*Warning* Spoilers ahead….
He might have been presented to us as the lovelorn romantic pining after Robin, but a new fan theory paints How I Met Your Mother’s Ted Mosby in a whole new light.
We all know Barney was a playboy of the Manhattan scene, and while the gang would religiously witness his lady mingling ways, the stories became part of the ‘mother mystery’ Ted decided to recant to his children.
Fans will remember Barney ‘Playbook’ – a detailed account of every pick-up line and move he used to snag a date.
Now one fan has suggested Barney wasn’t the author of The Playbook… it was actually Ted and Barney was just his scapegoat.
Reddit user Mila_Nen suggests that not only did Ted write the book, but that it was never real and rather just a way for Ted to explain to his children about his friend’s womanising past.
Mila_Nen points out how Ted is an unreliable narrator and has been known to exaggerate his stories. He has also changed stories to make himself sound better in the past (like breaking up with a long-distance girlfriend so he could bed Robin), or simply forgetting the facts.
She also points out that Ted is telling this story to his kids and is likely going to omit some information from time to time. This could be the case with The Playbook.
So what else could add to Ted’s change of authorship?
“The title page of each play was written in beautiful calligraphy. ‘Twas only the episode before, featuring Ted and Barney drunkenly fight[ing] over Robin, where [Ted mentions his] love affair with what print style? Calligraphy! The Playbook, the totem of Barney’s preposterous sexual antics, was in fact, conceived of on the spot as Future Ted talks with his kids. It’s a storytelling device used to underscore Barney’s ways.”
Mila_Nen continues by explaining that Barney’s last play – “The Robin” – was not Barney’s proposal at all,  but was actually Ted’s way of giving Robin the elaborate proposal he wish he could do in his mind.
“It was a Legendary proposal. And we know that legendary means lying.”
Even if this theory is true, it still doesn’t make up for the terrible finale of the show.
