- The 80's weren't much more moral than nowadays. There were even more racism, there were bullies at schools, there were wars, and the air was so polluted that it was needed so much eco-awareness in the 90's. If Cobra Kai has a message, it's that hard work may do the job. That a good guy can become a jerkass, and a jerkass still can become a good guy. And while is life, there's hope, and there's a way.
- Plus, saying that Daniel was "willing to let some kid get murdered by three thugs" seems a grossly unfair indictment of Daniel and doesn't make a lot of sense in any context we're shown, since he wasn't around to help Miguel either time and couldn't interfere with the referee's job at the tournament. One good takeaway is that while many things have improved since the 80's, things have regressed in some ways too, and it's foolish to think that older generations have nothing of value to teach just because of the stuff they did get wrong. Johnny's mindset is a little dated, yeah, but only to a point; what he is right about is that you should stand up for yourself, take control of your life, and not sit on your ass hoping someone else will come along and fix everything for you. His own life starts to change for the better the moment he realizes this and chooses to act on it.
- Or the commentary is about how grudges that aren't let go are passed on to the next generations. With the original film, we see that Johnny was, indeed an asshole and bully who not only pushed Daniel, but refused to leave his ex-girlfriend alone when she told him that she didn't want to talk with him ever again, pretty much molested her in front of Daniel to make him jealous, and twice tried to kill Daniel (once by driving him off the road and the other by chasing him down and nearly beating him to death over a harmless, albeit stupid, prank). At the start Johnny believed his high school life and his time with Cobra-Kai was the greatest moment of his life and looking at it through Rose-Tinted Glasses, believing Daniel to be the villain of the story. Since we got a good view of the story from the first film, we know Daniel believes himself to be the hero (seeing that we followed him for three full films). There are moments where we've seen both of them appear actually kind to each other and even enjoyed having a beer/dinner with one another, only for something to set them both back at being at each other's throats. Cobra-Kai and Miyagi-Do both get resurrected as a result of this unrelenting grudge between them. And as a result, it's passed on to the kids of both dojos. It's no wonder there was a full-on brawl at the end of Season 2, mostly because both Daniel and Johnny can't let go of what they've done to each other and forgive one another for their actions.
- Except MMA fighters have to be 18.
- In UFC and major promotions, yes. But what about Shooto?
- Jossed. No mention whatsoever of MMA in Season 2.
- Robby's change was less a result of the karate lessons, and more of a result of having someone take an interest in him. Daniel, Johnny, and Miguel may have lacked a father figure, but Robby lacked any adult authority figure whatsoever. His change is therefore believable. I don't think this will work with Kyler, not to mention the fact that the Larussos hate him. In fact, I think if he joins anyone, it will be Kreese.
- Kyler will join the dojo out of spite. Daniel (and Sam) will be unhappy about it, but Robby (and maybe Amanda) will encourage them to give Kyler a shot. Kyler will begin to become a better person over the season, but will throw it all away at a shot for revenge, and become Daniel's greatest failure.
- Kyler is persona non grata at the Larusso household for obvious reasons. There's no way Daniel would ever accept him as a student, especially considering what he did to Sam. I don't see him going to Cobra Kai either since both Johnny and Miguel already whooped him good. If he joins a dojo, it will be a third one we have yet to know about.
- Kyler's attempt to join the dojo will be what finally prompts Sam to tell what he did to her. Daniel will beat the crap of him and Tom Cole will use it against him.
- Seems to be Jossed as of the "2 Dojos One Fight" trailer. Kyler is nowhere to be seen in the group of students at Miyagi-do, although it appears Demetri has joined.
- Kyler does not appear in Season 2 at all, as it's set outside of school.
- Kyler is confirmed to return for Season 3 - this lends itself to the possibility that he will join (Kreese's) Cobra Kai.
- Kyler is seen in the trailer watching a Cobra Kai practice from behind the members.
- Kyler indeed joins Cobra Kai in Season 3 and remains within it.
- Daniel will point out it's no reason not to have him teach her.
- Jossed: If the trailer is any indication, she's definitely training under Miyagi-Do with Daniel in season 2 at some point.
- Jossed. Sam stays with Miyagi-do. At least until the end of season , when Miyagi-do closes down its dojo.
- As of the end of Season 3 she is still within the dojo Whether it's Miyagi-Do or a new name for the Merged Dojo however...remains to be seen
- As of the season 4 finale, her father encourages her to do karate her own way, seeing that asking her to do it his way isn't working out for her.
- According to Karate Kid Wikia, Chozen committed ritual suicide off camera following his disgrace. He shouldn't be back. He also has no connection to Cobra Kai so there is no need for him to return.
- Whatever is or was once written there cannot be taken at face value. He still could have left Okinawa in shame and he might move to California to go after Daniel.
- Jossed. As of the end of season 2, no mention of Chozen.
- Chozen returns in Season 3 according to the trailer, and there is a promotional image of him holding Daniel for a killing blow the same way Daniel did after their first fight. The context is unknown.
- Chozen does return in Season 3. He was called by Kumiko to bury the hatchet with Daniel and despite some cold stares and awkwardness is able to do so. It's also implied that his demeanor at the start of those episodes was him just trolling Daniel.
- Double-jossed. Chozen not only returned in season 3 he also returns in Season 4, with the promise of a more prominent role in Season 5.
- Or Chosen is already doing it and Kyler is only feigning ignorance regarding his roots.
- Neither Kyler nor Chozen are mentioned in season 2.
- Both Chozen and Kyler are in Season 3 but Chozen outright states he never really left Okinawa after the events of his film so unless Kyler mentions being an orphan it's very unlikely they have any ties.
- Most likely jossed by Season 4, as Kyler's last name is revealed to be Park, indicating that he is of Korean ancestry rather than Japanese.
- This guess just screams Racial Face Blindness and Interchangeable Asian Cultures.
- Furthermore, as Robby stated, each of them has something that can be of value to the other dojo. The offense-oriented Cobra Kai kids will learn the value of a defense, while the defense-oriented Miyagi-do kids will come to understand exactly how and why Cobra Kai was regarded as Johnny's buddies indicated. As the sequels of the Karate Kid franchise showed all too well, pacifism is going to get them only so far.
- Jossed for Season 2, but both dojos are in a shambles as of the ending. Could still happen.
- Seemingly confirmed in the Season 3 trailer.
- Outright confirmed at the end of Season 3. They merge their dojos.
- Also as a publicity stunt for the sequel to the 2010 film.
- And further films of the rebooted franchise, as has been rumoured.
- Chan would count as a Celebrity Paradox, since Robby mentions him by name.
- maybe cameos by Ed O'Neill and Keanu Reeves, both ‘80’s icons and legitimately skilled martial artists
- Jossed, as of Season 4, at least with Chan and Jaden Smith, as their presence, according to Ralph Macchio, "wouldn't make sense" in the Cobra Kai universe.
- In interviews, the creators have mentioned there won't be a tournament in Season 2, to avoid repetition. Perhaps for Season 3.
- Season 3 also doesn't have the All Valley but it's implied it will take place in Season 4. However with Sam and Miguel now residing in the same dojo it's incredibly unlikely they would face off anyway.
- Jossed as of Season 4, as there are now enough girls competing for a girls' division in the All Valley Tournament, and boys and girls fight separately.
- This fits Daniel's talk of balance as learned from Mr. Miyagi. Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do as a sort of Yin-Yang Bomb (They're both even represented by black and white) to defeat a greater evil.
- Seemingly confirmed in the Season 3 trailer.
- Outright confirmed at the end of Season 3. They merge dojos.
- Then he'd realize that "Rattlesnake Kai" sounds really goofy, and change it back. Besides, real cobras do give a warning before they strike; that's why they rear up and present the "hood" around their head. Ultimately Jossed, though, since Johnny ends up picking the much, much goofier-sounding "Eagle Fang" as the name for his new dojo in Season 3.
- Or worse, he is Kreese.
- Confirmed, sort of. At the end of Season 4, Miguel decides to travel to Mexico to find him, but Carmen reveals the man knows nothing of Miguel's existence.
- Outright confirmed in Season 5. Miguel finally meets his biological father, Hector, but realizes how much of a shady man he is and leaves him.
- Miguel will think Robby was trying to steal his mentor/father figure.
- Miguel does find out Robby is Johnny's son, and believes it's Johnny's motivation for trying to get them to show mercy, but Johnny tells him Robby has nothing to do with Cobra Kai.
- Confirmed, sort of. Miguel finds a photo of Robby on Johnny's fridge, and assume this is why Johnny was so upset he and Hawk handed Robby his ass in the tournament. Johnny was upset that they were fighting dirty, but they can't really internalize that at that point.
- If that happens, he'll make Daniel a better teacher. Demetri is the kind of kid that needs to know the why behind a lesson or he'll walk away; there's nothing intrinsic to Miyagi-Do that prevents telling the student why up front.
- Considering how he stated in the Season Finale that he's hanging with the Cobra Kai students for the safety in numbers, it's unlikely to happen unless Kreese drives him away.
- This seems more likely as of the "Two Dojos, One Fight" trailer for Season 2, where he is seen hanging around with Robby and some of the new Miyagi-Do recruits.
- Confirmed, as of "Two Dojos, One Fight." There's a "blink and you'll miss it" moment, but Demetri is clearly in one of the shots of the full group during training. We also see that Demetri and Hawk get into a fight, but it's not clear if Demetri trains before or after this moment.
- Demetri does indeed fully join Miyagi-Do after Kreese punches him in the face, and he does fight Hawk and wins!
- Watch Cobra Kai get into trouble, one way or the other, for it.
- Confirmed somewhat indirectly in Season 3. Johnny drunkenly gets into a fight in the first episode and gets thrown in prison for it (again). That, alongside his ruined PR from the School Fight and previous incidents, made it so it's impossible for him to get any work in the Valley.
- The asthma is Jossed, as it's never mentioned again. It's possible that the effects are lessened as Miguel gets in shape and builds up stamina, or it was only a throwaway joke or his particular case wasn't that severe. However, the troper who guessed defeat and physical injuries would bring Miguel down and cause barriers was somewhat correct.
- Or, alternately, he'll learn Miyagi-Do karate under his dad's tutelage. Either way, here's hoping they do something interesting with him in Season 2; it's hard to think that they would create a character who is part of Daniel's direct bloodline, but who remained completely superfluous to the story.
- This seems more likely. We see that, all his other quirks aside, he thinks the world of his father's martial arts skills ("my dad could beat your dad" is his go to claim) and we've already done the "I'm training my rival's son" angle with Robby.
- An Important Haircut may be in the works. He might only consider it traumatic in that the alternate route is even more frightening.
- He'll only try Cobra Kai after growing tired of Daniel not explaining the method behind his training. Johnny won't accept him until he explains it so Johnny won't think it's for the same kind of spite that drove Robby into Daniel.
- Jossed, at least as of Season 2, where he ships off to summer camp. There could be something in store with Anthony in the future, though, as what little we see of him shows that he has lost a substantial amount of weight since Season 1.
- Jossed once again in Season 3. He shows up in like two scenes (though with the massive weight loss mentioned above, good for the actor!) and is a non-factor. If anything this troper figures that the writers regret creating the character since they do their best to avoid using him at every turn.
- With Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang coming together at the end of Season 3, maybe Anthony will finally take up karate (and finally have plot relevance), but will prefer Johnny as his sensei than his dad. Daniel will be surprisingly okay with this, since Anthony is still getting into karate anyway and since he did teach Johnny's son. Also, Johnny may be the more effective sensei for him as his heavy-handed, assertive approach may be better suited to handle Anthony's bratty behavior.
- As of Season 4, Anthony's bullying of Kenny and Kenny's subsequent revenge seem to hint that Anthony might join Miyagi-Do to defend himself.
- Outright Jossed in Season 5. He joins Miyagi-Do (combined with Eagle Fang) by Episode 6 after Kenny's bullying becomes a recurring thing.
- Jossed as of Season 2. Yasmine is spending her summer in France.
- However confirmed as of Season 3! How significant their relationship will be is yet to be seen but they are caught making out and Demetri says he's in love (while Yasmine brushes it off because...hey, she has a rep to uphold!)
- Johnny will discover Facebook!
- Confirmed. The Facebook part. He never heard of it before Daniel mentioned Ali's profile.
- Confirmed on both counts, but only in passing. Johnny drunk texts Ali and the last shot is of Johnny's phone with a friend-request from Ali, on Facebook.
- Jossed on them meeting at a funeral of any type. Confirmed that they do cross paths again.
- Actor Martin Kove himself isn't yet sure what direction his character will be taken in, but he's been told that some "surprises" are in store.
- Confirmed, from what we see in the teaser trailers and the "2 Dojos One Fight" trailer. Kreese starts his reign of terror by throwing Johnny and smashing the dojo's mirror. Then he continues his poisonous and brutal teachings, to the point where Sam complains it's like "a karate cult."
- Also provides a Bait-and-Switch which allows him to manipulate Johnny. He seems quite human for one scene, then doubles down on his villainy.
- Though talk about his story arc in Season 3 indicates that there's going to be a flashback to his war days, thus offering insight into what shaped his path to villainy.
- Yep, we do get a bunch of flashbacks to his time in Nam which show the potential reasons he became how he is...and what started his friendship with Terry Silver.
- Not for Sid, but there is a death in Season 2—Tommy's.
- This could potentially be explored in a future season after his actor's (Ed Asner's) death.
- Jossed. Not only does he stick with Cobra Kai, he's finally evenly matched with another small, bespectacled Miyagi-do student!
- However, confirmed in Season 3. Kreese kicks him out for refusing to feed a mouse to a snake, he joins Johnny's new dojo Eagle Fang which eventually merges with Miyagi-Do
- Just like it was eventually mentioned that Apollo won, Johnny will be revealed to be the winner.
- We see in "2 Dojos One Fight" that they do have a re-match, including a shot of Johnny kicking Daniel in the face, but it's not clear why or who wins.
- The reason is Daniel was pissed that Johnny was sheltering Sam without his knowledge, and no winner as Sam stops the fight before it escalates too far.
- Seems to be confirmed as of the trailer "2 Dojos One Fight." New character Tory is a champion, and she and Sam seem to have at least two fights, one in a mall and the other at school.
- Just like when Miguel fought Robby, he'll let his emotions get the better of him and Sam will have a chance.
- She does fight Tory, and she wins, mainly because Tory was too busy going for the pain rather than simply finishing the fight. However, Sam is hospitalized, and it is unclear if she will regain use of one of her arms.
- Confirmed. In Season 4 Sam fights Tory at the All Valley Tournament. Tory wins, but Silver paid off the ref. It's unclear whether or not Tory would have won without intervention, or what direction the knowledge of this will take her.
- Although, realistically, she wouldn't remain overweight for very long if she kept up with her training. That kind of physical activity on a regular basis, especially at her age, tends to speed up the metabolism quite a bit. She even appears to have slimmed down a little bit between the beginning and end of Season 1.
- Jossed. She is somewhat slimmer and much more confident, so she doesn't need to make fun of herself.
- Jossed as of season 2. Kyler does not appear.
- Jossed as of Season 3. Kyler does appear and...well he's no more deep as a character than last time other than a throwaway line on the pressure he's facing at home.
- If all else fails? Make a Deal with the Devil (Kreese), thus setting the stage for Serial Escalation and potentially forcing the school board to address the problem that was at the heart of Cobra Kai's reincarnation. The painful way.
- A three-way feud between Miyagi-Do, the new Cobra Kai, and an even darker, nastier offshoot run by Kreese would be awesome.
- Kinda-sorta confirmed, for now, in that Daniel and Johnny merge their respective dojos together at the end of Season 3 to take on Kreese's corrupted version of Cobra Kai.
- It does seem that Kreese will be taking on some students without Johnny present.
- As far as Yasmine is concerned, nothing has been hinted at her taking an interest in martial arts, but that painful wedge of Humble Pie she had to eat back in Season 1 led to her becoming a little kinder and more empathetic towards those she used to pick on.
- One of them will say "Yes". (Which probably won't surprise her anymore, if the talk between Sam and Aisha about that viral video of the wedgie means anything.)
- While he's serving time, he's being embezzled of whatever money wasn't seized by the Government.
- Potentially Jossed. Silver is shown and mentioned multiple times in flashback and Kreese seems to be making a call to him at the end of Season 3.
- Outright Jossed. Terry Silver is confirmed to return to Season 4, with Thomas Ian Griffith reprising his role.
- No way! Places that sell alcohol are tested by regulators all the time. They want to make sure cashiers check the id of anyone who looks under 30. If they mess up, they risk a fine and losing their liquor license. He would risk losing more than gaining.
- Tough to say. He may have honestly thought Kreese was dead (he faked his death back in '85 with Terry Silver's help) or he could have meant Kreese was dead figuratively ("Kreese is dead to me."). It can't be a literal ghost since this show is not about the supernatural. At most, it could be the modern equivalent of a pink elephant since Johnny was drinking and feared Kreese's legacy overshadowing his.
- Jossed. The full Season 2 Trailer has Johnny move to attack Kreese and get kicked into a wall mirror for his trouble. It's him, all right.
- According to the producers, Daniel does know of Julie's existence. They met at Miyagi's funeral. How close they are is another question.
- Confirmed for Season 2, as she's in France for the summer. But we only get one day of school, and don't even make it to lunch hour, so there's no telling if she'll re-appear in Season 3. Her story arc does seem finished.
- Jossed, she returns in Season 3 since...you know, school restarts. And she appears to be starting on a new arc, now that she's learned some humility.
- Alternatively, Daniel could assume that Johnny was also tricked into thinking Kreese was dead, as he knows that Kreese isn't above manipulating or assaulting his own students.
- Seems Confirmed, as of the "Which Cobra Do You Want to Be" and "2 Dojos One Fight" promo clips. The first episode appears to take place right after the tournament, with the fallout from what happened.
- Zig-Zagged. Shannon abandons Robby in the first episode, and he moves in with the Larusso family.
- Zig-Zagged again. In Season 3 Robby goes on the run while Shannon is in rehab. When he gets out, he goes to Cobra Kai and crashes in the dojo. As of the beginning of Season 4 he's still crashing, but Shannon reappears toward the end of the season and Robby appears to be living with her again, having gone back offscreen.
- Jossed. Daniel and Amanda started their first dealership when Amanda was pregnant with Sam.
