Recap / Cobra Kai S4 E10 "The Rise"

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Season 4, Episode 10:

The Rise

The inevitable rise of Cobra Kai.

Written by Bob Dearden
Directed by Josh Heald

"Because no matter what people say, it does matter whether you win or lose."

— John Kreese

At the hospital, Stingray regains consciousness after his vicious beating at Silver's hands and is attended to by the nurses, who mention that a police detective has been waiting to talk to him.

In the dressing room, Miguel is evaluated by the medic and is ultimately given 30 minutes to return to the mat. He assures Carmen that if something feels off with his back, he will not fight, while Johnny encourages him to continue and "show his back who's boss". Meanwhile, Demetri makes a respectable showing in the semi-finals, but is defeated by Robby 3-0.

Kenny is nursing a bloody nose from his own fight with Robby when Anthony approaches to apologize for his bullying. However, Kenny is in no mood to hear it and snaps on Anthony, viciously pummeling him against the lockers until Robby intervenes. Kenny explains he was only getting payback and warns the fallen Anthony he will be in for "a world of Payne" (a dark pun on his last name) the next school year. Disappointed, Robby points out that this is not the way, but Kenny shrugs him off, having fully embraced the Cobra Kai mantra. Afterwards, Robby tries to tend to Anthony, but the boy angrily rejects his aid and runs away.

Johnny encounters Kreese in the hallway; he tries to explain he had nothing to do with Silver's ambush and tells Johnny they didn't have to become enemies. Johnny resents being forced to fight dirty against Daniel as a teenager, but Kreese responds that he couldn't stand seeing him on the verge of defeat, knowing that it would destroy his confidence. He stresses that unlike Daniel, winning and losing does matter and he intends to guide Robby to victory. Johnny reiterates his intention to shut down Cobra Kai for good.

Miguel is still trying to get back into fighting shape when Johnny walks in. He once again urges his student to continue, claiming this is his chance to prove to everyone, including Daniel, that Eagle Fang is the best, and asks Miguel to show him he is ready to be a man. Realizing his sensei is more focused on his personal rivalry than his own student, Miguel half-heartedly tells Johnny that he will do so. However, after a dramatic countdown, he fails to arrive within the 30-minute window and quietly withdraws from the tournament.

Prior to the finals, Miguel finds Sam who asks why he chose not to continue; he explains that it didn't feel like he was fighting for himself anymore. When the announcer calls the finalists back to the arena, Miguel tells Sam he will always be rooting for her and they part ways with a kiss.

In the finals, Robby and Eli engage in a fierce match that ends in a 1-1 tie as the time limit expires, resulting in a Sudden Death overtime, for the first time since Daniel faced off against Barnes in 1985. At one point, Robby is poised to claim the victory, but hesitates when Kenny yells from the sidelines, allowing Eli to recover. Eli wins, in large part because Daniel finally tells him to take a page out of Robby's book and merge the fighting techniques he knows. Thus, the outcome of the tournament will be decided with the girls' final, which is between Samantha and Tory. Before the match gets underway, Daniel approaches Johnny and the two manage to clear the friction between them. With Eagle Fang now eliminated from competition, the two senseis agree to join forces to help "Miyagi-Fang" win.

To that end, Daniel requests that Johnny be introduced as his co-sensei and former 2-time All Valley Champion. Confused as to what style she should use against Tory, Daniel and Johnny tell Sam to use her style and go on instinct, while Kreese and Silver instruct Tory to be even more aggressive. It looks like Sam scores the winning point, but the referee claims the hit doesn't count because it forced Tory out of bounds, shaking Sam's confidence. As the two girls struggle on the mat, Tory accidentally strikes Sam in the eye with an elbow, prompting a time-out due to her injury. Kreese comes to his own realization that Tory has to win this fight on her own terms, while Silver encourages "accidentally" maiming Sam by attacking her other eye. Due to Character Development, as well as Amanda begging her to play by the rules, Tory resolves to fight fair against Sam and ultimately wins the match, and the tournament, for Cobra Kai. She momentarily shows concern for Sam before being swept up by her teammates in celebration. After her victory, Tory is disillusioned to learn that Silver bribed the referee to help her win.

