In its 208th and final episode on Monday, the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother finally revealed the mystery contained in its title.


Actor Josh Radnor's character Ted meets the mom, played by actress Cristin Milioti, on a rainy train platform after his friends Barney and Robin are married.


But that marriage doesn't last, and neither does Ted's — because Milioti's character Tracy dies. And at the end of the one-hour episode, the romance that seemed natural at the show's beginning, between Ted and Robin, is rekindled.


Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas say they knew the plot for the final episode when the series premiered nine years ago.