Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the final episodes of Cobra Kai.The epic conclusion of the karate saga, Cobra Kai, is finally here. The series has come a long way in its seven-year journey, and its final entry in the series doesn’t pull any punches. After the tragic death of Cobra Kai’s Kwon Jae-Sung (Brandon H. Lee) during the massive brawl that broke out during the Sekai Taikai, the dojos return home with most reeling with the feeling of unfinished business when the tournament is canceled. Surprisingly, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) comes to both Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) asking them to agree to restarting the Sekai Taikai, so he can get one final shot at glory, as he reveals he only has months left to live. As Season 6 of Cobra Kai has made abundantly clear, there’s a lot riding on this tournament for the kids, as victories for Tory (Peyton List) and Robbie (Tanner Buchanan) could have life-changing implications, making the return of the Sekai Taikai that much more important.
‘Cobra Kai’ Season 6 Part 3 Returns to the Valley
The Sekai Taikai has now resumed, but this time in the Valley, giving Miyagi-Do home-field advantage. In a shocking turn of events, John Kreese (Martin Kove) has finally seen the error of his ways, realizing he failed Tory in Barcelona, he signed off for Cobra Kai to return to the tournament for the sole reason that Tory can fight and win, like the champion he knows she is. Robbie is set to face off with Iron Dragons’ juggernaut Axel (Patrick Luwis), with the winner facing Cobra Kai’s male captain, a position that is currently not filled, and Tory is to battle Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser) once again, with the winner facing Iron Dragons’ internet-famous Zara (Rayna Vallandingham) to fight for the crown of becoming Sekai Taikai champions. While Alex has the upper hand with his size and strength, Robbie certainly has more heart, leading to a fairly evenly sized match-up, until Axel’s sensei’s get into his head. Both Silver and Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan) plague Axel’s mind, threatening him to win by any means necessary, resulting in him breaking Robbie’s leg. Robbie is forced to forfeit his fight, and Samantha decides to pull out of her fight against Tory, realizing that karate is meant to teach you when not to fight, fully taking Miyagi-Do out of the picture of winning the overall dojo title.
In one of the most full circle and emotional moments in Cobra Kai, Johnny confronts all the skeletons left in the closet dating back thirty-five years with Kreese, and not only does Kreese apologize for his past mistakes, he gives Johnny the ultimate second chance — giving him back Cobra Kai. Now, back under the leadership of Johnny, Cobra Kai not only has Tory in the finals of the Sekai Taikai, they have a replacement male captain in the finals, Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña). In preparation for the final match-up, Daniel brings Johnny back to where the series all began — the Cobra Kai dojo as he negotiated a new lease in Johnny’s name, sparking a new era for Cobra Kai. Although this moment feels like a return to form for the beginning of Cobra Kai as a series, the moment showcases the growth Johnny, Daniel, Miguel, and Tory have gone through, by not ignoring the mistakes made along the way, but learning from them. Being the underdog story Cobra Kai is, both Tory and Miguel prevail despite the odds, making them World Champions, proving no matter the hand life has dealt you, no matter where you come from, anything is possible with hard work, determination, and the right people at your side. Even though Miguel and Tory won their final match-ups for Cobra Kai, their dojo and Iron Dragons are locked in a tie, leaving the senseis to face off to see who takes the dojo title.
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Johnny Lawrence Was Always the Hero of ‘Cobra Kai’
The heart of Cobra Kai has always been Johnny Lawrence and his journey of reclaiming his life, as he transformed from a failing drunk to a champion-making sensei, a providing father, and loving husband to Carmen (Vanessa Rubio). While one of the driving plot lines in Cobra Kai has been the rivalry between Johnny and Daniel, the two have finally learned that they work better together than against each other, and in this final fight between Johnny and Sensei Wolf, Daniel will serve as Johnny’s sensei. To even the playing field just a tiny bit, Kreese pays Silver a visit on his yacht, where they both go up in flames, completing Kreese’s redemption arc, and ending the evil reign of Terry Silver. Of course, Wolf is younger, faster, and stronger, but he is fueled by anger and greed, while Johnny is looking to prove he’s not the loser he’s felt like he’s been his whole adult life, and he feels this fight is his second chance at proving he’s a champion.
The best lesson in this final part of Cobra Kai is that being a winner doesn’t exactly mean literal victories, but being surrounded by loved ones and living a happy life, but winning championships never hurt, either. The series has been a study of balance, and not exactly the balance that Daniel and Miyagi-Do teach, but a balance between the extremes of Johnny and Daniel, making it the perfect combination, leading Johnny to claim his ultimate victory, making Cobra Kai a World Champion dojo.
‘Cobra Kai’ Ends One Chapter, But Starts Another
This final part of Cobra Kai closes the book on a lot of stories for the characters in the Valley but also sees the start of new and fresh journeys elsewhere in the world — both Tory and Robbie get career offers, competing around the world as the leading karate power couple, the Binary Brothers Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo) and Hawk (Jacob Bertrand) head off to Caltech together to study robotics, and Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) heads off the Korea to be with Sensei Kim (Alicia Hannah-Kim). While the series was laying breadcrumbs in Season 6 that Miguel and Samantha were going their separate ways after high school — with Miguel getting into Stanford and Sam studying abroad in Okinawa, Miguel surprises Sam by joining her in going to Okinawa together, so they can have one final adventure before college starts. Sam also heads to Okinawa with a gift from Mr. Miyagi himself — a pearl necklace that belonged to Miyagi’s mother and was asked to be passed down by Sam’s Grandmother when the time was right, per instructions from Miyagi himself. But this necklace has even more meaning because it was stolen from Mr. Miyagi’s wife after she passed by a guard, and Mr. Miyagi fought to get it back, explaining the “violent robbery and assault” that Daniel was researching earlier in the season.
Cobra Kai’s victory has completely changed Johnny’s life, Cobra Kai is now the most popular dojo in the Valley, they are so overbooked with students they open a second location with fan favorite Stingray (Paul Walter Hauser) chosen to run beginners’ classes there on the weekends. That’s not all for Johnny, he finally gives his family what he’s always wanted, a new house to raise his baby daughter in. The series closes with a conversation between Daniel and Johnny, as they discuss the upcoming All-Valley tournament, deciding which students should compete for which dojo, promising their teamwork in the world of karate has just begun, as students will train in the ways of both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do to perfect the offensive and defensive strengths of both dojos. While Cobra Kai creators have teased that multiple spin-offs are in the works, the next chapter in the Karate Kid franchise will be this summer as Daniel will appear in Karate Kid: Legends, even though, unfortunately, Daniel seems like the only connection to Cobra Kai audiences will see in that film.
Cobra Kai is available to stream on Netflix.