Johnny drops by the Cobra Kai dojo at the strip mall to find it completely abandoned and put up for lease. Robby appears and tells him about Silver's plans to open several new dojos across the valley. Though Johnny consoles him about his loss, Robby is more concerned about his influence on Kenny, having unintentionally led him down a dark path due to his own anger. He realizes that he can no longer blame Johnny for all his mistakes, leading the two to reconcile with an embrace.

At Silver's house, he and Kreese toast to their victory with a bottle of champagne. When Kreese asks Silver to clarify what he meant when he implied that Kreese has a weakness, Silver states that his weakness is Johnny Lawrence, which he deduced when Kreese chose to spare Johnny during their previous ambush. He also declares that his own weakness is Kreese himself, just before the police arrive. Silver's perceived lack of confidence turns out to have been a lie when it is revealed that he bribed Stingray into falsely accusing Kreese, who is arrested for the assault.

Later, Johnny visits Carmen to find her noticeably upset; she shows him a letter penned by Miguel explaining that in order to find out who he really is, he has gone to seek out his birth father in Mexico. Aware of the man's bad reputation (and the fact that he doesn't yet know Miguel exists), Johnny vows to find Miguel and bring him back home safely.

Daniel goes to Miyagi's grave to find solace. He explains that despite having agreed to shut down his dojo, he cannot allow Cobra Kai to take over the valley. He tried it Miyagi's way, but against someone as dangerous and dishonorable as Silver, he will need something more extreme. Something like Chozen's methods. Cue the man himself standing next to Daniel, as the two bow at the grave, with renewed purpose.

---

Tropes:

