There’s no denying that Lily is an invaluable character in How I Met Your Mother. She’s an integral part of the gang and the show just wouldn’t be the same without her. That being said, Lily has certain traits that make fans form pretty strong feelings towards her. Essentially, viewers either love or hate Lily.
Either way, fans have certainly witnessed Lily grow as person from the pilot episode to the finale. She’s had quite the character arc and it’s absolutely worth analyzing. Here are the 10 biggest ways that Lily has changed from season one to the finale.
She Has Less Patience For Ted’s Drama
Throughout the series, fans see Lily’s level of interest in Ted’s love life vary. At the beginning of season one, Lily is all for listening to Ted’s dating mishaps and is always ready to hand out advice. However, as the show progresses Lily begins to have less patience and time for Ted’s drama.
For instance, in season seven, Lily and Marshall invoke the “eight or higher rule.” This rule states that Ted can only come to them with his problems if they rate as an eight or higher on a scale from 1-10.
She Got Married & Had Three Kids
Maybe Lily getting married was a given considering fans saw Lily and Marshall get engaged in the pilot episode of the series. On the other hand, maybe this wasn’t a given considering all of the bumps along the way, such as Lily running off to San Francisco. Between the pilot episode and the finale, Lily and Marshall also have three kids together.
Marvin was born in season seven, Daisy was born in a flash-forward scene in season nine, and Lily announced that she was pregnant with a third baby in a flash-forward scene in the finale episode.
She Followed Her Dreams
Fans of the series know that Lily’s biggest fear was failing to follow her dreams. Judging by what went on between the pilot episode and the finale, it’s safe to say she did just that. Lily briefly moved to San Francisco and pursued her love for art, she owned a house in Long Island, she got a job as an art consultant, and she moved to Italy to further pursue her career.
It seems as though she truly got to do it all while also having a great support system made up of her growing family and best friends.
She Forgave Her Father
It’s no secret that Lily had a strained relationship with her father, Mickey. He was a fairly absent dad to Lily and he often put his board game business before her. Eventually, Lily gave him her “dead to me” look and tried to write him off for good. However, in season five, Marshall invited Mickey over for Thanksgiving hoping that Lily would forgive him.
Things didn’t go exactly as planned but Lily ultimately forgave her father and let him back into her life for the remainder of the series. Fans even find out in the finale episode that Mickey lived with Marshall and Lily during their time in Italy.
She Got Closer To Marshall’s Mother
Mickey wasn’t the only parent that Lily warmed up to by the end of the series. Lily had always clashed with Marshall’s mom in one way or another. The tension between these two began in season one when Judy got upset with Lily for having no intention of taking Marshall’s last name. In season seven, it’s revealed that Lily even has a diary entry depicting her desire to kill Judy.
This tension continues throughout the entire series until season eight where Lily and Judy start to make amends. In the finale, Judy is even seen living in Italy with Marshall, Lily, the kids, and Mickey.
She Found All Of The Doppelgängers
The gang is known for being on the lookout for their doppelgängers and by the end of the series, they had officially found all of them. This is especially important to Lily considering her and Marshall made a deal that they would start trying to have kids once they found all five doppelgängers.
In Seas, Barney was the only look-alike of the gang left to find and Lily convinced herself that she saw him at a hot dog stand. Barney’s true doppelgänger, Dr. John Stangel, wasn’t actually found until season six.
She Doesn’t Meddle As Much As Before
Lily is definitely known for meddling in her friends’ lives. Between the “Front Porch Test” and “Aldrin Justice”, Lily tried to control those around her on several occasions. She bet against Ted and Robin’s relationship, tried to break them up, and even locked Robin and Barney in a room in an effort to make them define their relationship.
However, by the end of the series, Lily seemed to abandon her manipulative and controlling ways. She didn’t have a hand in Ted and Tracy’s relationship at all, which says a lot.
She Got Out Debt
In season three, it was revealed to viewers that Lily had a shopping addiction. This addiction really took on a life of its own as it racked up huge credit card bills that Marshall had no idea existed.
This took a toll on Marshall and Lily’s marriage as it disabled them from being able to afford certain things, not to mention, Marshall had to take a job at Goliath National Bank to pay off the debt. While this wasn’t a great option since Marshall hated the bank, it did allow Marshall and Lily to eventually have a fresh start financially.
She Let Scooter Off The Hook
Well, sort of. In the episode “Hooked”, Marshall convinced Lily to tell Scooter that she will never be with him. This took quite a bit of practice since even though Lily had no feelings for Scooter, she still felt bad for him. Marshall had Lily practice by pretending Scotter was a teacup pig. Eventually, Lily was ready to let Scooter down once and for all.
Of course, when the time came, Lily held up her end of the deal but Marshall caved and told Scooter he could possibly be with Lily after Marshall dies.
She Matured
One of the biggest ways Lily has changed from the pilot episode to the finale is that she matured overall. By the finale, Lily is no longer making questionable decisions such as running away to San Francisco or abandoning Ted on the side of the road. She has become much more stable and is a great wife and mother to Marshall and her three children.
Lily has also become an incredibly reliable friend to the rest of the gang. She has been there for every important life moment including Barney and Robin’s divorce as well as the birth of Barney’s first child.