- Terry does have the sleazy personality and wealth to impress an eighteen year old Carmen, who was implied to have been a boy-crazy teenager. Plus Carmen told Johnny that as part of being "an very bad man" his job was hinted to be shady and dangerous, which defitionately matches Terry's being an CEO of an corrupt company. In the film he appeared in, Terry was skilled in pretending to be an humble good man until his true colors was revealed, which is how an naive Carmen would had fallen easily and made her took a while to find out the truth. Miguel's family had to move a lot to avoid getting tracked down by his father and that sounds like something Terry defitionately has the resources and rage to do so. The reason why Carmen was so overprotective of Miguel from violence might have been realizing he inherited some traits from his father. Miguel finding out his father was an enemy of Daniel and friend of Kreese would certainly make him fall in an [1]
- Discussed in good detail in this article. [2]
- Terry does have the sleazy personality and wealth to impress an eighteen year old Carmen, who was implied to have been a boy-crazy teenager. Plus Carmen told Johnny that as part of being "an very bad man" his job was hinted to be shady and dangerous, which defitionately matches Terry's being an CEO of an corrupt company. In the film he appeared in, Terry was skilled in pretending to be an humble good man until his true colors was revealed, which is how an naive Carmen would had fallen easily and made her took a while to find out the truth. Miguel's family had to move a lot to avoid getting tracked down by his father and that sounds like something Terry defitionately has the resources and rage to do so. The reason why Carmen was so overprotective of Miguel from violence might have been realizing he inherited some traits from his father. Miguel finding out his father was an enemy of Daniel and friend of Kreese would certainly make him fall in an [1]
- No mention of the board is made in Season 2. If it's anything like any other event board, they only meet once a year for a General Meeting. Otherwise the Board is mostly a governing body and the real work is done at the administrative and volunteer levels.
- As of Season 3, Daniel appears to be involved with the board in some way, as one member tells him about the fate of the tournament but it's unclear. He sits in the audience while the board hears Miguel and Sam's speeches.
- Confirmed. Daniel leaves the board, under the rule that karate senseis are not allowed.
- Neither confirmed nor Jossed but I'm pretty sure Tory was using a Krav Maga move at one point.
- Since the synopsis for the 2010 namesake film indicates very little use of karate itself, kung fu can be expected to enter the mix as well.
- OP of this WMG, just found this deleted scene where Johnny antagonizes a local BJJ gym and talks down it and TKD, so sorta confirmed.
- Unconfirmed, but unlikely, as Johnny wasn't around when Robby was born so Shannon named him on her own. We do find out that Robby's middle name is Swayze.
- Confirmed, but not at all in the way it's described here. Bobby is now a pastor and their "Get him a body bag!" other friend Tommy is dying of cancer. The guys take him on a last road trip.
- Confirmed, sort of, but not in the way it's described here. In the "2 Dojos One fight" trailer, we see Robby being held at knife point and threatened by one of his former friends.
- Confirmed in season 2. Not only does Robby get into trouble with Trey and Cruz, he is also ejected from the LaRusso's country club, where they remember him as a petty thief and trouble maker. Luckily for Robby, Daniel and Amanda intervene to protect him from both.
- As of the Season 3 trailer, Robby is in juvie, presumably as a result of the school fight.
- Zig-Zagged, as Kreese takes control of the dojo due to a bad "handshake deal" Johnny made with Sarkizian, but they don't fight.
The final fight of Season 3 will be Johnny vs. Daniel, as they settle their rivalry once and for all.
- Outright jossed here. While the two argue on and off as per usual, outside of an extremely small scrap they don't fight at all. Instead the final fights of Season 3 are Cobra Kai vs Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang at Daniel's house, and then Johnny vs Kreese and Daniel vs Kreese.
- Jossed, at least by the trailer. He's painted the Challenger and the gearshift has a cool new cobra handle.
- How does Johnny painting his car mean that this theory is Jossed?
- Sorry, misread that as the car Johnny received from Daniel. As it turns out, this is somewhat confirmed. Hawk vandalizes Miyagi-do dojo, including the "Banana Boat," as Sam nicknames the car.
- Kinda confirmed? He's essentially the de facto leader due to the above and Miguel is in a coma at the moment. Hawk would likely still defer to Miguel otherwise.
- Confirmed for Season 3. Hawk is definitely the de facto leader. Miguel leaves Cobra Kai outright so it's not in question...but then Hawk himself leaves Cobra Kai. Chances are it'll be Robby or Tory as the new leaders of Cobra Kai as we go into Season 4.
- Jossed. DID NOT see that ending coming!
Daniel in the second movie says Ali broke up with him at prom after telling him she fell in love with UCLA football player. She did this after borrowing his car, busting up the fender and messing up the engine. Also, Daniel thought they were going to have sex after prom. This breakup seems rather out of character of Ali.
- Confirmed. Ali sets the story straight herself in Season 3, or at least provides her side to it but no it's nowhere near as cut and dry as Daniel made it seem.
- Tory: 'Tory', with a 'y'.
- Unlikely, as Tory's last name appears to be Nichols. It also doesn't make sense that a woman from a rich family who later became and married a doctor, would have to wait tables and eat leftovers from the restaurant. Unless they lost it all in a Ponzi scheme or something, Ali's wealthy parents also probably wouldn't let their granddaughter work in a roller rink to pay for karate lessons.
- One of the writers explicitly Jossed this theory.
- Note that Hilary Swank 's Wikipedia page has an entry for the actress to appear in a cameo, TBA, for Cobra Kai. She may not have a big role, but it's safe to say she'll appear at least briefly.
- She will appear at the end of an episode, in the shadows behind Daniel, and will close out the episode by saying "Wow, Daniel-San... you suck."
- Jossed as of Season 5
- Confirmed very quickly in Season 3. Though they blow up again afterwards because that is their nature but they do legitimately reconcile in the Season Finale...or at least tolerate each other enough to be willing to merge dojos to take down Kreese.
- Bonus points if season 3 starts at a bar with the two of them.Daniel: It came to this?Johnny: So What Do We Do Now?
- Somewhat Jossed. While the two do end up burying the hatchet the season doesn't really focus around it as their first attempt blows up. In fact the two don't share a ton of screen time at all for several episodes since Daniel is in Japan.
- With Miyagi-Do gone and with no real competitors left, Cobra Kai (now under Sensei Kreese's control) pretty much owns the Valley and its students rule the school's social hierarchy with an iron fist. In Miguel's absence, Hawk is now the dojo's star pupil.
- Meanwhile, the former Miyagi-Do students have been left to fend for themselves. Most of them are still sticking together, trying to protect each other, but with Daniel no longer around to teach them any more lessons and Cobra Kai getting more ferocious by the day under Kreese's guidance, it's only a matter of time until the cobras eventually become too much for the Miyagi Students to handle. Even worse, a few former Miyagi Students have returned to Cobra Kai out of fear and desperation.
- As for how Cobra Kai is getting away with all this? Using his natural charisma, Kreese convinces the school board and local papers that it was Miyagi-Do that started the brawl and that his Cobra Kai students were victims, guilty only of trying to defend themselves (which would be more likely than you think - in most of the Miyagi/Cobra duels, it was the Miyagi kids who emerged victorious, which would make it easier for the cobras to play the victim card). Thus, Miyagi-Do is the one who gets the Lion's Share of the blame from the school.
- It was Tory who wrestled the PA system away from an administrator to call Sam out for a fight. Public opinion on who's to blame may be a lot more divided. Or Kreese will try to spin it to his advantage, pinning the blame Johnny for making Cobra Kai so violent.
- Schools would have video surveillance installed post Columbine. The school in the Valley wouldn't be different. Not only does Tory's wrestling the PA system away from the administrator count as damning evidence, but the footage would have been reviewed to find out who is to blame as well. Tory and a couple of the other Cobra-Kai would be completely expelled (as one of them assaulted a teacher) from the school, while other members of Cobra-Kai would be suspended because they were the ones who threw the first punch and escalated the event. A couple of the Miyagi-Do students may be suspended, as most of them were shown not throwing the first punch in their fights and were reacting in defense. Robbie's fate is unsure, but seeing he was trying to stop the fight between Sam and Tory, that one of Cobra-Kai tried to attack him (which he deflected) and then Miguel attacked him, it could be seen strictly as self-defense that ended in a tragedy (so, it's hard to know if he will be let off the hook or not, but given his relation to Johnny, he may not be let back into school. And outside of that, Miguel's mom could file charges for assault against Robbie for nearly killing her son, even if Miguel did attack him first). Stingray would be permanently banned from coming back to the school and applying for work there after the Principal witnessed him selectively attacking students while letting those associated with Cobra-Kai to continue to attack (such as by passing by Hawk who had one of the Miyagi-Do students in a choke-hold). So, even if Kreese did try to convince the board that it was Miyagi-Do's fault, there'd be evidence that shows that it was members of Cobra-Kai that were the ones who started and escalated the fight that lead to one of the students being left in critical condition. If anything will happen, the school would permanently ban any karate-related activities and finally enforce a zero-tolerance rule for bullying (meaning that if anyone even lifted a finger towards another student would lead to a very heavy punishment).
- As a consequence of the above, La Russo Auto has fallen on hard times. Given how eager the company was to slap their name on Miyagi-Do, the brawl was a PR nightmare. Sales are down, one of their lots had to be shut down, and the La Russo Auto empire is slowly crumbling apart. In one episode, Kreese sends his cobras to vandalize one of Daniel's lots, just to add insult to injury.
- Robbie is completely MIA. Fearful of the consequences of almost killing Miguel, he took off after the brawl and nobody's seen him since. One can only wonder where he is now.
- Johnny Lawrence left the valley after the brawl, and is rumored to live alone in the woods. He used to be a handyman before he became a sensai, so we know he's good with tools. It's possible that he built his own cabin in the woods, complete with a pond in the back where he can relax - not unlike Mr. Miyagi's old dojo. He spends his days in self-imposed exile, believing that he is ultimately responsible for all the damage Cobra Kai's done and that he never should've brought it back to begin with.
- All of this is explained to Miguel by Aisha. She left Cobra Kai after the brawl, recognizing it was now doing more harm than good, especially with Kreese as sensei (it's worth noting that Aisha wasn't present during Kreese's secret night class when Johnny caught them).
With the Valley now under Cobra Kai's control and no one left to stand up to John Kreese, it now falls to Miguel to rally Johnny, Daniel, Robby, Sam and Aisha to figure out a way to take down Kreese once and for all.
Yasmine has Skype, right? If Moon has Skype, too, she's going to be telling her "bestie" about the big fight that decommissioned Miguel.
- The first episode's title appears to be "Aftermath."
- Nichole Brown has confirmed that Aisha won't be returning for Season 3, as they just couldn't "find a place" for her character. Maybe she'll be able to come back for Season 4 and beyond.
- The Season 3 official trailer has confirmed that Season 3 will start out on a dark note. Miguel is awake but in a hospital bed and requiring extensive therapy (though the extent of his injuries is unknow). Robby appears to be hiding out in the woods before he's arrested and thrown into juvie, where he is badly beaten. Kyler appears to have joined Cobra Kai, wherein Hawk has to confront his remaining feelings about being bullied. Demetri and Hawk's relationship remains broken. Sam and Tory appear to have a rematch, while Sam remains reluctant and scarred from the fight. Johnny looks much the worse for wear and spends some time in jail, too.
- Confirmed, it's a pretty downer beginning. Johnny gets into a drunken fight and is thrown in jail (this has consequences later). The school fight has absolutely tarnished the LaRussos' reputation, to the point where they're facing severe public backlash, and sales are down at the dealership as a result of their affiliation with the karate war (this also has consequences later). Miguel is still in his coma and only wakes up at the end of episode 1. Sam has blatant post-traumatic stress disorder. Robby is indeed on the run and is considered a fugitive. Tory was expelled and is working two jobs to provide for her family (while getting accosted by a slimy landlord propositioning her, a MINOR, for sex in order to avoid eviction). Hawk's rep is also completely in the toilet after getting punked by Demetri. Aisha was moved away completely. The only two people in the Valley to have any sort of benefit was Kreese (obviously) and Demetri who got a big PR upgrade.
- More or less confirmed. While the two do ultimately have other objectives they have to deal with (Johnny getting Miguel back on his feet and Daniel saving his business) they do have to come to terms with who they want to be as people and eventually (thanks to Ali) finding that common ground.
- Jossed: Season 3 picks up the same day season 2 left off.
- Incorrect actually. It picks up two weeks after Season 2 but still not a year afterwards.
- Jossed unless you count the Flashbacks...not that Kreese didn't try his best.
- This might even be showcased in a Whole Episode Flashback featuring Kreese.
- Kinda Jossed? His mindset was formed in Nam, but that had more to do with his captain and a failed mission (on top of his girlfriend dying) rather than being duped by the Viet Cong.
- The Cobra on the Dojo's logo may actually be meant to symbolize the Southeast Asian influence on Kreese's art. Cobras are not native to Japan or Korea but they are found in abundance in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia where they are also important cultural icons meant to invoke a number of ideas. Among other things the Cobra is heavily associated with longevity and rebirth in Southeast Asia, hence "Cobra Kai never dies".
- More likely than not Kreese and Terry Silver originally learned Tang Soo Do (Terry's mention of a Korean master is not a total fabrication) but heavily modified their techniques with what they learned on duty. Kreese kept the basic stance of Tang Soo Do rather than the more square stance of Muay Thai because he favors the explosive power and speed of the bladed stance over the the more defensively sound square stance, especially since few fighters outside of Southeast Asia were likely to throw low kicks at the time. Kreese named his new style Cobra Kai Karate both out of a nostalgic attachment to his original martial arts training and as a business move since people in the States were (and to some degree still are) much more familiar with Karate and thus more likely to pay for lessons.
- This is actually Truth in Television. A lot of Americans stationed in Korea who studied Tang Soo Do and Taekwondo referred to what they learned and taught under the moniker “Korean Karate”. Chuck Norris for instance was a Tang Soo Do practitioner who learned the art while stationed abroad, but called said art Karate for name value. That being said, most of the techniques being taught have equivalents in Tang Soo Do (which uses elbows and knees, although to nowhere near the same degree), there is virtually no use of the clinch, which for many trainers is viewed as the cornerstone of Muay Thai, and the scenes we see of the Cobras practicing their kicks, even on pads, show them using the snapping knee and targeting with the foot motion of Tang Soo Do vs. the heavy pivot and swing of the leg as seen in Muay Thai, which uses the shinbone as the impact point. So while it’s possible (and has historical precedent) the techniques borrowed seem to be fairly minimal.
- Actually partially confirmed. Kreese's captain (the one he learned his karate from) outright mentions that Tang Soo Do is going to be part of what he learns and it was taught by his own superior who learned during Korea.
- Jossed. While Hawk does because his de-facto leader at least until the Season Finale the two are never all that particularly close and Kreese goes out of his way to be a bit more "caring" towards Tory and Robby and even Johnny.
- Taking this a step further; what does Kreese hope to achieve by going national? It's clear he has (or at least had, back in the day) friends in high places like Terry Silver who could offer him riches and a lavish lifestyle, but he chooses to continue training students. Why? He doesn't just want his brand to go national; he wants his philosophy to. Like Johnny did at the start of the season, Kreese sees a world that has grown soft and coddling, and like any good Social Darwinist villain, wants to inject the fear of death back into the hearts of the weak. By taking Cobra Kai national, he can raise a strong but sociopathic generation of warriors and purge America of the weakness he sees around him, proving that Might Makes Right and life rewards the strong who take what they want. And he will be the grandfather of it all. It's not unlike a certain senator from a popular video game series who sought to reduce America into a survival-of-the-fittest petrie dish.
- The end of season 3 is certainly setting this up. Not only does Kreese overtly state he wants to 'melt the snowflake generation', but he's made a call to Terry Silver, implying he may in fact be reigniting his plan to go national if he can do well at the next All-Valley.
- Season 4 throws a wrench in his plan, as he finds himself sidelined by the even more manipulative, ruthless and sociopathic Terry Silver.
- Johnny may see this as a chance to finally make up and be with the girl he has long cherished - only for Ali to tell (remind) Johnny that she's married and have long since moved on from both him and Daniel.
- Daniel reconnects with Ali as well - mainly to rip for how she trashed his car on their prom night.
- Well the initial WMG is confirmed. Ali coming back is huge for both Daniel and Johnny as she essentially puts their feud to bed all on her own. However, outside of some mild ship-teasing (since Ali apparently got divorced sometime in the last year) Johnny never makes an actual play for her since he had started a relationship with Carmen. Daniel's interaction with her is also very polite though the whole "prom night car trashing" IS brought up.
- OK, Mrs. Larusso, what say you about all this?
- Obviously, Ali has to have a long talk with Amanda Larusso to convince her that Daniel and Johnny can settle their differences and karate can play a role in that. Sure, that's not going to be a easy sell for Amanda, but that's where the drama lies.
- Confirmed at the end of Season 3 (also Amanda doesn't need to be hard sold on the Karate part...Kreese did that just fine on his own).
- Realizing the unabated corruption of the new Cobra Kai under John Kreese, the few perspicacious-enough students will team-up with the remnant Miyagi-Do students to fight back against Kreese and to hopefully persuade Johnny and Daniel to keep teaching them karate, but this time together as one dojo.
- Aisha will hookup with Chris, both being the most "moderate" students of their respective dojos.
- The mess is clearly far from over. With nowhere else to go and another showdown being a certainty, the surviving students will see no choice but to take refuge at the house where Miyagi-do stood. In their own little way, they become a contemporary eastern martial arts Breakfast Club.
- ...this one actually ends up a bit complicated. The easy stuff, Aisha just outright moves away. But the rest of the CK students do remain. Initially. Then Kreese starts casting out some and they go to Johnny to start a new Dojo, Eagle Fang. Only for that dojo to eventually merge with Miyagi-Do anyway so...technically confirmed?
- Jossed, at least that we could see. It's possible Stingray went to court and that's where his probation came from. But otherwise only Robby faced actual punishment from the police and he was sent straight to Juvie (Tory avoided it thanks to her caregiver status at home).
- Jossed, thankfully. Nothing of the sort has happened thus far, and there's no indication that the show will ever go in such a dark and ugly direction.
- Jossed, though he does break his arm...before he performs a Heel–Face Turn in the Season Finale and they're bros again.
- It will be a friendly rematch, and exhibition in a tournament before the (Unshown) Final Match. The families and friends will be cheering both of them and betting a dessert in a barbecue. After exchanging some punches and blocks, it will end with Daniel readying a Crane Kick while Johnny prepares a Flying Side Kick. The screen will stop, and it will be shown a picture, just like Rocky III Ending, with "You're the best (Around)" rocking in the background.
- Sid will make a Back for the Dead appearance and become the one who finally make Johnny understand Daniel didn't steal Ali from him. Sid will also die and leave Johnny a big amount of money. Johnny will buy a new karate studio and attract Cobra Kais not wanting to learn from Kreese. He'll also get Daniel's former students.
