Summary
Cobra Kai Season 6 takes on a somber tone in Episode 11 as everyone is forced to reckon with Kwon’s death and their own futures.
Things are getting serious in Cobra Kai, or at least as serious as they ever get. Season 6 is, lest we forget, the show’s swansong, and Episode 11, “Into the Fire”, kicks off the very final batch of episodes. This is it. The end is nigh. And it all has to matter, to everyone and in various ways. That’s a tall order.
It’s an especially tall order without a karate tournament to compete in. After Kwon’s unfortunate death in the Part 2 finale, the Sekai Taikai has been canceled, leaving the competitors and their senseis adrift. This is what the Part 3 premiere is about. There’s no karate. All the usual petty rivalries and conflicts have been left by the wayside. Instead, it’s a fairly contemplative chapter designed to highlight why all this matters — and how it can come back.
Kreese Is A Changed Man
Nobody is taking Kwon’s demise harder than Kreese, for obvious reasons. Having been the Big Bad in a couple of the movies and most of the show, Kreese is at a crossroads here where he is coming to realize that embodying the Cobra Kai mantra — strike first, strike hard, no mercy — so intensely has caused nothing but chaos, trauma, and now death.
It helps that there’s someone even worse than him in the vicinity. Master Kim is fuming at Cobra Kai’s disgrace in the Sekai Taikai and has decided to take it out on Da-eun and the students, especially Yoon, who has become the de facto golden boy in Kwon’s absence. If Kim’s dojo is to redeem itself, the only option is for Yoon to learn a “special lesson”, which he is to master by almost killing his fellow students for hours on end. This is a bit far, even for Kreese.
So, Kreese takes matters into his own hands and sends Yoon away, telling Kim that they will not be returning to the tournament. He even returns the eunjangdo, symbolizing his rejection of Master Kim and his teachings. But it isn’t that easy for Da-eun, who is obligated to continue the family legacy. If she wants to prove herself, she must complete a difficult task that is strongly implied to be killing Kreese, but she instead turns on her grandfather. When he catches her, she’s forced to kill him with the secret technique he wanted Yoon to use in the tournament, which is fitting, in a way.
With Kim dead, Da-eun takes over the dojo and burns the eunjangdo. She’s taking over the place in her own way, and Kreese will return to the tournament alone to tie up a few loose ends.
Looking to the Future
The kids get less focus in Cobra Kai Season 6, Episode 11, but it’s made pretty clear how the collapse of the Sekai Taikai is affecting them. Robby is unlikely to graduate at all and has to begin to consider what his life will be like without karate. Miguel’s Stanford application was contingent on his sporting success. Sam seems academically secure, but after her foray to Barcelona is starting to consider exploring the wide world a little more.
Alicia Hannah-Kim as Kim Da-Eun in Cobra Kai. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025
And it’s the same for the adults. Carmen is heavily pregnant, and Johnny was hoping to build a secure future for them on the back of his coaching. Daniel, meanwhile, is having a midlife crisis of a kind. The revelations about Mr. Miyagi’s chequered past have thrown him for a loop, and he’s obsessively focusing on the dealership while also trying to pivot away from the legacy of Miyagi — particularly the bonsai trees — that has shaped his entire adult life.
The point is clear enough. The Sekai Taikai needs to come back, for the sake of everyone. Enter Terry Silver.
Silver’s Gambit
Terry Silver is the only man with the resources to get the tournament reinstated. He starts by intimidatingly approaching Gunther and selling the tournament’s reinstatement as a good PR move for karate overall. There’s a clear spin that’ll get people on-side, but it will require all of the senseis to agree.
Wolf doesn’t take any persuading at all, and neither does Johnny, especially since Robby needs the victory to secure his academic future. It’s Daniel who’s reluctant. Taking Miyagi-do international has thus far resulted in nothing but trauma for him, and he’s reluctant to repeat the experience. He needs persuading.
To this end, Silver essentially kidnaps Johnny under the guise of a test drive and terrifies him by driving around the block like a lunatic. He has an idea for how to get things restarted, but it’ll mean sitting down with Daniel and Johnny for a business chat. His proposition is footing the bill and letting Daniel decide all the details, including the venue and the refs, so he doesn’t have to worry about any potential shenanigans. But it’s Silver’s motivation that’s more interesting.
It turns out there was a reason Johnny happened to bump into Silver in the hospital. He’s dying. And before he shuffles off this mortal coil, he wants one more victory. Daniel agrees. The Sekai Taikai will return. And this time, it’s coming to the Valley.
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