"Extreme situations require extreme measures..."
and nothing more accurate can be said about what Terry Silver was up to in Cobra Kai
Season 4. Most would agree that Silver was the one of, if not, the only good thing about
Karate Kid Part III – he used psychological warfare instead of physical aggression to
lure his victims into a trap and then struck when they were all caught up in the venom.
Many say Silver was deadlier than John Kreese, and with what happened at the end of Season 4,
we finally see that's the case. This is why Terry Silver is Terrifying. Let's talk about his history
with John Kreese, his descent into madness, what the future holds for him and Cobra Kai,
and more. It should go without saying but this video contains spoilers,
so if you haven't seen Season 4 yet, go watch that first and then come back.
And before we get started, if you're not a part of the biggest Cobra Kai Discord server,
you should fix that! Click on the link in the description to join the server
right now. It is the largest and most active Cobra Kai community on Discord with over
10,000 members. Who knows? You might find me and a few others you know in there.
Also big shoutout to Pascal Aka - if you're not subscribed to his channel already,
make sure you check it out. He has excellent Cobra Kai musical interpretations,
whether they are fan made or covers, and some of those are you used in
this video. So do me a favor and go subscribe to his YouTube channel.
Let's recap on what we know about Terry Silver so far. Feel free to skip to the next chapter if
you want to avoid the recap, but be warned – you may miss important details in the analysis later
on in the video. In 1968, Terrence 'Terry' Silver becomes part of a special military unit in Vietnam
under Captain Turner, with his friends John Kreese and Ponytail. Because of his stature, he
gets called Twig by his teammates and learns Tang Soo Do from Turner, alongside his comrades. During
a mission, Silver's radio malfunctioned which alerted the enemy to their location, resulting
in their capture. Because of this, Ponytail is executed and Silver remarks that it's his fault.
After they are being held for prisoner for some time, in 1969 the captured US soldiers are forced
to fight each other to the death over a snake pit. When Captain Turner is picked to fight, Silver is
at first picked to be his opponent, despite fearing for his life. However, Kreese instead
takes his place, and ends up killing Turner as reinforcements arrive to rescue the prisoners.
Ever thankful for saving his life, Terry hugs Kreese and tells him that he whatever he needs,
he's there for him “his whole life.” In 1975, 10 years before the events of Karate Kid Part III
and now wearing his iconic ponytail, Silver and Kreese get matching tattoos. Right before opening
the first Cobra Kai dojo, Kreese expresses his interest in wanting the school to compete in the
7th All-Valley Tournament. However, Silver can't open Cobra Kai with Kreese, due to his father
wanting to take over DynaTox or being cut out of the will. After making a promise to pay his half
and to help in the future, they make a pact before parting ways – "Cobra Kai Never Dies." Over the
next 10 years, DynaTox becomes successful, cocaine becomes part of Terry's breakfast,
and his wealth vastly rose to new heights, living in an enormous mansion while taking care of
business and keeping his karate sharp. When Kreese visits him to turn in the dojo keys, Silver swears
to take revenge on Mr. Miyagi and Daniel LaRusso as part of his promise back in Vietnam. Kreese
gets sent to Tahiti while Silver makes revenge his number one priority. The elaborate plan is enacted
in a few key steps – first, he plans to cause a rift between Daniel and Miyagi, going so far as
to break in and gather intel on the two. He hires Mike Barnes, one of the nation's best tournament
fighters, to fight Daniel in the All-Valley tournament, and orders Dennis and Snake to
not only help train Mike, but also has the three to force Daniel to sign up for the tournament.
Terry then introduces himself to Miyagi and Daniel as Kreese's war buddy and to inform them
of his “death,” offering his apology on behalf of Master Kim Sun Yung and Kreese to fake innocence.
