8 How I Met Your Father Season 2 Theories

The first season of How I Met Your Father has come to an end and fans are still no closer to identifying the eponymous “father.” Well, that may not be entirely true. After 10 episodes of getting to know the Pemberton’s gang, Sophie’s journey to find ~the one~ is already off to a hectic start, and the big finale only complicated her love life even more. Oh, and Sophie’s not the only one who ended the season with an unexpected twist. After those big announcements in the final moments of Season 1, fans will have to ponder all these How I Met Your Father Season 2 theories as they await the show’s return.

Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers from the How I Met Your Father Season 1 finale, “Timing Is Everything.” Up until the end of Season 1, it really seemed like Sophie and Jesse were going to work out. The two finally realized their feelings for one another, and their chemistry was strong enough for Sophie to break up with Drew. With nothing standing in their way at long last, Sophie and Jesse hooked up... only for things to immediately go south afterward. Jesse whispered “I love you” in his sleep, which freaked serial dater Sophie out. Those three little words exploded into an unexpected fight, as Sophie was uncomfortable learning Jesse turned down touring with his singer ex, Meredith, for her.

Even some wise words from Robin Scherbatsky herself couldn’t fix things. When Sophie returned to Jesse’s apartment intent on repairing their relationship, she caught him kissing Meredith. There was a glimmer of hope for Sophie, though, as her long-distance boo, Ian, returned to New York at the very end of the episode.

So... does that mean Ian is the father? What’s going to happen on Jesse and Meredith’s tour? And is this really the end of Valentina and Charlie? The finale left fans with a ton of questions, so for now, they’ll just have to theorize about where Season 2 will go.

1. Sophie will be in a love triangle with Jesse and Ian.

At this point, Jesse feels like the only actual option to wind up as Sophie’s soulmate, but Ian could become stiff competition. He and Sophie had major chemistry right off the bat, but viewers didn’t get to see their relationship develop since he shipped off to Australia in the series premiere. Now that he’s back, it’s pretty clear Season 2 will revolve around Sophie dating Ian, but don’t expect her to completely forget about Jesse. Prepare your #TeamIan and #TeamJesse hashtags now, because it looks like the show is headed straight into a messy love triangle in Season 2.

2. Valentina will look into adoption or fostering.

Valentina may not seem like the mothering type upon first introduction, but the finale revealed she’s serious about wanting to have children — so serious, in fact, that she and Charlie broke up after he said he would never want to have kids. With babies on the brain, Valentina may explore her options in becoming a single mother, like looking into adoption or fostering, in Season 2. A HIMYF baby may be here sooner than expected.

3. Jesse will have to choose between fame and love.

Considering the instant success of Meredith’s first single, it’s only a matter of time before she becomes an A-list celebrity in the world of HIMYF, and with Jesse on tour with her, he’ll be climbing the fame ladder as well. While Jesse may be with Meredith at the start of Season 2, he obviously won’t be able to entirely move on from Sophie. This could lead to a major decision for him: make it big as a musician, or go back to Sophie.

4. Sid and Hannah will divorce.

Listen, I’m rooting for Sid and Hannah’s long-distance romance as much as any fan, but after that quickie wedding, Hannah extending her time away, and all the arguments the two had in Season 1, the writing just seems like it’s on the wall for these two. Hannah just doesn’t seem too ingrained in the core group, plus the show has yet to explore the potential of Sid being the father of Sophie’s future kid. Given that there are only a few options, it definitely feels like the show would want to show Sophie’s feelings for each of the potential fathers in coming seasons, and it can’t really do that if Sid is married.

5. Charlie will develop feelings for Sophie.

Speaking of the show exploring all the potential fathers, Charlie entering Season 2 single could mean it’s his time to reflect on his relationship with Sophie. Of course, this particular pairing is super complex, since Charlie was dating Sophie’s best friend, Valentina, and despite their breakup, the two clearly still have feelings for one another. Still, Charlie is one of the very few potential fathers, and the show has yet to go down that route with him at all.

6. Rachel will become part of the group.

While everyone else was dealing with breakups, Ellen was on cloud nine in the finale after hitting it off with her neighbor, Rachel. The two got off to a very rocky start when Ellen pretended to be best friends with Rachel’s deceased grandma in order to meet her, but they patched things up in the finale. Expect them to be totally coupled up in Season 2, with Rachel even hanging out with the group as Ellen’s new girlfriend.

7. Another potential father will be revealed.

In the series premiere, Narrator Sophie confirmed she met her son’s father on the night of Sid and Hannah’s engagement and Ian’s departure. This hint seemed to massively narrow things down... but then a couple episodes later, Drew became a potential father when it was revealed he was at the bar that night too, despite not being shown in the premiere episode. The show already pulled that trick once, so what’s to stop it from doing it again with another totally new guy? After all, this is a reboot of the series that infamously didn’t introduce its “mother” until the very last season.

8. Jesse will get advice from Ted Mosby.

The HIMYF Season 1 finale brought back Robin Scherbatsky to dispense some words of wisdom to Sophie, so in Season 2, it’s Jesse’s turn to get some hard-learned HIMYM knowledge. It’s unclear if the reboot will be bringing back any more of the original series’ stars — Neil Patrick Harris even confessed he doesn’t think Barney should return — but if the show’s going for symmetry, then it would be great to see Josh Radnor reprise his role of Ted Mosby in Season 2 to speak with his HIMYF counterpart.

All episodes of How I Met Your Father Season 1 are streaming on Hulu.