#barobin

Let's talk about Barney Stinson's quest to find Robin's ex. I use quest quite specifically as a term, though. There's a basic structure to quest narratives (I provide one that I have distilled from various interpretations of it):

From unrelated/low circumstances, a single person ventures out into unfamiliar territory, spurred on by a major event.

They have companions.

They undergo trials.

They receive aid from helpful strangers.

They overcome the final threshold and gain what they seek.

Barney leaves America to enter the foreign land of Canada because of Robin's stalker comments. His companions (Marshall, Lily, Ted and Robin) are left in America. He defeats the threat that is Robin's list of exes by being cordial to them and receives help from them. Alan Thicke is the final threshold/trial that he conquers (somewhat) and receives the tape that eventually gives him the answers he needs.

What Barney's quest rendered literally for me, however, was the fact that this structure is very much used as part of the wider Ted/Mother story.

Ted leaves the non-committal world of bachelorhood in pursuit of a wife, spurred on by the major change that is Marshall and Lily's engagement.

He not only has companions, but accrues another one in the form of Robin as his quest continues.

He undergoes trials. So many trials. Surprisingly few literal ones, though.

He receives aid from many helpful (relative) strangers.

And with Abby Elliot's Jeneane, Ted makes it quite explicit that he's entered his final trial.