Cobra Kai's third season is full of tension and surprises.
Kreese takes over Cobra Kai with "no mercy," Daniel and Johnny team up, and all three sensei
confront their pasts as they prepare to settle their present-day differences.
Let's break down the explosive ending, and what it may mean for season four.
After Robby makes Miyagi-Do infamous for what happened during the school melee in season
2, Daniel finds that his karate-themed advertisements aren't so cute anymore, as his car sales begin
to drag.
His top competitor, Tom Cole, secures an exclusive distribution deal with Doyona and offers to
buy Daniel's dealership at a bargain price.
But Daniel decides to take a trip to Japan instead.
After an inauspicious meeting with Doyona, Daniel visits Mr. Miyagi's home in Okinawa
and reunites with Kumiko, the young woman he defended and had a romantic relationship
with in The Karate Kid Part II.
Kumiko has several surprises in store for Daniel at Tomi village, including Mr. Miyagi's
old love letters to her late aunt Yukie and a visit from the now-grown woman he rescued
from a typhoon as a child.
She's now VP of international sales at Doyona, and as a long overdue reward for saving her
life so many years before, she steps in to save his business relationship with the company.
Not only does the LaRusso Auto Group come out of their PR nightmare relatively unscathed
in the end, but they also convince Anoush to return to their team, and find that cousin
Louie is actually a pretty solid salesman.
With the dealership on solid ground once again, Daniel will be able to focus on his more personal
matters going forward.
Another familiar face Kumiko brings back into the picture is that of Chozen, who Daniel
defeated in a brutal fight in The Karate Kid Part II.
Rather than holding a grudge, however, Chozen wants to make amends.
Chozen reveals that his sensei Sato was also trained by Miyagi's teacher, so he has inherited
several artifacts from Miyagi's dojo and wants to test whether Miyagi really taught Daniel
everything he knew.
During a match, Chozen stuns Daniel by striking several pressure points and disabling his
limbs, a maneuver he attributes to Miyagi's teachings.
After pinning Daniel, Chozen ends the fight by honking his nose, which is a playful nod
to how Daniel ended their vicious bout so many years before.
Chozen admits he has felt shame for his behavior back then and is relieved to learn that Daniel
has forgiven him.
In return, Chozen agrees to train Daniel in Miyagi's powerful move and also gives him
a cherished scroll from Miyagi's collection to take home.
Not only does Daniel walk away with a newfound peace agreement with Chozen, he's also armed
with a very effective new defense technique.
"If only every rivalry could end like this."
In addition to saving his business and learning a new trick in Japan, Daniel also gets some
closure with Kumiko.
Though the two had an intense connection in Okinawa all those decades ago, they lost touch
with one another and moved on with their lives.
The two lament the fact that they might have kept in contact more easily in the modern
era of social media, but they part on great terms.
Kumiko isn't the only ex that Daniel gets to finally say goodbye to, either.
Ali also returns to the picture after she and Johnny reconnect on Facebook.
Though Johnny has finally begun a romantic relationship with Miguel's mom Carmen, he
can't resist the chance to catch up with his high school flame.
The two spend a whole day together having fun at lunch and an arcade, and she takes
him to a country club party that Daniel also attends.
“You remember Johnny Lawrence, right?"
"How can I forget?"
Ali is bemused to find her former flames fighting just like old times but correctly calls them
out for being more alike than they'd like to admit.
She also accepts Daniel's apology for ending things so abruptly and thanks Johnny for making
her feel young again before wishing him well with Carmen.
The memory of fighting over Ali has always been a point of contention for Daniel and
Johnny, but now that the two have gotten a chance to talk things out with her, they can
finally let go of that piece of their animosity.
"And the truth is, you guys are more alike than you want to admit."
Johnny and Carmen aren't the only new lovebirds taking flight this season.
It looks like Miguel and Sam are also ready to octopi some space together again, too.
After training with Johnny, Miguel is back in fighting shape and returns to school.
Sam apologizes to Miguel, helps raise money for his treatments, and even shows him around
Miyagi-Do.
The sight of them together might make Robby incensed, and it even raises eyebrows with
Daniel, but Sam and Miguel share more than just some smooches.
