Some of the typical group habits or places made famous by How I Met Your Mother have already returned in How I Met Your Father, however, one still hasn’t, and if it did, it would solve a notable How I Met Your Mother mystery. Throughout How I Met Your Mother’s nine seasons, its protagonists often used time-traveling narrative devices to further character development, and while most of the time it was proved to be just that and not actual time traveling, one episode in How I Met Your Mother season 5 raised questions about time traveling actually being real in the HIMYM universe. While nothing of the sort has yet appeared in How I Met Your Father, seeing it referenced or even just used as a narrative device to let the characters better understand themselves would be a nice callback that the HIMYM sequel could do to the original series.
How I Met Your Father’s already-established connections to HIMYM include Ted and Marshall’s apartment being shared by Sid and Jesse, the Captain’s involvement with Ian’s work, and even McLaren’s Pub, where Sophie met her favorite journalist, Robin Scherbatsky. However, time travel, one of How I Met Your Mother’s most unexplained gags, wasn’t even mentioned, except for discourses about 20-year-later versions regretting their past selves’ inactions between Robin and Sophie in How I Met Your Father season 1 finale. Were How I Met Your Father finally to introduce the time-traveling gag in season 2, it would not only be an intriguing callback to something that made How I Met Your Mother stand out from other sitcoms, but it would also be able to finally explain it.
How I Met Your Mother's Time Travel Explained
Besides using frequent flashbacks and flash-forwards, How I Met Your Mother often used also time-traveling narrative devices. Whether time travel was used as means to depict Barney preying on women, as it did in How I Met Your Mother season 4, or to lead Ted to realize something about himself as How I Met Your Mother season 8 did, its existence was always ultimately proven wrong. However, How I Met Your Mother season 5 episode 10, “The Window,” seemingly confirmed the existence of time travel in the HIMYM universe.
As Marshall started doubting himself as his 15-year-old self’s letter for the Marshall of the future pointed out all the things he should have pursued but didn’t, he also realized that for as long as Marshall was with Lily (like Sid and Hannah in HIMYF) he would have been okay. This was somewhat proven by the sign he asked to receive from the Marshall of his future that should have confirmed the existence of time travel, which turned out to be a plate of hot wings rejected by another patron and offered free of charge to him and Lily. While 30-year-old Marshall never knew who sent the hot wings back, viewers can see it is 60-year-old Marshall, proving that time travel will exist in HIMYM’s future.
Why How I Met Your Father Should Bring Back Time Travel
Time travel having a place in How I Met Your Mother made sense, considering how Ted, Marshall, and Barney were fans of sci-fi movies. However, it soon enough became integral to How I Met Your Mother, especially considering the sitcom often came back to it. While How I Met Your Father referencing the HIMYM staple, even without fully confirming it, could slightly sound off as its characters were never as dedicated sci-fi fans as Ted and Marshall, it would also work as a charming callback. This way, there would be one more reference that fully established How I Met Your Father as part of the same universe as How I Met Your Mother.