• Armor-Piercing Response: During a timeout, Eli expresses his doubts to Daniel that he can win because Robby was with Miyagi-do longer than him and thus knows all the moves. Daniel reminds Eli that he's been a Cobra Kai for longer than Robby has, and so advises him to force his opponent to the defensive.
  Daniel: And you were in Cobra Kai longer than him. You each know each other's karate better than anyone. So put him on defense.
• Asshole Victim: It's very hard to feel pity for Kreese, considering all the transgressions he has done in the films and throughout the series, when Silver betrays Kreese and sets him up to be arrested for the assault and attempted murder on Stingray as a well-warranted payback for constantly bossing him throughout the season.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Chozen appears wearing a formal black suit and agrees to help Daniel put an end to Silver's Cobra Kai.
• Bait-and-Switch: The last episode closed with Miguel injuring his back during a match, and this one opens with someone waking up from a coma. The obvious implication is that Miguel has been hospitalized with the same back injury again. Then it's revealed that it's actually Stingray in the hospital (as a result of his beating from Silver), and we learn that Miguel merely pulled a back muscle.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Cobra Kai wins the overall tournament championship on points, and with it the bet with Daniel and Johnny. Terry Silver takes it a step further by arranging for Kreese's arrest while he's at it, too, leaving Silver as the king of karate in the Valley. It is softened, however, because Daniel does not intend to honor the agreement to close his dojo, Chozen has arrived to help him fight Cobra Kai, and Cobra Kai's current champions — Robby and Tory — have both become disillusioned with their path.
• Be Yourself:
  • Sam and Tory get told by this by their father and father-figure, respectively. They both let them choose how they fight — Daniel allowing Sam to use both Miyagi-Do's defense or Eagle Fang's offense and Kreese respecting Tory's wish to fight cleanly after realizing she was being put right in Johnny's situation back in 1984.
  • Daniel had been so focused on honoring Mr. Miyagi that he seemed to believe that he had to essentially be Mr. Miyagi. However, Daniel remembers Mr. Miyagi's words about "strong roots" — Miyagi-Do will always be Daniel's foundation but his growth and his experiences will shape his "own way".
• Bittersweet Ending: With Cobra Kai having won the All Valley tournament and Miguel leaving to Mexico to find his absentee father, the only things keeping this from being a complete Downer Ending is that Robby and Tory both have mutual Heel Realizations on just how far Cobra Kai can go in corrupting their students, Johnny and Robby are finally on the path of reconciliation, as are Daniel and Johnny, and Daniel refuses to back down in the fight and recruits Chozen to help him teach, realizing that he can no longer be narrowly focused in his own teachings.
• Book Ends: Kreese and Silver's second partnership ends the same way it started...with Silver rejecting Kreese. However, in this case, a much darker fate awaits Kreese...
• Bribing Your Way to Victory: Turns out Silver had paid off the referee to fix at least the final match in Cobra Kai's favor.
• Bring It: While Demetri is down 2-0 against Robby, he manages to execute a surprising throw on his opponent. Immediately afterwards, in his biggest display of ballsiness yet in the series, Demetri dares to make a "come and get it" gesture with his hand at Robby.
• Broken Pedestal: The reason Silver betrays Kreese, after putting him under a pedestal since their ordeal in Vietnam, is that he quickly figured out why Kreese brought him back to the fray is to get payback at Johnny. Once all is said and done, Silver finally reveals his true colors at Kreese and sets him up to be arrested for beating up Stingray, effectively burning the bridge he had with his now-former war buddy.
  Silver: You remember when you asked me who your weakness was? It's Johnny Lawrence. That's this was all about, right? This is never about us teaming up, or bringing back the glory days, that was all bullshit.
  Kreese: That's not true...
  Silver: Yes, it is! And I fell for it. You know why? 'Cause everyone has a weakness, John. And mine... is you.
  Kreese: You think that I'm your weakness?! Well, you've got it backwards! Because I am your strength, I have been your strength ever since Vietnam.
  Silver: Yes, there it is! I can always count on you playing the guilt card. How many times do you expect me to repay that debt before we're square?!
• Call-Back:
  • Literally. When the announcer calls Sudden Death, he proclaims that this hasn't happened since '85.
  • When Sam and Tory face each other on the mat, both girls remember circling each other at the start of the brawl in season 2.
  • The final round of their fight is intercut with flashbacks of their previous fights, including Tory chasing Sam into the home dojo during the invasion of the LaRusso's residence, Tory slicing Sam's arm with the spiked bracelet during the Season 2 finale and finally Sam being kicked in the face by Tory.