- Kyler will show up and reveal he spent Season 2 level grinding.
- Kyler joins Cobra Kai in season 3, and stays with them throughout season 4. However, he's still a tool and while he does grind a little, everyone else leaves him in the dust.
- Robby's mom will return.
- Robby's mom does make appearances in both season 3 and 4, but nothing major.
- Well...confirmed that all three of those characters (plus Yasmine who also did not appear in Season 2) will return in Season 3. As for big roles...uh. Johnny goes to Sid to get money for Miguel's surgery. Kyler shows up and joins Cobra Kai and becomes Miguel's Final Boss towards regaining his full ability and confidence in his health and fighting. Shannon returns in rehab and is ultimately the one who helps bring Robby in. Yasmine shows up and starts a potential romance with Demetri.
In season 4 Miguel will have recovered enough from his injuries to return to school. Miguel will refuse to rejoin Cobra-Kai and will be targeted by his former friends as a result. Miguel will refuse to give up his new found pacifism so Sam will step up to protect him. If Hilary Swank ever makes a cameo it will be here.
- Season 3 Jossed all the way around.
- Demetri starts undergoing a (reconstructed) transformation similar to Eli/Hawk thanks to Miyagi-do, which attracts Moon to him.
- This of course also makes Eli's anger and jealousy reach a fever pitch and, without Johnny guidance, will cause him to take actions that may make him finally cross the Moral Event Horizon (e.g. kill Demetri or force himself on Moon, or both).
- Or, given their actors are dating as of late 2019, Moon will start spending time with Miguel, leading Hawk to battle his former best karate friend.
- Jossed. Demetri does enter a potential relationship but with Yasmine of all people. Moon isn't really much of a factor.
- Well the swaps between dojos happens at least.
- All the other characters will inevitably turn against him, but after already looking into his Freudian Excuse and portraying his defeat in a sympathetic light, he will decide to pull a Heel–Face Turn and start over with Koala Kai.
- With Daniel no longer teaching them, Sam likely being too distraught over what happened to Miguel, and Robby most likely being on the run, Demetri will take it upon himself to keep the remaining Miyagi-do students together and keep each other protected, especially since they'll more than likely still be targeted by Cobra Kai.
- Jossed, Sam is the de-facto leader of Miyagi-Do all the way through, though Demetri does assert himself far more than Season 2.
- After Robby, Demetri is student most (positively) changed and influenced by Daniel's teachings.
- Jossed, Amanda ends up convincing herself after seeing just how far Kreese is willing to go and how little law enforcement is willing to do to help.
- You know how viewers were saying Daniel was always an angry and violent kid and still is? If that's Chozen's voice we heard there, we're going to learn the harsh truth about Miyagi's formative years. Also expect to learn about the mistake that served as a wake-up call to Daniel's sensei.
- Jossed. What Daniel ends up learning is that Miyagi-Do is not 100% about self-defense and does have techniques for killing since it was used to deal with warring invaders.
- Johnny clearly doesn't understand how copyright laws work, so he will just mindlessly use the name without thinking much about it. This will lead to a hilarious sequence where he gets copy-striked and forced to pay for the right.
- Considering that an actual Cobra Kai school is in Las Vegas (a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school) and they likely pay royalty rights to Sony to use the name and snake logo, it could be a fun little bit of Very Loosely Based on a True Story legal shenanigans. And considering how Season 2 ended, some light comedy about name rights might be a fun way to lighten the mood.
- Close! It actually ends up being called Eagle Fang.
- Hawk will see Kyler and his friends and attack him for what Kyler did to him in season one, but the group of wrestlers will hold their own till the Miyagi-Do students see and help. Desperate for new students to join and help in the fight against Kreese's Cobra Kai, both sides will be forced to join forces. Kyler and co learn karate and at the same time teaches Miyagi-Do mat-based wrestling. Wrestling uses the entire body and can be an effective tool to combat karate and give an extra martial art to the show. Throughout the season both Kyler and his friends try to make amends with Miyagi-Do and by the season's finale they would have fully patched things up and become friends.
- Jossed, Kyler and his friend Brucks join Cobra Kai (well his friend attempted to anyway before Hawk beat him to a bloody pulp). That violent act though made sure Kyler didn't try to start anything after that.
- Confirmed to return for Season 3, Kyler will take advantage of Miguel's current crippled state and resume bullying him again. This will cause a reaction from both dojos:
- Miyagi-do: Sam and Demetri defend Miguel from Kyler, with Demetri most likely going to be forced to actually fight.
- Cobra Kai: The students (particularly Tory and Hawk) will immediately go No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Kyler, who may cripple him in return or possibly even kill him.
- Kinda confirmed? It's very clear during the Season Finale assault that his goal was to get revenge on Miguel, especially while he's still weakened from the Season 2 fall. However, while he does give Miguel a damn good beating Miguel finds his Heroic Second Wind to put him down again. Also for some Nice Job Fixing It, Villain he may have accidentally triggered Hawk's Heel–Face Turn and his defection from Cobra Kai. Oops.
- She will encounter Johnny and Daniel, and she and Johnny will again rehash the "you called me a bitch" argument. After which, Daniel will say "What a bitch."
- Jossed
- They're both violent aggressive people and with Miguel in a coma he can't warn her about Kyler. Sam might try to warn her about Kyler, but she'll brush it off as her wanting revenge for the fight.
- Jossed for Season 3 at least. The two don't really interact whatsoever.
- Outright Jossed for Season 4. Tory eventually falls in love and dates Robby.
- Kreese may have taken over Cobra Kai and forced Miygai-Do into disbanding, but it's unlikely he'll stop his crusade against Daniel. After all, we saw how far he went in The Karate Kid: Part III to get his revenge for ruining his dojo; imagine how resentful he feels after three decades of destitution, brought forth by Daniel's doing? Now that he has students who are willing to do anything to get what they want, there's no telling what fresh torments or the lengths they go to if their sensei tells them to go after Daniel La Russo. They could target his business, his house...even his family...
- And given that he was on the other side of her glorious little wind-up, there's no way in hell he's going to let Amanda off in the long run. A two-for-one deal for him.
- Somewhat zigzagged. He does have his students go after Miyagi-Do students but generally leaves it at that at first (the School Fight itself did enough damage to Daniel's PR and Auto Group). But when Amanda tried the same tactic Daniel used on Johnny in Season 1 to force him out of the strip mall he ramps up his efforts considerably. First he sends a snake to the Auto Group showfloor and during the city council meeting does his best to throw Daniel under the bus for everything that happened in regards to the Mob War.
- Jossed...at least in terms of his target. He delivers a "Reason You Suck" Speech to Johnny himself, calling him out for abandoning his students, allowing everyone to call him weak and a pussy and tells him to sack up and accept that he is a sensei. Interestingly enough it's that very speech that galvanizes Miguel to stand on his own two feet (literally) and helps Johnny reassess his status.
- Jossed, he's pretty much the same.
- Right now. But as Yasmine proved, this series has a history of surprises.
- Jossed, it was Brucks who received the beating.
Miguel’s rehabilitation in the trailer will actually be an Imagine Spot.
- Surprisingly Jossed. It wasn't Kyler but one of his friends from Season 1. It did do its job in cowing Kyler towards him though.
- Somewhat confirmed. Miyagi-Do has techniques that are suited for killing that Mr. Miyagi specifically did not teach Daniel and Chozen does teach at least one to him. Daniel doesn't use it to kill though.
- This may also lead to a grudge match between Kyler and Sam, considering the fact that he was the one who started the “blowjob” rumor about her.
- Calling it now: yes, he's pretty much the same as he was in the first season. But she curb-stomps him in the same vein as The Next Karate Kid. Kreese (having been done away with in a similar way) orders Kyler to actually off her, and either he (1) flat-out refuses, effectively putting him firmly on his way to a Heel–Face Turn, or (2) gleefully obliges, only to get curb-stomped again and cement his status as the ultimate jerkass.
- Jossed. He is a pupil, but not exactly a star one. He definitely ranks below Hawk and Tory and eventually Robby.
- Confirmed in Season 5. Mike Barnes is now a furniture salesman. While there is a moment of badassery towards the end, he has mellowed out a lot and not held onto the past.
- Half-confirmed. There is a twist, but Kreese doesn't lose to Johnny and Daniel. Terry has a mental breakdown from Kreese's manipulation and the knowledge that Kreese will never consider his life debt repaid, turns back into the giggling madman from III, frames Kreese for an attempted murder and takes over Cobra Kai.
- Jossed. Johnny doesn't believe mongooses exist. The new dojo is Eagle Fang. Yes, eagles don't have fangs. Just roll with it.
- As explicitly pointed out by Sam and Miguel in season 3 episode 9, despite coming together to work towards a common goal (taking out Kreese's Cobra Kai) their natural Opposing Combat Philosophies are inevitably going to cause conflict and friction between their senseis and their training. Johnny and Daniel will struggle throughout the season to find a true balance between their styles.
- Despite Robby now being dedicated to Cobra Kai, he may still occasionally fall back on the teachings he learned under Daniel. That may even have partially been a reason why Kreese wanted him in Cobra Kai.
- And being the only other student to have a connection to all three sensei, he will be the type of Bringer of Hope that was often attributed to Alli in the wake of the second season climax.
- Somewhat confirmed in the latest Season 4 trailer, Robby is shown teaching the other Cobra Kai students Miyagi-Do techniques because according to him,"To beat the enemy, it helps to know the enemy's playbook."
- Fully confirmed as of the release of Season 4, Robby doesn't merely "fall back" on Daniel's teachings, he actively teaches them to the rest of Cobra Kai in an effort to give them the skills to beat Miyagi-Do, and all of this is not just tolerated, but outright encouraged by Kreese.
- Given Hawk's Heel–Face Turn in the finale of Season 3 and rekindling his friendship with Demetri, next season we'll be seeing Hawk apologizing to Moon for his actions in season 2 and hopefully the two can either be friends again or start over, like Sam and Miguel did.
- Confirmed. Moon gives Hawk the motivation he needs to defeat Kyler in the tournament by kissing him.
- If Nicole Brown is brought back for Season 4, we'll be seeing Aisha come back to the Cobra Kai dojo, only to see that none of her friends, save for Tory, are there and that Kreese is running it. After seeing how Kreese operates Cobra Kai, Aisha leaves and eventually someone from the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang will find her, fill her in on the situation, and after Aisha reconciles with Sam, she joins her friends.
- Alternatively, Sam or any of Cobra Kai's former students will fill her in on the events of Season 3 offscreen and Aisha joins in after reconciling with Sam.
- jossed. Aisha and Sam reconcile, but Aisha's appearance is limited to giving Sam one pep talk.
- Somehow, Julie from Next will catch word of the All Valley tournament going on and how Miyagi-Do is involved. Somehow, she shows up at the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang dojo volunteering to help train since Miyagi was her mentor too and this will lead to a few interesting interactions between Daniel and Julie, along with some with Johnny and possibly with Amanda.
- For example:
Julie: Daniel LaRusso?
Daniel: Who wants to know?
Julie: I do. You trained under Mr. Miyagi, right?
Daniel: I did. How do you know him?
Julie: I trained under him also. You happen to know where he is?
Daniel: I'm sorry, he's long gone. Who are you, exactly?
Julie: Julie Pierce. I heard Miyagi-Do's gonna be part of the All Valley tournament comin up soon and I figured I'd help since he was my teacher too. Think you got enough room for me?- Jossed; she hasn't appeared as of Season 5.
- Robby could also become a Dragon with an Agenda or The Starscream, learning what he can from Kreese to enact his own revenge against everyone, believing society caused all their problems with themselves and each other in the first place, from the controlling but incompetent political correctness to the bullies who continue what the former was trying to stop. Taking advantage of being much more familar with his generation than Johnny or Kreese are.
- Zig-zagged. While Kreese does indeed appear to be defeated by the end of Season 4 (at least for now), it is not Robby who becomes his Dragon Ascendant. On the contrary, it is Terry Silver, who frames Kreese to get him arrested so that he can usurp control of the dojo from him.
- Jossed. Miguel does injure his back, but it's a self-inflicted injury, and not particularly severe.
- Jossed. Funnily enough Robby's arc in season 4 mirror's Johnny's in season 1.
- Funnily enough, Robby's arc in season 4 mirrors Johnny's from season 1, attempting to mentor a bullied kid only for said kid to take to the Cobra Kai creed like a fish to water and become an absolute monster.
- Confirmed. Silver betrays Kreese and sets him up to get arrested by beating up Stingray and forcing him to claim Kreese did it in order for him to rejoin Cobra Kai after Kreese rejected him.
- Confirmed! Miguel does do a lot of training with Miyagi-Do, and becomes a part of the LaRusso family in his capacity as Sam's boyfriend.
- Jossed. As of season 4, Tory is in therapy, has found someone to help care for her mom, is back in school, and generally seems to be doing better than ever.
- Confirmed! By the end of season 4, all the top fighters are using some form of hybrid style.
- Jossed. The All-Valley is split into male and female classes, and Tory and Miguel never face each other. The Miyagi-Do practicioner Tory fights is Sam, but even there, Kreese encourages her to follow her conscience on whether she wants to try for a cheap shot or not, while Silver is the one pushing for a deliberate injury.
- Jossed. Season 3 is Robby/Tory all the way.
Throughout season 3, Kreese has shown himself quite savvy about the law, manipulating it to his advantage and purposely provokes Daniel, Johnny, and their associates into acting he ways he can slam them with legal ramifications. This leads to an interesting question; what was Kreese's plan to get away with killing Daniel (and possibly Johnny) during the season finale? It could be entirely possible both his suffocating Johnny in a necklock (once again) and his comment about Daniel going to 'meet Mr. Miyagi soon' were done in the heat of the moment, but it begs the question what his end goal luring them both to the dojo was. To beat them up and send a message? No, there's another angle to consider: Castle Doctrine. American law states that use of fatal force is allowed should the victim initially threaten fatal force to another individual in a space they legally own (such as a house or business). Kreese has shown time and time again his willingness to manipulate the law in his favour. If Kreese murdered Daniel, and was to go to court and argue in defence of his actions, he could use Castle Doctrine to show that Daniel was physically assaulting him in his place of business, with possible intent to kill; indeed, even with the other LaRusso's attempting to sue the Cobra Kai students for the assault on their house, Kreese can easily claim plausible deniability and argue even if that was the case, it doesn't justify Daniel attempting to murder him. Indeed, it's possible that Kreese purposely set up the whole situation to make it look like Daniel was overreacting to what would ultimately amount to a lesser crime. Combined with his pre-existing restraining order against Amanda, Kreese has the deck stacked well in his favour to make Daniel look guilty.
- As for Johnny, Kreese has the perfect motive to pin on him as well: Robby. Kreese could exploit Johnny's desire to rescue his son. Kreese would look like a valiant protector who was simply trying to defend Robby, and make Johnny look like he was attempting to take Robby forcefully, perhaps even pointing out how Johnny picked up the sai to drive the point home. The worst part? If called as a witness, Robby could possibly go along with this plan, since he's become more sympathetic to Kreese and has come to completely detest Johnny. Essentially, if Kreese ended making the kill on both Daniel and Johnny, he has ample ways ways to make both of them look guilty for breaking and entering with intent to kill.
- Jossed. Demetri and Robby fight in the All-Valley, and Demetri's ability to actually land a single point on Robby is treated as a herculean accomplishment and sign of how far is come. Otherwise, they do not interact.
- Jossed. Aisha does return, but it's to give a pep talk to Sam. She never interacts with Tory, and, as far as we know, has no clue about Tory's existence.
- Considering this is Kreese we're talking about, expect heavy cheating/bribery/blackmail/whatever dirty trick he can come up with to seal their victory.
- Well he did lead Cobra Kai to three straight All Valley Championship wins before 1984, so it's inaccurate to say he hasn't done ANYTHING successful.
- Mostly confirmed. Cobra Kai does win the tournamet, but because of Silver paying off the tournment ref, and he betrays Kreese and takes Cobra Kai from him afterward.
- Jossed.
- Or after her mother dies, Tory's grief will set her on a terrible path, encouraged by Kreese, until it ends in her nearly killing someone and going to juvie.
- Why would Sam act friendly towards the madwoman who lead a gang attack on her house and has tried to murder her twice?
- There are multiple stories where enemies became friends even though one person tried to murder the other person. The only reason why Sam & Tory are rivals is because they got off on the wrong foot and most of their fights are actually about Miguel.
- It's gone beyond a rivalry with Tory's attempted murder of Sam and her friends and attacking her home. Tory has also given Sam precisely zero reasons to forgive or befriend her. If anything, Sam would want to see Tory locked up so she can't hurt Sam's friends and family anymore.
- Well I think we should just wait and see. You must remember that the writers are always in for a surprise. The hostility between Tory and Sam was largely the product of negative first impressions and jealousy. There is also the fact that Tory thinks that Sam is a privileged Rich Bitch who doesn’t realize that some people live a hard life. The irony is that while Sam did grow up in a wealthy family, she definitely does know some people who have had it harsher than other people, including Robby (absentee or neglectful parents), Miguel (father not in the picture), and her own dad (who grew up in similar circumstances to Tory).
- Dude's a Paper Tiger and an absolute utter braggart (as clearly shown when the skinny Hawk turned him into mulch). Besides, Kreese made it abundantly clear by his track record that the only way you don't get booted after losing just once is if you're still of use to him. Count on Robby, Kyler, and Tory to find this out the painful way, as Mitch did.
- If this happens, perhaps Daniel will try to do the same by bringing in Chozen's Miyagi-Do to level the playing field.
- Confirmed. It's revealed at the end of Season 4 that Terry paid off the ref to give favorable rulings to Cobra Kai Dojo during the tournament, resulting in them winning it. And Daniel, not knowing that Silver cheated, brings Chozen to Miyagi-Do, because doesn't plan on honoring the bet of shutting the Dojo down.
Given there's likely to be conflict between Daniel and Johnny working together in the same dojo, Silver could befriend Johnny under a guise and help drive a wedge between the two of them, sowing seeds of doubt and mistrust that Sam/Miguel and some of the other cross-party friendships (Miguel, Hawk and Demetri) have to try to fight through.
- Jossed. In fact, it's Kreese showing he really cares out Johnny that convices Silver to betray him and take over Cobra Kai at the end of Season 4. Silver does use Johnny's not knowing his fighting style to kick his ass, but that's it.
- Confirmed!
- Jossed, although Rooney does eventually appear. Silver does have a significantly younger girlfriend, but she is an ambiguously brown woman named Cheyenne, who is big into mindfulness and veganism, rather than martial arts.
