‘How I Met Your Mother’ Season 9 To Reveal Mom

How I Met Your Mother season 9 will finally put an end to the mystery that has burned in fans’ brains for close to a decade: Who is the mother of Ted Mosby’s children?

Many fans thought they would be treated to the reveal in season eight, but, despite a close call with the return of Rachel Bilson and the knowledge that “mom” was her roommate, it was not to be.

Series creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays likely shifted the revelation from the eighth season after successful negotiations with Jason Segel to return for a ninth and final year, which TV Lineconfirmed would happen this past January.

There have been a few close calls throughout the series run, which leads one to think the mystery woman may be someone we’ve already seen before, but, in comments to Entertainment Weekly, Josh Radnor (Ted) voiced his preference for a fresh face.

“I don’t think it should be any sort of stunt casting … I think it would be more interesting to have this fresh, exciting face that Ted has never seen before and neither have people who watch the show,” Radnor said.

Radnor told the magazine that Thomas and Bays were keeping the mystery under tight wraps — even from him — and he preferred it that way. “It’s kind of better for me not to know. It serves me to be a little more naive and just play that truthfully,” Radnor said.

How I Met Your Mother season 9 has been confirmed for a full run of shows for the 2013-2014 schedule — around 22 episodes — but the show’s creators are being tight-lipped about whether fans will learn the true identity at the beginning, middle, or end of the final year.

When do you think How I Met Your Mother season 9 should reveal the mother of Ted Mosby’s children, and will you be watching? Until then, enjoy this recap from the season six DVD special features that tells what we know about “mom” to that point: