- Will Ted go to the opening of his new building with Robin as his date, or will he break his promise to Barney and tell her that Barney is proposing to Patrice? Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily have big plans for a rare night out.
- The opening ceremonies of the new GNB headquarters is soon happening, and all of Ted's friends plan on being there to support him and help him celebrate his achievement. The one friend who won't be there is Barney, who admits to Ted that he is planning on asking Patrice to marry him that evening. Barney swears Ted to secrecy. Ted however feels that Robin has a right to know if only because he believes that she still loves Barney. Ted has to decide if his vow of secrecy to Barney or Robin's lifetime happiness is more important. If he does decide to tell Robin, that may signify that he himself has finally let Robin go romantically. Marshall and Lily are able to attend the ceremony as Mickey has given them an early Christmas present: twenty-four hours of consecutive babysitting service. This time will be their first extended time away from Marvin, and they are looking forward to it. Beyond attending the opening ceremonies, Marshall and Lily plan on getting down and dirty with each other. However, they find that being away from Marvin isn't as easy as they thought it would be.—Huggo
- Ted's new building is opening that night, but he is distracted by his promise to Barney; he winds up asking Robin to be his date to the gala as he knows that Robin has been hurting over Barney all summer.
Marshall and Lily are excited to have their first evening away from baby Marvin, thanks to her father Mickey taking care of him. They plan to show up at Ted's building inauguration among other activities they have planned for their day off from Marvin. Before picking up Robin as his date, Ted calls Marshall to meet him at the bar. Ted says that he still has feelings for Robin, and he knows that he is deluded that some part of him still thinks that he will end up with Robin. Ted tells Marshall that he will tell Robin about Barney's plans for her that evening. Marshall asks Ted not to say anything to Robin as he believes that Ted should fight for any small chance that he has to get back together with her. Ted says that not telling the truth to Robin would be selfish. Marshall wants Ted to put his own interests ahead of everyone else for a change. Marshall and Lily attend Ted's big building inauguration event and start missing Marvin. Lily starts lactating. They decide they are more content spending the night back home with him.
When Ted meets up with Robin in Ranjit's limo, he tells her. Robin claims to be fine with Barney's plans, she admits that she has still loved him for a long time but cannot keep chasing after Barney if he will never feel the same way about her. Robin admits that it stings that Barney is proposing to Patrice. Finally letting go of his pursuit of her, Ted takes Robin to the WWN building where Barney intends to propose to Patrice. Robin is annoyed as she was the one who showed the roof spot to Patrice in the first place. But she says that she doesn't not want to make a fool of herself every time. Ted says that 8 years ago he made a fool of himself chasing Robin, and that's the only way to find love.
When Robin heads to the roof of the building, she sees no sign of Patrice. Instead, she finds a page from Barney's Playbook, titled "The Robin". Barney had a long plan to get back together with Robin, which started with proclaiming his love for Robin in front of Nick and intentionally getting shot down after kissing her right after spending time at the strip club. He then closed the door on Robin, driving her nuts. Robin did go nuts and tried to seduce Barney.
He went to Patrice for help and pretended to date her so that Robin would realize her feelings for him. To prove his loyalty to Patrice, he even burned the Playbook. He told Ted about his plan to propose to Patrice, as part of the play. Barney knew that if Ted told Robin, that means that his best friend has let go of Robin and has given them his blessings. When Barney arrives, Robin feels that she cannot trust Barney because of how he manipulated her to get to this moment. He asks her to turn the page over and she does; it reads "Hope she says yes." When she puts the page down, she sees Barney down on one knee holding the ring, asking her to marry him. She tearfully accepts, and they embrace and kiss as snow begins to fall.
At the gala, a GNB executive proposes a toast to Ted. While Robin, Barney, Marshall, and Lily are shown happily in their respective couplings, Ted stares out from the GNB building alone; his future uncertain.
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