While Miguel may be a great fighter, he's not 100% recovered from his injuries in the school brawl. Not to mention, while season 3 didn't really touch on it, there's probably some serious emotional damage for Miguel to work through. So as ideal as it would be to see a rematch between him and Robby, it's more likely Miguel either doesn't participate or he gets eliminated early.
It would make more sense, therefore, for Samantha to be Miyagi-Fang's fighter in the Finals, as given their personal history, there's big emotional stakes for her to fight someone who used to be her ally and is now on the side of her enemy.
Samantha making it to the Finals and possibly winning the whole thing also makes sense in general as she's literally the most experienced karate student on the show right now.
It would also be poetic for the Finals match to be Johnny's son vs. Daniel's daughter.
- Jossed. The tournament is split into male and female classes. Sam faces Tory in the female finals, and Robby goes up against Hawk.
First off, Sam and Miguel are already the reason the kids of Johnny's and Daniel's dojos were able to get together to make an alliance. It stands to reason that they are going to be the ones most responsible for trying to keep their senseis on the same side.
Secondly it was Johnny and Daniel that tore Miguel and Sam apart the first time. This time around it will be Miguel and Sam bringing them together instead, "flipping the script" as it were from season 1. They tore them apart just for them to ultimately be the ones whose relationship keeps Johnny and Daniel together.
In "Feel the Night," Miguel notices the Okinawan hand drum from The Karate Kid Part II, prompting Samantha to show him the drum technique. In season 2, Robby had found the drum, and Daniel even commented about how it "saved my life". Both Miguel and Robby have interactions with the toy drum, but Chozen's return happens in the season where Miguel finds the drum.
Perhaps, much like the first All-Valley, and the school brawl, Robby and Miguel will engage in a no holds barred match in the coming season. The drum will once again make another appearance, either through the teachings of Daniel through Eagle Fang and Miyagi Do; or some other form. The show has been secretly foreshadowing this battle from the getgo, and it will be the most destructive one yet. Miguel and Robby will engage in a fight so brutal that it will be paralleled with Daniel's match with Chozen, and the drum technique will be used by Miguel during their fight. The show likes to recreate the moments of the movies through similar, but different means. (Miguel and Hawk fighting dirty of their own accord against Robby during the All-Valley vs. Bobby and Johnny being ordered by Kreese to cheat when they fight Daniel in The Karate Kid). So it's not a stretch they could also recreate this classic moment as well.
To begin with, Daniel never got around to teaching Robby the drum technique, while Samantha taught Miguel the drum technique. Kreese could use that to create further distance between Robby and Daniel. Robby's a very fast learner (recall that Daniel didn't exactly teach Robby the double-legged kick either; Robby learned that by watching him try).
So Kreese could tell him that Daniel never taught him the secret Miyagi techniques because he never truly trusted him. Because despite appearances, he never actually considered Robby a "worthy" student. But he is teaching those techniques now...to Miguel, because he has much more respect for Miguel, both as an All-Valley champion but also as his daughter's boyfriend. This would, no doubt, further fuel Robby's rage and hatred.
Next step would be Kreese teaching Robby to counter such moves. So that if Miguel or Samantha pulls out those moves, Robby ends up countering them. This would act as an homage to The Karate Kid Part II where Chozen managed to no-sell Daniel's Crane Kick.
This storyline could have easily worked for Anthony. Going off his scenes in season 1, the various occasions where he shows no interest in karate or spending time with his dad could easily be seen as the writers having laid the groundwork for a season 2 where he's reluctant but willing to take up karate lessons when he starts getting picked on by some new Cobra Kai students (Chris and Mitch).
In this version of season 2, Demetri would've joined Cobra Kai for real, but tensions between him and Hawk would still rise throughout the season as Demetri wouldn't really gel with Johnny's or Kreese's teachings, and Hawk would still fall deeper and deeper into Kreese's philosophies. Hawk would then turn on Demetri in the middle of the school fight, but their physical fight would lead to the same outcome. Later in the episode Demetri would not be seen among the Cobra Kai students who sided with Kreese, and in the season 3 opener it would be established that Demetri had switched over to Miyagi-Do.
Perhaps part of the reason Demetri was originally intended to join Cobra Kai was because the writers wanted a comedic relief character there to combat the more serious material being explored thanks to Kreese coming back. When that void was left after the writers changed their minds about Demetri being in Cobra Kai, they plugged that gap by creating Stingray, which could explain why Stingray feels a bit out of place.
There's also this deleted scene from the season one finale where Anthony feigns interest in karate to try and get Daniel to buy him something. It doesn't prove anything on its own, it would have been an interesting / ironic bit of foreshadowing if the writers had taken the route of Anthony learning karate in season 2.
Something else to back up the possibility that Demetri's story may have at least partially been what was intended for Anthony maybe relates to how Demetri's relationship with Sam evolves. He and Sam form a pseudo-sibling bond of sorts over the course of Seasons 2 and 3. She is real protective of Demetri, as if she was his older sister. Perhaps that's because Anthony was originally supposed to join and have that sibling bond with Sam, but factors like the age difference between the actorsnote and Mary Mouser having better screen chemistry with Gianni DeCenzo than Griffin Santopietro led to the decision to replace Anthony with Demetri.note
Admittedly there are a few things working against this in the actual show. The first is the mall fight, but then again that seems like an easy fix. Just switch out the Cobra Kai characters who were involved (switch out Hawk with Tory, Demetri with Sam, and there's a little bit more tension and buildup to the school fight) or replace it with something completely different. It wouldn't take much to provoke Cobra Kai, so the trashing of Miyagi-Do could have still easily happened even if the mall fight never did. There's also the fact that in season 3, Demetri getting injured by Hawk in the arcade fight was key in helping Miguel realize that Cobra Kai under Kreese's management was bad and, overall, Demetri is the friend who tries to get Miguel to see the "Miyagi-Do" side of things. He is low-key instrumental in helping to steer things towards the "good" side. Anthony, with his age, likely wouldn't have that kind of insight or influence.
So there's probably 3 options for how Miguel gets his first set of wheels.
1. Johnny and Daniel locate the Dodge Chargers that Johnny got back in Season 1 that he wrapped. The Cobra Charger is a pretty standoutish car so it shouldn't be difficult to locate. Last we saw it, Johnny threw the keys in the window and walked away from it after the clusterfuck that happened at the end of Season 2. Obviously if this happened, they would need to remove the wrap or paint it or whatever.
2. Miguel buys a car himself from the LaRusso dealership. The only problem with this one is that as far as we can tell, Miguel doesn't have a job and so no idea where he would even get the money for it. Daniel could offer him the family discount though (assuming Sam and Miguel stay together), but they'd still have to explain where Miguel gets the money to buy the used car from.
3. Daniel just gives Miguel a car. Daniel doesn't seem to care anymore that Johnny is still driving around the minivan from the trade in lot, so he technically could give Miguel a used ride from the trade-in lot. But since it would make more sense for Miguel to earn his wheels, it should tie in with Daniel somehow learning about how Miguel protected Sam from Kyler's gang back in season 1 (maybe Demetri mentions it to Daniel or something). Daniel sees that Miguel is a really good kid and as a way to thank him for taking care of his daughter he gifts him a new car.
- Close. Daniel teaches him how to fix a car and how to drive, but he leaves for Mexico at the end of Season 4 before he got his own car.
In The Karate Kid Part III, Terry Silver was John Kreese’s war buddy and the main antagonist. Silver played a sick mind game on Daniel for Kreese, where he pretended to take Daniel under his wing but it was truly a set up. He was able to turn Daniel against Mr. Miyagi temporarily and also tricked him into entering the tournament in order to embarrass him in public with his hired student, Mike Barnes.
There are many theories on how he will come into the picture and how he’ll fit into the main driving story and arc of season 4. One is that Silver will be a mentor and a teacher alongside Kreese while offering his wealth, reputation and pull in the public to recruit new students to Cobra Kai and create even more opportunities for the entirety of Cobra Kai. With their star student Robby Keene traveling around town on a skateboard, the wealthy businessman will see an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
There is a chance Silver could gift Robby with a vehicle...from LaRusso Auto. Purchasing a vehicle for Daniel’s former pupil and reintroducing himself to the kid he tormented long ago would be a classic Terry Silver move. This scene would undoubtedly cause tension between the three and create a unique scene that could even leave the LaRussos speechless. The Miyagi-Do sensei would be in no position to refuse given Daniel likely doesn't want to give Robby yet another reason to resent him by refusing him a chance at a nice car, seeing as Robby didn’t have much of anything growing up. There’s also potential for other characters to be at the dealership when this interaction could go down, whether it be Samantha (since Daniel helped her through her fear of Tory by bringing up his own fears from the match with Mike Barnes), Amanda (as his wife), or Johnny (since season 1 made it a point that Johnny didn't know who Silver or Barnes were when he went in to contest the ban on Cobra Kai entering students into the All Valley tournament).
- Part-Jossed. Silver does team up with Kreese and run Cobra Kai with him. He lends Robby a car at one point, but it's one of his, and its specifically so he and Tory can go to prom in style.
Robby and Tory have been shown to have so much common ground with their troubled upbringings, and their hatred for Sam and Miguel, and they're semi-flirting during the zoo theft. Plus there's a Doylist factor in hand, which is the show's tendency to put the male and female leads of a dojo in romantic relationships with each other. In season 2, this was the case for Tory and Miguel in Cobra Kai, and Sam and Robby in Miyagi-Do. Since the star couple of Sam and Miguel are back together, they'll be the romantic pairing within Miyagi-Fang while Robby and Tory fill that role for Cobra Kai. The simplest thing for Kreese to do would be to compel Tory to seduce Robby. They already seem to gel pretty quickly as seen by their interactions during the snake theft. confirmed.
Over the first three seasons, we've seen Johnny and Miguel's journey together, and their amazing bond as they lifted each other up, Johnny helping Miguel stand up to bullies, and Miguel helping Johnny become a better person by giving him a sense of purpose. While this was going on, his son Robby was forming a similar bond with Daniel. Daniel gave Robby the family he never had, and Robby responded with a grateful heart and showed his natural abilities as a fighter. With the way season 3 ended, with Miguel now back together with Samantha, and Robby now being groomed by Kreese to be Cobra Kai's top student, there will be a shift in focus to Miguel & Daniel, and Robby & Johnny.
Miguel and Johnny's relationship is the heart of this show and it jumpstarted everything. However, the show is about Johnny Lawrence's redemption, and the most important (and final) piece of his redemption remains his son, Robby. Season 4 and onwards, thus, for Johnny, will focus on him repairing his relationship with Robby. He has failed in every way so far and appears to put Miguel ahead of his own son. But Miguel was also the key to Johnny finding his way to Robby. Before meeting Miguel, Johnny didn't believe in himself as a person, let alone a father. Thanks to Miguel (and Carmen and Ali), Johnny has gotten closure on the past and can work towards the life that he wants. That includes making up to Robby for their lost past and building a father/son relationship.
It's also strange that Daniel and Miguel (the Original Karate Kid and the New Karate Kid) didn't have their first meaningful interaction until the end of Season 3. They are so similar, and they are just discovering this themselves. Not only that, but Miguel is going to be a more prominent fixture in the LaRussos' life for the forseeable future, as he's dating Daniel's daughter, and Samantha has made clear to her dad that she considers the relationship one she's willing to fight him to keep. So that means that Daniel will be training Miguel and teaching him the ways of Miyagi-Do karate. As Samantha said, "Miyagi taught karate the right way, focusing on defense," and defense-based karate is something Miguel ought to use to offset the physical setbacks from his injuries, and also teach him to be a smarter fighter (while in turn, Johnny teaches Samantha to be a smarter fighter through training her in more offense-based karate). Miguel's story in season 4 will involve him working to regain his abilities as a fighter after his injury, and Daniel will be the one who helps him get there. It will be poetic seeing the Original Karate Kid training the New Karate Kid, and their time together will lead to a moment where Daniel realizes how he had once disapproved of this wonderful kid who he now sees himself in.
There will probably be a big falling out for at least part of the season, maybe a two to three episode arc in the first half, possibly over something as mundane as their different approaches to teaching students. After which, the show will lean heavily on Miguel and Sam to bring the senseis back together. That relationship was the glue to bring the kids together, so it will be the driving force behind bringing Johnny and Daniel back together. Johnny and Daniel's rivalry already split Miguel and Sam up once, so they will probably see it as their responsibility to bring the senseis back together by leveraging their own relationship.
Any split will be very temporary, because at this point, the stakes are too high for Johnny to split from Daniel. They need to bring down Kreese and need to stick together to have the best chance. Kreese did try to kill Johnny again, and he was prepared to finish Daniel off with that shard of glass before Daniel neutralized him. And things have changed between Johnny and Robby as of the season 3 finale now that Robby's sided ith Kreese, so it's just as possible that Johnny's thinking about Robby's words in the season 2 finale about how he and Daniel could learn a lot from each other.
Subtle bits of weapon violence have been peppered in throughout the series — perhaps the first blatant instance being the school fight at the end of Season 2 where Tory uses her spiked bracelet as a knuckle-duster to injure Sam. Season 3 further flirts with this idea with Daniel and Sam training with the bo staff, which Sam later uses to disarm Tory of the nunchucks she seized from the wall of the LaRussos' home dojo. In the penultimate duel between Johnny and Kreese at the Cobra Kai dojo, Johnny takes a sai from the Wall of Weapons (Amanda even made a point of mentioning the weapons when she told Daniel about her confrontation with Kreese) and was ready to end Kreese with it (and Kreese would later try the same with Johnny) before backing down when he realized he would be murdering Kreese in front of Robby.
With the stakes only raising higher and Kreese immersing himself more and more in his soldier and "kill-or-be-killed" mentality, it's only a matter of time before he legitimately starts to consider more extreme measures to ensure that him and his Cobra Kai are the victors in this "war". After all, war should be won at all cost and as a former soldier Kreese would obviously be experienced in the use of firearms.
Given that for the duration of time that Miguel and Tory have been dating, he hasn't been very subtle about the fact that he's pining for Sam, perhaps Tory chose to attack Sam thinking that would be a more effective way of hurting Miguel. She could've physically attacked Miguel, but if she succeeded in seriously injuring Sam, that would be devastating to Miguel as well. Miguel damaged Tory by cheating on her, and she wanted to inflict pain on Miguel as well, most likely. Instead of making him have to deal with physical pain, though, she could kill two birds with one stone by attacking Sam, and the best way to attack someone is go after someone they care about. Miguel cares deeply about Sam, and so if Tory hurt her, Miguel would be crushed.
This would also explain why Tory chose to orchestrate a very public attack on Sam at school in front of witnesses, rather than do it in private where there's less chance of someone else (teachers, Miguel, or Robby) intervening and stopping her: because she wanted Miguel to see her giving Sam a thrashing. It also explains why she kicks Miguel away from her after the fight begins: because she specifically didn't want Miguel getting involved as she had orchestrated the very public fight as a way to get back at him, too. This is further supported by the fact that she doesn't really fight back when Robby restrains her, but when Miguel tries to do the same, she kicks him (although she admittedly was already out of control by that point, whereas when Robby was subduing her, she hadn't yet given into her anger and was still capable of making rational judgment calls).
- Mostly confirmed. Stingray comes back, but is still an manchild who Takes A Level In Jerkass.
- Unfortunately, the shows contract with Netflix meant a new stunt team so John Cihangir and Chris Schmidt Jr. will not be in Season 4.
- I can see Daniel and Amanda confronting Tory about her actions, but I think they will take a much more calculated approach to the situation.
- Perhaps if it's just a meeting, but I see it escalating to a fight regardless given that Tory has tried to kill their daughter twice and lead a gang attack on their house. At the very least, they should make it deadly clear what will happen to Tory if she tries to attack them again.
- Silver/Daniel: I owe you man. You saved my ass. Anything you need...I'm there for you. Your whole life. You hear me Johnny? Your whole life. I owe you.
- Same may also apply to Tory who was just as much of a (justified) scapegoat for the Season 2 school brawl as Robby. Possible aliases she could use are "Tory Silver" or "Teri Silver".
- Jossed. Both Robby and Tory enter the All-Valley in season 4 under the Cobra Kai aegis and in their own names.
- Confirmed: The trailers have shown the Cobra Brats are still free and attending classes. Apparently their Dojo is immune to consequences.
- Jossed, although Shawn's little brother Kenny does join after being told by Shawn to seek out Robby for help with dealing with bullies.
- Also Shawn is in juvie because he was defending his little brother from a theif, and the justice system being what it is, Shawn got punished for essentially being a big black kid.
Miguel: First Miguel needs to explain to Sam how her hesitancy to introduce him to her parents led him to think that she was embarrassed of him. He needs to explain how he went over one night (at Hawk's suggestion) to finally introduce himself to her parents, and that's when he saw Robby having dinner with them, and being friendly with Sam. Miguel needs to explain how to him, it looked like she introduced some other boy to her family and she was cheating on him. He should talk about how this was further exaggerated by two things. 1) Johnny gave him a biased version of events from 1984 and called the LaRussos untrustworthy, planting seeds of doubt in Miguel's mind.note And 2) the next day, Miguel tried texting her and he could not get any response from her. All of this led to him getting extremely upset, getting drunk and making poor choices at the party. Finally he sees her coming down the hill talking with Robby, who he had previously seen having dinner with her. At this point he is drunk, already suspicious of Robby, and isn't thinking clearly. He should explain how at the tournament he wasn't thinking clearly either. Talk about how he didn't realize what Cobra Kai had done to his attitude and how he came to the conclusion he did. Sam deserves to know why he didn't trust her in Season 1 when Demetri had told him, "She's given you no reason not to trust her."
Sam: Sam first needs to explain how not introducing him to her parents had nothing to do with how she felt about him, and she wasn't at all embarrassed. She was hesitant to introduce him to her parents because Daniel was badmouthing Cobra Kai a ton, and she felt that there was no way he'd be okay with Sam dating Miguel. Therefore, she thought the only way to protect her relationship was to not tell her parents. She should also tell Miguel how she was ready to tell her dad about Miguel on the day Miguel asked to meet her parents. She came home asking to speak to her dad when Amanda confronted her about the hit and run, grounded her, and took away her phone, meaning she couldn't text or call Miguel to say she had been grounded. Sam also needs to explain to Miguel how Robby being over for dinner that night had nothing to do with her, and it was Daniel who invited him. She needs to tell him that all she could talk about when Robby busted her out so she could go to the party was Miguel. Even though it looked like she was cheating on Miguel with Robby, in reality Miguel was the only person on Sam's mind.
The biggest factor at hand, though, is how they'll pull it off without it coming off like characters rehashing things the audience already knows so that everyone's caught up on the phone tree.