Terry offers and agrees to train Daniel, purposely mistraining him to not only injure him physically
but mentally, sending Daniel down a dark path. As an added bonus, Silver pays off a patron to start
a fight with Daniel while he's out with Jessica at a dance. After coming to his senses, Daniel goes
to tell Terry he no longer needs his training, but Silver reveals his plan, brings John Kreese back
from the dead, and gets Mike to attack Daniel until Mr. Miyagi intervenes and defeats all 3
fighters. Terry and Silver continue to train Mike and when the tournament arrives, Silver orders
Mike to purposely gain and then lose a point to hurt Daniel as much as possible. However, thanks
to Miyagi's help, Daniel overcomes his fear, and wins his 2nd All-Valley Championship, leaving
the 20 new dojos, Mike's financial future, and the Cobra Kai name all in ruin. Any incarnation
of Cobra Kai is also banned from the All-Valley for the next 30 plus years, until Johnny Lawrence,
Kreese's former top student, successfully appeals this decision in 2018. Between 1985 and the end of
2018, Silver falls into a dark space and cuts ties with Kreese, but manages to rebuild his empire,
seek help via therapy, start to date a woman named Cheyenne, and even goes vegan, enjoying the finer
things such as wine and playing the piano. Silver is sought out by Kreese once again,
who sees he is not the same man back in 1985 with the new company he keeps. He initially rejects
Kreese's plea for help, even after hearing that LaRusso & Lawrence are teaming together, but the
seed planted by Kreese slowly begins to sprout when he kicks a wine bottle against the wall.
During breakfast, Silver's PTSD is triggered and he tracks down Kreese to confront him for
messing with his head, going so far to show that he still has fight left in him. Later on, Terrence
remembers the pact he made long ago, and Terry kicks Terrence to the curb as he ties his hair
back once again. Kreese introduces his co-sensei to the class, and Silver soon takes Robby Keene,
Johnny's son, under his wing. Tensions begin to rise as Silver disagrees with Kreese going after
LaRusso and Lawrence, as he was only on board for the initial plan to turn kids into winners,
and to avoid rehashing the past to lose again. Silver offers an olive branch to Daniel, but
Daniel refuses it due to his past with Silver, and thus Terry begins to go all in on his Cobra Kai
methods, advising the students to weaponize their anger for the tournament and to focus on
their training. At dinner, Kreese and Silver's ideologies begin to clash, with Silver wanting
to focus on what's in front of them and not the past so Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang can shut down.
Terry upgrades the gym equipment, remodels the gym, and buys new gear for all of the students,
which is effective enough to sway Eagle Fang prospect Piper. Daniel and Terry meet again in
the convenient store when Robby is trying to be convinced by Daniel to leave Terry's tutelage,
to avoid history repeating itself of a Miyagi-Do student turning Cobra Kai. After an exchange of
words, Terry says that one of them will be out of business. The senseis clash again when Silver
claims everyone has a weakness, including Kreese, and wins the bet that Kreese lays out for a six
pack. This angers Kreese and he confronts Silver about stepping out of line, causing him to doubt
his loyalty. Terry agrees to fund Robby and Tory's prom night. This doesn't stop here – he also tries
to pay off Shannon, infuriating Johnny and causing him to seek out Silver. Johnny is advised by Terry
to visit the old Cobra Kai dojo, which he recently bought, and sucker punches Johnny for Kreese,
who reveals his plan to beat up Johnny to prove his loyalty and to throw Miguel Diaz,
Johnny's student, off balance. As Silver defeats Johnny and prepares to finish the job,
Kreese stops him, causing confusion in Silver about the principles of No Mercy
and what Kreese wanted in stopping Johnny and Daniel. The following morning in a drunken rage,
Silver mercilessly beats up Stingray who wants to join Cobra Kai before the All-Valley.
During the finals match of the male division of the All-Valley, Silver and Kreese coach Robby
during the finals. As the match goes to Sudden Death, Silver expresses his disappointment in
Robby and almost attacks him after Robby talks back, but is stopped by Kreese.
During the women's division finals, Silver tries to coax Tory into using the Quicksilver Method,
but Kreese stops him and advises Tory to do what she wants to finish the fight. After Cobra
Kai wins, Tory catches Silver paying off the ref for fixing the finals match between her and Sam.
When Kreese and Silver celebrate, the “weakness” that Terry has is revealed to be Kreese,
and Kreese's weakness is Johnny Lawrence. Terry is convinced that it was never about the dream
of showing Cobra Kai to be the “right way,” but to get back at Johnny Lawrence. To shed his weakness,
Silver frames Kreese for assaulting and attempting to murder Stingray, resulting in his arrest,
and thus Silver takes back control of the dojo, becoming the sole owner of Cobra Kai.
