The final episode of Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 features a dream sequence with a surprising cameo from a classic Karate Kid character.
As we near the finale of Cobra Kai, there are multiple burning questions that the series needs to answer, involving characters from the past and present, as well as a Karate Kid movie in the future.
Season 6 Part 2 focusses on the Sekai Taikai tournament in Barcelona, where the members of Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do do battle with fighters from all over the world.
But the series also revolves around Daniel investigating a mystery from the distant past, which inspires the season’s strangest scene.
We’re going into detail below, from the final episode of Season 6 Part 2, so beware of SPOILERS ahead…
Is Mr. Miyagi in Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2?
Yes, Mr. Miyagi is in Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 – a young version of the character appears in a dream sequence where he fights Daniel LaRusso at the Sekai Taika tournament.
At the end of Season 6, Episode 9, Terry Silver handed Daniel papers that suggest his former mentor once killed someone during the tournament, and that information is clearly playing on LaRusso’s mind, via this nightmare.
The scene plays out at the start of Episode 10, and the footage is distressed and looks like film reel to suggest it’s from the past.
Over a blank screen, an announcer says in Japanese “Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The final match of the Sekai Taikai!” He calls “fighters to the mat” and we suddenly see young Nariyoshi Miyagi, as the crowd chants his name.
Daniel and Mr. Miyagi in happier times.
Daniel enters the fray, and clearly can’t believe that he’s face-to-face with his beloved mentor, as the crowd shouts “Kill him, Miyagi-san!”
Daniel says: “Mr. Miyagi? What is this?” But his opponent says nothing and simply stares. They fight fight, and Miyagi is too quick for LaRusso, immediately winning a point.
“Mr. Miyagi, what are you doing?” asks Daniel, “It’s me!” But again Miyagi stays silent, preferring to fight. This time LaRusso defends, but Miyagi still knocks him over with a kick.
“If this is a lesson, I’m not getting it,” says Daniel, in reference to his “wax on, wax off” days (see video below). At which point Miyagi mocks him. Daniel then lands a solid blow, and says “Enough. Just talk to me. There’s so much you never told me. I just need to understand why.”
“That was always your problem, Daniel-san” comes the response. “So eager to understand, but not willing to accept.” Miyagi then yells, and goes at his mentee hard, throwing him to the ground, punching him repeatedly, then preparing for the killer blow.
He then turns into the old version of the character that we know from the Karate Kid movies, and says “Miyagi never tell you everything, Daniel-san, because you were never strong enough to accept the truth.” He yells again, and and smashes Daniel in the face, which suddenly wakes LaRusso from his slumber, thereby ending the dream.
It’s a jarring sequence that comes out of nowhere, but the scene is also a good representation of the anxiety Daniel is feeling over his former friend, whose potentially deadly actions are throwing everything LaRusso believes into question.
But as a super-fan of the original movies, I preferred seeing an actor play young Miyagi, to what appears to be a computer-generated version of old Miyagi at the end of the sequence. Which just looks odd.
Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 is now streaming on Netflix. For more Karate Kid action, check out the forgotten action movie mentioned in Season 6, Part 1, plus every song on the Season 6 soundtrack. Alternatively, here’s a list of the best new TV shows streaming this month as well as new movies streaming.