Daniel doesn't know which Cobra Kai students trashed Miyagi-Do / stole the medal, but he is already allowing the former Cobra Kai students of Johnny's new Eagle Fang dojo to join up with his own dojo. For all he knows, Miguel was a part of that stunt and he's allowing his daughter to date Miguel. (Yes, Sam was told that Miguel didn't do it, but we don't see Sam pass that information along to her dad onscreen, so whether or not he actually knows that Miguel had nothing to do with it is technically ambiguous at this point)
And with the medal having served its purpose as a major source of conflict in season 2 (it basically caused the school fight, if you really think about it), coupled with Daniel and Johnny deciding to forgive, forget and unite in the season 3 finale, the medal becomes a non-issue. Daniel has likely already taken into consideration that some of Johnny's students could have taken part in the trashing of Miyagi-Do, as they were almost all Cobra Kai students at the time, and he's clearly still decided to allow Miguel to date Sam, and allowed Eagle Fang to team up and train with Miyagi-Do for the tournament. What would be the purpose of him coming to that realization again only to not be okay with it the second time around?
- Confirmed to some degree. Miguel and Robby do have their moments with each other, which culminates to their prom fight at Stingray's place. However, they do not face each other in the finals.
Sam vs. Tory: Obviously. Tory has made it crystal clear she's STILL NOT DONE with Sam, and will do everything it takes to take her down in the most painful way possible. The stakes could be much higher, now that Peyton List has been promoted to the starring cast.
- Confirmed. The rivalry continues on all the way to the finals of the tournament, but Amanda actually makes strides to end the rivalry between the two by showing empathy for Tory. And Tory herself actually becomes a less violent person thanks to a combination of Amanda's acts of compassion and the therapist that Amanda helped her find.
Demetri vs. Kyler: Demetri was Kyler's main bully victim throughout Season 3, and the only one out of the three (Miguel and Hawk) that has not yet scared the hell out of him. Demetri finally taking Kyler down for everything the latter did to him at school would be nothing short of cathartic.
- Jossed. They don't really interact with each other at all (besides a brief staredown at the drive-in, and Kyler making a remark on him to Hawk).
Hawk vs. Shawn: While it's not yet confirmed that Shawn will return and join Cobra Kai, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if that happened, especially since (if he doesn't elevate Doug Rickenberger) Kreese needs a replacement to fill in for Hawk. After all, both are aggressive fighters who have a bully streak, and Shawn would be willing to prove to Hawk that he is a massive upgrade to him in the dojo.
- Jossed. Shawn is still in juvie and the only character he interacts on-screen is Kenny. However, Hawk does have his moments with Kenny, such as their encounter in the bathroom and drive-in theater (both of which Hawk becomes the aggressor).
Chris & Mitch vs. Doug & Mikey: A battle of two best friends (who defected) against two best friends (who remain), all of whom were Hawk's former henchmen. After all, they were pitted against each other during the house fight (Chris vs. Doug, Mitch vs. Mikey); as such, a rematch between the four could be underway.
- Jossed. Doug and Mikey don't appear in the season at all.
Johnny vs. Kreese: Kreese was after all the biggest Broken Pedestal to Johnny, being the latter's biggest (and worst) influencer, as well as the one who took the dojo (and Robby) away from him and nearly killed him during the Season 3 finale. The animosity between the two could finally reach its peak with Johnny knocking Kreese out for good, as he should during their last two bouts.
- Confirmed, to some degree. They do interact, with Kreese mocking Johnny for being Daniel's "second-fiddle" and Kreese trying to reason with Johnny for his past actions (to which Johnny regards it as bullshit). Ironically, it's because of how much he actually did care for Johnny (no matter how twisted his methods were) that contributes to Kreese's heel-faced turn.
Daniel vs. Silver: Terry Silver is confirmed to appear in Season 4, and should present himself as a complete foil to Daniel. After all, both are influential businessmen (who happen to be the wealthier counterparts to their co-senseis), and both have a dark history with each other (Silver as Daniel's most despicable enemy, being the one who hired Mike Barnes and corrupted Daniel as a means to experience pain).
- Confirmed. Daniel's interactions with Silver are never pleasant, with a notable one being Silver mocking Daniel for "having a little Cobra Kai in him." It's Silver's return that leads Daniel going into panic mode and try to take over the students' training, which leads his partnership with Johnny fracturing.
It's possible that the show will change up the rivalries just a bit for the sake of keeping things fresh and so that the existing ones don't get stale. While there's no doubt Robby and Miguel will still have beef, as will Sam and Tory, each Miyagi-Fang could have multiple Cobra Kai rivals, and in turn, these Cobra Kais have several Miyagi-Fangs who have reasons to dislike them. For example:
Hawk vs. Tory: Hawk chose to change sides at a critical moment in a fight that Tory led, causing her Cobras to lose badly. We even see her threaten him after Sam defeated her saying, "You better watch your back." Tory is very much all-in with Cobra Kai, and it's clear that even minor slights can set her off.
- Confirmed. Tory does resent him, going as far as to call him a "Judas" and take part in cutting his mohawk.
Hawk vs. Robby: Obviously, Hawk never really liked Robby in the first place, even when Robby joined Cobra Kai close to the end of Season 3. Considering now that Hawk has fully defected to Miyagi-Fang, he'll still bear continuous resentment to Robby for what the latter did to Miguel (not to mention, Robby insulting his mohawk during the All-Valley, and upstaging him as Kreese's favorite student).
- CONFIRMED. Robby is the one who shaves Hawk's mohawk (with help from the Cobra Kais), and eventually faces off Eli in an epic finals match (which leads to Eli's victory in Sudden Death).
Hawk vs. Kyler: Yes, Kyler was intimidated by Hawk after the latter beat the hell out of Brucks during their time in Cobra Kai, but now that Hawk has betrayed him to Miyagi-Fang, it should come to no surprise that both will have bad blood once again. Now that Kyler has karate training to combine with his wrestling skill, he should actually be motivated to exact revenge on Hawk, similar to his last encounter with Miguel during the house brawl.
- Confirmed. Kyler resents Hawk for switching sides and takes part in the shaving of his mohawk. To go on further, Kyler goes back to his bullying habits toward Eli (re-nicknaming him "Lip" once again) prior to their quarterfinals matchup (which leads to a more confident Eli absolutely shutting Kyler out).
Sam vs. Kyler: Kyler was the reason a lot of the conflict reignited. Back in season 1, Kyler formed a relationship with Sam with the intention of getting into her pants and tried to date rape her (and the way he talks to Brucks at the Halloween dance right before they beat up Miguel makes clear that Daniel had interrupted him in the midst of his first attempt), then slutshamed her to the school. Even though a year's passed, there's no way Sam hasn't been fantasizing about exacting a little payback against Kyler, especially when Miguel took away that chance for her to wipe the floor with Kyler and his crew in the cafeteria.
- Jossed. They don't interact (besides a stand-off at the Drive-In).
Sam vs. Robby: Robby sees Sam rekindling her flame with Miguel as the last in a series of "betrayals" that led to him deciding to join Cobra Kai (on top of Daniel selling him out to the cops, and Johnny neglecting his jail visit in favor of providing emotional support to Miguel's family), and that's a potentially interesting rivalry when he was trained alongside Sam in the ways of Miyagi-Do. There's high emotional stakes when former allies are fighting each other (like when former friends Hawk and Demetri were on opposite sides of the dojo rivalry in seasons 2 and 3). As they're the children of Daniel and Johnny respectively, that would also make them the ideal matchup for the finals in the All-Valley tournament to keep the rivalry of Daniel and Johnny afloat in spirit.
- Partially Confirmed. They do interact at the skate park (to which Robby bluffs Sam's pleas for him to change), and fight against each other at Stingray's house.
Miguel vs. Tory: The "battle of the exes" can also extend to Miguel and Tory, since with Tory fully buying into Kreese's teachings, she sees Miguel as the enemy now; even worse considering that Miguel and Sam have completely reconciled and resumed their relationship.
- Partially Confirmed. They don't really interact much, besides a face-off at Stingray's house.
Miguel vs. Kyler: Yes, Miguel whooped his ass twice (even when coming off of a serious injury during their last bout), but there's no doubt continuous animosity between the two—especially considering the impact that Kyler has on Miguel's life (he WAS Miguel's nemesis when the latter first moved in to West Valley High School and WAS the reason that Miguel joined karate). Though it wouldn't be much of a rivalry at this point, especially when you consider Miguel is leagues ahead of Kyler in terms of combat skill, and Kyler's tendency to remain civil at best (or keep a distance) toward much stronger opponents.
- Jossed. They don't interact (besides a stand-off at the Drive-In).
Demetri vs. Robby: It shouldn't be much of a surprise that Demetri would be heartbroken by the fact that the young man who defended him against Hawk and his goons twice, has fully aligned with the very same dojo that tormented the former throughout the last two seasons. After all, Demetri and Robby have almost nothing in common away from Miyagi-Do; as such now that Robby himself is under the influence of Kreese, Tory, and Kyler, he would write Demetri off as a loser and would make him a target of harassment.
- Partially confirmed. Demetri resents Robby for betraying Miyagi-Do, and does face him off in the semifinals (to which Robby shuts him out 3-0).
Chris vs. Shawn: Chris is basically the antithesis of Shawn; a large black Gentle Giant who is a type of person that's "not going to throw the first punch." Whereas Shawn on the other hand, is a Scary Black Man who would relish every opportunity he can to randomly pick a fight with anyone that stands in his way (which is probably why he was sent to juvie in the first place). This would create an ideal matchup of two large black young men with completely opposite ideologies.
- Jossed. Shawn is still in juvie.
Mitch vs. Kyler: Mitch is certainly in a better place now (redeemed as part of Johnny's Eagle Fang), but there's no doubt he'll bear resentment to the very person that was the reason why he was kicked out of Cobra Kai. Plus, it would be satisfying to see Mitch get back at his opponent for pinning him down, proving that Kreese weeded out the wrong fighter the whole time.
- Jossed. They don't interact at all.
Johnny vs. Silver: Johnny doesn't know who Terry Silver is, and this may have helped him in season 1 when making his appeal to get the All-Valley committee to overturn Cobra Kai's ban on tournament participation. But with Terry coming back into the picture in Season 4, that is to change big time. Keep in mind that Terry is an even worse master manipulator than Kreese, and with Johnny having no clue of what the bastard is capable of, he could succumb to his corrupting influence with Daniel using his experience with Terry in trying to talk him out of it. There's obviously going to be some bad blood the moment that Johnny knows that Terry is working with Kreese against Miyagi-Fang.
- CONFIRMED. Johnny actually goes after Silver after realizing what the latter is doing to Robby, and actually faces him off at the old Cobra Kai dojo (to which Silver gives him a beatdown). Silver even mentions at the end when he betrays Kreese "he'll take care of 'Lawrence'", signifying the rivalry continuing to some degree.
- Personally I very much doubt this. Yasmine and Moon have no real reason nor interest in learning martial arts — even Demetri at least had the excuse of peer pressure. At best, I imagine they could form an unofficial cheer squad for the combined dojos (perhaps re-propping the Lakers cheerleader outfits they wore at the Halloween dance, since purple is a combination of red and blue, the colors of Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do).
- If we were to see some new female students with Eagle Fang or Miyagi-Do, the best candidate to do that would be to bring back Sarah, the basketball player that Kreese invited to tryout for Cobra Kai, and who lost her initiation fight with Tory. This would also serve the benefit of making Kreese's decision to reject her come back to bite Kreese in the ass down the line, especially if Sarah wants to exact payback on Tory.
- Moon is one of the prospects Johnny scouts to bulk out Eagle Fang's female line-up for the gender-segregated All-Valley in season 4, but she bows out when she realizes karate means she has to punch people.
- Pretty sure the sociopathic snake has tried to date rape Sam, attempted to murder Miguel, has committed various other crimes and oh yeah, was recently fully onboard with breaking and entering into the LaRusso house and attempting to murder everyone there, including Miguel for the second time now. No amount of Freudian Excuse handwaving is going to excuse him. His sympathy ship has sailed. He's a bully because he just is one.
The season 2 and season 3 finales were partially centered around Tory picking a one on one fight with Sam, and Sam won both. Having Sam fight Tory in the tournament would run into the same problem that The Karate Kid Part III had, as a tournament fight after a death match just is a bit of a downgrade in stakes. Especially seeing as both of Tory's fights with Sam were street fights without any rules, whereas in a tournament, there are rules, which tips the odds more in Sam's favor as Tory would be quickly disqualified if she fought dirty.
Sure, Tory and Sam will get into another fight in the future, but it wouldn't move the story forward at this point. If Tory fights anyone in the love dodecahedron, it'll be Miguel, who has committed far bigger slights against Tory than anything Sam did (by cheating on her with Sam, and in Tory's mind, "siding with the enemy" by repairing things with his friends in Miyagi-Do).
- Jossed. Sam does face Tory in the grand finals of the girls tournament, as both genders are seperated thanks to the rules being changed by the board.
- Partially jossed. While Cobra Kai does use Miyagi-Do techniques against their opponents, it's Robby who teaches them.
Daniel will need to address his (and Johnny's) students about the fact he wasn't entirely truthful when he described his time with Cobra Kai in season 2 episode 6. He said he had learned how to "strike first, strike hard, and show no mercy", when what Silver actually taught him was, "A man can't stand, he can't fight. A man can't breathe, he can't fight. A man can't see, he can't fight. Extreme situations require extreme measures." Daniel also said that he had joined Cobra Kai, when in reality, he was tricked by Silver into joining Cobra Kai as part of an elaborate plot to force him to fight and to mess with him so that he would lose in the tournament. If he had been upfront with his students from the start, he would really have driven home how bad Cobra Kai and Kreese truly are. Sam even points out to him he's never discussed this with her or Amanda.
- Sam: You never told me about any of this.
Daniel: It's not something I'm proud of, Sam. And my point is anyone can be seduced by Cobra Kai, even me, and I'll admit: Cobra Kai makes you feel stronger, tougher, but it will also get you in trouble. And that's what happened to me. I'm just lucky Mr. Miyagi was willing to take me back.
Notice that Daniel makes no mention of who his sensei had been when he was in Cobra Kai, just that it wasn't Kreese.
And then in season 3 episode 7, when Daniel tells Sam about his match with Barnes, he says, "My opponent was ruthless. Before I knew it, I was on that mat and the fear had completely taken over. I was paralyzed. I couldn't move. The thought of getting up and facing that guy just scared the living daylights out of me. I just wanted to run off and hide." He then talks about how Mr. Miyagi helped him overcome the fear and find his focus enough to defeat Barnes. After a few more words, Daniel admits to Sam, "I still live with the fear."
Silver was the real source of Daniel's fear in that match, not exactly Barnes. Barnes was just a proxy. Silver's plan had been to make Daniel feel fear in every part of his mind. Silver succeeded then, and still is, because Daniel admits that he still lives with the fear Silver instilled in him then.
As to why Daniel hasn't mentioned Silver on any of these occasions where it would make sense to talk about him? Well, there's the Doylist explanation that the writers aren't dwelling too much on the events of The Karate Kid Part III becuse Johnny wasn't around at the time. But there are any number of Watsonian answers for this: it's possible that Daniel didn't think it was relevant to mention Silver in some of these scenarios. Maybe Daniel doesn't think what had really happened is believable because it is insane (a Vietnam War veteran turned billionaire goes to great lengths to traumatize a teenager all because said kid's sensei humiliated his best friend?), so he doesn't mention it when he's trying to convince someone that Kreese and Cobra Kai are bad. Or most likely, Daniel just doesn't like to think or talk about the real details of what Silver had done to him because of his lingering fear and PTSD (similar to how Sam is unwilling to talk about how scared of Tory she's become until after the arcade fight).
Daniel's rivalry has always been with Cobra Kai, never with Johnny specifically, and it's all because of what Silver, Kreese, and Barnes did to him. Daniel won't be surprised to see Silver, because that's probably been on his mind as the logical next step now that Kreese is back and more importantly has recruited Robby: Cobra Kai returns > Cobra Kai wins the All-Valley > Kreese returns > concurrent with Kreese's return, the students of Cobra Kai become violent bullies and criminals > Kreese usurps control of Cobra Kai after the school fight and kicks Johnny out for going soft > Kreese gets Robby to join Cobra Kai > Kreese is going to call in Silver. Silver's return will be Daniel's worst nightmare come true, especially since Kreese is almost certainly bringing him in to turn Robby and Tory into much more ruthless fighters to get the better of the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students during the next All-Valley.
"A man can't breathe, he can't fight." Sam. Yes, Silver is using he/him/his words and pronouns, but this perfectly represents Sam's PTSD and her panic attacks every time she is reminded of the school fight (i.e. returning to West Valley High School, encountering Tory again). Shortness of breath is a sign of a panic attack (which is a response to PTSD)—something that Silver could exploit to completely make her vulnerable to an incoming assault.
"A man can't see, he can't fight." Hawk and Demetri. Even though Hawk and Demetri can literally see perfectly fine, it's more of their current identity that they will "struggle to see" as Silver exploits their weaknesses. Remember that both "Binary Brothers" were unpopular, insecure students before they Took a Level in Badass by joining Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do respectively (Eli flipping the script to become Hawk, Demetri learning how to defend himself and gain confidence under Daniel's tutelage). Silver could take advantage of Hawk's mohawk and have it shaved to strip him of his current identity (creating a mass confusion and re-emerging insecurity to Hawk), whereas Demetri would have his confidence broken through repeated bullying from the Cobra Kai students. Both Binary Brothers would struggle to see who they really are, resulting in them being exposed and unable to have the will to fight.
Within those two rivalries, they've been really shallow. Neither Tory and Sam, nor Robby and Miguel, actually know each other...and what they do know about each other is very limited and biased.
The rivalry between Miguel and Robby has been very surface-level cause it has revolved around Sam, Johnny, and being in opposing dojos, so they didn't have any real reason to dislike each other. But with the end of season 3, they now actually have real reasons to dislike each other: Robby because he feels Miguel continues to take away his closest relationships (his championship, his dad, his girlfriend, and now the LaRussos as a whole). And Miguel because Robby is the one who put him in the hospital in the first place and because he's choosing to be a member of Cobra Kai.
The same is true for the girls. That rivalry between Sam and Tory is just as shallow, because instead of being about social class or about what's best for Aisha (Tory's classmate and Sam's friend), they fight over the affections of Miguel, when Miguel wasn't even the inciting factor for the rivalry (it started with Tory stealing a bottle of vodka, and Sam suspecting her of stealing Amanda's wallet). With the end of season 3, they can now have real reasons to dislike each other. Tory because Sam has beaten her twice and has everything Tory wanted; Sam because she's come to see Tory as her own Mike Barnes, and also because she sees Tory as a bad influence on Robby.
