How I Met Your Mother is still considered to be one of the best pieces of comedy in any medium. The sitcom has stood the test of time and will be revisited for years to come. This is of course all down to how compelling the characters really are.
Perhaps the best couple in the entire show was Marshall and Lily. These two characters were the heart and soul of the series, but there are many times they should have broken up. Here are 10 times they should have dumped one another.
DUMPED HER: STOPPING ENGAGEMENT
Lily and Marshall were such a strong couple that they eventually decided that they wished to be engaged. Lily said yes to Marshall’s proposal, but this all fell apart quickly. The couple had been together so long that Lily had an identity crisis.
She worried she did not know who she was without Marshall and therefore felt it was appropriate to end the engagement. This was a massive blow to Marshall, who had fallen head over heels for his future wife.
DUMPED HIM: RELATIONSHIP WITH BARNEY
Barney and Marshall perhaps have a problematic relationship. While Lily does love Barney like a brother, there’s times where she wishes that his influence wasn’t being exerted over the much more innocent Marshall.
When Barney and Lily first met, it was during a time where Barney was trying to convince Marshall to hit on other women. This didn’t give the relationship a great start, and there’s been plenty of occasions since where Barney has brought women into Marshall’s life.
DUMPED HER: MOVING AWAY
What’s worse is after Lily and Marshall split up, Lily decided to completely remove herself from her former fiance’s life. She took on an art course that was held in San Francisco and therefore moved away, perhaps for good.
This was even more painful for Marshall, who essentially went cold turkey without his best friend by his side. It also made him question how she was coping by herself in a different city. When she returned, it’s a surprise he didn’t dump her again for the offense.
DUMPED HIM: WORKAHOLIC
Marshall is well known to be a workaholic. He gets so into his career and job and can become really passionate about projects he loves. Over time however he goes along a more corporate route which Lily feels is changing him.
What’s worse is that he often takes his work home with him, neglecting Lily of the attention she needs. This has put a strain on their relationship a number of times and has caused many arguments, which could have lead to a breakup.
DUMPED HER: GOING BACK TO NORMAL
What’s perhaps worse is that Marshall took her back. Lily actually moved back to New York for some time without telling any of her friends. Just as Marshall was getting over her, she entered back into his life at the worst possible time.
She hoped everything could go back to normal as if nothing had happened, but she’d already broken his heart, and he was unsure if he could take that again. Perhaps Marshall should have never got back with Lily based on the way she acted at this time.
DUMPED HIM: HIS MOTHER
Marshall’s mother isn’t exactly easy to get along with. One of the best supporting characters of the show was Marshall’s father. The character was killed off eventually, which was a heartbreaking moment for both viewers and the characters alike.
Marshall’s mother, Judy, never took a liking to Lily however. The two constantly clashed, and on their wedding day, the mother even took the time to tell Lily that this happiness wouldn’t last forever!
DUMPED HER: RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS MOTHER
Despite all of this, it’s safe to say that Lily also doesn’t put in a lot of effort with Judy. In fact, Robin has even found Lily’s diary, where she had proclaimed that she wished she could kill Judy, removing her from their lives for good.
Perhaps her reaction to Judy dating Mickey, Lily’s father, was also quite extreme, although at least this is something that Marshall could agree with. It was only into their later years that Lily tried to mend that broken bond.
DUMPED HIM: WAIT FOR IT
Marshall and Lily finally have a child together, and it’s a significant moment in the show. There’s an ongoing conversation about what they should call the kid, but it’s pretty clear early on that they would decide on Marvin, after Marshall’s late father.
However, Marshall did agree with Barney on a middle name before Lily had a say on it; what’s worse is he dropped the news while she was in labor. Luckily she loved the name thinking that it was really cool, and so Marvin’s middle name is now… Wait For It.
DUMPED HER: CREDIT CARD DEBT
Lily has a few spending problems. She also can’t quite admit to it. She goes on a bit of a spending spree and quickly racks up debt on their credit cards. She actually manages to hide it well from Marshall, but of course, this had to come to an end.
Lily had been lying to Marshall about the problem, so when he finally found out, he was incredibly angry. What’s worse is that it was a lot of money and it’s a surprise that he didn’t consider dumping her at this point.
DUMPED HIM: JUDGE MARSHALL
Marshall has made a number of decisions on his own without consulting Lily. He’s even lied about a few of them. When Lily was ready to move her family to Rome to start the next part of her career, Marshall was hiding a big change of his own.
He’d been asked to be a judge and was told that this had to be a decision he made immediately. This rushed choice lead to a huge argument between the two, although they eventually decided to take the trip to Rome anyway.