Together, they hatch a plan to unite their dojos for the greater good.
Meanwhile, Demetri and Yasmin have become unlikely kissing buddies -- not that she'd
ever admit that in public, of course -- and something is definitely brewing between Robby
and Tory.
After Robby is released from juvenile detention, he and Tory bond over their equally crummy
upbringings and their mutual dissatisfaction with the idea of Miguel and Sam getting back
together.
Whether these two will combine their anger to form a butt-kicking power couple remains
to be seen, but based on the looks they give each other in the final episodes, we wouldn't
be surprised if their relationship is about to heat up off the mat.
At first, Miguel has trouble convincing the members of Johnny's new Eagle Fang dojo to
join forces with Sam's Miyagi-Do members.
But once the Cobra Kais attack them all at their Christmas party, the battle lines are
officially drawn.
This means former besties-turned-rivals Mitch and Chris and Bert and Nathaniel can finally
fight together again, instead of forcing themselves to hate each other.
Perhaps the most surprising member to join this new team is Hawk.
He is initially poised to be Cobra Kai's new champion and takes Kreese's tough teachings
to heart, even breaking Demetri's arm during an off-the-mat confrontation.
All season long, though, Hawk watches with disdain as Kreese recruits most of his least
favorite people to join the dojo, including his former bully Kyler and Robby, who Hawk
still blames for what happened to Miguel.
"Look, I know some of these guys, and they're,"
"Natural athletes, which is exactly what's been missing in our dojo."
Hawk participates in the siege on Miyagi-Do, but upon seeing his teammates attacking his
former friends, he decides to switch sides and defends Demetri against having his arm
broken again.
He takes Demetri's side at Miyagi-Do for the first day of dual training with Eagle Fang,
making it clear that these two are finally ready to fight side by side after so much
turmoil.
After the Cobra Kais attack the unsuspecting kids at Miyagi-Do, Johnny decides to confront
his former sensei once and for all.
He's surprised to find his son Robby at the dojo rising to Kreese's defense, but Johnny
still engages Kreese in a fight that very nearly turns deadly.
Robby discourages Johnny from using a sai on Kreese after he gains the upper hand, and
Kreese makes him pay for that moment of mercy.
After Robby himself tries to pick a fight with Johnny, Johnny accidentally knocks him
out against a locker, and Kreese nearly chokes Johnny to death.
However, Daniel arrives in the nick of time and kicks Kreese off of Johnny.
After a brief fight, Daniel uses Miyagi's disabling move to stop Kreese in his tracks.
Kreese suggests that instead of this turning into a deathmatch, they finish the fight by
entering their students in the All Valley Tournament they all stood up to save.
If Cobra Kai loses, Kreese promises to disappear from town for good.
While Johnny and Daniel unite to take Kreese down, however, Kreese maintains one last trick
up his sleeve.
Throughout Cobra Kai season three, we finally learn why Kreese is so hellbent on his "strike
first" and "no mercy" philosophies.
After enduring the death of his mother and bullying in his workplace, young Kreese finally
fought back when one of his tormentors hit his girlfriend, Betsy, who then became Kreese's
girlfriend.
He signed up for a tour in Vietnam shortly after, and was recruited for a covert mission
alongside his friends Ponytail and Twig.
Tragically, the entire unit was captured on that mission.
Ponytail was immediately executed, while the others were made to fight one another to the
death above a pit of snakes.
Kreese's captain, who regularly accused him of cowardice, was chosen to fight Twig, and
Kreese volunteered to take Twig's place.
The captain nearly defeated Kreese after he revealed Beth had died in a car accident,
but Kreese gained the upper hand.
Even as they were saved by air support, Kreese kicked the captain into the pit and declared
he'd finally learned his lesson: Show no mercy.
Twig, who may not have seen Kreese kick the captain, told Kreese that he owed him a life
debt and would always be there for whatever Kreese needed.
Now, it appears Kreese is finally ready to collect.
After Kreese makes his deal with Johnny and Daniel to settle their disputes at the tournament,
he makes a call to an old friend while holding a photo of himself with Ponytail and Twig.
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