- Johnny Lawrence will finally be recognized as a two time All-Valley champion. Remember in Season 1 that he was completely forgotten and overshadowed by Daniel LaRusso riding off his success? Now that both of their dojos are merged, Daniel might be willing to convince the All-Valley to give Johnny the fair recognition that he deserves (especially given that it was Sensei Lawrence that won the previous All-Valley with Miguel as his champion).
- CONFIRMED!!!! Prior to Sam's matchup with Tory and Daryl announcing Johnny Lawrence as Daniel's co-sensei, Daniel goes as far as to tell Daryl to let the audience know of Johnny being a two-time champion.
- Demetri facing off against Kyler and finally beating the crap out of him. This would not only be Laser-Guided Karma on the latter (given how he relentlessly harassed Demetri in school) but also complete the trifecta of the "nerd trio" (Miguel, Hawk, Demetri) finally intimidating their original school bully.note
- Shawn Payne would be Miguel's toughest opponent next to Robby. Remember that Miguel could still likely suffer the long-term effects of his Season 2 injury and may not be 100% in his prime. Given Shawn's size and impressive combat skill (the latter being amplified with formal karate training), Miguel is going to have one hell of a fight that makes Robby's bout with Shawn look tame.
- Miguel will be critically injured with his legs (echoing Terry Silver's mantra of "a man can't stand, he can't fight") prior to his final matchup (presumably against Robby), leaving Daniel to once again try his "healing hands." Except this time around, he'll actually succeed, given more experience and training.
- Miguel will use kata as a distraction tactic, and Daniel's pressure points as a finishing move in the finals. This should not come much of a surprise, since Miguel is basically becoming more of a Generation Xerox to him, with more of Daniel's techniques (the Crane, the Drum) in his arsenal.
One of the issues the show has run into at this point when it comes to the All-Valley is that there are too many named fighters. In season 1, there was really just Miguel, Robby, and Hawk. Bert and Aisha were eliminated early. There were very few fighters for the show to work with. In season 4, on the other hand, there at least four named fighters in each of the three dojos. You have Sam, Miguel, Hawk, Robby, and Tory guaranteed to participate in the tournament at minimum, plus maybe Demetri and Kyler. You could field a whole tournament with just the kids in Eagle Fang, Cobra Kai, and Miyagi-Do.
Realistically, it will probably just be two fighters from each dojo: Hawk and Miguel for Eagle Fang, Sam and Demetri for Miyagi-Do, and Robby and Tory for Cobra Kai.
It's clear Miguel doesn't know how to get through to Tory, largely because while he grew up poor, he's got a good support network. He doesn't know how to talk to her in a manner that actually ensures she's getting the message.
The only way to get Tory to actually listen to you is to empathize with her. We see this in season 3 when Kreese convinces Tory to return to the dojo by relating to her about his mother being sick and the stigma that came with it. Obviously, Kreese didn't have good intentions here, and was simply doing this as a manipulation tactic, but the fact it worked shows that the approach is successful. If Kreese could use empathy to steer Tory into being his attack dog, Robby should be able to use it to possibly steer her away from that.
Close. It's not Robby who uses empathy to steer her away from Kreese and Cobra Kai, it's Amanda LaRusso, the mom of Tory's rival of all people.
They may be rival dojo’s but that’s still his little brother and he’s not about to let him get brutalized by his CK buddies over anything.
- The Cobras, particularly Tory and Kyler, are outright criminals at this point. They need to face severe punishment for their actions before anybody will have any reason to forgive them. Let them serve time in prison for their crimes for the duration of their sentences and then they can talk about forgiveness.
- On the other hand, whether Kreese would be willing to go this far is up for debate. The police do technically exist in this universe, considering Robby's experience and all.
- Kreese might not. Terry might. Besides, Terry could just bribe them.
- Jossed. Cobra Kai wins the tournament, Terry bribes the refs and frames Kreese for an assault he committed. Daniel, of all people, refuses to abide by their agreement, claiming that it is futile to "honor an agreement with those who have none."
On the other hand. "Cole" is a very common last name.
- Jossed. As of the end of season 5, Julie has yet to make an appearance.
So that begs the question, will Johnny and Daniel tell the other students in the dojo about the bet? Or will they leave it only for Carmen and Amanda to know? It's hard to imagine that Daniel wants to put that pressure and weight on his students, and Johnny probably doesn't either. How do you put all that responsibility on the kids and tell them that losing the tournament basically means Kreese will double down on his harassment and bullying of them? That's not something that they need to know about or should have to know about. They are just kids. It's not fair to put that responsibility and weight on them.
Keeping them in the dark will also allow the writers to play with the idea of Miguel and Sam carrying that responsibility on their own. They're the only kids that know about the deal. They might get emotional feeling like everything is their responsibility and Amanda and/or Carmen need to tell them they're just kids and none of this is their responsibility.
Most people have been making the assumption of a fair bracket draw. But it's more likely that Terry Silver and Kreese are able to try to manipulate the brackets at the All-Valley tournament in their favor.
Quarterfinals:
- Miguel vs Sam: This would be a matchup no one might see coming. It would make sense though for Silver and Kreese to want this. Two of the top 3 fighters for Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do. Force one of them to go out in the first round. This is also a matchup we've never seen. This match could go either way, but it's most likely that Sam will come out on top. Sam vs. Robby is the most likely matchup for the finals, since the writers probably aren't ready to do a repeat of the season 1 finale, especially when this is Sam's first outing as a participant in the All-Valley.
- Tory vs Xander Stone: Kreese and Silver will probably want Tory on the same side of the bracket as Miguel and Sam. That way regardless of who wins they'll have to go through Tory to get to the finals. Both Miguel and Sam would have some emotional baggage facing off against Tory. Tory wipes the floor easily with Xander and advances to the semis.
- Hawk vs Doug Rickenberger: So on the other side of the bracket the first match is Hawk and Rickenberger. Kreese and Silver will stack the bracket to give Robby basically a free path to the finals. With that said, Rickenberger will be told to throw the match, to injure Hawk and tire him out. So while Hawk will come out on top of the match he will be exhausted going into the semis.
- Robby vs Demetri: Demetri could be replaced with someone else if they really wanted to. I think seeing Robby face off against Demetri who he has protected at times would be fun. I think this would be a good way to show off how ruthless Robby can be and Robby will easily sweep the floor with Demetri.
Semifinals:
- Sam vs Tory: This time around, Tory will be told to throw this match just like Rickenberger vs Hawk. I think Tory's only job in this match will be to fight dirty and tire out Sam. She'll want to take the match the distance all while constantly going after Sam when the point is called in order to injure her. The goal is to have Sam(or Miguel) completely gassed and hurt by the time they make it to the finals.
- Robby vs Hawk: This match is an inversion of their season 1 bout. This time though it is Hawk who is hurt and tired. Robby taunts Hawk like he did to Robby in Season 1. Robby easily disposes of Hawk and makes it to the finals.
Finals:
- Sam vs Robby: This is the most probable final matchup, and more likely than a Miguel vs Robby repeat, for a couple of reasons: First, in Season 2, Sam teased Robby about how he came in second because he never had to face her. Second, it'd be a match between a LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence's son, effectively a rematch with the blood line that started everything. Third, Sam and Robby are also the third generations of their respective dojos' teachings: Mr. Miyagi's letters make clear he saw Sam like a granddaughter to him (and also trained Sam for a bit), while Kreese says in the season 3 finale that he, Johnny, and Robby are "three generations of Cobra Kai". It's a matchup of the second generation Lawrence against the second generation LaRusso, and the third generation of Kreese's Cobra Kai against the third generation of Mr. Miyagi's Miyagi-Do, appropriate since the dojo war has always been between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do. Sam will be in Robby's season 1 position at the start of this fight, as after going through Tory, she is hurt and gassed. Robby will toy with her in the finals. It is possible that Kreese and Silver will order Robby to injure Sam. Robby won't be able to carry that out, but still come out on top on his own terms.
- Jossed: The All-Valley in seasion 4 is gender-segregated. Sam loses to Tory in the girl's finals based on a couple of dodgy referee calls helped along by a little financial incentive from Terry, while Robby faces Hawk in the boys' Finals and loses due to hesitation.
Quarterfinals:
- Miguel vs Shawn: Basically a match-up between "Horchata" and Cobra Kai's next generation Dutch. Much like Robby did during his time in juvie, Miguel will get a taste of what Shawn's raw power is like—now combined with formal karate training from Kreese and Silver. This will be a close match-up, but I believe Miguel will come out on top (given his greater experience with formal combat and the show's dramatic nature).
- Hawk vs Tory: Tory's warning to Hawk on "watching his back" does express plenty of foreshadowing, this inevitable match-up included. While both fighters have very similar skill-sets and ruthlessness, it'll be Tory's rage against Hawk that will amplify her skill in taking him down (possibly as a Take That! for her defeat against him at Coyote Creek).
- Sam vs Kyler: Sam taking down that little shit for sexually abusing her and slutshaming her out of petty revenge would be nothing short of satisfying. Even if Kyler's formal karate-training has vastly improved, he's still out of Sam's league (though with encouragement from Kreese and Silver, he could severely injure her and tire her out en route to the semis).
- Demetri vs Robby: Similar to the potential bracket-fix above, with a touch of Demetri trying to convince Robby to return to the good side, much like he tried with Hawk. Of course, Robby will easily take down Demetri, given his superior skill.
Semifinals:
- Miguel vs Tory: Instead of another repeat of Sam vs. Tory, how about a match-up against the guy who betrayed not just Cobra Kai, but her feelings as well? Tory would once again allow her rage to get the best of her, with Miguel using that as an advantage to use Miyagi-Do Karate against and defeat her. Except Kreese or Silver might order her to injure Miguel en route to the finals.
- Sam vs Robby: There is a lot of emotional baggage on this one, and both are equally skilled fighters. However, it will be Robby who will go out on top with this one, given Sam's flashbacks with Robby distracting her in the fight, and injuries she might have already received from her previous bout with Kyler.
Finals:
- Miguel vs Robby: A rematch for the ages. Both will go up to 2-2, with a possible sudden death match after back-to-back blows on each other. However given Miguel is not entirely at his 100%, it'll be Robby that will take the win on his own terms. Given William Zabka's hint of a cliffhanger, Silver will burn down the Miyagi-Do dojo to make room for a new Cobra Kai dojo (fulfilling his promise of a chain of Cobra Kai dojos) and a new character (Julie Pierce?) comes in to help Miyagi-Fang take back the valley.
- Again, Jossed. The tournament is gender-segregated, and Terry went for outright bribing the judge instead of trying to fix the brackets. Sam loses to Tory, but only because of the judge making key rulings in Cobra Kai's favor. Miguel forfeits the semi-final because of his emotional insecurities and back injury, and Hawk wipes the mat with Robby in a sudden death overtime ending.
Since the last tournament, the unaffiliated Robby Keene of North Hills is now the top student of a whole new roster of Cobra Kai led by John Kreese. Daniel LaRusso has started Miyagi-Do Karate with a whole new batch of students led by his daughter Sam. Johnny Lawrence, the apparent ex-sensei of Cobra Kai, now leads a newly formed dojo Eagle Fang Karate with defending champion Miguel Diaz, semi finalist Hawk, plus Bert and a whole new roster of students.
Don't forget about the feud that was on display between Daniel and Johnny at the tournament in season 1, and now they're apparently working together. Maybe. They'll enter separately but they may be helping each other's dojos and cheering each other's dojo on.
The public definitely would have heard about how Robby is the one who kicked Miguel over the railing in the school brawl and Tory being the one who started the fight, so that will be an interesting reaction by the public. Not to mention the fact that the public seemed to know the reason behind the school fight was Sam and Miguel kissing, and they'll probably be together at the tournament.
This also comes with the public reappearance of John Kreese and Terry Silver as the Cobra Kai senseis, both of whom (along with their student Mike Barnes) are the very reason behind Cobra Kai previously being banned from the All-Valley.
- I would argue that his entire goal is to 'prove' that 'it's not his fault he's a crazy Jerkass, society made him that way'...by making either Daniel or Johnny (or both) the same as him. And the scary part is he did come close with Daniel, if the kids hadn't shown up he could very well had murdered Kreese. Admittedly though, this still has an And Then What? element: ok, if he somehow managed to prove his point, what after that? That just means multiple crazy jerkasses haunting the valley.
- Similarly, he wants to prove that he and Cobra Kai are not just the strongest, but part of humanity's cruel nature, and that everyone else like Daniel, Johnny, or the politically correct "snowflake generation" of today should just give up trying to be good or noble and embrace it already, because as some like Kyler or Captain Turner (let alone people from the rest of the franchise) have shown, there will always be people like them around the world who will attack or wage war against others for superiority, some could even be leading the police or countries and any efforts to stop them are ultimately pointless since it's been around from the beginning of time.
- Jossed. Sid isn't even mentioned in seasons 4 or 5. This may have something to do with the scripts already being written, and may very well be adressed in season 6.
- Jossed, though Silver does take over as the series' main villain after he frames Kreese and has him arrested.
It is possible that Robby might also be sent to prison (again) as well, given that he showed absolutely no regret to kicking Miguel off the balcony, and the fact that he's shaped to become, in Daniel's terms, Cobra Kai's "top bully." Perhaps maybe another karate figure (Chozen or Julie maybe?) might visit him in prison and show him a bette path.
Jossed. Tory doesn't end up in jail, but simply has an extended probation and is unable to keep a job. Season 4 also redeems Tory by having Amanda show her compassion and empathy, set her up with a therapist and help her work through her implied mental illness and difficult home life.
- It would be a way to further buy Robby's loyalty to Cobra Kai.
- It'd be in character for Silver, who relied heavily on psychological warfare in The Karate Kid Part III. Having Tory at school would mean Sam and Daniel are constantly on edge and fearing what Tory might try to do to Sam after having lost two fights with her.
- At this point, Tory and Robby are the only important students at Cobra Kai and are the only ones not in a position to naturally interact with the important characters from the other dojos. As such, from a Doylist standpoint, having them at school could help build up their rivalries with Sam and Miguel without having to come up with contrived reasons for them to cross paths outside of school.
- Having Silver bribe people to get what Cobra Kai wants would also answer a lot of potential plot holes like the conspicuous absence or ineffectiveness of the police.
- Jossed. Tory returns because she got permission from the Larussos (including Sam)while Robby Remains expelled.
- Tory and Sam will have brief bonding moments like Johnny and Daniel in Season 1.
- Jossed: but it might happen in Season 5.
- Hawk is making real efforts to make up for his mistakes.
- Confirmed.
- After Terry Silver arrives Tory or Robby starts to feel put off by Cobra Kai.
- Confirmed: Robby and Tory realize the flaws of Cobra Kai at the end of Season 4. Robby in particularly seeing Kenny undergo a Start of Darkness mainly due to Terry's teachings, and Tory witnessing Terry bribe the ref for a guaranteed victory.
- Carmen will spend a lot of time at the LaRusso house because Miguel and Johnny are training there.
- Kinda Confirmed.
- Devon will have a sarcastic streak.
- Jossed.
- Terry Silver will use his connections so that Robby and Tory can go back to school.
- Jossed. Tory is allowed going back to school thanks to Amanda.
- Tory finds out about Kyler’s history with Sam and becomes disgusted.
- Jossed.
- While Tory is dating Robby she realizes that what she felt for Miguel was just physical attraction.
- Jossed
- Sam calls Robby out on the fact that he always jumps to his own conclusions and never lets someone else explain the situation.
- Jossed
- Amanda and Carmen will have a girls night where they talk about their very interesting backgrounds.
- Jossed
- Amanda confronts Tory about her actions and reveals that she also had rough upbringing.
- Confirmed: Amanda confronts Tory about what she did to Sam, but later empathizes with her after learning about her difficult home life. Because it reminds her of her own Dark and Troubled Past.
- Demitri will hold a toast on Hawk but this time he will reveal thing about him that are very impressive instead of embarrassing.
- Jossed.
- Daniel breaking Tory's face for attacking his family.
- Jossed.
- With him viewing everyone from Johnny and Miyagi-Do as having let him down, and his only allies still being, well, Cobra Kai, he feels that he's ultimately all alone with no one he can actually rely on. Coming to the conclusion that the Cycle of Revenge that helped ruin his life was the result of all people either being bullies or idiots, and that melting the "snowflake generation" isn't good enough. He wants to use Cobra Kai himself to burn down the world and society as we know it and and make everyone start over from scratch.
Silver may be loyal to Kreese, but there is a chance that he may draw the line between Kreese's revenge plot towards Johnny and Daniel and that he'll come to realize that helping Kreese out with his ultimate plan on influencing the Valley with Cobra Kai's "No-Mercy" mindset has gone too far and isn't all worth it—especially if Kreese himself resorts to murder. Remember that Kreese has attempted something like that towards Johnny and Daniel, and that he is the mastermind behind this entire scheme to take back the All-Valley; Silver is only just a helper with a vast array of resources that Kreese lacks.
OR Silver is the one going way too far in helping Kreese out, and that the latter may draw the line between how Silver is executing his plan, especially if Silver himself resorts to murder and succeeds. Remember in the The Karate Kid Part III film where Kreese is about to give up, and it was only because of Silver's desire (by his own initiative) to "avenge" Kreese that they decided to get revenge on Daniel & Mr. Miyagi? Kinda goes to show just how much of a bigger psychopath Silver is compared to Kreese, and that it'll come down to Kreese realizing how far he's gone with all the shit going on with karate, and Silver being the one to take over the revenge scheme completely and become the season's sole Big Bad.
- Partially confirmed. Only its The Starscream not a Heel–Face Turn by Silver.
- Confirmed. The extended cut of Silver's conversation with Kreese reveals that he did lose his company, but he manages to get himself back up with his investment of start-up firms.
- Jossed.
- Strike First -> Strike Fast — Don't start a fight, but if if you have to, end it quickly.
- Strike Hard - > Fight Hard — Don't give in to your opponent, no matter what.
- No Mercy - > No Fear — No matter the fight, never doubt yourself and be confident. ("Don't be a pussy.")
- Of that crew, only Kyler and Tory are seen in the trailer. It’ll explain why the other involved are not around anymore, the need to train people like Big Red and Edwin further and also the need for new blood like Kenny.
- Jossed. Though Rickenberger and Mikey are nowhere to be seen due to quitting after the LaRusso house fight.
- Confirmed.
- Jossed. Tory and Robby instead decide to troll Miguel and Sam to get under their skin, and it works.
