Most of the cast, along with Bays, and producer/frequent director Pamela Fryman

Fans of How I Met Your Mother have tried figuring it out for years, and we’ve been told that Barney’s wedding is where Ted will in fact meet the titular Mother of the series.But, will Barney’s wedding be the series finale? At the TCA winter tour, continuing again today, the cast of HIMYM took the stage with EPs, showrunners, and co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, and what they initially teased was that though Ted will meet the mother, it may not mean the series’ end.

TV Line was at the conference today, and one of the biggest bits of news from Bays and Thomas revealed that the duo aren’t ready to settle on a series end-date just yet. Bays said that, ”It’s not a high priority for us. I think we’re keeping it undecided as for now.”

But, it’s what he said next that is sure to have some fans excited. Bays spoke about the mother and said that she “will be part of the end game of the show. How much the show will go on beyond that we can’t say.” TV Line says that later, Bays noted that there are 18 dangling threads that need to be tied up prior to the series finale.

“Part of the end game”. Ultimately, it seems as if the duo are saying that while the introduction of the Mother will signal the end of the series, there’s a chance we’ll get to see her actually embark on this relationship with Ted, how she fits in with the gang, double dating with Lily and Marshall, and plus, we may even get to see Barney in married life, which sounds absolutely perfect.

As a fan of the series, I think that one of the main problems with the whole Mother thing is that we’ve seen Ted try and fail so many times at love, and we’ve grown so close to the characters, that ending the series RIGHT when Ted meets the mother seems a bit abrupt. It’d be nice to see either one full season, or at least half a season where we get to see Ted and the mother connect, the mother’s personality, etc. Plus, Bays wanting to tie up everything before the series finale could be a big part of that.

How I Met Your Mother airs every Monday at 8PM on CBS, and is currently in its seventh season.