Cobra Kai Season 6 is coming, and fans are wondering how everything will pan out leading into the series finale.
But have we missed some major hints that Sensei Kim is working with, or at least manipulating Mike Barnes to topple Terry Silver?
Today, we'll dive into this potential diabolical team-up.
Hi, I'm Ken Cole, and if you're a fan of Cobra Kai and the Karate Kid, you're in the right place.
Cobra Kai Season 5 ended in epic fashion, with a grand battle between the Miyagi Fang and Cobra Kai dojos in Sensei's.
But looking a little more closely, some details don't seem quite right.
At the height of this competition between Terry Silver and the Miyagi Fangs over the Sakai Taikai,
Mike Barnes suddenly kidnaps Johnny, Daniel, and Chozen, and launches an assault on Terry Silver's home.
The timing is a little suspect, and if we dig into the details of Barnes and Sensei Kim,
I think we'll uncover a clever plot by Sensei Kim to get Terry Silver out of the way.
Possibly with a surprise conspirator.
First, some backstory.
In episode 3, Mike Barnes watches in horror as his furniture store gets burned down.
The implication is that Terry Silver burned down Mike's store, but I'm not so sure about that.
It's only Daniel who's really pushing the Terry Silver did it narrative.
Silver goes and burns down Barnes' store, threatens that I'm next and now nothing.
I'll go into more detail about this in another video,
but I just want to suggest that Terry might be less involved with Mike Barnes than some might think.
So who is potentially involved with Mike Barnes' actions? Kim Dae-un.
If you're skeptical, just stick with me here.
Let's take a look at Kim Dae-un's motivations and behavior.
At first glance, it's easy to see Terry and Sensei Kim as scheming partners, going after the same goal.
However, there's a lot of evidence that Sensei Kim is constantly dissatisfied with Terry Silver,
and is waiting for her chance to take over.
Even from the very first meeting between Terry Silver and Kim Dae-woon at the airport,
Sensei Kim doesn't easily accept Terry Silver's offer.
Your offer is very tempting, but I did not get on a plane for money.
It's only after he gives her free reign over his students to continue Kim Sung-Young's legacy that she agrees.
"We have to share his style with the world."
"And you think your American students are up to the task?"
Even then, she's unconvinced and a bit aloof.
"We shall see."
This continues through the rest of the season with Sensei Kim constantly questioning
Terry Silver's handling of the Sakai Taikai plan.
I agreed to train your students. Under the condition you would pave the way for my family's teachings to emerge from the shadows.
And Tary's meddlesome enemies.
And yet your petty rivalry is standing in the way?
She's also skeptical of Tary's judgment.
You really broke down Nichols today.
Your younger students show more potential, less to unlearn.
And clearly thinks of herself as a better teacher, a better judge of leadership.
She is your best student, but as a leader there is room for improvement.
And better at handling potential enemies. Most importantly, she thinks Terry's decisions
put Cobra Kai at risk of their plan failing with the Sakai Taki.
You're on the verge of fulfilling that promise. And yet your rivalries here remain a concern.
Which is the sole reason she agreed to work with Terry Silver. So I suggest that the attack on
Terry Silver by Mike Barnes, Johnny Lawrence, and Chozen was somehow manipulated or motivated by
Sensei Kim. But how do we know this? The key is during the night of the attack. Sensei Kim is
watching surveillance footage of the main dojo and Terry's front gate. Now Terry and Kim have had a
habit of watching all their dojos remotely, but this is different. It's at night when there are
no students and no special threat of a break-in at the dojo or Terry's house. Terry is very
comfortable having drinks and being relaxed. Why would she be watching that so intently?
It makes no sense. Unless she knows something is about to happen. If you look closely, she's a bit
sneaky about looking at the tablet as Terry walks into the room. She was looking at live footage of
an empty main dojo. Earlier she violently broke down Tory in this dojo knowing that Tory was in
love with the enemy, Robbie. Sensei Kim might have hoped that this brutal test would provoke a
a betrayal from Tory, Terry's star student, that might involve breaking into the Cobra
Kai dojo. Sensei Kim just happened to be watching live footage of Terry's front gate as his
enemies come barreling through. She knew they were coming.
How is this possible? Well, either she's been working with Mike Barnes or she's been manipulating
him. Think about what Mike does here. He's stolen Reggie's Stretch SUV and then kidnapped
Daniel, Johnny, and Chosen all because he thinks Daniel burned down his furniture store?