Jossed. Robby moves back to living with his mom once the latter is out of therapy.
- Kinda Confirmed. After Tory loses her resturant job, thanks to Sam’s mother, she gets another job entertaining children as a Mermaid. Just when she starts to get into her Mermaid role by singing, Sam, who happens to be there as well, mocks her.
- Jossed. It is clear that Tory does not enjoy working there.
- Does that actually count? Tory didn’t really seem to enjoy it. A Tomboy with a Girly Streak is a female character who has mostly typical masculine interests but also enjoys typical feminine interests.
- Kinda Confirmed. After Tory loses her resturant job, thanks to Sam’s mother, she gets another job entertaining children as a Mermaid. Just when she starts to get into her Mermaid role by singing, Sam, who happens to be there as well, mocks her.
- If this happens, the Season will end with Daniel walking into Cobra Kai nervously, with Kreese and Silver smiling evilly at him and Silver reminding Daniel of the cost (whatever the terms of blackmail are) of trying to take them down internally in order to dissuade him from trying to do exactly that. After that, Robby will smile eerily at him and say something along the the lines of "Good to see ya Mr. La Russo, gee this is just like the good old days isn't it?" and the screen will cut to Daniel looking extremely unnerved and the season will end right there and then. This will also set the stage for Daniel to try and take Kreese and Silver down internally anyway (and utilize and genuinely accept some of Cobra Kai's principles while doing so but still without becoming an outright villain like Kreese and Silver) and succeed in Season 5.
- And along with the aforementioned return of Yuji Okumoto as Chozen, this would also be a good way to introduce Julie Pierce to the story to come fill the void Daniel will have left for Miyagi-Do.
- This would also explain the image going around of Daniel in tears at Mr. Miyagi’s grave. Also, I suspect the blackmail either involves Robby, Daniel’s family, or the dealership.
- Or Kreese and Silver threaten to take Cobra Kai beyond the Valley and to a national level off of the popularity of their two time wins if Daniel doesn't rejoin them and then threaten to do exactly that if they even think or suspect Daniel is trying to take them down internally.
- Partically confirmed. Cobra Kai does win the tournament at the end of Season 4.
- Jossed. Sam doesn't join Cobra Kai and in fact loses the tournament for Miyagi-Do by losing the girls grand final match to Tory.
- Confirmed. Silver beats Stingray into the hospital, and has him blame Kreese for it, causing him to get arrested.
- Confirmed, though it's more prevalent with Robby than Tory. Robby quits Cobra Kai even before the season begins and allies with the Miyagi-Fangs throughout the entire 10 episode (he is seen wearing a Miyagi-Do gi in the Sekai Taikai qualifier). Tory remains in Cobra Kai but defects after her stone dummy torture and allies with the Miyagi-Fangs in the season's Final Battle despite not officially joining one of the two dojos as a student.
- Kinda confirmed? He does return in Season 5, and does give Daniel and Johnny information against Silver as revenge but he only does it to have Daniel get him a decent lawyer, and still despises him.
Confirmed. There is a shot of Anthony bowing with a few others at the Miyagi-Do dojo. Jossed with the rival but Anthony does become Kenny's main target.
Or a downplayed Forgiven, but Not Forgotten.
- The latter moreso than the former. Sam finally forgives her after seeing how terrible her life has become and the abuse she endured at Cobra Kai, on top of Miguel getting through her skull that Cobra Kai does nasty things to a person's mental state. However, it's quite clear that no one in the Miyagi Fang Alliance outside of Sam, Robby and Miguel particularly trusts her.
- Which explains how they were able to turn the lights off and the sprinklers on just at the perfect time. They still credit Miguel, because it was his idea in the first place.
Or to be more specific, he'll be the main lead in terms of taking the fight to Cobra Kai instead of Johnny for the time being.
Cobra Kai's victory at the All-Valley Tournament and the subsequent closures of Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang pushed Daniel to cross the Godzilla Threshold in requesting Chozen's aid to stop a now Silver-led Cobra Kai, and in doing so, the show has set some of the pieces up for Daniel to take more of an initiative for the next season.
The battle lines are set as both Daniel's new colleague and the show's new Big Bad (following his betrayal of Kreese) are characters that have closer ties to himself than to Johnny: Chozen - Daniel's former rival from Okinawa - has reformed his old toxic ways to become a calmer and more understanding person, and one whose knowledge of Miyagi-do far surpasses Daniel's. Silver returns as Daniel's Foil, a successful businessman who has seemingly found fulfillment outside of karate only for the business of Cobra Kai to drag him back into that world as a man whose cruelty rivals or even exceeds his old wartime comrade's.
Given that Silver may just amplify Cobra Kai's worst traits even more (albeit to the point now where the dojo's two main aces in Robby and Tory's have finally realized what their dojo represents), it may be up to Chozen to at least fulfill the same role Mr. Miyagi did for Daniel (and the remnants of the Eagle Fang and Miyagi-do dojos) all those years ago. Part of this may entail the reconciliation of Daniel's Black-and-White Insanity: his refusal to adhere to the aggression taught by Cobra Kai and Eagle Fang cost him and Johnny the chance to put their demons away for good, and it may take the teachings of someone like Chosen who has extensively trained in Miyagi-do for far longer and would possess a more clear understanding of its insights to break Daniel out of his preconceived notions, which he has slowly but surely tried to do over the course of the show (like encouraging Eli to use his Cobra Kai moves to defeat Robby).
Ultimately, Daniel having a more concrete Arch-Enemy in Silver gives him more of a drive to see Cobra Kai gone and attain his own inner peace and redemption, while leaving Johnny to find the same in defeating Kreese if and when he does manage to escape Silver's betrayal.
- Confirmed! Johnny's focus for the majority of the season is preparing for his and Carmen's baby, and mending the fence between Miguel and Robby so he doesn't even get involved with the overall arc of the season for a considerable amount of time, and even when he does it's moreso in support of Daniel.
- I'd like to note this is unlikely just on copyright claims. But it'd be fucking hilarious if his father was another character William Zabka played.
- Jossed. As of the fifth season, Miguel's father is revealed to be Hector Salazar. That being said, Cobra Kai still has one final season to potentially incorporate other potential allusions or homages to Shootfighter: Fight to the Death (which I can easily imagine John, Josh, and Hayden incorporating, whether at Martin Kove and/or Billy Zabka's suggestion, or of their own accord).
- This signifies him not choosing one over the other which has constantly caused problems in all four seasons. Hell choose both of them.
- Confirmed by the season 5 trailer, though he apparently didn't tell Robby why they were going to Mexico.
- Maybe Amanda could help Tory out by helping her find a good attorney. She is very wealthy after all.
- Jossed, or at least if she's getting harassed again the audience is never made aware of it.
- Despite making up at the end of Season 4, old wounds take long to heal and arguments and mistrust will still happen. Mainly, because Johnny will be desperately trying to find Miguel and Robby will eventually get jealous about it, thinking he loves Miguel more than him.
- Confirmed...for about 10 minutes in the opening episode of Season 5. After that point the only issues the two have are in relation to Johnny trying to bury the crap between Robby and Miguel, and Robby doesn't even resent him for it or his relationship with Miguel.
- And it will be the most badass moment in the series.
- And during one of the fight sequences Miguel will be pushed off a ledge akin to the balcony he fell off of in Season 2 and there will be a bar or something equivalent to the stairwell he hit that broke his back directly under him and it'll look like he's going to have a repeat of his back injury only for Robby to catch him at the last second and rescue him from re-injuring his back again, which will mark Robby's full-circle redemption from the worst thing he's done in the entire series.
- Jossed, while there are certainly a bunch of dangerous, unsavory characters they run into in Mexico they don't deal with any Cartel members. Johnny does fight a member in Hector Salazar's ring though, so...
- By the end of season 4, he finally came around even getting over what Robby did to him. He’ll see good and redemption in Tory and try to convince Sam that since he could become better so could Tory.
- Jossed, Eli stays incredibly untrusting of her to the end of the season.
- Jossed. Shawn remains in juvie.
- She could be a Spirit Advisor, Helpful Hallucination, or maybe have a Together in Death moment with Kreese if he doesn’t survive the series.
- Confirmed! But to some degree. While this sort of magic obviously doesn't exist in this series, Kreese does have a moment with Betsy during his previous therapy session...at least either in his imagination or his psychosis.
- Being the head of Cobra Kai seems to invite betrayal, and Barnes was a pretty ruthless guy back in the third movie. If Silver manages to come out on top, maybe that experience will make him wonder if the Cobra Kai mindset is worth preserving.
- Jossed...if only because Mike Barnes would've had to be on Silver's side to begin with in Cobra Kai in order to betray him.
- Jossed. Bobby doesn't appear at all.
- Jossed. Dutch doesn't appear at all.
- Except the Cobra Kai Students have been assaulting people in public for the entire series and received zero punishment for any of it. Why would this be any different?
- Confirmed, though it's on the fact that Silver confessed to Tory that he cheated in the tournament and security camera ends up being uploaded on Cobra Kai's YouTube channel and casted on to the screen for the Cobra Kais to watch in horror. This follows up with the mass exodus of Cobra Kais, and Silver himself being arrested by Stingray's confession. However, John Kreese just escaped from prison and Kim Da-Eun is still at large and owns 50% of the share via Silver's agreement, so...
- Miguel: Miguel left for Mexico City to find his father, believing learning about his roots will help him. When he finds his father, the latter will likely think he's trying to pull a fast one on him, and then try to kill him. Or he may decide to go along and bring Miguel into his gang, and Miguel will quickly learn his flesh-and-blood dad wasn't that nice a person. Either way, it may conclude with him realizing Johnny is pretty much the only dad he needs.
- Confirmed, though on the latter part. Miguel's father reveals himself to be a shady businessman who never really cared about his family, prompting Miguel to turn back to Johnny as soon as the later finds him in Mexico.
- Samantha: Samantha losing to Tory in the All Valley Tournament left her so broken she pretty much concluded that bullies will always beat her in the end, and there's no point in fighting back anymore. From that point onward, any bullying or harassment Cobra Kai throws at her, she will just sit there and take it. It may eventually reach a point where, and this can be something that Season 5 can explore, Sam gets bullied to the point she decides there's only one way to end the pain. Of course, she won't be successful, but it will land her in a coma. She will only start building herself back up once she finds out she only lost because Terry Silver bribed the judge at the tournament.
- Jossed. The season centers around Sam overcoming her demons and later help Miyagi-Fang take down Cobra Kai.
- Tory: Tory will be miserable over discovering she didn't win the tournament fairly, but that Terry Silver bribed the judge. She will consider confessing what Terry did, and outing Cobra Kai as frauds. If she gets word about how miserable Sam is over the tournament, she'll feel even worse, not only because she knows Sam shouldn't be feeling this way, but because she realizes she not only beat Sam at the tournament, she broke Sam. From there, she may decide it's not enough to simply tell Sam the truth. She will go online, or to the news, and publicly confess that Cobra Kai bribed the judge at the tournament.
- Confirmed. Tory and the other Miyagi-Fangs (barring the traitorous Mitch) help upload the video of Terry confessing to Tory on Cobra Kai's YouTube channel, which was project on one of the TV screen with help from Anthony.
- Johnny: Johnny and Carmen have decided to follow Miguel to Mexico City in hopes of finding him before he meets his flesh-and-blood father. It may also result in Johnny analyzing his relationship with Miguel, and his relationship with Robby, and how he can fix them.
- Confirmed, but Carmen doesn't go along with him. Instead, it's Robby.
- Robby: Robby will be reeling from how, by introducing Kenny to Cobra Kai, he turned a meek bullying victim into a monster. He may try to spend his time with Kenny before High School starts to try and convince him not to do any of the things that he promised Anthony he would do to him. It may not stick, but maybe he can help Kenny see how, if he goes down the path he's been set on, he may become someone he couldn't possibly like.
- Confirmed, to some degree. Robby tries to convince Kenny not to succumb to Cobra Kai, but the latter is too far deep into Silver's teachings and accuses Robby for treachery.
- Anthony: Anthony decides to learn Karate but he will be more interested in the aggressive side of Miyagi-Do, he will also turn down his bratty behavior and reveal more of his Hidden Depths and that he is actually Brilliant, but Lazy.
- Confirmed, to some degree. Anthony joins Miyagi-Do as a student, and plays a crucial role in one of their lessons taught by Chozen. This become's a Checkovs Skill, as their lesson buys enough time for the Miyagi-Fangs to fend off the Cobra Kais and publicly reveal Silver's confession to Tory.
- Sam will likely start a fight, but Tory is very capable of defending herself as shown from her previous bouts with Sam. So, they'll both be okay as long as no weapons are involved this time around.
- Jossed. While Sam gets aggressive with Tory after she finds out about Silver cheating, she doesn't do any damage to her prior to Robby and Miguel intervening. She eventually makes peace with Tory after seeing her home situation.
- I still maintain Chozen is the loophole since he make no agreement with Cobra Kai.
- Anyway Confirmed! He doesn't actually use the Chozen loophole, he just re-opens it since Silver is already openly hostile to him, his family and his students anyway so there's nothing to be lost.
- Even she can see Cobra Kai isn't what she considers 'fair', especially after she finds out Silver cheated to get her the ladies' title. She will stay with Cobra Kai, but feed Miyagi Fang with info (likely through Amanda) that will help them.
- Mostly confirmed. She doesn't feed them information, but does help them take down Silver in the end.
- Confirmed!
- Jossed Sam goes to Torys Apartment after encouragement from Miguel and she sees the poor living conditions with her on eyes including Torys ill Mother. However neither Aunt Kandace nor Brandon is seen or mentioned at all.
- It would a great way to continue the series tradition of ending each season with a Sequel Hook showing the return of a character from the film series.
- Jossed, mainly because Cobra Kai is already effectively defeated by season's end.
- Look at the way Piper smiles at Sam and Tory when she's sparring against both of them. That is the smile of someone who clearly has a crush on at least one of these girls. This could also be used to further her character development in Season 5.
- Jossed. The only time Piper "appears" in the season is an Instagram video of Kenny kicking Anthony into the lazy river uploaded from her account.
- Jossed, he closes down Miyagi-Do entirely as per the deal, no loopholes attempted. He does reopen later when an opportunity arises but he's still the main sensei of the Dojo.
- Mike Barnes: Former star of the Cobra-kai dojo who was a part of Silver's previous franchising scheme.
- Tory: She is now Cobra-kai's All-Valley champion and (even knowing that her tournament victory is tainted) having her own dojo would offer Tory the kind of financial stability she needs to take care of her family.
- Stingray: Probably only as an assistant Sensei, but this would give Stingray a permanent place in Cobra-kai and guarantee his silence about his deal with Silver to frame Kreese.
- Johnny Lawrence: All Johnny wants is the chance to teach karate in his own dojo. With Kreese out of the picture, Silver will offer Johnny one of the new Cobra-kai franchises to try to draw him away from Daniel.
- I know Silver is nuts and all, but he has to be a whole nother level of crazy even by his standards if he thinks Johnny will come anywhere near thinking about doing business with him after what happened between them at the old dojo.
- Anyway, all of the above are Jossed. Mike never even knows about what's going on until Daniel unwittingly brings it to his doorstep. While Tory is being groomed for leadership she's still treated as a student. Stingray is only being kept around so Silver can keep an eye on him, and isn't given any sort of responsibility. Lastly, Silver ignores Johnny entirely at first since Johnny held up his end of the bargain and shut down Eagle Fang, and when he takes notice again it certainly isn't to try and curry his favor.
- It's well past time the Miyagi-Fang Alliance held an intervention for the two of them.
- Jossed, in the sense that the two aren't forced to do it. Sam finally musters up the strength to be willing to have a legitimate conversation between the two.
- Instead, it refers to offscreen, hitherto unmentioned character(s) that Kreese and Silver knew before, but that the audience was unaware of before the marketing and airing of Season Five, including confirmed newcomer Kim Da-Eun (played by Alicia Hannah Kim, and likely someone related to Kim Sun-Yung, known sensei to Captain Turner, and purported sensei to Kreese and Silver first mentioned in The Karate Kid Part III).
- Since Mike Barnes is now officially confirmed to return as a character in the fifth season, one prediction related to what was articulated above: he will not end up joining either Terry Silver's Cobra Kai on the one hand, or Daniel, Johnny, and/or Chozen's Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang alliance on the other, but instead act or plot against both of them (e.g., possibly out of lingering resentment toward both Cobra Kai and Daniel for costing him his title back in 1985, he will eventually align himself with Kreese now that the latter has had a falling-out with Silver as well).
- Jossed in terms of Mike; he's completely out of the karate picture, and allies with Daniel and co.
- Confirmed! Well, the initial part at least, the old friend brought in is Sensei Kim, the granddaughter of his old sensei.
- Preview images see Devon joining the bigger than ever Cobra Kai and training with Tory. Tory will become protective of her and go out of her way to keep her from being corrupted the way she was, furthering Tory’s redemption arc.
- This could also draw similarities to Robby attempting to be a Big Brother Mentor to Kenny, culminating in Devon's further corruption being a contributing factor to Tory potentially leaving Cobra Kai.
- Confirmed, though it's more complicated than the above.
- You think Mike would still be buddy-buddies with a man who basically wanted to torture Daniel in the tournament instead of, you know, win properly when you're clearly more skilled than your opponent? Someone would have that amount of logical sense to think he was simply used for someone else's motivations over the fact that maybe his financial future is in jeopardy. Especially when you consider Terry himself resenting Kreese simply because he owes a life debt to him. Clearly in 34 years, Mike has thought harder about his life choices when it comes to dealing with shady men like Terry.
- Confirmed, though it's a matter of "That dude was crazy and I'm glad I have nothing to do with him anymore." However in the Season 5 finale, Mike does have resentment to Silver after the latter burns down his furniture store.
Perhaps a defining shot would be close to the end of the trailer where a bunch of students are bowing to Johnny, Daniel, and Chozen. At the front row, there appears to be two female students, one obviously being Sam. So who's the girl next to her? Clearly, there can't be a new major female character announced at the last minute, and from the look of her hairstyle and the fact that the front row houses 4 of the best current-generation fighters in Cobra Kai, (Sam, Miguel, Robby, Eli), the 5th person has got to be Tory.
The Season 6 trailer implies she will but as of now, it is unclear whether the dojo will remain Miyagi-Do or will have a combined name with Eagle Fang.
- Jossed, at least as of the ending of Season 5. While she joins the protagonists it's only tangentially.
- Jossed. Daniel wins their final battle without even taking a hit, using his own take on the QuickSilver method he learned from him all those years ago, and lets the authorities handle the rest.
- Hopefully, Johnny will also impress on his son the importance of using protection. Although given that protection doesn't always work in real life...
