History Recap / CobraKaiS3E10December19

* AssholeVictim: Captain Turner, given how he tried to break Kreese psychologically by telling him that Betsy had died. Even as he begs for his life at the end, Kreese stomping on his hand feels as much like KickTheSonOfABitch as it does StartOfDarkness.

* OnceMoreWithClarity: With a surprise shot of Daniel and Ali embracing at Encino Oaks Country Club ending the previous episode, this episode we see exactly how they ran into each other and what they were talking about seconds before Johnny arrives.

** Daniel helped Sam recover her confidence with staff training. She recovers from her fear of Tory by grabbing a staff to go against [[FightingWithChucks her nunchucks]].

* {{Revision}}: The circumstances of Daniel and Ali's breakup are retconned in such a way that it doesn't contradict ''Film/TheKarateKidPartII'': the story about Ali dumping him for another guy was Daniel reading way too much into her conversation with an old friend, and the story he told Mr. Miyagi about the damage to the car was a total fabrication on Daniel's part to avoid admitting that he didn't listen to Ali's warnings about the brakes on the car being bad. The fact that the previous version of events was only [[UnreliableNarrator told to the audience second hand via Daniel]] makes the retcon easier.

** Ali jokingly calls Daniel "Daniel with an L", the same way she presented herself to him way back in [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 the original movie]], and Tory presented herself to the Cobra Kai dojo [[Recap/CobraKaiS2E4TheMomentOfTruth back in the 2nd season]].

* BattleCouple: Sam and Miguel.

* MenOfSherwood: A villainous example. Despite there being far more named characters on the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang side of the house brawl, the unnamed (or [[AllThereInTheScript only named by the credits]]) members of Cobra Kai are more than capable of holding their own against them, with one {{Mook}} even being seen fighting off Bert and Nathaniel simultaneously with no assistance. In fact, before Hawk switches sides, Cobra Kai seems to be on their way to a [[CurbStompBattle decisive victory]], although this is somewhat justified by the fact that [[TheAce Miguel]] wasn't able to be of much help to the good guys as he was [[WorfHadTheFlu still recovering from his paralysis]], while Sam's PTSD kicked in and Tory chased her out the house for a one-on-one fight to keep her away from the others.

* WorfHadTheFlu: Miguel takes some of the worse injuries of just about anyone in the home fight [[DentedIron due to his previous injuries]], but he still manages to rebound and beat Kyler.

* NotImportantToThisEpisodeCamp: Daniel mentions that Anthony is at a sleepover, making him conveniently absent for the home invasion.

* KarmaHoudini: Zig-zagged. Johnny and Daniel both get to pound on Kreese as comeuppance for all his bullshit this season... but Kreese and the Cobra Kai dojo remain, agreeing to stop his hostilities only if Cobra Kai loses in the upcoming All-Valley Tournament. Also, as with the school brawl in season 2, we'll have to wait until next season to learn what, if any, legal consequences everyone is going to face for all the violence ''this'' time.

Elsewhere in the house, Cobra Kai is gaining the upper hand. After taking Miguel down once more, Kyler celebrates with Hawk, but this causes the latter to have second thoughts, as Kyler is his former tormentor while all the people they're beating on -- Bert, Mitch, Demetri, and Miguel -- were once his friends. As Hawk surveys the battleground, both Johnny and Kreese's words echo inside his head. At the same time, the Cobras restrain Demetri for Hawk to attack. His decision made, Hawk sprints toward his helpless target but veers at the last second, instead attacking his fellow Cobra Kai to free Demetri. He then apologizes to Demetri, and their back-to-back teamwork turns the tide of battle. Now severely beaten by Kyler, Miguel seems to be overmatched by his former bully, but gains a second wind due to Kyler's taunting and quickly defeats him with a takedown counterattack.

In North Vietnam in 1969, John Kreese and his fellow Green Berets are prisoners of war. Their captors force the men to fight each other to the death two at a time on a narrow bridge suspended over a snake pit. Although his panicked squad mate Twig blames himself for their predicament, Kreese insists that the fault is his own. He defers to Captain Turner for leadership, but the captain states that rank is irrelevant - it is now every man for himself.

In North Vietnam in 1969, John Kreese and his fellow Green Berets are prisoners of war. Their captors force the men to fight each other to the death two at a time on a narrow bridge suspended over a snake pit. Although his panicked squad mate Twig blames himself for their predicament, Kreese insists that the fault is his own. He defers to Captain Turner for leadership, but the captain states that rank is irrelevant; it is now every man for himself.

The next day, Kreese recalls freeing his imprisoned squad mates, with Twig -- now revealed to be Terry Silver -- swearing a life debt to him. He picks up the phone and calls up Silver for the first time in decades.

* IdiotBall: Sam not immediately telling Bert she doesn't have a cat. Even if she thought it was a stray cat, strays can carry rabies, fleas, or other medical issues that can make it a bad idea to approach them.

** It's not made clear whether the Cobra Kai students invaded the [=LaRusso=] house on Kreese's orders or it was something Tory decided to do herself based on what Kreese told her about Sam and Miguel's alliance.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Captain Turner belittles Kreese for failing to grasp his SocialDarwinist, kill or be killed teachings when in the POW camp. During the death battle staged by their captors, which ends right as the camp is being liberated, Kreese internalizes this lesson and kills Turner.

* WhamEpisode: The climax of Season 3 culminates into an all-out fight between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang, followed by an assault on Kreese himself by Johnny and Daniel.

* AmbiguousSituation: It's not made clear whether the Cobra Kai students invaded the [=LaRusso=] house on Kreese's orders or it was something Tory decided to do herself based on what Kreese told her about Sam and Miguel's alliance.

** With much of the series highlighting the many similarities between Daniel and Johnny, Ali is the first one to vocalize it and helps them understand their own bias when it comes to their rivalry.

The next day, Kreese recalls freeing his imprisoned squad mates, with Terry Silver swearing a life debt to him. He picks up the phone and calls up Silver for the first time in decades.

* KarmaHoudini: Zig-zagged. Johnny and Daniel both get to pound on Kreese as comeuppance for his students attacking the Miyagi-Dos and Eagle Fangs... but he and the Cobra Kai dojo remain, agreeing to stop his hostilities only if Cobra Kai loses in the upcoming All-Valley Tournament. Also, as with the school brawl in season 2, we'll have to wait until next season to learn what, if any, legal consequences everyone is going to face for all the violence ''this'' time.

** After the Christmas party Johnny is prepared to talk with Carmen about their relationship, but when he knocks on the door Carmen opens to show him a badly battered Miguel.

* WhamLine: Shortly after Kreese's confrontation with Daniel and Johnny, he phones Silver to enlist his help for the first time in decades.

Recap/CobraKaiS2E4TheMomentOfTruth[[WMG:[[center:[-'''RECAP:'''\\

** Ali jokingly calls Daniel "Daniel with an L", the same way she presented herself to him way back in the [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 the original movie]], and Tory presented herself to the Cobra Kai dojo [[Recap/CobraKaiS2E4TheMomentOfTruth back in the 2nd season]].

** Ali jokingly calls Daniel "Daniel with an L", the same way she presented herself to him way back in the [[Film/KarateKid1984 the original movie]], and Tory presented herself to the Cobra Kai dojo [[Recap/CobraKaiS2E4TheMomentOfTruth back in the 2nd season]].