The first thing we have to talk about what makes Terry Silver so terrifying are the tactics he's
willing to use to accomplish his goals. Like fellow student Kreese, his philosophy is rooted
in striking first, striking hard, and showing no mercy. The second core principle of Cobra Kai is
evident in his convoluted plans, whether it's causing a rift between a student and a sensei
through emotional manipulation, or beating up an individual wanting to learn karate to
take back what's rightfully his. The man is willing to put the very thing that supplies
his wealthy lifestyle on hold just to focus on getting payback for an old war buddy. Granted,
he has the resources to do so, but if you think about it... this is the same ruthlessness that
made him so successful in the first place. Silver is not shy in using resources either – with money
that can buy anything, he has cars and clothes picked out for his façade, the ability to bribe
the grand jury and the district attorney, research available at hand to find the right
person for the job, and a personal training team picked out for his karate champion. Even then,
he could hire an entire team to gather information on his targets, but he has no problem getting his
hands dirty, thanks to his time in Vietnam. These skills, combined with his resources,
are what allows the trio of snakes to harass Daniel, Jessica, and Miyagi whenever they see
fit. It's this information that he gathers that he's able to trap Daniel and Miyagi into a false
sense of security, regarding the zombification of his war buddy, “rescuing” Daniel from Mike Barnes,
or making a generous “goodwill” donation to the All-Valley as a sponsor on behalf of DynaTox.
Thanks to the rift, Daniel has no choice but to seek out Silver for help, playing into his hand
perfectly as he purposely injures him with his unconventional training methods, and manipulating
him into bringing out the Cobra Kai within him. Money comes into play again where he bribes
someone into starting a fight with Daniel to test the killer instinct of the All-Valley champion.
Above all else, fear was the weapon Silver preferred in 1985 – convincing Mike Barnes to
show No Mercy, crippling Daniel's mind with fear that goes on to affect him so many years later.
This fear was so great that Daniel forgot about fighting to the death with a much deadlier
opponent earlier that summer, making him forget everything he learned and breaking him down to a
shell of his former self. Fast forward to 2019 and intimidation is another weapon he uses, as
he causes Robby to doubt his martial arts ability because of the fear he still has, giving a look of
daggers to make Nestor regret what he said, and when instructing class, working the students to
the bone to prepare them for the All-Valley. But as always, money comes back into play – buying
top of the line gear to sway prospects into joining Cobra Kai, funding the prom trip for
Tory & Robby, bribing the All-Valley referee to pre-determine the outcome of the tournament,
and more than likely paying off Stingray to frame Kreese. Silver's... well, silver tongue, and
intelligence comes to his aid many times, whether it's subtly undermining John Kreese in front of
the students, trying to sway Shannon (but failing) by bribing her with money and offering her a job,
and also trying to soften Kreese by buying back the old dojo for him. Silver also puts on
this front after Cobra Kai wins the tournament. Psychological warfare is still a weapon in his
arsenal – Silver's reoccurring lesson throughout the season is to attack the opponent's weakness.
For example, he makes Kenny aware of Robby's compassion to take advantage of it and to
ultimately score the win. Kenny is also able to take this lesson to heart by singling out
Anthony from his friends and attacking him while he's vulnerable. He purposely lures
Johnny Lawrence into a trap to brutalize him and successfully throws Miguel off-balance, causing
him to re-aggravate his back injury. And because of this trap, he realizes that Johnny ultimately
is what is holding both Kreese and Cobra Kai back, so he attacks this weakness head on and
takes the dojo from Kreese. Another way he's able to employ this is by coaching the students
to weaponize their anger for the tournament – fueling them to throw their opponents off
balance by setting traps through their knowledge of Miyagi-Do defense, thanks to Robby Keene.
Let's also talk about the relationship with John Kreese, and what caused his descent into madness.
In Karate Kid Part III, the relationship is fairly straightforward – Kreese was Silver's captain and
war buddy, and remembering the debt he owed John, Silver's willingness and loyalty to help with his
friend's struggles is admirable and misguided, similar to Hawk jumping Nate and stealing the
money Miyagi-Do raised for Miguel's surgery, as he still saw Miguel as his friend and Cobra
Kai above all else. Terry kept true to his word, too – as he brought Kreese back from the dead, he
showed him what he had been missing while he was in Tahiti and doing everything he was asked to,
from making both enemies suffer to making Daniel's knuckles bleed. By the time 1985 rolls around,
Silver singlehandedly purchased the dojo's building and covered the rent Kreese fell behind
on due to Cobra Kai losing at the 1984 All-Valley. It was Kreese who ultimately saved Silver's ass
more times than he could count and from certain death, as Silver was most likely inexperienced and
would have met his death at the hands of Captain Turner. In Season 4, this relationship is almost
non-existent and civil at best, as Silver has distanced himself from Cobra Kai and Kreese.