- Season 5 ended with Kyler being a Fake Ultimate Hero as he claimed to the press how he saved everyone at the Dojo from it's cult mentality. However, Kim can still team up with Kreese, Dugan and Hector before the Sekai Taikai. And while Dugan has proven to be more unhinged than Silver, Hector has the potential to be the most evil character in the Miyagiverse. And Kyler could offer Miguel an alliance as a result
- Doubtful that Hector will come to California. Not only does he have no idea who Miguel is, it would also make it much easier for the FBI to grab him. Additionally, if Kim stays in California, most likely she'll also be arrested for child abuse and assault.
- Not only will they finally be able to bring back Julie, but it will also create a different dynamic since this is the first time Daniel has to face an arch-enemy he doesn't have a personal relationship with. Additionally, Cobra Kai is pretty much defunct now. Kreese is a felon on the run from the law; Silver is (hopefully) going to jail for a long time what with all the assault, arson, bribery, and child abuse charges, and Kim doesn't have the charisma or the patience to recruit kids and teens and teach them from the beginning. Not to mention that if she stays in the area, she'll probably be arrested for child abuse and assault herself. Now that Silver's been arrested, she'll probably go back to Korea (though she may still be a villain for the second half of the season with the Sekai Taikai). This leaves the field essentially clear for a new villain. Enter Dugan...
- Uh...him trying to take all the credit for Silver's exposure leaves a lot to be desired.
- Rather than being the primary antagonist in the next season, Kreese will have actually turned over a new leaf and become an Anti-Hero despite going about things in the wrong way by at the very least violently escaping prison out of desperation (initially unaware that he would have been out in a few days anyway), or he will at least be a full-fledged Anti-Villain that made a Hazy-Feel Turn, no longer driven by carrying out a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Daniel, Johnny, and/or even Silver, but whose objectives and/or tendencies of Chronic Villainy still end up pitting him against the protagonists.
- Tory's sick mother has been The Ghost for five seasons with us, at best, catching a glimpse of her sick bed. Why would it be such a secret if she weren't a character with a big reveal due?
- Jossed. Julie can’t be Tory’s mother, because she was an only child and Tory’s mother has a sister who was introduced in Season 4.
- Don't get us wrong, as Season 4 had two underdogs (Hawk and Tory) win the All-Valley despite Sam, Robby, and Miguel being the clear favorites. Thereby if the Sekai Taikai were to happen in Season 6, there's a possible chance someone like Demetri, Kenny, Devon, or Anthony could claim the title of World Champion. That being said, we won't count out two of the best fighters in the show who still haven't won a championship.
- Miguel won back in Season 1. Hawk and Tory won three season later (despite Tory's being a major asterisk due to Silver's cheating). Again, Sam and Robby are two of the best fighters in the show, and they still haven't won a title despite being the children of two-time All-Valley champs, Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence respectively.
- Not only would they fulfill their legacies of their fathers, but it also completes their long-standing arc. For Sam, not only would she get the fair win she deserves, but she'll finally be satisfied knowing her place as a LaRusso and a protege of Mr. Miyagi himself. For Robby, this will not only erase his streak of always being in 2nd place (losing to Miguel in the 2018 finals due to an injury sustained by Hawk, losing to Hawk himself after being distracted by Kenny's vicious behavior), but it would be a complete 180 from his juvenile delinquent days — finding the peace and balance that he needed throughout his whole life. Not to mention, this would be a win for Daniel and Johnny themselves — two men who have carried the show this far.
- We currently have no idea how the All Valley board will respond to the cheating scandal. However it is likely Tory will be stripped of her title with Sam being labeled winner by default or a rematch is held and since Sam has been learning under three sensei's she will defeat Tory. While it is heartbreaking to see Tory lose something she worked hard for because someone else cheated on her behalf the seeds of a Tory Sekai Taikai win have already been planted. In episode 8 she mentions that she never even thought about college prior to learning of the new tournament. Of all the teen fighters (including Robby) she is the one whose life would dramatically change for the better if she won as the money from the partnerships will help her escape poverty.
- Another reason for Tory winning the Sekai Taikai is her feud with Kim Da Eun. With Kim poised to take the mantle of the Big Bad in Season 6 it would poetic justice for Tory to defeat Kim's top student who Tory apparently wouldn't last one minute with, especially after the torture she subjected Tory to.
- Even if nothing happens with the All-Valley, the only reason Tory won is due to Silver's bribing the ref (Sam clearly scored a couple of points that the ref didn't count). Tory winning the Sekai Taikai would give her a legitimate, uncontestable victory earned entirely through her own merit.
- Even though Silver is arrested and his students have turned on him after the former's confession, Kim Da-Eun is still at large and currently owns 50% of the share from her deal with Terry. With Kim Da-Eun as Cobra Kai's remaining sensei and the dojo still qualified for the tournament, she'll bring in students from her own dojo back in South Korea to fight for Cobra Kai — and considering her high praise of them, they'll be a far tougher match for the Miyagi-Fangs than anyone else in the series.
- Miguel has never lost a fair fight against anybody in the series so a loss here would up the stakes and show just how tough this world wide competition truly is.
- Even though Kenny quits Cobra Kai at the Season Finale after losing respect for Silver for the wicked fraud that he is, it's not like Kenny can be fully redeemed — especially in his last appearance where he needed some alone time after Robby reaches out to him. The bullying that Kenny received from Anthony is, in a realistic sense, takes quite a while for someone to fully recover, and it's clearly shown that just because Robby left Cobra Kai, he still had hatred for his now-former nemesis, Miguel. In Kenny's case, he still hates Anthony for everything that he went through, probably even more so now that he doesn't really have a dojo to align with at the moment. Someone like Robby, Miguel, or even the Senseis (Daniel, Johnny, Chozen) can intervene and end the rivalry between the two boys.
- After the toilet attack, the feeling should very well be mutual.
- Alternatively, Anthony will have a moment that cements his Character Development by forgiving Kenny. It won't immediately mend bridges and mean that all is forgotten, but it will be a new start.
- Anthony already tried that, repeatedly, and Kenny kept pushing further including shoving Anthony's head into a shit filled toilet. Anthony tried to settle it the peaceful way and that's where it got him. He has every right to hate Kenny after that.
- it is clear not everyone will win the Kumite portions of the tournament. This can be eased by giving our favourites a victory in the skills competition. If robby and Sam are destined to win Kumite for their dojo then Miguel, Hawk and Tory should get gold or even platinum for their performances. Hawk peforming his board demonstration and this time landing it would be a great moment for him.
- Johnny and Daniel will reach out to Silver’s Cobras and offer to continue their training to try and undo Silver’s brainwashing. Unfortunately, some of the students won’t be able to train together because of too much bad blood and past rivalries; so Johnny will begin to train the Cobras separately, dividing the dojos once again. Since the students of both dojos earned places in the Sekai Taikai, the two Dojos will both compete in the Sekai Taikai with Johnny leading Cobra Kai and Daniel leading Miyagi-Do.
- He knows he can't take Johnny or Daniel in a straight fight (and even if Chozen stays around, Kreese vs a sober Chozen would be hilariously one-sided). However, against any of the teens, he has years of experience, brutal ruthlessness, and raw strength on his side. So he'll seek to "punish" Daniel and Johnny by beating up their weaknesses—their kids.
- If this scenario plays out and Kreese targets Daniel and Johnny's kids (Miguel, Robby, Samantha, Anthony, and possibly even Johnny and Carmen's unborn or newborn child), he will either be Jumping Off the Slippery Slope by "shedding his weakness" (as Terry Silver put it) and transitioning into an utterly despicable Complete Monster that is totally Beyond Redemption (since he will be abandoning all of his previous limits regarding not personally harming women, alongside his previous twisted affection for his star pupil Johnny and, by extension, his offspring), and would likely also be willing to target Amanda and Carmen at that point (whereas before, he did not strike back at Amanda when she slapped him). Alternatively, if Kreese goes through this metamorphosis, even he will finally come to realize that he has gone too far (becoming exactly like his one-time bully David who was physically abusive toward Betsy, whom he probably detests even more than Captain Turner), and end up pulling a Redemption Equals Death somehow.
- The most likely target, actually, is Eli. Kreese probably doesn't know about Johnny's friendships with Amanda and Sam, or Daniel's with Miguel and (to a lesser extent) Carmen. While Robby is a possibility, as far as Kreese knows (unless Tory told him afterwards) he is still a loyal Cobra Kai student. Plus, he might still have enough regard for Johnny not to want to hurt his son. However, Kreese knows that Eli "betrayed" Cobra Kai by defecting during the house fight, prevented Cobra Kai from winning the male division of the 51st All-Valley, and is a student of both Johnny and Daniel, meaning that he can revenge himself on both men with one assault. Uh-oh...
- He'll see her as probably the only person who's still loyal to him. However, Tory, who is much more balanced thanks to the positive influences of Robby and Amanda, will turn him down and cast her lot in once and for all with Miyagi-Fang.
- If Tory rejects the offer, and Kreese has become a more despicable rather than a more decent character (as outlined above), he might be willing to physically, mentally, or emotionally retaliate against Tory as well.
- Will not be "Miyagi-Fang," but represent the nature of both, perhaps a Japanese term that sounds sufficiently "badass."
- As of Season 5's conclusion, the identity Tory's father is still a complete mystery, especially regarding possible theories being Terry Silver and Mike Barnes seemingly thrown out the window (Silver in particular having a partner very late in his life, admitting to no children, living a peaceful life after years of therapy in wake of his '85 All-Valley loss, and his possible past relationship with Tory being completely unexplored during Terry's reappearance; Barnes being reformed after The Karate Kid Part III and happily married). So who might be a more reasonable option? Dutch is the only other character so far in the series that never went through an on-screen redemption arc, as he is still in prison to this day in the Miyagi-verse. Tory never explains that she had a dad in a life and is currently living in poverty — Kandace drops the ball that her father was aggressive just like Tory during their confrontation at the Reseda Cobra Kai dojo. Considering Dutch's vicious nature and current situation, it wouldn't be out of place for him to continue acting like that in adulthood.
- Since not every teen character can win the finale will instead set upfuture spin offs where they can re-enter the Sekai Taikai for their own shot at glory. That and the possibility of sponsorships for high-ranking competitors even if they aren't winners. If Tory for example doesn't win she can still get something out of this experience and could get another chance to compete.
- "You're the Best Around" will finally be used.
- Bert will be shown advancing in the tournament this time, as opposed to his prior two bouts in the tournament.
- As a plot twist, the 2010 Karate Kid will be confirmed to take place in this universe with The Fighting Dragons being one of the competing schools.
- Word of God is that the 2010 Karate Kid is fictional in-universe, though a cameo/mythology nod isn't out of the question.
- Neither Miyagi-Fang nor Cobra Kai will take home the gold.
- The senseis and students of Cobra Kai and the senseis and students of Miyagi-Fang will have a fight after the Sekai Taikai. Kreese and Johnny will have their final battle, and similarly to Daniel vs Silver in Season 5, Johnny will use a combination of techniques and defeat Kreese once and for all.
- The last time we saw her in season 5's penultimate episode, she was on a hospital bed at her home. Maybe Tory seemingly has a happier day than usual, culminating in her receiving a call from health services regarding this passing. It could then lead to a legal battle between Tory and her aunt over custody of Brandon, where these things could happen:
- Tory's aunt presents her case by claiming that she hasn't changed by pointing out Tory's past mistakes. Other than the school fight and house brawl, we could learn more about Tory's troubled past this way.
- As for Tory, she will explain that she will always regret whatever mistakes she made, but that won't mean that she cannot try to be better. Sam and Amanda will support her testimony, as Sam already witnessed Tory's conditions and Amanda actually encouraged Tory to seek professional help. Having Sam fight for Tory instead of against her would also nicely bring their story full circle.
- When factoring in these two sides, Tory may end up winning the case, which angers the aunt enough to blow her cover and confirm Tory's honesty.
- It would quite the twist. And it would provide comedy in the form of Johnny trying to figure out girls.
- Having escaped from prison in the season 5 finale, Kreese will seek Kim's help to get him out of the country and back to Korea, where the two senseis decide to unite and take over Cobra Kai to train new students for the Sekai Taikai.
- Because the first episode was named "Ace Degenerate", which can complete the Call-Back of Johnny's introduction in The Karate Kid (1984).
- Another possibility is "Ace Regenerated."
- The philosophy of Eagle Fang has been "don't start the fight, but finish it however you have to," which lines up pretty squarely with Chozen's "If an enemy insists on war, take away their ability to wage it." In the same way Daniel used Silver's own training against him, this will signify Johnny's character development and be one more way to show that the new dojo is truly one, united school rather than two schools that train together.
- The Sekai Taikai is an international tournament, so the stakes are much higher. Although disappointing, Miyagi Fang losing isn't necessarily an unexpected outcome. However, compared to how he was at the start of the series, Johnny would tell the students that they shouldn't let one loss define their lives, as taking his own loss to heart led to bad consequences and he doesn't want that to happen with the students.
- Additionally, Cobra Kai may lose as well. Kim's (currently) unseen students may be powerful but there is still a possibility they might not be strong enough for an international tournament.
- As seen in Season 4, Robby is an excellent teacher. Add that to the fact that he is a prodigy who was a leader in two different dojos, and he could teach future generations.
- Currently, Robby's only been training for about a year and a half, which means that in martial arts terms, he's still a beginner who barely knows anything. However, this could happen in a flash-forward at the end of the season, showing that he's really taken the lessons of both his father and his sensei to heart.
- While Johnny's unlikely friendship with Amanda is long-running, Daniel and Carmen haven't had a lot of one-on-one interaction. Hopefully, this season will show us more of their bond as well.
- In the BTS picture that was uploaded on social media a few months ago, it was shown that Griffin Santopietro has grown to be even taller than the original Karate Kid actors and while he was 17 when the picture was taken, Anthony is only supposed to be 14 In Universe. Johnny is very likely to comment on his height, saying something among the lines of:
- Kim Da-Eun would behave like how Kreese did in Season 4 where she is so obsessed with the tournament and revenge that she has a few Stupid Evil moments like Kreese does. Contrastingly, Kreese would behave like how Silver did at the start of Season 4 where he encourages Kim to take the more rational and practical approaches rather than needlessly seek revenge. Kim's shocked expression in the trailer may be because of Kreese providing advice that she would not expect from him such as encouraging them to show mercy at times or not to strike first, highlighting Kreese getting some character development.
- The new trailer shows Miguel, Hawk and Demetri hanging out with Kyler at what appears to be a fraternity house. The trio might have been exploring fraternities and just happened to run into Kyler who was also looking into the same one at the same time. Kyler for once decides to take the high road and look into it at the same time as the trio provided neither causes trouble for the other. Given the trio's shared history with Kyler, none of them would want to hang out with him willingly but they are mature enough to not needlessly hurt or humiliate him if he has not done anything to warrant such treatment.
- There are a few possibilities for what Shawn's role will be in Season 6 as a released image has a scene where Kenny and presumably Shawn fights Miguel and Robby.
- Shawn fights Robby and Miguel with Kenny early in the season. Kenny might not have fully forgiven Robby yet and wants revenge, taking Shawn alongside him as backup as he knows that Robby has never definitively defeated Shawn.
- Shawn and Kenny fighting Miguel and Robby is an organized fight by all four of them. If Miguel and Robby are unable to beat a juggernaut like Shawn, then they would have no chance against Kim's stronger students.
- Shawn goes through The Worf Effect by one of Kim's students to demonstrate how powerful they are.
- Kreese has escaped jail while Kim is forced to escape America as she is in huge trouble for child abuse due to her draconian training methods. Her Elite Mook senseis who were defeated by Johnny are either arrested or are forced to escape America alongside Kreese and Kim.
- Chozen, Barnes and Johnny will face some legal repercussions for breaking and entering Silver's estate. Their conversation in the woods with Daniel made it clear that this was for revenge rather than any moral concerns coupled with the fact that Barnes was high on an illicit substance. Daniel would likely face a minor charge for "breaking and entering the dojo" where Silver would try and create a loophole to get him in legal trouble, despite Daniel having done nothing (intentionally) illegal on his end.
- Kreese and Silver will meet again and have an intense battle that may or may not be to the death but they are definitely willing to kill or severely harm the other. Like Kreese's prison fight due to Martin Kove's age and for symbolism with their past in the Vietnam War, the fight will use the actors of young Kreese and Silver as well where it will frequently swap between their young selves and present day selves.
- Lia will start a relationship with either Kenny or Anthony while remaining good friends with the other. Lia may start one with Kenny or be the reason he returns to being his friendly self as she was the only one nice to him when he started middle school. Alternatively, she may show an interest in Anthony after seeing him be more mature from what he does below.
- Anthony will see his old clique but will no longer consider them friends of his given how poorly they treated Kenny as well as him. Zack might try to bully him as well as Kenny but Anthony gives a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Zack as he has done nothing remotely good in his life, even compared to Kyler who at least treats his allies decently.
- One hypothetical scenario: Ali, Kumiko, Jessica (not really a girlfriend, but at one point clearly had a crush on Daniel before introducing him to her cousin), and Amanda, alongside Lucille LaRusso, in the same room swapping reminiscences, making things awkward for Daniel to the amusement of Johnny, Chozen, Barnes, Samantha, and/or Anthony (maybe a situation that Julie Pierce could bail him out of by shifting the conversation toward everyone's memories of Mr. Miyagi, assuming that Hilary Swank's statements about not believing she will be appearing in the sixth season should not to be taken at face-value).
- The Sekai Taikai is an international karate tournament so there's a decent chance that in a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, Cobra Kai and the Miyagi-Fangs may not even fight at all. The two dojos might have the goal of advancing further than the other to show who is the more superior fighter.
- To raise the stakes of the Sekai Taikai, Miguel will lose in the mid to later rounds of the tournament as part of The Worf Effect rather than Worf Had the Flu to demonstrate how powerful the opponents will be.
- Neither Cobra Kai or Miyagi-Fang may win the tournament due to how large-scale it is. A possible ending for Robby is that he advances the furthest out of the dojos and gets offered a sports scholarship at a university, giving him a chance at education as he is not currently going to school.
- The students in the new Cobra Kai dojo may be played by the minor dojo students in previous seasons. Mikey, Doug and Paul from Cobra Kai, Jason and Stiven from Miyagi-Do and the unnamed Eagle Fang member who did the kata in Season 4 will return as part of Kim Da-Eun's dojo. The actors may return but the characters may be named and appear differently similar to how Jake Huang played Cobra Kai student Jake in Season 4 and as a cameo in Season 5 before going on to play sensei Hyan-Woo in Season 5.