Cobra Kai season 4, episode 10 “The Rise” opens with Stingray waking up in hospital
following his brutal beat-down from Terry.
He’s in a rough way though and it’s unknown if he’ll fully recover.
Speaking of which though, Miguel is okay.
It seems his bad back is a result of a pulled muscle rather than a genuine broken bone.
During the semi-finals, Robby sails through after beating Demetri.
Backstage, Anthony feels guilty and tries to apologize to Kenny.
Instead though he hits back and beats down LaRusso Jr., becoming the aggressor and giving
him a taste of his own medicine.
When Robby sees this, he tries to stop him.
He’s not happy, pointing out that’s not how he trained him but the damage is done.
The girls’ final comes down to Tory VS Samantha, as we always knew it would be, while Miguel
gets his second shot in the semi-finals… if he can make it back in time.
The 1 minute long countdown runs out and Miguel loses by default, leaving Eli to win by default
and take his place in the final.
Now, it turns out Miguel did this because he didn’t feel like he was fighting for
himself anymore, especially after Johnny’s drunken outburst the night before.
Meeting Sam backstage, the pair settle their differences and quite literally kiss and make-up.
Miguel has made his peace and he’s okay with not competing.
The first final begins and it’s a big match between Eli and Robby.
With the pair tied 1-1, it goes down to sudden death.
As the pair bow to one another, Terry is incredulous and angry over the respect being shown.
Eli meanwhile, is shown respect by Daniel in his corner.
As the match continues, Eli comes out on top in a really shocking win.
It’s definitely a big blow to Cobra Kai’s chances.
Robby is livid and he takes off, deciding to clear his head.
Just before Tory heads out into the arena, Amanda approaches backstage and asks her to
play fairly and try to make it so this fight ends the rivalry between the pair.
Of course, Sam has been just as much to blame as she is but Tory is left with a lot to think
about.
Meanwhile, Daniel and Johnny patch up their differences in a really touching chat.
Daniel apologizes for his behavior and asks for Johnny’s help, finally respecting and
understanding his fighting prowess and skills.
Likewise, Johnny admits that Diaz training with Daniel freaked him out and as a result,
he lashed out.
He also admits that Daniel is a competent fighter.
It’s truly water under the bridge as Miyagi-Fang prepare to strike.
The final fight begins and the pair are squared up 2-2.
During a roll, Tory accidentally elbows Sam in the face.
Terry senses an opportunity and decides she should go for the other eye and cheat.
Kreese interjects and decides Tory should fight the way she wants to.
And as she storms back on the mat, she wins fair and square.
Immediately after Tory asks if Sam is okay, before she’s pulled away by the other Cobra
Kai competitors.
Unfortunately it also means Cobra Kai come away overall victors.
After the win, Terry takes the mic and announces that they’ll be opening up Cobra Kai dojos
all over the region and expanding out.
It’s a big hammer blow for Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do, especially as they’re no longer
allowed to fight.
And just to cement that fact, the old Cobra Kai dojo is completely cleared out that night.
When Johnny heads in and sees it completely empty, all that’s left are the words he
put up on the wall.
Out of all the people to show, it’s Robby that does.
He confirms that Cobra Kai are moving to new locations as Johnny praises Robby’s performance
at the All Valley tournament.
Robby is torn up over what’s happened with Kenny, including how he’s changed and become
more ruthless and aggressive.
The reason Robby froze at the crucial moment is because he saw a part of himself in Kenny
and it made him realize that the anger and hatred he had was not healthy.
Vocalizing these reflections, Robby and Johnny patch up their differences, as they hug it
out and Robby sobs on his shoulder, promising he’ll do his best to straighten things out.
Having won the championship, Tory heads back in to grab her gear but notices Silver paying
off the ref.
That’s obviously not what she wanted but it all falls back on that earlier chat about
weaknesses.
And nowhere else is that more evident than in the evening’s chat between Kreese and
Silver.
The thing is, Kreese’s weakness has always been Johnny Lawrence.
Likewise, Terry’s weakness has been Kreese.
So naturally, Terry decides to eliminate that weakness.
As police show up, it soon becomes clear what’s really going on here.
Terry’s big beat-down on Stingray was all a play for him to be invited into Cobra Kai.
All he needed to do was blame the assault on Kreese…which is exactly what he does.
So while John Kreese is arrested for attempted murder, Terry takes control of Cobra Kai.
Back home, Miguel writes a note for Carmen and Johnny.
He’s leaving and heading back home to figure out the truth about his past.
He gets on a bus and leaves town.
Johnny decides to chase after him but as Carmen soon reveals, Miguel’s father doesn’t
actually know that Miguel exists.
Although Johnny and Daniel are no longer able to be senseis, given the lack of honour put
in place by Cobra Kai, Daniel isn’t about to go down without a fight.
At Miyagi’s grave, Daniel vows to fight back and win their dojo.
And that comes from a returning Chozen, who’s intent on helping the dojo strike first.
Cobra Kai Season 4 Ending Explained.
“The Rise” ends with a flurry of scenes that set the emotional and narrative stakes
for the next season.
First, Johnny goes to Cobra Kai, which has now been abandoned since they’re moving
to a new location — Robby, who followed him, explains this.
The reason Robby followed his dad is that he’s upset about Kenny.
He realizes he screwed up.
He breaks down about how he felt, the hate, the mistakes, and Johnny, not knowing what
else to do, tells Robby to blame him.
“I’m sick of blaming you, dad,” he whimpers, as Tanner Buchanan delivers an excellent burst
of emotion that ends with father and son crying and holding one another in a hug that both
of them probably need.
Elsewhere, Silver and Kreese have a celebratory drink, during which the matter of Kreese’s
supposed weakness comes up yet again.
Silver confesses that he knows what his weakness is — Johnny Lawrence, thus paying off that
earlier conversation and some of the other legwork the season has done in this regard.
And at that moment, blue flashing lights turn up.
As it turns out, Silver made a bargain with Raymond.
He would allow him to become a Cobra Kai, only if he said that it was Kreese who beat
him down.
Just like that, Kreese is taken away in cuffs, and Silver takes over Cobra Kai.
He has been a tremendous villain this season, and this is his moment to really shine.
When Johnny finally gets home, Miguel has left Carmen a note explaining that he has
gone to Mexico to try and find his biological father.
Presumably, all of the season’s parental shenanigans have left him in need of real
answers.
The problem, though, as Carmen explains to Johnny, is that Miguel’s father doesn’t
even know he exists.
On top of that, he’s also apparently a pretty bad dude.
Nevertheless, Johnny is going to look for Miguel.
And that leaves Daniel.
His final scene of the season finds him at Mr. Miyagi’s grave, telling the headstone
that, despite the deal he made, he won’t be stepping down as a sensei.
He won’t be closing the doors of Miyagi-Do.
For once, he’ll be going on the offense to take Cobra Kai down once and for all, and
he has a friend to help him do it.