If Ted Mosby is one thing, he’s a hopeless romantic; it’s this quality that pushes him to keep pursuing Robin over and over again throughout the show, despite overwhelming evidence that they’re wrong for each other. In a world where “How I Met Your Mother” ends with Bob Saget’s voiceover telling his kids the way he met their mother as Ted and Tracy exchange smiles and argue over a lost umbrella, the show honors its characters more — especially when it comes to both Ted and Robin.
Ted loves love, and every time he seems close to finding it throughout the series, something goes wrong … from his first-ever breakup with Robin to the time that Sarah Chalke’s Stella Zinman leaves him at the altar for her ex-husband. What we do see of Ted and Tracy’s relationship is sweet and full of love, and it’s beyond clear that the two are perfectly suited for each other (they both have rare coin collections and pronounce “Renaissance fair” like absolute dweebs). The love Ted finds with Tracy is the love he deserves, not a conditional one with Robin.
As for Robin, she’s in love with her career — and her ambition and drive end up causing problems in all of her relationships, including her short-lived marriage to Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). She shouldn’t have to give up her professional successes for Ted, a man who wants his partner to stay home and not travel the world for work. Shoving Ted and Robin back together at the end of “How I Met Your Mother” is, ultimately, bad for both characters.