  • Sam incorporates kata into her moves when she fights Tory, just like her father did when he faced an antagonistic rival with known sociopathic tendencies who had been trained by Silver, in the same Tournament in '85.
  • When Silver is encouraging Tory to cheat by hitting Sam's other eye, he uses the rationalization that no one will blame Tory for Sam "running into your elbow". This echoes Silver's guidance to Daniel at one point in Karate Kid Part 3, when Daniel protested Silver's idea of illegally striking an opponent's nose, only for Silver to reply in the same tone of voice that no one will blame Daniel for his opponent "running into your fist".
  • This time, Silver waits until the match is over and a winner is declared before he goes to announce to the audience that he plans to open Cobra Kai dojos all over the Valley, and when he does, he repeats it almost word for word.
  • Silver finally explains what he meant by Kreese having a weakness, in the worst possible way: He says it's Johnny. In addition, Silver admits that he too has a weakness: Kreese himself. Approaching sirens can be heard; we get a Once More, with Clarity of Silver beating Stingray while telling him to tell the police Kreese did it. Kreese is taken away in handcuffs.
  • Once again, in the Karate Kid franchise, a very well built character takes his shirt off and tosses it to a love interest. Of course, unlike Chozen, Robby doesn't do this with a malicious intent.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • An injured Stingray appears in the opening scene, seemingly as a Bait-and-Switch joke regarding the previous episode's Cliffhanger. However, it's then revealed at the end that Silver had bribed Stingray to tell the police Kreese was responsible for the assault, as a part of his plan to take over Cobra Kai.
  • Pay attention to the flag judge next to Daniel during the finals matches. He shows up to referee the Sekai Taikai tryouts in the next season.
• Commonality Connection: Robby finally finds some common ground with his father when he realizes that his experience in mentoring Kenny only to push him too far and turn him into a bully is eerily similar to Johnny's experience with Cobra Kai in the first two seasons.
• Critical Hesitation Blunder: During the sudden death match, Robby is able to throw Eli on the mat and just when he's about to deliver the winning hit, he gets distracted when he sees Kenny's aggressive face which allows Eli enough time to knock him away before he strikes.
• Crossing The Burned Bridge: Before the match between Sam and Tory, Daniel swallows his pride and approaches Johnny, having realized that the latter's guidance could help Sam win a much-needed victory.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Robby's bouts with both Kenny and Demetri. Skill-wise, neither are anywhere near him (that being said, Demetri does make him work for his victory).
  • In the female division, Sam and Tory both easily demolish all their opponents until they are finally facing each other.
• Curb Stomp Cushion:
  • Kenny manages to score the initial point on Robby in their fight, though this is arguably because Robby was taking it easy on him.
  • At one point, Demetri actually executes a takedown on Robby (although Robby slips away before he can land a follow-up hit). Also, while Robby ultimately beats him 3-0, Demetri did manage to hold out much longer than the brutally short resistance Kyler put up against Eli.
• Dark Horse Victory: Two downplayed examples. While Eli and Tory would both have been considered serious contenders for their respective divisions pre-tournament, neither would have been favored to actually win the All-Valley, as Eli would have been considered the third favorite behind Miguel (who forfeits due to an injury) and Robby (against whom he manages to pull off a close victory), while Tory makes the final without breaking a sweat as expected before pulling off an upset victory against Sam, who has a far greater level of karate experience and had won their previous two fights.
• Death Glare: After he stops resisting arrest, Kreese gives quite a nice one to Silver as he's hauled off.
• Divided We Fall: Cobra Kai wins the tournament, partly because the divided Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang didn't accumulate enough points individually to win. Had they remained together, they would have won.
• The Dog Bites Back: Fed up with being treated like a subordinate rather than an equal throughout the season, Silver has Kreese framed and arrested for aggravated assault and attempted murder on Stingray, allowing Silver to take control of the Cobra Kai dojo for himself.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: After Kenny's beatdown of Anthony, Robby tries to tend to the latter, but the boy angrily tells him to leave him alone and runs off.
• Down to the Last Play: Happens thrice over in the climax. The announcer declares that Cobra Kai is just one victory away from being tournament champions, but Miyagi-do could still win if it won both finals. The boys' match goes to sudden-death overtime with Eli winning for Miyagi-do, keeping up the suspense. The girls' match stands at 2-2 before Tory lands the winning point, taking the match and the tournament for Cobra Kai.
