Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Marshall and Lily prepare for their first child while the friends face changing relationships and homes. Robin, in court-ordered therapy after an assault, starts dating her therapist Kevin; Barney tries to make his relationship with Nora work. After Barney and Robin sleep together, they agree to tell their partners. Barney confesses to Nora and ends their relationship, expecting Robin to do the same. At MacLaren’s, he sees Robin arrive with Kevin and leaves alone.
Robin later tells Kevin she cannot have children. When he proposes, she hesitates, and the mismatch over having a family ends their relationship. Ted tells Robin he still loves her; she kisses him before leaving for a reporting assignment in Moscow, but when she returns Robin makes clear she does not return his feelings. Ted says he will move on, but Marshall sees he is hurting and asks Robin to move out. He then turns back toward Victoria, while Barney begins pursuing Quinn, a stripper he met at her workplace. Marshall and Lily move to Long Island as the pregnancy advances.
The season’s two-part finale brings the personal storylines together. Lily goes into labor while Marshall and Barney are stranded in Atlantic City; Marshall reaches Manhattan in time for his son’s birth, and they name him Marvin Wait-for-It Eriksen after Marshall’s late father. Barney and Quinn reconcile after a fight over her work, and Barney proposes at airport security with a ring hidden in his magic trick. Ted first agrees to take Victoria back to her wedding, then drives past the church and leaves with her. A flash-forward to Barney’s future wedding reveals Robin as the bride.