“Trilogy Time”
←	HIMYM episode 7x20 (156)	→
First aired: April 9, 2012
Director: Pamela Fryman
Writer: Kourtney Kang
Barney's Blog
Images (21)

Ted, Marshall and Barney embark on another "trilogy time," where they get together every three years to watch the "Star Wars" trilogy and envision what their lives will be like in another three years. Meanwhile Barney and Quinn move in together.

Contents 1 Recap 2 Continuity 3 Gallery 4 Memorable Quotes 5 Notes and Trivia 5.1 Goofs and Errors 5.2 Allusions and Outside References 5.3 Music 5.4 Other Notes 6 Guests 7 Podcast 8 Reception 9 References 10 External Links

RecapEdit

The episode begins with a man observing Barney from his window, confused as to why Barney comes out of his apartment at 8:00 pm every night, walks seven paces and smiles. It turns out that Barney does this to pass gas, as he can't to do it in his apartment anymore, now that he and Quinn are living together. Although, Quinn has sold all of her stuff because Barney wants his apartment as it is, she wants to use her own coffee mugs instead of his, which Barney doesn't approve of. He tells her that he has to assert his dominance as a man in his apartment, which results in a fight between them. He finds the gang unsympathetic at his situation, but as he is about to leave Ted's new apartment, Ted stops him for another "Trilogy Time", in which they watch the original Star Wars trilogy.

The tradition started in 2000, when Ted and Marshall were in Wesleyan. They were supposed to study for their economics final, however Ted proposes that they watch the Star Wars trilogy instead. They make a pact to watch it every three years, since according to Marshall, if one didn't watch the trilogy at least once every three years, the dark side wins. Barney is later included in this pact. (Ted and Marshall both get 0's on their economics finals).

With every "Trilogy Time", the guys predict their future for the next three:

• Marshall is sporting a mustache, is successful lawyer, settled in with Lily, with Lily always being pregnant, since he wants a large family.
• Ted is a successful architect, and is with a girl who looks like Robin and has a name starting with R.
• Barney is always with a new girl.

However, the future that Ted and Marshall predict for themselves never turns out to be true.

In 2012, Ted thinks that there is something wrong with him, as he still hasn't settled down with someone. He predicts the future for 2015, in which he is still living alone, while Marshall and Lily are happy with a large family, Robin has married someone else, and Barney is with a new girl. However, Barney doesn't agree with what Ted has predicted for him, saying that for first time in his life, he doesn't want to be with some random girl in three years, and wants to still be with Quinn in the future. He then leaves to apologize to her, by smashing his own mugs, and also tells her that he plans on being with her for a long time. The two later end up passing gas in front of each other.

Meanwhile, Marshall comforts Ted, saying that he has a good feeling about Ted's life in 2015. In a flash forward to 2015, Marshall and Barney set up for another "Trilogy Time." Though Barney complains that Ted is breaking their tradition by bringing a girl, he and Marshall make an exception because Ted really loves the girl, who is revealed to be his infant daughter.

ContinuityEdit

• Marshall says that he can't grow a mustache. This was first mentioned by Lily in Robin 101.
• Ted's dream girl always plays bass guitar. In Girls Versus Suits, Future Ted revealed that his wife, does indeed play bass. The mother was seen carrying a guitar in Farhampton, presumably a bass.

GalleryEdit

For a listing of all images on the wiki tagged as being from this episode, see Category:Trilogy Time images.

Memorable QuotesEdit

Marshall:	Where is Robin?
Future Ted:	In the summer of 2009, Barney and Robin were secretly dating.
Ted:	Oh, Barney said she's taking some extension class on how to decoupage and Barney's taking a different decoupage class in the same building- that's why they shared a cab that one time.
Future Ted:	We were idiots.
Marshall:	Wait a minute. You're saying that Barney Stinson is at a decoupage class? That means we can watch Star Wars on his giant TV!

---

Notes and TriviaEdit

Goofs and ErrorsEdit

• When Robin plays the bass guitar in Ted's first fantasy, the music is unrelated with what she is actually playing (she doesn't even change notes with her left hand). But as this is a fantasy the men are having, and none of them know how to play bass, they just imagine it'll be done correctly when they get to it like in Marshall and Lily's imagining of playing Bridge on their future front porch.
• Robin says "That's why I have never thrown anything out for any relationship ever." This is untrue as she gave away her dogs for Ted in Stuff as he felt uncomfortable.
• Three years from 2012, Robin is seen throwing the phone off of Marshall's boat. It lands in the water with a very audible splash. Ted can still hear them laughing, although the phone is in the sea.

Allusions and Outside ReferencesEdit

• Ted, Marshall and Barney watched the Star Wars trilogy.
• In 2015, Barney whispers to Ted's daughter that Han shot first, referencing the controversial revision made to a scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
• The newspapers in the trilogy time predictions have Al Gore, Howard Dean, and Dennis Kucinich as US presidents, in 2003, 2006, and 2009, respectively while in the 2015 prediction, George W Bush would serve a third term.
• In 2009, Robin hides from Ted and Marshall in Barney's Stormtrooper costume.

MusicEdit

Other NotesEdit

• This episode marks the first appearance of Ted's daughter outside of the 2030 framing sequence.
• On the CBS version, at the start of the episode, when Barney walks out, the back heel of a woman walking past with a yellow umbrella can be seen.
• In the flash forward to 2015, Barney makes a point of not showing his left hand, leading to speculation that his marriage to Robin is not set in stone.

GuestsEdit

• Becki Newton - Quinn
• Michael Gladis - Chester
• Gregory Michael - Trey
• Meghan Maureen McDonough - Veronica

PodcastEdit

Featuring an interview with Chris Elliott.

ReceptionEdit

This episode was viewed by 8.00 million people. ^[1]
Donna Bowman of the A.V. Club gave the episode a B⁺. ^[2]
Chris O'Hara of TV Fanatic gave the episode 5/5. He praised Kourtney Kang, saying that she "did very well to bring us back from the dark side of countless weeks with no new episodes". ^[3]
Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode 9 out of 10. ^[4]
Ethan Alter of Television Without Pity gave the episode a C⁺. ^[5]
Michelle Profis of Entertainment Weekly said the episode's final scene opened potential for further material late in the series. ^[6]

ReferencesEdit

External LinksEdit

• Trilogy Time at the English Wikipedia
• Trilogy Time at TV.com
• Trilogy Time at the Internet Movie Database

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