Whether it is in life or in the arena, it doesn’t matter where you come from or how you begin your journey; it’s where you end up that matters the most—and Cobra Kai stays true to this idea as the beloved comedy martial arts drama ends its successful run with the release of the final part of the sixth season. The second part of the ongoing season ended on a heartbreaking note, as one of Kreese’s Cobra Kai students, Kwon, ended up impaling himself to death during an all-out brawl that broke out during the prestigious Sekai Taikai tournament. Needless to say, the tragedy affected the senseis and teenage participants on a personal level, and as a repercussion of this incident, the tournament was cancelled. The final part of the sixth season begins with several unexpected developments, leading to the tournament getting restarted and marking a gratifying end to the series as a whole.
Spoilers Ahead
A Change in Leadership
The most significant impact of Kwon’s demise is seen upon John Kreese, the hardboiled, uncompromising veteran sensei who truly seems wracked with guilt—as he reflects upon his ideals. With the cancellation of Sekai Taikai, Kreese, Kim Da-eun, and their students at Cobra Kai (except Tory) return to Master Kim, who, unwilling to take lessons from this incident, decides to double down on their hardcore ‘no mercy’ training even further. Kreese decides to break up Cobra Kai for good and steps down from his role as sensei by returning the Eujangdo to Master Kim.
Kim Da-eu has been forced to accept the decisions taken by her grandfather, Master Kim, all through her life, even though she didn’t support his brutal, merciless methods. As Kreese decides to walk away, Master Kim coerces her to kill his former student, but Kim Da-eun can’t find it in herself to betray Kreese, who has been a protective brotherly presence to her since a young age. Instead, she is motivated to stand up to Master Kim when Kreese entrusts her with the duty of protecting the dojo from his age-old regressive ways, and in the end, she ends up replacing Master Kim by using his own lethal tactics on him.
Sekai Taikai Returns
Following the cancellation of the tournament, Daniel has completely devoted himself to his business, although it can be clearly sensed that the harrowing spectacle of Kwon’s death, combined with the dark revelations regarding Mr. Miyagi’s past, has shaken him to the core. Daniel even goes on to distance himself from Mr. Miyagi’s ideals to a certain extent, much to his wife Amanda’s concern. Miguel and Sam, disheartened like every other participant, are planning for the future of their academic careers. Miguel has been accepted into Stanford, and although Sam had maintained that she would be joining UCLA to stay close to her family and Miguel, she has opted to move to Okinawa to pursue higher studies. The last few years have been a roller coaster ride for Sam, and it is understandable why she wants to have a change of pace.
Things aren’t going well for Robby and Johnny, as the cancellation of Sekai Taikai means Robby will not have the chance to join college under the athlete quota. Johnny’s dream of making it big by winning Sekai Taikai with Miyagi-do remains unfulfilled as well. Terry Silver, on the other hand, becomes desperate to restart the tournament, as unbeknownst to anyone, he is living on borrowed time after being diagnosed with a certain terminal illness (unrevealed)—and this tournament is the only thing that can provide him with some peace of mind in his final days. As Silver approaches the host of the tournament, Gunther, with the proposition of honoring Kwon’s memory and the ideals of karate by taking the prestigious tournament to an even bigger international stage with more media coverage, it is revealed that the only way the tournament can resume is if the senseis of the dojos who are still in the knockout stage agree in unison.
A desperate Silver decides to take his proposition to Johnny, knowing that his financial burdens and dreams will make it impossible for him to directly refuse Silver. Johnny acts as a mediator as Silver approaches Daniel, and even though the duo remain wary of Silver’s dastardly schemes, they acknowledge the fact that their students needed a sense of closure through continuation of the tournament after going through so much. Additionally, Silver proposes to let Daniel and Johnny decide the venue and for the referees to provide a proper chance of fair play, which results in the duo finally agreeing to resume the tournament. This time, instead of Barcelona, the remainder of the matches will be conducted in the San Fernando Valley, home of Miyagi-do and Cobra Kai.
