How Cobra Kai Fans Really Feel About Terry Silver's Big Betrayal

Ahead of the show's 4th season, if one had asked a "Cobra Kai" fan who had not seen "The Karate Kid, Part III" who the evilest person in the series was, Martin Kove's character, John Kreese, likely would have been the one that was namechecked. The titular dojo's ruthless sensei definitely gave viewers plenty of reasons to hate him, too, from his physical and emotional abuse of his young students to the way in which he manipulated and used Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), eventually stealing Cobra Kai out from under him. Then they met Terry Silver.

Outside of his past association with Kreese and a quick montage of him acting wild and putting Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) through the wringer, new fans were given little reason to fear Silver initially. He even turned down Kreese's offer to re-join him at Cobra Kai (at first, anyway). In short order, though, Silver was back in the saddle again, lying, cheating, and preaching "no mercy" in a manner that eventually even made Kreese uncomfortable.

When Kreese finally decided that enough was enough and began to show even the slightest hint of resistance toward Silver and his methods, the latter did the unthinkable. Silver framed Kreese for Stingray's (Paul Walter Hauser) brutal beating, getting Kreese arrested in the process and going back on a promise he had made to always be there for his friend, who had saved his life during the Vietnam War. Unsurprisingly, fans had some thoughts on the betrayal.

"Cobra Kai" and "Karate Kid" fans got into a major discussion about Silver's Machiavellian takedown of Kreese during the Season 4 finale on Reddit. And, clearly, the two-plus seasons of "Cobra Kai" that Kreese had spent tormenting just about everyone on the valley's karate scene left only a precious few of the post's respondents feeling sorry for him.

"[Silver] got fed up with Kreese constantly holding 'I saved your life' over his head," opined Redditor u/Loverofgoths1992. "I don't condone Terry's Actions but I would have done it too. Kreese is a Toxic Friend. Terry was living a quiet life until Kreese decided to get Terry involved with Cobra Kai again. Kreese resurrected the Monster he was before." "Don't forget where Kreese mocked the good life Silver had and made him feel ashamed for being a together, nonviolent person," added u/Dana07620. Meanwhile, u/Bronco_Buff summed up Silver's betrayal as follows: "Mess with a Cobra and you're likely to get the fangs."

If anything, Stingray may be the worst offender in the situation by allowing Silver to thrash him to the point of hospitalization in order to frame an innocent man for aggravated assault and attempted murder. He did it all so he could continue to hang out at karate class with a bunch of teenagers. Bad, bad Stingray.