In Part 3 of the sixth and final season, the tournament that Cobra Kai had spent two seasons preparing for finally came to an end. The outcome, while not wholly unexpected, carried more emotional weight than most people probably anticipated. The Sekai Taikai is won by Cobra Kai. However, the how is far more important than the what.
There was a dirty path. Terry Silver, who has a terminal illness and is running out of time, worked the hardest to bring the competition back to life after a huge brawl in Barcelona claimed the life of Cobra Kai captain Kwon and the tournament was suspended indefinitely. Although Silver’s intentions were never totally altruistic, his intervention did at least restart the competition and set up the individual championship matches that would decide the final standings.
After finding her rhythm, Tory Nichols defeated Zara from the Iron Dragons to win the girls’ division title first. The fight wasn’t very close. The loss of her mother, the conflict with Sam LaRusso that had characterized several seasons, and her decision to return to Cobra Kai all brought a great deal of personal history into this season, and winning the championship felt like the most subdued way to put it all to rest. Not loudly victorious. Completed.
Miguel Diaz had a more convoluted route to winning the boys’ title. He was up against Axl Kovaňvić, who had already hurt Robby Keene earlier in the competition, thereby removing Miyagi-Do from the competition with what amounted to a cheap shot. Unusually for Miguel, the fight began unevenly. It’s important to keep in mind that he continued to compete despite the fact that his mother had almost passed away at the same time.
The creators of the show have been fairly straightforward about why Miguel prevails in these situations: he usually doesn’t let the circumstances outside the mat dictate what occurs on it. Something changed when Axl was told to break Miguel’s back in order to end the fight. Miguel finished with a decisive kick to the head after responding with a series of blows. tidy. definitive.
After the individual matches, Cobra Kai and the Iron Dragons were tied on team points; tournament officials looked to the senseis to break the impasse. Sensei Wolf versus Johnny Lawrence. This particular detail seemed almost scripted, and perhaps it was, in the best sense of the word. It’s uncommon to see Johnny start a fight looking shaken.
Wearing a Cobra Kai gi over his own Miyagi-Do identity, Daniel stood in Johnny’s corner and assisted him in refocusing. The most obvious visual statement the show ever made about the relationship between these two men was that picture of LaRusso in Cobra Kai colors. Cobra Kai became the first American dojo to win the Sekai Taikai title when Johnny swept Wolf’s leg in a thrilling final exchange.
The conclusion has a certain irony that seems completely intentional. At the 1984 All Valley tournament, Johnny Lawrence lost to Daniel LaRusso in a single leg sweep that had a lasting impact on both of their lives. With Daniel in his corner, Johnny completes a leg sweep to win a world championship at the end of the series. It was obvious that the authors knew what they were doing. It doesn’t have to be subtle, but it isn’t.
What transpired with Silver and Kreese in those last episodes gives the triumph a different feel. Kreese’s final move was to confront Silver on his yacht and stop him from going after Johnny’s family. Both men’s fates were unclear after the explosion; no bodies were found, and there was no definitive conclusion. The show may have purposefully left that door open, but considering how final everything else is, it seems more like a conscious decision to leave some loose ends. Certain issues in life don’t always have a clear solution. The show appeared to recognize that as well.
Johnny took back the original Cobra Kai dojo following the competition. He and Daniel built something that neither pure Cobra Kai nor pure Miyagi-Do had ever been on its own by maintaining separate schools but sharing students. In the first episode, this conclusion would have seemed unattainable. Forty years of development. And perhaps precisely correct.
