How I Met Your Mother featured plenty of laughs during its nine-season run, but the sitcom also knew how to pull at the heartstrings, with one of the most crushing moments being the death of Marshall’s father. In How I Met Your Mother’s sixth season, Marvin Eriksen Sr. (Bill Fagerbakke).died from a heart attack. Leading up to the heartbreaking reveal, a subtle countdown was displayed in the background through various Easter eggs.

Marshall created a new life by moving to New York City after college but he always considered St. Cloud, Minnesota his home. He grew up in an extremely tight-knit family and was very close with hid dad, Marvin. At times, Marshall may have shared a little too much about his personal life when keeping in touch with his family, according to Lily. It was later understood that Marshall needed constant communication to stay connected to his old life.

In How I Met Your Mother’s season 6 episode, “Bad News,” Marshall and Lily visited a fertility clinic after they became worrisome at their chances of getting pregnant. It was assumed that the title of the episode referred to the impending bad news regarding some sort of infertility issue. Instead, the bad news turned out to be the death of Marvin Sr. at the end of the episode. Marvin Sr. was 51 years old when he passed away and the episode featured a countdown starting at 50 through a series of Easter eggs. There was also one last reference in the countdown that correlated with Marvin Sr.’s age. Here’s every number in the episode referencing the countdown to Marvin Sr.’s death.

  • 50: In the opening scene, the number was shown on the pamphlet in the doctor’s office. 49: Months later, the same pamphlet could be seen with a different number. 48: The label on the hot sauce bottle that Marshall used. 47: Barney’s “47th Bi-Annual” Laser Tag Competition. 46: Printed on Dr. Stangel’s certificate. 45: The hot wings were 45 cents at McLaren’s Pub. 44: The number of beers on tap at McLaren’s Pub and the number on the man’s football jersey in the bar. 43: Seen on the pamphlet that Marshall was reading in Dr. Stangel’s office. 42: The number was seen on the other side of the pamphlet. 41: Shown on the race car on the poster in Dr. Stangel’s office. 40: Ted’s book, “New York’s 40 Greatest Landmarks.” 39: The office’s number shown behind Robin. 38: The weather section of the newspaper revealed 38°. 37: Lily read an article titled “37 Recipes for Holiday Leftovers.” 36: The number of Marshall’s dad’s beer was “Old Number 36.” 35, 34: The stock market was up 35.34 that day. 33: Robin’s news screen shared that 33 miners were rescued from a collapsed mine. 32-27: The lotto numbers for that day were “32 31 30 29 28 27.” 26: Marshall’s dad was seen reading “26 Home Improvement Shortcuts.” 25: Ted was reading a textbook called “25 Greatest Bridges.” 24: Robin’s coworker was reading a sports magazine with the number on the cover. 23: Shown as the title of the local news, Metro News 23. 22: Could be seen at the corner of Robin’s Japanese broadcast. 21: The calendar in Dr. Stangel’s office. 20: A room number in Dr. Stangel’s office. 19: The magazine in the patient room revealed an article called “Top 19 Nekkid Girls Countdown.” 18: The Apartment number of Marshall and Lily’s apartment. 17, 16: The number on Marshall’s specimen cup seen in his apartment. 15: The number of vitamins and minerals in Robin’s cereal. 14, 13: The apartment number of Sandy’s apartment. 12: The book, “12 Days of Christmas,” was seen behind Marshall. 11: The title of Ted’s book was “America’s 11 Greatest Water Towers.” 10: The number on the Robin Sparkles jacket when Robin showed it to her co-workers. 9: The number on the folder that Barney was holding. 8: The number on Dr. Stangel’s door. 7: The label of Marshall’s champagne bottle. 6: Dr. Stangel held the folder with number 9 upside down. 5: Barney gave Lily a high-five. 4: Dr. Stangel had a poster called “4 Layers of the Uterus” on the wall. 3: McLaren’s had an “open til 3 am sign” outside. 2: The clock in Marshall’s dad’s woodshop. 1: The number of Lily’s cab at the end of the episode. Expired: The sign on parking meter just before Marvin Sr.’s death was revealed.

Next: HIMYM Accidentally Created Breaking Bad’s Mike Ehrmantraut