many questions still unanswered, but spoilers point to a last-minute surprise for fans who have stuck around for nine years to see Ted meet “the mother.”

For its entire run, the show has teased viewers about the real identity of the future wife of Ted Mosby and the mother of his two children. There have been countless relationship dead ends, hints about her identity and plenty of plotlines that Ted has told viewers, “We’ll get to that later.”

Now later has arrived, and How I Met Your Mother finale spoilers are abounding.

One of the most prevalent viewer theories is that the “mother” is actually dead at the time Ted is telling the story. There is plenty of evidence pointing to this theory, including Ted crying when he he asks the question, “What mother is going to miss her daughter’s wedding?”

Many believe this means this his wife (Cristin Milioti) is either dying or has already died.

There is a problem with this theory, namely that Milioti has flat out denied it, but this wouldn’t be the first time an actor has lied to throw fans off the trail of a big twist.

Other theories say that the mother is very ill and Ted is telling his kids stories to soothe them, or even that Ted has Alzheimer’s and was crying because he won’t remember his daughter’s wedding.

The show’s director Pan Fryman didn’t give away much, but said the How I Met Your Mother finale will leave no loose ends.

“You’ll see what happens to everyone,” she said. “We really tried to tie up every loose ending we could think of, answer every question we’ve asked and haven’t answered. It’s just very satisfying.”

But Fryman did hint toward one How I Met Your Mother finale spoiler, saying that “the last minute or so will really sit with you.”