10 Most Heartwarming Moments In How I Met Your Mother
7. 45 Days
Moving onto the show's penultimate season, the 20th episode - 'The Time Travelers' - is mainly a bit of a filler entry, with the majority spent with Ted and Barney bantering with their future selves in the booth at MacLaren's. It's revealed at the end that Ted has been imagining it all, and is sat at the bar alone while the others plan the next steps of their lives.
In a huge emotional moment (and in stark contrast to the rest of the episode), future Ted imagines himself running to the apartment of his future wife and talking to her, telling her they'll meet in 45 days, but he wishes he could have those extra days now.
It's a very emotional piece with some great acting by Josh Radnor in a close-up monologue, and it's heartbreaking in many ways. It's warming to know that it's not long until both Ted and the fans meet The Mother at this point, but even then there was speculation that she had a tragic end, which of course turned out to be true.
It was the first melancholy reflection of her from Ted, and it remains one of the best scenes in the show.