‘How I Met Your Mother’ eliminated my prime candiate for the identify of the mother this week. Is there any mystery left in who the mother is, or is it just about marking off the checklist of clues at this point?

It’s funny how quickly things could change. It was just last week that we lived in world where Lance Armstrong didn’t dope, and Manti Te’o actually had a girlfriend. Mostly, though, it was just eight days ago that I was a card-carrying member of the group of How I Met Your Mother fans that believed that the titular mother would eventually be revealed as Barney’s half sister Carly.

I was a card-carrying member of the group of How I Met Your Mother fans that believed that the titular mother was Barney’s half sister Carly.

I jumped on board this particular theory as soon as the episode introducing the character first aired. It was a throwaway line as we learned more about Jerry Whitaker’s family. Just enough of a clue for people who pay close attention, but nothing overt and obnoxious; if producers Carter Bays and Craig Thomas were going to throw fans a bone, this is the way they’d do it.

But last week, a solid piece of evidence seemed to put that theory in doubt. In a flash forward, we learned from guest stars Rachel Bilson and Kaylee DeFer that Ted’s soulmate would be playing in the band at Barney and Robin’s wedding. It would really stretch the imagination for Barney’s half-sister to get a gig playing at her half-brother’s wedding from a random third (fourth?) party.

But the events of “Ring Up” have finally definitively disproved that theory. It had been speculated — especially amongst the more ardent supports of the Carly theory — that Ashley Benson would be playing Barney’s half-sister ever since her guest role was announced; it was teased that she had a connection to Barney in some unknown way. As someone who really took the theory seriously, I didn’t think there was any way she could be playing Carly, as it would basically disprove the possibility that she could be the mother.

That was about the only thing I was right about.

At least Bays and Thomas had a little fun with the story. It was hard not to giggle when Barney rolled out the impromptu wedding for the couple. It’s obvious that the two were aware of the theory and camped it up for the audience. A couple of “I Dos” were all that stood in between Carly fulfilling the destiny imagined by so many fans – well, that, and rings, families, yellow umbrellas, that pesky marriage license and, oh yeah love.

It think the reason I though it would work out the way it did was that it was the only way there was any mystery left to the identity of the mother. At this point, it’s just a matter of marking off the checklist of clues the show has provided throughout its eight-season run. We know when, where and how they’ll meet and how fate brought them together. At this point, the only mystery left is who Bays and Thomas will cast in the role.

Photo Credit: CBS