New Member in Johnny’s Family
Caught up in various entanglements, financial or otherwise, Johnny couldn’t propose to his girlfriend/Miguel’s mother, Carmen—and now that the couple is expecting a baby, Carmen’s mother, Rosa, reminds Johnny of that. This prompts Johnny to seek advice from his old friend, Bobby, who is a pastor in the valley, whom fans will surely recognize from “The Karate Kid.” Johnny laments not being able to get his life in shape before asking the mother of his child to take his hand, but Bobby assures him that instead of waiting for everything to be perfect, he should take a leap of faith while there is still time to celebrate the happy moments. Johnny plans extensively to prepare for a perfect proposal, only to have Carmen get hospitalized after her water breaks—and he shifts his proposal plans to the hospital in the presence of family, friends, and loved ones. Exchanging vows, Johnny and Carmen became happy parents of their newborn daughter, Laura, whom Carmen named after Johnny’s late mother.
Chozen’s story arc becomes more nonsensical in the final part of the sixth season as, from a tough-as-nails karate expert, he is relegated to being a hopelessly romantic uncle, lamenting being unable to be with the love of his life, Kumiko—and discussing trash reality TV with a date Daniel and Amanda had fixed him with. Anyway, Amanda and Daniel learn about Sam’s plans of moving abroad and can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the anxiety and concerns of having their eldest child move away.
On the other hand, Sam meets Tory after the announcement of the tournament getting restarted, but given her sordid recent experience since rejoining Cobra Kai, Tory is unwilling to participate in Sekai Taikai. Sam manages to convince her to help her spar, and Tory reveals her fear that participating as Cobra Kai once again will ruin every relationship she valued in her life all over again. Sam reassures her by mentioning that representing Cobra Kai will definitely not change the person Tory is, and no one will treat her any different. This finally convinces Tory to not withdraw from the tournament, even though in the semi-finals Sam and Tory will have to face each other. Meanwhile, Robby gets ready for his semi-final match with Axel – when Miguel, Eli and Hawk help him to prepare through tech upgrades and pep talks.
Before the tournament resumes, Kreese pays a visit to Tory, asking for her forgiveness as he regrets his past actions dearly. Later on, Kreese meets with his best student, Johnny Lawrence, and the duo revisit their past. Back in 1984, Kreese assaulted Johnny after he lost the All Valley Karate Tournament to Daniel LaRusso, and ever since his abandonment, Johnny’s life has gone on a downward spiral. Kreese cannot undo his past actions, but he wishes to let Johnny know that in the late phases of his life he has grown a guilty conscience after all.
Cobra Kai Never Dies
Robby and the Iron Dragons’ warrior, Axel’s semifinal match begins anew as the Sekai Taikai is hosted in the Valley, and in the first round, Axel continues his unstoppable streak by using a new technique and catching Robby off guard. However, a timely pep talk by Daniel helps Robby to turn the tables in the second round, and it almost seems he can secure a victory by beating the undefeated Axel after all. However, Silver resorts to his vile machinations to ensure nothing of that sort happens as he asks Iron Dragons’ coach Sensei Wolf to advise Axel to use cheap tactics. Despite remaining unwilling to stoop to that level, Axel ends up breaking Robby’s leg in the third round and proceeds to the final as Robby is unable to continue. Robby makes peace with his reality as he acknowledges he has gained too much from karate to be demotivated by a sense of failure. However, Robby’s defeat makes it impossible for Miyagi-do to win Sekai Taikai as a team, as the point difference between them and the Iron Dragons remains too much. Sam feels a lack of purpose as she has to face Tory of all people in the semi-finals, and that too for no reason at all, as Miyagi-do’s hopes of winning the tournament vanished after Robby’s defeat. She seeks counsel from her father, but Daniel too has become disillusioned given the present state of situations.
