‘How I Met Your Mother’ season 9 debate: How should Ted’s journey end?

As you know now (and have been processing for months, “How I Met Your Mother” is ending after nine seasons. It’s a sad thing to think about, and we haven’t even made it to the start of the new season yet in the fall.

But how is the new season going to end? That is something that a good many are waiting to find out the answer to. After long being teased without really anything of substance to back it up, executive producers Carter Bays and Craig Thomas were finally kind enough to lift the veil on at least one part of the mystery at the end of season 8: The face of the mother, and the name Cristin Milioti as the woman behind the role. She’s now a series regular, meaning that there are so many more stories left to tell with her as a part of the cast.

Moving forward, let’s start off with the facts:

1. Season 9 will be all about the wedding weekend for Barney and Robin, and all of the stressful events that come about as they prepare for the big day.

2. Everyone will meet the nameless Mother over time, with Ted being the last one.

3. Expect flashbacks aplenty, and also plans to revisit many of the show’s past jokes / memes (including the slap bet). The goal is to end the show with as few loose ends floating around out there as possible.

We’ve already listed the guest stars we want to see back on the show, so let’s instead take on a different question here: How should the series end? After all of the hype, it’s hard to think of any way that the final scene can match our expectations. One part of us feels like it should just be simple, with Ted meeting Milioti’s character, there being a tiny beat where you can see that this is the future, and then the screen going to black. Meanwhile, there is another part of us thinking that the show could use a time jump or some more narration from Bob Saget to show us some of the assorted highlights of Ted and the Mother’s future together before going back into the living room, and seeing both the character and Ted in present day.

One other suggestion? A massive flash-forward to 20-30 years down the road, when the main characters’ children are around the age where they are thinking of settling down and getting married. It would be a nice way to get a sense of how close these people have become over the years, since let’s face it: This show is really all about the friendships as much as it is anything.

How do you want to see the series end? We want to hear your thoughts below! Also, there is some other big news out in that the “Night Night, Little Marvin” song from this past season is now available on iTunes. You can pick that up here.

Oh, and did you hear that the gang is going to Comic-Con this year?

Photo: CBS