You ruined my life, LaRusso. But why would he think Daniel burned out his furniture store?
They were on great terms the last time they talked.
Look, man, I'm so sorry for the things that I said back in the day, the things that I did.
Man, I wanted to apologize to you so many times. It makes no sense, unless someone told Mike it was
Daniel or it was a ploy to get Daniel to predictably blame Terry Silver.
but Silver is the one who's responsible.
He burned down your store.
- Notice how Mike goes from kidnapping these guys.
- You took everything from me!
- To insisting that they team up
and break into Terry's house and take him down.
- No, I say it sooner.
I say we go beat that ponytail bastard's ass tonight.
- Mike changes on a dime.
And even though he might be under the influence,
it's very extreme.
This plan is 100% Mike's idea
and he pushes for it repeatedly.
- All damage.
- I destroyed my world.
- What do you want me to do?
Just sit here and take it like a bitch?
- Even with Daniel pleading with him not to do it,
he recruits a very drunk, chosen Injani to help him.
So here's my scenario.
Kim Dae-un, sometime before episode 10,
watching the dojo rivalry
and aware of the Mike Barnes furniture store fire,
secretly reaches out to Mike Barnes,
who's in a desperate financial situation.
She blames Silver for the fire
and offers to solve his financial problems
if he can get the rival senseis
attack Silver at his house. At the same time, she undermines Tori by breaking her hand, a brutal
manipulation to get her to betray Cobra Kai. Sensei Kim's hope is that Tori and Robby and the Miyagi
fangs would predictably try something at the main Cobra Kai dojo in Revenge. While Sensei Kim has
more direct control over the Mike Barnes situation, she's hopeful for both to happen. This breaking
an entering crime, an ensuing public scandal would likely injure the rival Senseis and disqualify
them from the Sakai Taikai. And a bonus attack on the Cobra Kai dojo by Tori and Miyagi Fang
students could disqualify them and make Cobra Kai look like the victim, effectively making Cobra Kai
a shoo-in for the tournament. But there's also a good chance that Terry Silver would get injured,
be scandalized, or be rendered an ineffectual Sensei by the whole event as well. In order for
for Cobra Kai to compete in the tournament,
Kim Da-un would take over as Sensei of Cobra Kai.
With Terry Silver out of the way,
Sensei Kim would lead her dojo to victory
using her grandfather's teachings,
which was her whole reason for teaching
at Cobra Kai in the first place.
But could there be another person involved?
When Kim Da-un first arrived,
she immediately asked about John Kreese.
- Sensei Kreese, not with you.
- Disappointed that he wasn't there.
In a flashback, we see that a young Kim Da-un
and John Kreese had perhaps a stronger connection
than she and Terry Silver did.
So it's very possible that she found
and made contact with John Kreese in prison.
How do we know this?
Well, after Tori first meets Sensei Kim,
the very next time she sees Kreese,
he abruptly calls their whole reconnaissance operation off.
- I thought the plan was to stop Silver
and get you out of here.
- We're not doing anything like that anymore.
- Which destroys all the trust he'd built with her.
Well, maybe Kim Dae-un made contact with Kreese in prison,
offering him a new path for revenge.
Or maybe Kreese knew that with Kim Dae-un in the picture,
he had new leverage over Terry Silver
and was planning to reach out to Sensei Kim.
Remember John Kreese's words to Terry Silver
in the season four finale.
- You're gonna regret this.
- I am Cobra Kai.
- Also, keep in mind that John Kreese knew Mike Barnes well
and helped train him for the 1985 All-Valley.
So with Kreese's old friend Sensei Kim in the picture,
this would give John Kreese new urgency
to escape from prison, which we see in episode 10.
And she could get him safely out of the country
to South Korea, home of the original Kim Dojo,
to prepare for the Sakai Taikai.
So it's possible that Mike Barnes, Johnny, and Chozen
attacking Terry Silver at his own house
was part of a secret conspiracy
between Mike Barnes, Kim Dae-un, and yes, John Kreese,
to take out Cobra Kai's enemies, and in their eyes,
it's grandiose, self-absorbed leader, Terry Silver.
Mike Barnes would get paid,
Kim Dae-un would lead the restoration
of her grandfather's legacy,
and John Kreese would finally get control
of Cobra Kai again.
What do you think?
Is Mike Barnes already working with Sensei Kim or Kreese?
Or is he just a rogue wrecking ball?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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