‘Cobra Kai’ creators on [SPOILER’S] return and that ‘karate Braveheart’ brawl

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Cobra Kai season 6 part 2.

When it came to world-shaking plot developments and surprises, part 2 of Cobra Kai‘s sixth season showed no mercy. Kidnapping! Unexpected hookups! The return of a ponytailed Big Bad! And, of course, a Sekai Taikai brawl so out of control, it leads to the series’ first karate-related death.

“We want everybody to be frothing at the mouth and ready to jump back in next year when the final five episodes drop, because that will be an event unto itself,” says Josh Heald, who created Cobra Kai with Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. Heald promises that those final episodes, coming in 2025, will “continue this story and answer the questions and the fallout and everything to come from that.”

The Big 3 talked to Entertainment Weekly about all the season 6 part 2 action, including Daniel’s dog-cage adventure, Chozen and Kim Da-eun’s night on the town, and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Okay, ‘fess up. Was Cobra Kai was just an elaborate ruse for you guys to realize your sick dream of putting Ralph Macchio in a dog cage?

HAYDEN SCHLOSSBERG: [Laughs] There are times in the writers’ room where you realize, oh, we’ve reached this point of the show. I think the dog cage came out of, if you’re holding somebody hostage or kidnapping them, we didn’t want the traditional [scenario] of tying somebody up to a chair. We were thinking, “What are some creative ways to do this?” And just something about waking up in a cage with barking dogs around you, that just sounded scary. For Daniel to be in that situation is definitely a low point in his life in the Karate Kid franchise, but thankfully he gets out.

Can you guys give us a little taste of what that conversation was like after Ralph read the script for the first time?

JON HURWITZ: He was game. I’ll admit in the writers’ room as we’re writing it, we were like, “What’s Ralph’s reaction to this going to be like?” But I actually think that he liked how Daniel was doing something different, doing something juicy, doing something that you wouldn’t expect. Maybe he privately had some misgivings about it, but it definitely had an impact. It was definitely one of those things that he knew was a thing.

SCHLOSSBERG: I think there’s a chance that the script came in while he was directing episode three, so he may be busy doing other things.

JOSH HEALD: We’re hosting an Airbnb also for the fandom, if they want to spend the night in Daniel’s cage. The dogs are an extra fee, but that’s available for the next month.

Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do competed against a variety of new dojos in the Sekai Taikai, but my favorite might have been the rowdy students of Dublin Thunder. I loved how you guys played the aggressive Celtic music every time they were on screen, but was there any debate in the editing room about whether that was too on the nose — or just on the nose enough?

SCHLOSSBERG: I think we’re just trying to have fun with the story and the setting. We’ve worked with Zach [Robinson] and Leo [Birenberg], our composers, for seven years, and we’re always trying to take things to the next level. The debate is always how much fun do you want to inject into a fight versus make it feel like life or death? Sometimes it’s a karate tournament, and you’re not afraid of actual death. You’re trying to give your antagonist a little bit of flare — that’s what we’re doing with the music there.

HEALD: And we have about a hundred fighters at the tournament, and as much as we love going deep with character and giving everybody their hero turn, we can’t do that with a hundred different people. So for some of those characters, we literally need to give you the reminder, whether it’s auditory or visual, of who this person is, what makes them different than fighter number 93.

Kim Da-eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) and Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) make the unexpected shift from enemies to lovers after spending a night out in Barcelona looking for their respective students. Is this a rebound for Chozen, since he believes that he was rejected by Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita) — or can we expect a real romance to blossom here?

HURWITZ: Obviously, Chozen is not in the best place when he arrives at the Sekai Taikai. He is a bit of a mess, and perhaps it’s a rebound and perhaps there could be more. I think that’s something that both those characters would have to think about and try working through in the aftermath.

I will say that we were really excited by episode 8, just having that kind of night out on the town away from the mats for a little bit. We liked the idea of a little bit of fun and romance in the air. These are two of our most intense, fiercest, most badass characters who also happen to be very funny. Chozen is certainly funny on screen. Alicia, who plays Kim Da-eun, is a lovely, hilarious, wonderful light. She’s such a fun person to work with. It felt like if we put the two of them in this sort of situation, Yuji and Alicia would have a lot of fun and bring a lot to it, and they certainly did.

Of course Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) made his epic return in a hot tub — in a hilarious callback to Karate Kid Part III. Was it your plan all along to bring him back after last season, or did it develop as you began writing season 6?  

SCHLOSSBERG: From the beginning we felt like, okay, Silver’s off the board at the end of season 5. But a chess piece — if the pawn reaches the end, you can put a piece back on the board. It just takes a little bit of time.