Even after telling Kreese no, Silver ultimately remembers the promise he made in Vietnam
and feels obligated to help his captain realize the pact they made back in 1975. It is obvious
during this flashback that Kreese inspires Silver to overcome his fear and trauma, but unfortunately
Silver still turns to drugs in the '80s, possibly to cope with his trauma and PTSD from his time in
the military. This is also evidenced in the scene where Silver worries if he'll “ever return to a
normal life.” More than likely due to the help he sought in previous years, Silver uses his
awareness to convince Kreese to change the course of history and to avoid history repeating itself.
However, tensions start to rise and personalities clash when they differ on the direction in
training the students and how to respond to the enemy's alliance. Kreese thinks he has everything
under control, but Silver again wants to focus on using their student's anger and technique to
focus on the present. It's during this dinner conversation where Kreese starts to imply that
at the end of the day, he is the superior and is merely bringing Silver on to help. This is even
more evident when Kreese is offended by Silver making him look weak in front of the students,
and tells him to watch out for the landmines, and “if you don't watch where you step, it's
all going to blow up.” Kreese also holds the debt over his head, to the point where Silver regresses
into the same state of fear back in Vietnam, with tears in his eyes, his lip quivering,
addressing Kreese as captain, and his anxiety rising through the roof thanks to his PTSD.
This temporary hold Kreese has motivates Silver to prove his loyalty in the same manner back in 1985,
but confusion arises when he's stopped from beating Johnny further. Silver realizes that
Kreese's teachings of No Mercy has exceptions, specifically when it comes to former pupils,
even though they are the enemy. This causes Silver to turn to substance once again, though
this time it's whiskey instead of cocaine, and we can see the old Terry Silver re-awakened. As
Kreese correctly predicted, the problems weren't taken care of – they were just locked down deep
away to help Terry forget who he really is. Going so far to beat an innocent individual just because
he can, the Cobra returns to take his place and to look out only for one person – himself.
Silver realizes that Kreese only cares about exceptions, and controlling Cobra Kai his own way,
and it was never about realizing their original dream. And because Silver is Kreese's only ally
at this point in time, there would be no one would be willing to help Kreese,
as all of the bridges he had left are burned. The car is at 100 mph, the brakes are out,
and there is nothing stopping from Terry spiraling down the darkest path that we've potentially seen
from a character yet. And while for the longest time, we didn't think things could get worse,
they did – Kreese created a monster that he could no longer control and became the lesser of two
evils. It was only a matter of time when one King Cobra would be left and would overpower the other.
Here are my final thoughts on Terry Silver, and what we could see from him in the future. This man
has no limits, has no boundaries, and will stop at nothing to get what he wants, whether he uses
money, manipulation, or physicality. It's clear that when Robby disrespected him, he more than
likely would have no problem attacking the student in a similar manner to Kreese attacking Johnny in
Karate Kid Part II. It's also fair to say at this point that in terms of fighting ability,
Silver may have even surpassed Kreese. Silver was able to take care of Johnny singlehandedly,
using strikes that mattered the most – taking away the ability to stand, the ability to breathe, and
the ability to see. It is more than likely that Silver anticipated the defense that Johnny may
have learned from Miyagi-Do, either because of his fight years ago with Miyagi or because of Robby
teaching the class Miyagi-Do techniques. If Chozen is the best defensive fighter, than Silver has
to be the best offensive fighter at this point, as Terry never lost his touch. I would've loved
to have seen a fight between Daniel and Terry, but this is something we most likely will see in
Season 5. We may even see a fight between Chozen and Silver instead, which honestly would excite
me into seeing a dream match we previously never thought possible. There also has to be a grudge
that Silver has towards Robby, as not only was he disrespected, but he didn't keep his head in the
game like Nichols did, going even so far to stare at him before the finals match began. If Johnny
is away trying to find Miguel, leaving Robby behind would be the worst possible thing to do
as Silver would easily retaliate. With his money, we will finally see the expansion of Cobra Kai
everywhere – on billboards, on every corner, on every shirt. This may be the darkest time ahead of
us in the Miyagiverse yet, and only time will tell what the future holds for the Soul of the Valley.
Let me know what you guys think down below – what was your favorite part of Silver's character arc?
If you enjoyed the video, be sure to like it, subscribe, share it with your friends,
and comment, as these all help my channel grow.
Shoutout to my Twitch subscribers and YouTube members, I appreciate the support.
If you'd like to directly support the channel, consider becoming a member, and enjoy perks such
as behind-the-scenes updates, access to the VIP Discord, shout outs in videos, and more.
Thanks for watching, stay beautiful, stay awesome, and we'll catch you around next time.