Neil Patrick Harris Defends 'How I Met Your Mother' Ending, Says He Was a 'Big Fan'

You know that "How I Met Your Mother" ending that you hated? Well, Neil Patrick Harris loved it.

The erstwhile Barney Stinson stopped by the Late Show with David Letterman to chat, and while his new brown hair was definitely a shock, his defending of the "HIMYM" series finale wasn't.

"It wasn't necessarily the happy ending people were expecting," Harris said. "But Carter and Craig, who were once writers on your show and the executive producers and the creators, knew this ending years ago and had played towards that. I was a big proponent of it and a big fan of it."

For those who missed it (though we're not sure how since everyone was talking about it), here's a spoiler for the ending to the series: The mother, played by Cristin Milioti, dies from illness after she and Ted get married, and Ted ends up with Robin. Oh, and that's after Barney and Robin get divorced.

But Harris even liked the way that Barney's story ended up, despite the less-than-happy result. "Sometimes people's growth doesn't really mean that they grow up," he said. "There are certain people who you want to get in a solid relationship and really settle down and learn from things. You want Barney to be the guy you can bring your mom home to, but Barney's the guy who wants to bang your mom. At the end of the day, it's not always meant to be that way."

In other words, Barney will forever stand by his Bro Code, because that's just who Barney is.

For those who disagree with Harris (and there are many), there's still some hope: Series creator Carter Bays claimed on Twitter that there will be an alternate ending to the series included on the DVD set when it releases later this year.