The Magician's Code

Plot

Lily goes into labor but refuses to head to the hospital unless Marshall is by her side. To keep her calm, Ted and Robin distract her with stories from their past, waiting until her contractions are four minutes apart. Robin then claims she has delivered a baby before and offers to do it herself, which finally convinces Lily to go to the hospital. Meanwhile, Barney and Marshall are stranded in Atlantic City after the events of "Good Crazy" and need to get back to Manhattan for the birth.

Barney agrees to help, but only if Marshall gives his son the middle name "Wait-for-It." Marshall accepts, and Barney gets them two seats on a bus to New York. However, Marshall soon realizes the bus is heading to the state of New York, not New York City—its final stop is Buffalo. As they scramble for another way back, several senior citizens on the bus, moved by Marshall's situation, fake heart attacks to force the driver to detour to the hospital where Lily is giving birth.

Lily begins delivering without Marshall, and Robin faints at the sight. In the waiting room, she tells Ted she is confused because she never fainted during previous deliveries. Ted suggests it is different when it is someone you love, and this conversation finally mends their friendship. Marshall arrives just in time for the birth.

Lily names their son after Marshall's late father and honors Barney's condition, so everyone welcomes Marvin Wait-for-It Eriksen. Part 2 opens with a flashforward to Barney's wedding, where Lily tells Ted the bride wants to see him. After the baby is born, Robin tells Ted that every woman he has chased in the past was the wrong person, except for Victoria. She urges him to call Victoria.

Ted does, asking her to meet him at MacLaren's to find out if she ever got engaged. Victoria shows up in a wedding dress and asks him to run away with her, saying she has never stopped thinking about him. After consulting the others, Ted agrees and gets into the car with her. But then he admits he cannot let Victoria leave her fiancé at the altar, not after what Stella did to him.

He tells her he is taking her back to the church so she can go through with the wedding. However, as he starts reminiscing about their past, he drives past the church. They hold hands and drive off into the sunset together.

Reception

The episode drew 8.49 million viewers for its season finale. Donna Bowman from The A.V. Club gave it a B, noting that while the episode packed in a lot of plot, it also contained contradictions and used misdirection for certain outcomes. Michelle Profis of Entertainment Weekly felt the episode left no lingering questions for the audience before the next season, though it did include emotional beats like naming the baby after Marshall’s father. Ethan Alter of Television Without Pity rated part one a C+ and part two a C−. He described it as a “fake clip show” where the fabricated clips were the funniest element, and argued that revealing Robin as Barney’s bride could have been done just as effectively in the season premiere, rendering the entire season unnecessary.