• Dramatic Irony: Daniel ultimately decides not to stop teaching, because he won't "honor an agreement with men who have none". He doesn't realize that his opponents' lack of honor extends to bribing the referee at the tournament, making Cobra Kai's victory invalid anyway.
• Exact Words: When Sam leaves to fight Tory, she asks Miguel if she'll see him out there rooting for her. Miguel confirms that he'll always be rooting for her, but not that he'll be watching the fight, and indeed he leaves early to run away from home.
• Fauxshadowing: Silver makes mention of getting "an old friend or two" to help with Cobra Kai's growth and expansion, after getting Kreese framed and arrested for assaulting Stingray. While Mike Barnes is not mentioned by name here, it seems like that's who he was referring to. Soon enough, Mike Barnes is confirmed for Season 5 where this trope is played straight where Mike Barnes does appear but has nothing to do with Silver.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: After he and Kreese toast to Cobra Kai's victory at the All-Valley tournament, Terry curiously does not take a sip of his champagne — it's after Kreese is arrested minutes later does Terry drink to his real victory: ridding himself of Kreese and becoming the sole owner of Cobra Kai and its soon-to-expand franchise.
• Flung Clothing: During his match with Eli, Robby's gi top comes loose, and he decides to fling it away rather than retying his belt. After a moment of confusion, Eli follows suit. In accordance with the male version of the trope, this occurs immediately before the climatic Sudden Death round between the two.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When Eli goes topless before the sudden death round with Robby, he shows off his tattoo and a hawk screeches on the soundtrack. The tattoo reveal and/or the hawk screeching has accompanied many of Eli's badass moments over the whole series, and surely enough, Eli proceeds to score the winning point on Robby.
  • Daniel objects when Tory is allowed to step out of bounds after being hit, and again when Tory elbows Sam in the eye with no penalty. Even Tory seems surprised at the calls. Meanwhile, Silver encourages Tory to target Sam's other eye, confidently assuring her that the referee won't disqualify her. It's later revealed that he'd bribed the ref.
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • Sam would have won the final had it not been for the referee mistakenly disallowing a point she scored before Tory stepped out of bounds, there's another moment where the ref doesn't count a strike because it was blocked, and yet another where Tory should have taken a point reduction. It later turns out this was on purpose as Silver bribed him.
  • Had Daniel and Johnny realized they were being too stubborn with their styles prior to the tournament and kept their dojos united, they would have won and defeated Cobra Kai for good.
• Frame-Up: Kreese is arrested for aggravated assault and attempted murder on Stingray, who Silver bribed into pinning the blame on Kreese. This allows Silver to claim control of Cobra Kai for himself.
• Godzilla Threshold: Daniel decides to bring in the big gun to take down Cobra Kai, once and for all. And that gun's name is Chozen Toguchi.
• Hard Truth Aesop:
  • Competing for and winning a trophy won't fix your personal problems or make them as if they never existed in the first place, especially if the trophy wasn't earned fairly.
  • Sam learns the very hard lesson that, even if you work hard and fight for what is right, there is still a good chance you won't win.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Kenny, like many of the initially-sympathetic Cobra Kai characters before him, has fully embraced the ways of Cobra Kai by this point and swears to make Anthony's time in high school hell in the following year.
• Heel Realization:
  • As Silver chews out Tory and presses her to do what it takes to win, Kreese remembers his treatment of Johnny when he lost to Daniel all those years ago and it clearly finally sinks into him how he crossed some lines. He tells Tory to win her own way.
  • When Robby sees the path Kenny is going down, it strikes him hard. When Johnny tries to take the blame, Robby tearfully realizes that he can't keep blaming his father for all the bad things in his life.
• History Repeats:
  • Tory, much like Miguel in the first season, wins with an unfair advantage (Hawk injures Robby out of rage, Tory discovers too late that Terry bribed the refs to give her side a clear advantage), after momentarily stunning a Miyagi-Do karateka in a critical spot (Miguel hits Robby's injured shoulder, Tory accidentally elbows Sam in the eye). Additionally, when Kreese sees that Terry Silver encourages cheating, he, just like Johnny Lawrence, is disappointed in this behavior even though Cobra Kai eventually won on both occasions.
  • A Cobra Kai sensei (Johnny in Season 2; Kreese in Season 4) bringing in another Cobra Kai to be his own co-sensei (Kreese in Season 2; Silver in Season 4), only for said co-sensei to betray the original sensei and completely take over the dojo as a means to shed his weakness after the original sensei becomes (in the co-sensei’s words) soft (Kreese steals ownership of the dojo from Johnny by making a deal with the landlord—in addition to stealing the loyalty from Johnny's former students, whereas Silver frames Kreese for the former's assault on Stingray and has him arrested).
