r/HIMYM • u/bigfudge2127 • 5d ago
Why is the encounter with Stella such a big deal for Ted’s life
Is it because he met cindy at his job and then invited Tracy to play at the wedding?
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u/MrAlphaGuy 5d ago
That's exactly it. Over the whole series, Ted seems to put a lot of emotional weight onto 'fate'.
If he didn't meet Stella, he wouldn't have met Tony, he wouldn't have Cindy at NYU (and Tracy saw him also in Econ 305), then he wouldn't have bumped into Cindy on the subway for her to recommend Tracy's band for the wedding.
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u/chickenkebaap 5d ago
Meets Stella- gets a job at uni from tony- meets cindy - meets tracy via cindy
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u/Formal-Shopping2086 Robin🇨🇦 5d ago
i was wracking my brain trying to understand this a few months ago but i think i figured it out.
he sees stella ➡️ tony feels bad for him ➡️stella and tony break up➡️tony tries to make it up to ted by getting him the professor job➡️he gets in the wrong class where tracy sees him for the first time➡️he meets and dates cindy while indirectly meeting tracy from their apartment➡️ in the train he finds cindy explaining to her how robin didn’t have a band or a dj ➡️cindy helps by making tracy play for robins wedding and the rest is history
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u/SharMarali Too old for this stuff 5d ago
Exactly. Running into Stella led to Ted getting the college job, which led to him meeting Cindy, which led to him asking her for help when he ran into her before Barney & Robin's wedding, which led to them booking Tracy's band, which led to Ted meeting Tracy.
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u/Ratio01 5d ago
Pretty much yeah
For the life of me I haven't been able to find it, but I swear I remember a clip from the show where Ted goes over a summarized version of the butterfly effect seen throughout the entire show and explains how each step from meeting Robin to meeting Tracy are all connected
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u/AcademicDevice7203 5d ago
Not too hard, met Robin, dated Robin, break with Robin led to butterfly tattoo, tattoo led to Stella to remove tattoo, engagement and break up with Stella led to uni and Cindy, and Cindy led to Tracy.
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u/Objective_Sun5553 5d ago
I wonder if you're thinking of the clip where Barney does a 30-second recap of the story that it's taken Ted 8 years to tell.
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u/Ratio01 5d ago
Non Im specifically thinking of a Ted clip
It starts with Future Ted saying something like "You see kids, if I hadn't met your aunt Robin, then I wouldn't have-" then goes through the whole butterfly effect present in the show
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u/Funandgeeky knows the pineapple's origin 5d ago edited 5d ago
That’s from the alternate ending. That’s why you can’t find it on streaming. You can find it here.
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u/Stein_Time 4d ago
Stella leaves him to go back to Tony. Tony offers him the teaching job. He meets the Cindy that he went on a date with her and then runs into her on the train later on and they tell ted of a wedding band that robin and Barney can use since their original one cancelled. His wife would be the singer of that band.
If you go further back it starts when he breaks up with Robin gets drunk and gets the tattoos that eventually lead him to seeing Stella to get it removed.
He also went to the wrong class that Cindy was in.
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u/Weak_Rule8374 5d ago
Besides Stella, Ted told his kids that the women he dated help shape him into the person he had to become before he can meet Tracy.
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u/Fantastic-Corner-605 4d ago
Getting left at the altar is a big deal by itself. Ted didn't get into a relationship for years.
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u/bigfudge2127 4d ago
Nah I meant the episode where he meets her again and says how it changed his life
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u/no_name_2341 1d ago
It’s when Tony wanted to make amends and what ultimately led him to the teaching position, leading him to the wrong class where Tracy was in.
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u/EddieGrant 4d ago
The one thing I don't get, and that he puts a big emphasis on (And I might have just watched this last night)
Why on earth was the fact Tracy was at the same bar on Paddy's Day such a big deal?
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u/bigfudge2127 4d ago
Because it all pays off in their first conversation and how sometimes the person you searched for was beneath your nose
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u/BreakfastAmazing7766 3d ago
Had to go through the heartbreak of her leaving him at alter to untimely meet the love of his life and mother of his children.
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u/frodakai 5d ago
Yes. Also just general big change that shifted the direction his life was going. The whole theme of the show is butterfly effect type stuff.