You know a finale's done its job when months later people are still passionately talking about it.
How I Met Your Mother's series finale was one of TV's most polarizing endings in recent memory for a number of reasons. (Obvious spoiler warning is obvious!) Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) got married. Barney and Robin got divorced. Barney later had a baby with a rand-o, with his daughter changing his life. Ted (Josh Radnor) and The Mother (Cristin Milioti) got married. The Mother died. And Ted and Robin ultimately ended up together. See? Polarizing! (Throughout it all, Marshall and Lily remained solid.)
So how did Neil Patrick Harris learn of Barney's ultimate ending? That questions is answered in a bonus feature from the season nine DVD set, which hits stores on Sept. 23, and we're exclusively sharing it with you.
"I never wanted to know anything about the future of the show," Harris says in the clip. "I really truly didn't because we kept getting interviewed, for nine years, all the time about when are we going to meet the Mother? Do we have any spoilers? And so I'd rather not know."
Alas, that all changed for Harris when it came to the final season. "At our Christmas party this year, I asked [creators] Carter [Bays] and Craig [Thomas] for a minute, and they said, 'OK, you want to know? You really want to know?' And they were excited and it was kind of fun that they were together and they told me everything."
So how did Harris react to the duo's ultimate endgame plan? Watch our exclusive video above to find out!
And fans may remember that Cristin Milioti revealed to us that she also learned of Tracy's sad demise at the Christmas party. "Craig was talking to me and we both had a couple of drinks. And he gets very giddy and happy when he's had a few, and he was like, 'Do you want to know how it ends?' And as complete joke I said, 'What, do I die?' And he was like, 'Do you want to know?' and I said, 'Yeah, I do.' And he told me. I sat there sobbing."
Lesson learned? Never accept a Christmas gift from HIMYM's showrunners!
HIMYM's ninth season DVD set and The Whole Story complete series set hits stores on Tuesday, Sept. 23. And for the hardcore fans, a new site HIMYMProps.com is offering you a chance to own some of the legendary series' most iconic props over the course of the next five weeks, including Ted's hot dog Halloween costume, Robin's Vancouver jersey, and the actual bar from MacLaren's.