Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3 Kills Off Two Major Karate Kid Characters

Contains spoilers for "Cobra Kai" Season 6, Part 3

Death has popped up before on "Cobra Kai," with Tory Nichols' (Peyton List) mother, Grace (Bethany DeZelle), dying from cancer. Meanwhile, a tragic detail about the "Cobra Kai" cast is that original "The Karate Kid" cast member Rob Garrison, who reprised the role of Tommy in Season 2, died in real life shortly after his appearance. Season 6 has really upped the body count: Kwon (Brandon H. Lee) dies in Part 2's finale, and, in the penultimate episode of the series, John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) — both former Cobra Kai sensei — perish in memorable fashion.

Cobra Kai's Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) learns he must fight the Iron Dragons' Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan) to determine which dojo wins the Sekai Taikai. Silver, who owns the Iron Dragons, wants to hedge his bets and tells his henchman Dennis (William Christopher Ford) to threaten Johnny's family so that he throws the fight. Silver has this discussion on his boat, but as Dennis tries to leave, he's thrown down the stairs by an unknown force. Silver goes to investigate, and Kreese is the culprit. Kreese must have stowed away, or he's magically teleporting like he's seemingly been doing throughout Season 6.

Kreese and Silver fight, and during their tussle, they knock over some gasoline canisters, spilling fuel all over the deck. Right when it seems like Silver has the upper hand, Kreese tosses a lit cigar onto the gasoline puddle, killing them both. Technically, three "The Karate Kid" characters die here, seeing as Ford's Dennis was also in "The Karate Kid Part III," but Kreese and Silver hold the most thematic weight.

At its core, "Cobra Kai" is a show about second chances. Johnny Lawrence is the central character and main focus. He's a bully in "The Karate Kid," but he's far more complex here, with him and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) becoming good friends by the end. Throughout most of "Cobra Kai," Johnny's former sensei John Kreese remains an antagonist with occasional goodness shining through: He protected Tory from her creepy landlord (which "Cobra Kai" fans saw as Kreese's most redeeming moment prior to the finale) and he saved Johnny from Silver during Season 6, Part 2's finale.

In what's perhaps the most emotional scene in all of "Cobra Kai," Johnny confronts Kreese in Season 6, Episode 13. He even says how much he loves him and what a profound impact he had on his life. However, considering all Kreese has done, including abandoning Johnny after he lost the 1984 All-Valley Tournament, Johnny says that he can't forgive Kreese. To try and make amends, Kreese, the most recent Cobra Kai sensei, hands the dojo back over to Johnny so that he, Tory, and Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) can continue fighting the Iron Dragons.

Kreese sneaking onto Silver's boat to stop him from threatening Johnny's family is a final redemptive act that brings his arc to a satisfying end. Sadly, it doesn't seem like Johnny will ever find out what Kreese did for him and his loved ones, but that's okay. This was a sacrificial act that Kreese didn't commit to get Johnny to love him again; he did it purely to make things right on a more cosmic scale.

One piece of advice from "Cobra Kai" that you shouldn't necessarily apply to your own life is that everyone's worthy of redemption. Terry Silver remains villainous throughout the entirety of the show, and that's all right from a storytelling perspective. After all, some people are just jerks who don't deserve second chances.

Silver wasn't long for this world no matter what: It's revealed that he has terminal cancer, and that's a big reason why he wants Daniel and Johnny to agree to resume the Sekai Taikai at the beginning of Season 6, Part 3. It's one last shot for him to have a legacy. While that's understandable, he takes things way too far, such as influencing Sensei Wolf to teach his students more violent techniques that could seriously hurt other competitors, as we see when Axel (Patrick Luwis) breaks Robby's (Tanner Buchanan) knee.

Kreese's arc on "Cobra Kai" tells us that it's always good to do the right thing, even if the people you wronged still won't forgive you. Silver, meanwhile, is a lesson in how some people shouldn't be trusted, no matter what.