Cobra Kai Season 5 Ending Explained: What Happens to Terry Silver? Is John Kreese Dead? Who is Mike Barnes and What Happens to Him?
The head of the snake is the title of the last episode of Cobra Kai Season 5. This is where the new season of the Karate Kid spin-off series closes, even in a somewhat daring way. The new episodes of Cobra Kai Season 5 are here and the suitcase of its creators still has a good repertoire of cakes to distribute right and left. This time we have not had to wait so long: after a little over half a year, Cobra Kai Season 5 will land this Friday, September 9 on Netflix to continue with the maxim of “hit first, hit hard and without mercy”. For me, who grew up alongside Daniel-san kicking the crane, knowing that the final confrontation between the protagonist of Karate Kid and the ruthless Terry Silver is upon us was a source of absolute emotion. Because, let’s face it, for thirty years we have wanted to see LaRusso strike “first and without mercy” the one who tormented him most in his youth, a sadistic and uncompromising madman who had no qualms about using a teenager to satisfy his vainglory cocaine addict.
Cobra Kai Season 5: Story Recap
Where had we stayed? In the review of Cobra Kai 4 we told you that, even with some perplexity in terms of writing, we were satisfied both with the fanservice and with the management of the antagonist, to the point that we considered Terry Silver a great villain. The fifth season of the sequel series of Karate Kid picks up right where the previous one left off: Falco’s landslide victory during the men’s selection of the All Valley Tournament was not enough to ensure Miyagi-Do’s victory in the competition. The individual tests, and above all the final match between Sam LaRusso and Tory Nichols, ended in favor of Terry Silver’s students, with the consequent victory of the Cobra Kai. As agreed, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang must close their doors, while Silver – after knocking John Kresse out of business with a deception – begins to expand his franchise just as he promised, opening new dojos across the valley and hiring the best (and most ruthless) sensei to shape his boys with. Daniel, however, has chosen not to give up by calling an old ally from Okinawa: Chozen, his old rival, is now ready to help Miyagi’s former disciple to take his revenge.
Yet the defeat at the All Valley has marked all the young protagonists, starting with Sam, unable to find herself. And even Tory, after learning that Silver has rigged female encounters, has doubts about her loyalty to Cobra Kai. And Johnny, Miguel, and Robby? We had left Diaz shortly after leaving the mat and making the decision to travel to Mexico in search of his real father, disillusioned and saddened by the failing relationship with his sensei. Lawrence, on the other hand, immediately sets off in pursuit of his most loyal student, and alongside him is none other than Robby. For the character of William Zabka therefore begins a path of reconstruction, both about his biological son and those of his stepson. Meanwhile, the Cobra Kai continues to extend its grip, Terry’s machinations strain Daniel’s psychology and even Kresse, locked up within the prison walls, carefully plans his revenge.
Cobra Kai Season 5 Ending Explained: The End of Terry Silver
It is he, Terry Silver, the snake whose head Daniel LaRusso and the others have to cut off. Throughout the season Silver responded effectively to Daniel LaRusso’s attacks. Silver’s strategy seemed impossible to break, the expansion of his dojos seemed inevitable to such an extent that LaRusso had abandoned the idea of defeating him until in the ending of Cobra Kai 5 the boys of Miyagi-Do have the most brilliant of all or that of making the guys of the Cobra Kai lose faith in their sensei.
Daniel LaRusso, on the other hand, can only deliver the physical and decidedly symbolic coup de grace to his archenemy, freeing himself from heavy weight and regaining possession of his ego. In fact, throughout the season Daniel let himself be overwhelmed by the vortex of Silver only managing to combine trouble as if he were trapped by quicksand: with every step Daniel sank deeper and deeper. In the end, however, Daniel finds his ego of him and demonstrates it in the final by proposing to the public his best move, the one with which he won the All Valley as a boy. Silver tried to parry and was good throughout Cobra Kai’s season 5 but eventually physically gives in to Daniel and has to surrender to the evidence Pasticana provided to the police.
The Victory of The Boys
It is the boys of Miyagi-Do who have implemented the most ingenious and intelligent plan to knock out (not physically) the Terry Silver empire. Falco, Sam, Miguel, Robby and the others have seen fit to unmask Silver’s misdeeds, posting the video online in which it is seen that he is beating Parsnip and not John Kreese. With them is Tory Nichols or the champion of Cobra Kai who, however, has from the beginning planned to take revenge on the “unclean” methods of her dojo.
Unfortunately, the plan to show everyone the video of Silver and Parsnip fails but Tory has the brilliant idea of recovering another video from the surveillance video archives, namely the one in which Silver admits to having bribed the All Vallery tournament referee (in the finale of Cobra Kai’s fourth season). This move succeeds and the students of Cobra Kai realize all the lies of Terry Silver, the sensei who was supposed to guide them.
After all, the Cobra Kai guys wanted to believe in Silver’s teachings and I thought I was the best. But realizing that Silver has bought their victory, their certainties have collapsed and their inner strength has collapsed. It must always be taken into account that these guys live in sports and are not conditioned by economic or power factors like Silver.
Johnny Lawrence
The absolute protagonist of the whole series is him. Daniel LaRusso also repeats it during the fifth season of Cobra Kai, reminding Johnny that if the Cobra Kai is active it is because he wanted to put the law of the fist back into play. In this fifth season of the spin-off series of the Karate Kid franchise, Johnny has put his life in line by reconciling Miguel and Robbie, aka the son of his partner and his son, and preparing to become a father.
So the path of rebirth that he sought for the first 4 seasons through karate ended in favor of a romantic and satisfying ending. For this reason, it is difficult to think of a possible plot for Cobra Kai Season 6. Johnny from a sporting point of view has concluded his parable and from a personal point of view, he is satisfied: what could make him put back into play?
John Kreese
Sensei Kreese was in prison the whole time. His role was mostly marginal but, admittedly, his character had at least one truly spectacular moment: one in which he sees all the influential people in his life in the prison psychologist’s office.
Kreese seemed like one character too many this season but there is a twist to underline with regards to the finale. Kreese manages to escape the exact moment Silver is arrested. The arrest of the latter would have exonerated Kreese, who however is now guilty of other crimes inside the prison and also of evasion. This confirms the “cursed” and unfortunate nature of this character, whose life was conditioned by a difficult childhood and a very tough military career.