  • Daniel, defeated by Cobra Kai in the tournament, once again doubles down on his plans to bury them once and for all.
  • Anthony again tries to bury the hatchet with Kenny, only for his gesture to end in violence.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Kreese brought Silver back to Cobra Kai to help him win the All Valley Tournament and shut down Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang. They succeed, but Silver has Kreese framed for assaulting Stingray and usurps control of Cobra Kai.
• Hourglass Plot: Of a sort, the previous season ended with Daniel beating Kreese in a one-on-one fight and Kreese reaching out to an old buddy, who owes him a debt (Terry Silver) to join and help him out. This season ends with Daniel losing his bet to Kreese and reaching out to a former rival turned friend, who feels regret over his past actions (Chozen Toguchi) to help him end Cobra Kai once and for all.
  • For the men's division, previous winner Miguel gets disqualified in the final four, Robby places second once again, and Hawk who was disqualified in the final four wins.
• I Lied: Per the terms established by Kreese at the end of Season 3, the losing dojo of the All-Valley Tournament is to shut down. Daniel doesn't uphold his end of the bargain though, deeming Cobra Kai too big of a threat to ignore, and swears to use whatever means imaginable stop them.^note Though given Kreese's arrest at the end of the episode and Silver taking over Cobra Kai, this may be a case where Exact Words come into play in terms of who Daniel and Johnny made the deal with, or Loophole Abuse, since Chozen had never been part of the deal in the first place.
• Inadequate Inheritor: When visiting Mr. Miyagi's grave, Daniel once again deems himself unworthy of upholding the legacy of Miyagi-Do Karate, his actions throughout the course of the season ultimately failing to shut down Cobra Kai for good.
  "I did everything I thought was right. I followed all of the Miyagi-Do teachings. I even put aside my rivalry and teamed up with Johnny. None of it worked."
• Innocently Insensitive: During Anthony's apology to Kenny, he tells Kenny he understands how he feels to be treated the way he treated him. When Kenny asks him to tell him how it feels, he hesitates to describe how it feels and tells him it isn't great, which just infuriates Kenny even more.
• Internal Reveal: Robby learns that Anthony was Kenny's bully after catching Kenny beating him up in the locker room.
• Irony:
  • In the previous season, Kreese cast Eli/Hawk aside as his prospective champion in favor of Robby. Eli winds up defeating Robby in the final to win the All Valley championship.
  • After all the crimes Kreese committed during the series, he's finally arrested for something he didn't do. Bonus points for the fact he has committed aggravated assault and attempted murder against a former karate student^note which was Johnny, it just wasn't Stingray.
  • Before this point in the series, Daniel has tried to choose compassion over ego, Johnny has unconditionally supported his star student, and Kreese has been a monster who only cares about winning at all costs. During this tournament, Kreese ends up being the one teacher who unconditionally supports his star student, Johnny cares about nothing more than beating his rivals, and Daniel's compassion falls short when he sees his daughter not fighting his way.
• I Will Find You: After withdrawing from the boys' division semi-finals, Miguel sets off to Mexico City by himself to learn more about his past and search for his biological father. Johnny himself swears to find Miguel and bring him back home safely, after learning of Miguel's departure.
• Jerk Ass Has A Point: Silver is incredibly loyal to Kreese, honoring his debt. But Kreese relentlessly abuses this debt to a degree that it's not hard to see Terry becoming quite bitter.
• Jerkass Realization:
  • Robby has one when he realizes Anthony was Kenny's bully and he's led Kenny down a dark path.
  • Tory has one when she realizes she doesn't want to hurt Sam anymore after everything Amanda did to help her.
  • Johnny realizes that if he had been more supportive of Daniel teaching Miguel, it would have made Miguel a better fighter and maybe he would have won instead of getting hurt.
  • Finally, Daniel realizes that Sam was learning a lot from Johnny, and if he had given Johnny's ways more respect, the Miyagi-Do team wouldn't have ended up in the precarious position of needing to defeat Cobra Kai in both final matches to win the tournament.
  • Even Kreese, of all people, finally gets one after decades of being the Big Bad of the franchise from Day One. Realizing that he should not have pressured Johnny into using unethical tactics nor been so harsh with him after he only won second-place in the 1984 All-Valley Tournament (to put it mildly), which ended up ruining his relationship with Johnny as his favorite student, he permits his new Morality Pet Tory to win on her own terms without cheating or fighting dirty (though, unbeknownst to him, Silver has already rigged the tournament by bribing the referee).
