The legendary sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” came to a close on March 31 with a controversial finale that left some fans unsatisfied.

Before I start ranting about the finale, I would like to give an official “spoiler alert” because there’s no way I can censor this article.

Also, before I get to the finale, I want to state that HIMYM is one of my favorite television shows of all time. The series, seasons one to eight at least, has quality characters, is extremely quotable, and is packed with laughs.

The ninth and final season failed to meet the high standard and quality installed back in 2005. I think we all can agree on that statement, whether you liked the finale or not.

Excluding the last episode, all episodes from season nine are the 56 hours leading up to Barney and Robin’s wedding and the mishaps and flashbacks that went along with it. I’ll be very straightforward here: it just wasn’t funny. None of it was funny. I didn’t laugh. I didn’t cry. I didn’t even want to watch the rest of the season. Nothing important happened. It was full of unnecessary fluff.

The purpose of these episodes (or so I thought) was to make us fans love and approve of Barney and Robin finally together after all of the ups and downs (which I did) and grow an attachment to the mother as we learned how she coincidentally met all of the other members of the friend group and how she’s the perfect fit for Ted (which I also did). I made it through these dry episodes thinking I would get the perfect finale that I’ve always dreamed of. But wow, I was wrong.

Instead of Barney and Robin, the two thick-headed troublemakers who never thought they’d end up married, living happily ever after, they got a divorce after three years of marriage. These three years were also covered in about five to ten minutes into the episode.

Yes, I know. People get divorced. It happens. But I also know that this is a television show and I want my happily ever after. Also, they should NOT have had ALL of the episodes leading up to this be ONLY about their wedding and then have them get divorced immediately. This is proof that all of the episodes preceding the finale were ABSOLUTELY POINTLESS.

After getting over that heartbreak, we find out many other things such as Marshall reaching judgeship, Barney becoming a father after a one night stand, and Robin disappearing after becoming a workaholic news celebrity.

Did they ever go to Rome? Who even is the mother of Barney’s kid? How many kids do Marshall and Lily end up having? What are their names? Where’s Robin and how did she instantly become a celebrity? I get it, the show is called “How I Met Your Mother,” and not primarily focused on these other side stories. But since I have been a die hard fan, I kind of feel insulted. I deserve answers to these questions.

What they should have done, which is my grand solution to this horrible finale, is spread all of these major life moments throughout the season instead of packing them all into one hour. If they would have spread this out into a season, maybe I would have been okay with all of these unexpected events.

I didn’t even get to the most controversial part yet. On top of all of this, we sadly find out that Ted’s wife dies of illness in the year 2024. After concluding the story of “How I Met Your Mother,” Ted’s kids urge him to ask Robin out on a date since it has been six years since his wife has passed. The series ends with an allusion to season one, where Ted stands outside Robin’s apartment with the same blue french horn.

Cute, right? Wrong. How can a fan of the show possibly be happy about Ted and Robin being together after just finding out about the death of his wife? I seriously thought this was a sick and twisted April Fool’s joke or something. I cannot believe they ended it all like this.

In conclusion to this ridiculously long article that I can only imagine a few people read all the way through, the finale did surprise me. It wasn’t a happy ending and threw everyone off guard. I will personally never be a fan of the finale, but that’s okay, because it was announced that an alternative ending will be released on the season nine DVD and series box set.

Whether or not you liked the ending, HIMYM fans can agree that overall, the series has been legen(wait-for-it)dary.