However, Daniel’s conflicted mind leads him to have a vision of Mr. Miyagi’s presence, who helps him to relearn the true lessons of karate taught by Miyagi-do principles. The point of Miyagi-do karate was never about winning; instead, its importance lies in attaining the perfect balance and harmony in life, which renders fights unnecessary to begin with. This realization helps Daniel make peace with Sam’s decision to withdraw her name from the tournament, which means Tory directly qualifies for the final to face Zara Malik, with whom she already has a feud. However, with the Korean team of Cobra Kai being absent and only Tory remaining as the sole member of the team, Axel can win the male division championship without contest if Cobra Kai fails to bring a fighter for finals in Kwon’s place.
At this point, almost like a miracle, Johnny gets Cobra Kai, his old dojo, back—following an emotional reconciliation with Kreese. As Kreese acknowledges how badly he had wronged Johnny all those years ago, to make amends, he entrusts his best student with the responsibility of guiding his old dojo. The next surprise might not sit right with the combat sports rulebook, but it surely was one of the most awaited moments in the series, as Miguel, the first student of Johnny’s Cobra Kai, dons the signature black gi—filling in the position of finalist and preparing to take on Axel.
In the finals, Tory absolutely humiliates Zara to win the women’s division of the Sekai Taikai Tournament, and Axel refuses to follow Wolf and Silver’s crude tactics any longer, which results in Miguel defeating him after gaining his best form following a bit of soul searching. However, points are tied between the Iron Dragons and Cobra Kai, and to determine the definitive winner, a three-round fight between the sensei duo of the dojo is announced—which means Johnny has to take on the formidable Sensei Wolf, with his pride and his dojo’s future at stake.
Kreese and Silver Meet a Tragic End
Not leaving things to chance and coincidence, Silver plans to use Johnny’s family to threaten him to forfeit the match, only to face Kreese stopping him. Kreese is willing to put his own life on the line to protect his student/son figure, and he makes the final sacrifice by causing a fire on Silver’s yacht while battling him—resulting in an explosion that ends up killing him and Silver. I am sure, like me, a lot of fans might feel disappointed in the way things ended for two of them, but in a way, Kreese’s sacrifice made perfect sense in the context of his bond with Johnny.
Did Johnny Win At The End?
The story of Cobra Kai focused on Johnny’s rise decades after his fateful defeat at the hands of Daniel LaRusso, which completely turned his life upside down. Like déjà vu, Johnny feels that destiny has brought him to a familiar crossroad once again—where a defeat can once again throw him into that darkest phase of life, from which he had recovered with great hardship. Daniel might have the mental faculty and temperament to make peace with life and not ponder upon the wins or losses, but for someone like Johnny, who has only ever known winning, the possibility of humiliating defeat at the hands of a stronger, younger opponent proves to be the greatest fear of his life.
Johnny trains with Daniel acting as his sensei, and during his match with Wolf, he wins the decider point by adopting Miyagi-do technique of defense, which truly completes the circle of his life and shows how much he has grown as a person. Tory and Robby find a promising future waiting for them as they become the face of karate promotion across the country, following brands and merchandising companies offering them lucrative sponsorship deals. On the other hand, Miguel learns about Sam’s plan of shifting to Okinawa and makes peace with her decision while remaining uncertain about what the future holds for them. Daniel and Amanda finally get to know the truth about Mr. Miyagi’s past from Lucille. They learn that Mr. Miyagi’s fight with a prison guard, as reported by the old newspaper cutting, was motivated by his effort to take back his mother’s stolen necklace, which held great sentimental value for him.
Sam takes her leave from the Valley to venture to Okinawa, and Miguel decides to join her for the time being, and in a sense, Sam’s journey to Okinawa is her way of connecting with the legacy of Mr. Miyagi. Stingray makes an appearance as a new sensei as Cobra Kai opens multiple branches across the Valley. Johnny can finally afford to buy a new house and shifts with his family, and Daniel continues his duties as sensei in Miyagi-do, where new and old students visit to seek guidance still. As the series ends, Johnny and Daniel, rivals turned senseis turned friends, are ever prepared to guide new generations in a better direction. Later this year, Daniel LaRusso will return as a mentor and share the stage with Mr. Han, another remarkable teacher of The Karate Kid universe, as the legacy of the franchise will continue with a brand-new movie, Karate Kid: Legends.
