Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3 Kills Off Two Major Karate Kid Characters In One Fell Swoop

This article contains spoilers for "Cobra Kai" Season 6 Part 3.

Have you ever wondered why karate seems to be the be-all and end-all for most "Cobra Kai" characters — even ones who don't seem all that interested in spending their lives as a competitive athlete? The show's final block of episodes examines this question on many fronts, as some characters embrace the martial art as a proper calling and others set out to explore other avenues of life. However, no two characters' arcs depict the fallout of an obsessive karate life better than those of John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), two villains who have been part of the franchise since the original "The Karate Kid" trilogy.

Kreese and Silver are the franchise's greatest antagonists by a wide margin, but their different teaching methods and clashes over Cobra Kai's direction send them on a collision course not long after Kreese brings Silver back in the mix in "Cobra Kai" Season 4. The third part of the final season of "Cobra Kai" continues to show the effect karate has had on their lives and brings their mutual animosity to an explosive end.

In Episode 14, "Strike Last," a redemption-seeking Kreese sneaks aboard Silver's yacht just in time to stop Dennis (William Christopher Ford) from fulfilling Terry's orders to target Johnny Lawrence's (William Zabka) family. After the henchman is neutralized, the two arch-villains embark on a brutal battle to the death, with the younger and fitter Silver eventually gaining the upper hand. At the last second before Silver strangles him, Kreese manages to reach his smoldering cigar and toss it in a nearby pool of gasoline, and the ensuing explosion takes out the two villains (and, presumably, the unconscious Dennis).

Although Kreese and Silver's final fight marks a striking end for the two erstwhile villains, it's worth noticing that "Cobra Kai" Season 6 Part 3 opts to take both men out without either ever truly posing a serious threat to the protagonists. At the very beginning of this final block of episodes, Kreese is dealing with the aftermath of Kwon's (Brandon H. Lee) death in "Cobra Kai" Season 6 Part 2. Losing the prodigal student finally makes the villainous sensei reflect on the evil he's brought into the world, which sends him on a quest to minimize the suffering he's caused. After helping rising Cobra Kai star Yoon (Daniel J. Kim) escape master Kim Sun-Yung's (C.S. Lee) deadly training and addressing his mistakes to his closest remaining star pupils Tory Nichols (Peyton List) and Johnny, Kreese relinquishes control of Cobra Kai to the latter and leaves on his final mission to prevent Silver from ever hurting anyone again.

As for the "Cobra Kai" franchise's Big Bad Silver, the Iron Dragons financier is now divorced, deathly ill, and rapidly running out of money. His one true desire is to see his team victorious one more time before he dies. Sure, he still growls and grimaces in the sidelines, but 100% of the actual physical threat to the protagonists comes from Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan) and his students, and even Silver's one truly nefarious plan — the idea to take Johnny's family hostage to make him throw his fight against Wolf — is casually foiled by Kreese within seconds.

It's fitting that Silver and Kreese kill each other with the rest of the world barely noticing. Karate, after all, is a fairly obvious addiction metaphor for both characters, and they've fueled each others' fire throughout the franchise. Consumed by his craft, Kreese has spent decades in abject poverty, with little in his mind save for martial arts and hate. Meanwhile, Silver had a chance to live a full life as a successful and happy businessman, but whenever Kreese pulls him back in with another dose of Cobra Kai, he becomes so obsessed that he's willing to waste all his resources on karate.

Since Part 3 looks toward a future where karate is just one aspect of life, it makes sense for the show to diminish its karate-based villains' reach — first by having life come at both Kreese and Silver hard, and then by allowing them to wrap up their storylines without outside interference. For the same reason, the most hands-on villain of the season, Sensei Wolf, doesn't get a ton of characterization and largely acts as a roadblock on Johnny's path toward redemption.

"Cobra Kai" has always juggled cool, 1980s-infused martial arts elements and comedy with a surprisingly deep story about generational trauma and personal growth. By literally blowing up its two most venerable remnants of joyfully cheesy karate antagonism in the penultimate episode, the show signals that its characters are finally ready to grow up. It's no coincidence that after Silver and Kreese pass away, the final confrontation between Wolf and Johnny features zero video game-style special moves and very little flashiness. After all, the cartoon days are finally over.

"Cobra Kai" is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix.