Neil Patrick Harris Defends How I Met Your Mother Series Finale on Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton

The How I Met Your Mother series finale remains a controversial topic nearly one year after it aired, as fans remain split on the decisions of co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas.

The series finale showed us that Ted (Josh Radnor) and Tracy, aka the Mother, (Cristin Milioti) met, fell in love, got married, and had kids, but then she tragically got sick and died. Meanwhile, after the entire buildup of Season 9, Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) got married, only to get divorced three years later. Flash forward to 2030, and Ted and Robin wind up together.

The finale upset a significant portion of the fan base, but the man behind Barney Stinson, Neil Patrick Harris, has an explanation for the episode that could soothe some of those feelings. The actor appears on Bravo's Inside The Actors Studio with James Lipton tonight and discusses the finale with the host.

"I loved the ending, yeah," Harris says, according to E! Online. "[Robin and Barney] didn't belong together. She was meant to be with Ted...I loved the circles about the show and I love that whole season nine was trying to want them to be together and thinking that they're perfect together."

Harris also revealed that he wished Barney and Robin could have figured out how to be together.

"I would have loved for them to end up together, but it's not in Barney's DNA to be together with her or the same person, so he leaves her and ends up being crazy and wanting to be even more insane and shag more people," Harris says.

But as we know, Barney does wind up with one woman in his life, as he has a baby daughter at the end of the series.

"That is the one woman he commits his life to," Harris says. "I really valued what that meant for Barney Stinson. I just don't think there's an adult female that will tame him, and yet a great conclusion to his journey that a woman-a female-ends up taming him and taking his heart."

What are your thoughts on the HIMYM finale one year later? Let us know in the comments section.