A funeral scene in the How I Met Your Mother series finale was cut because it was deemed too “heart-wrenching.” Would it change viewers’ perceptions about Ted’s choices in the How I Met Your Mother series finale? Maybe.

According to an interview with TV Line, Alyson Hannigan revealed that How I Met Your Mother did shoot more material than was shown in the finale. Most notably: a scripted funeral montage for Tracy, Ted’s eventual wife and the mother of Luke and Penny. However, it was cut from the final episode.

Co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas eventually decided to cut the scene because of their claim that it was “too gut-wrenching.” Hannigan, like many fans, we imagine, argued that she would’ve preferred to see that – to have her “heart ripped out and slammed on the floor and, like, stomped on!” After nine seasons of seeing Ted go through endless women trying to find The One, we would have liked to see Ted with his happy ending, but HIMYM isn’t the typical comedy (see: Marshall’s dad’s death, Robin’s admittance that she cannot have kids).

Hannigan also revealed the initial table read for the episode ran 18 minutes longer than what aired, prior to cuts, and that it was “perfect” but “also much more heart-wrenching.” It was filmed, and she wishes that people who didn’t like the finale had been there to see it, first hand.

Many viewers criticized the finale for using Tracy, the Mother, as a mere plot point for Ted to get from point A (Robin in season 1) to point B (Robin in the final moments of the series finale).

On Hypable, we had our own arguments for both sides that people either feverishly defended or fought against the episode that aired. But the inclusion of a scene such as the funeral might have swayed fans to be more accepting of Ted’s decision to go after Robin at his children’s request.

It is unknown whether or not we will ever see this scene. After the finale last month, Bays did announce via Twitter that they are including an alternate ending to the show on the DVDs. Does that include this funeral scene? That is unclear for now.

Would a funeral scene for Tracy had changed your opinion of the How I Met Your Mother series finale?