We wanted there to be a period of time where you’ve kind of forgotten about him and you’re coming into this tournament with all sorts of new foes. We also loved the idea of like, what would Silver do in this situation? He would just try to ruin everybody’s good time, for Kreese and Johnny and Daniel, by buying the best team that’s won the Sekai Taikai years in a row. We felt that that was exactly what Silver would do, and we liked the idea of it being in the background. We come to Barcelona, meet the new antagonists, and then you find out, “Oh, there are familiar antagonists behind them,” and that really brings everything together.

And yeah, the hot tub. Look, we love these movies. There are these images that stand out in our minds, and Terry Silver and a hot tub just feels right. It feels like he’s at home there. When you see him there, it just brings you back to his villainous Karate Kid III days. So just when Johnny and Daniel feel like things are turning for them, it just gets worse.

Speaking of Terry buying the dojo: Hayden, you did a nice job as Terry Silver’s lawyer. How did you guys decide who got to play the role? Was it like a rock, paper, scissors situation?

HURWITZ: We all love Terry Silver passionately, but Hayden has taken it upon himself to be the supreme defender of every and all choice that Terry Silver makes in life. So we’re thinking, “How are we explaining what’s going on with Terry Silver? We’re going to need to meet his attorney.” Hayden felt like the natural representative to try to get Terry Silver out of the mess that he’s in, while also being a responsible counsel and trying to prevent him from making further mistakes.

HEALD: He has no control over his client. I mean, he’s way out of his league as an attorney. But he did get him out of prison. [Laughs]

SCHLOSSBERG: I like the idea of being that guy that gets the bad guy out of a jam, but I’m also the character who’s jumping into the movie and trying to tell Terry, “If you get caught up in this soap opera, it’s not going to go well. This is your way out.” I’m trying to give him an exit. I have a whole backstory in terms of my connection to him and all of that, but it was just so fun. It was crazy because I obviously love Thomas so much, but working in the scene, he yells at me, and when he does that, I couldn’t help but crack up.

Back in the Valley, Anthony (Griffin Santopietro) decides to make things right with Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young) by drinking a bottle of “Diahrrel” laxative. Please tell me how you came up with that wonderfully ridiculous product name.

SCHLOSSBERG: As seasons have gone on, we’ve given our writers the freedom to create some of these brands, and they end up working with our art department and our clearances [team]. I have to admit, I didn’t see all the different brands, but that’s something that ends up being a big topic of discussion when we’re at dinner. It’s like, “What are they going to let us use?” And we just liked the idea of Anthony being the bigger man in the weirdest way.

HEALD: Unless you’re preparing for a colonoscopy, I don’t think any of these companies want to feature a character drinking a whole bottle of any of this stuff. So, I have a feeling that was our props department protecting us from a clearance issue. [Laughs]

For most of these five episodes, it seems like the story is going to follow that classic underdog arc, with Miyagi-Do taking a beating early on but bouncing back later to earn a win. But then in the final episode, the Sekai Taikai devolves into total chaos and nobody wins. It’s a bold move, but it’s also risky because fans were probably hoping to see Miyagi-Do or Cobra Kai triumph at the tournament. Talk about the decision to take that risk.

HEALD: There’s more fighting in these episodes combined than any five episodes of Cobra Kai, so I don’t think anyone has any right to be upset with the amount of action that they’re going to get. [Laughs] But look, there’s always going to be cliffhangers and unresolved endings in any batch of episodes on Cobra Kai, because there’s more coming.

I will say putting together that brawl in episode 10 was the biggest thing we’ve ever done in terms of the amount of personnel that was fighting at one time. You have entire stunt teams and entire casts, and then you have hundreds of background performers who are willing to get a little dirty and push and shove in a way that’s fast and believable. You end up with this scene, this chaos that looks like Braveheart at times. It’s karate Braveheart. [Laughs]

At the same time, we want everybody to be frothing at the mouth and ready to jump back in next year when the final five episodes drop, because that will be an event unto itself. It will not only continue this story and answer the questions and the fallout and everything to come from that, but it’s going to be the last time ever that you get to tune into new episodes of Cobra Kai.

Finally, does Johnny think the Earth is flat?

HURWITZ: I don’t think Johnny’s thought about it. I think he’s on an airplane, and he sees this path that doesn’t feel like a straight line. It is also thematically [because] Cobra Kai has this straight-line kind of energy. We like to play with Johnny’s beliefs out there, and I think many of his beliefs are just born out of ignorance without putting a lot of thought into things.

Cobra Kai season 6 part 3 premieres in 2025 on Netflix.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.