HIMYM’s series finale is famous for many things, none of which are perfect.

Rarely has such a popular series messed up so badly and in a way that pretty much ruins the fun of everything that came before. Instead of a happy ending where Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) finally meets the titular mother and gets his happily ever after, we see the charming Tracy McConnell (Cristin Milioti) die of a mysterious wasting disease just moments after meeting Ted. (What I want is justice for Tracy.) we also learn that the whole point of the show wasn’t fate but making safe, predictable choices to fulfill a decades-old vision.

It would be bad enough if HIMYM’s decision to reunite Ted with his ex-girlfriend Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) in the last few minutes of the show’s previous episode were just a choice to ignore the fact that they were terrible together and that both of them would be much better off without the other—or cheesily reenacting a scene from the first episode with Ted and the blue French horn—or getting the chance to use old footage of the child actors who played Ted’s kids when they were still kids and showing how they reacted. (It isn’t delightful to think that nearly ten-year-old footage of Ted’s kids is a big reason why this show’s ending even exists.) Those things would still stink on their own (and they do!).

When How I Met Your Mother started, I’m sure no one thought that Robin and Ted’s brotastic. Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) would never have a real relationship, let alone that it would be one of the best love stories on the show. At first, it seemed like Robin would end up with Ted, and Barney seemed like a terrible choice for any woman. Neither wanted to settle down, and they were both terrified of committing. They were much more interested in their successful careers and busy social lives than in the traditional path of marriage and family. And they didn’t hide the fact that their needs and wants were all about them. But maybe that’s why they were meant to work so well together.

Even though Smulders and Harris had great chemistry, one of the reasons Barney and Robin worked so well is that. It was a story of two equals who see both for who they really are and accept each other anyway. The relationship between Robin and Barney, on the other hand, was about two people finding a way to grow and change together and become better as a pair than they were as individuals.

How I Met, Your Mother deserves credit for making the relationship between Robin and Barney believable. And a natural progression and extension of the stories it was already telling about them as people. The show takes years to show us how they go from being casual acquaintances to real friends. And how that friendship grew into something more profound for both of them. We’ve seen the ups and downs of their relationship for the better part of five seasons.

Through mistakes and successes, big gestures and small fights, betrayals, and forgiveness. Running away, giving up, and always coming back to each other. When they’re finally ready to commit to each other for good, it feels right and likes the only way for their story to go.

After all, the whole last season of the show is about Robin and Barney’s wedding. That’s the same as 22 episodes of American TV! That’s a lot of time! (I believe there are about 12 minutes between events if anyone keeps track.) It’s a slap to all the fans who liked this couple and watched every episode of the last season.

Harry Potter books on How I Met Your Mother, and it’s not wrong). Maybe Bays and Thomas have always thought that Robin and Ted were the ends of the show, which is fine since it’s their show. But that’s not at all what they said on screen.

True love shouldn’t be about finding your dream girl, forcing your partner into an uncomfortable box, or asking them to give up essential parts of their dreams so you can be together, which makes you want to grow with them instead of running away from them the idea of change. No matter what Ted Mosby says to his kids, that was never a story about him and Robin. It was about Robin and Barney.