• Journey to Find Oneself: Miguel sets off on a solo journey to Mexico after withdrawing from the All-Valley Tournament, so that he can learn of his origins and meet his biological father.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: With Anthony is on the path of setting things right with Kenny, and the latter becoming increasingly ruthless and vicious thanks to Cobra Kai's philosophy. The moment Kenny runs into Anthony at the locker room trying to apologize, he beats him to a pulp while he's alone until Robby intervened. Kenny then promises Anthony that he'll be in a world of pain by high school, ultimately solidifying Kenny's full-on Face–Heel Turn.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Miguel ultimately withdraws from the semi-finals of the boys' division, letting go of his fixation on winning the All-Valley Tournament as the be-all and end-all for the troubling times he has endured since his injury.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • With interest! At the end of Season 2, Kreese usurped control of Cobra Kai from Johnny, but now Silver has usurped control of Cobra Kai from Kreese and gets him arrested as an added bonus.
  • Having spent the entire season in the stubborn belief that his Karate style is the only way to win, Daniel is forced to witness Cobra Kai win the tournament again and left to lament how his refusal to remain united with Johnny led to his loss.
  • After feeling so jealous about Daniel and Miguel bonding together and also being stubborn that his way is the best way, Johnny eventually gets hit with this too.
  • After spending the entire season taunting and humiliating Tory every chance she gets, Sam ends up losing to her in the tournament and while it was due in part to a combination of an accidental eye-strike and behind-the-scenes bribery, neither of which Tory intended, some would say Sam had it coming and might even call her defeat cathartic.
  • The beatdown that Kenny subjects Anthony in the locker room counts as this given how much of a "piece of shit" the latter character has been to him. Unfortunately, the catharsis factor is mitigated by the fact that Kenny has fully embraced the "No Mercy" part of Cobra Kai's creed and intends to make Anthony's life hell once high school starts.
  • After having joined Cobra Kai knowing it is composed of dangerous thugs, dishing out Miyagi-Do teachings to them, going along with their bad schemes, caring about winning and ruining prom night for Sam and Miguel and letting his anger and resentment of Daniel, Sam, Miguel and Johnny get the best of him, Robby gets this too when he realizes he has led Kenny down a dark path and let him be corrupted when he stops him pulverizing Anthony and realizing he screwed everything up by having done all that.
• Let's See YOU Do Better!: Robby's response to Silver criticizing him for not having defeated Hawk soon enough is to defiantly ask "Do you want to fight him?"
• Loophole Abuse: When trying to fix his gi in the finals, Robby opts to take it off as a means to intimidate Eli. Eli looks to the ref who simply shrugs; there is apparently no rule that stated that you had to be in a gi for the entire match. Eli then follows suit and takes his own gi off to showcase his tattoos.
• Manly Tears: At the end, when Robby confesses to Johnny how he screwed up with Kenny (and his life in general), he can't hold back his tears.
• Minion with an F in Evil: When the Sudden Death round is called, Robby and Eli exchange a martial arts bow in tribute to each others' skill. Silver then chides Robby not only for failing to defeat Eli already, but for showing respect to him.
• Mr. Fanservice: A double dose, as both Robby and Eli end up topless during their fight, and both boys are in very good shape. This was done for no other reason than to have Tanner Buchanan and Jacob Bertrand show off their impressive physiques for viewers.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Robby has this reaction when seeing Kenny pummel Anthony, especially when Kenny threatens Anthony in a very bullying manner afterwards. This plays into his final match with Eli in which Kenny shouting momentarily distracts Robby before he is able to apply the final hit, spoiling the only chance he had to defeat Eli.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:
  • Robby's match with Kenny plays out like this once Kreese gets the former to stop screwing around. From there, it's entirely one-sided and drags out significantly longer than any of the curb-stomp matches we've previously seen. At points, it even seems like Robby is toying with Kenny, and the final hit is a brutal jump kick to Kenny's face. Tellingly, the audience doesn't clap or cheer when it's over.
  • Afterwards, Kenny ends up pounding Anthony until Robby intervenes.
• Not Helping Your Case: Kreese lashing out when the police arrive and resisting arrest certainly doesn't help him come across as an innocent man who has been framed.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: When Amanda talks to Tory, it's briefly mentioned that Tory is seeing a therapist just as Amanda insisted... and Tory at this point does indeed seem to be less angry and confrontational than before. We never see the therapist onscreen, so we can only wonder what kind of mojo she worked to help get the formerly berserk Tory to a better place emotionally.
• Once More, with Clarity: We see Silver's beatdown of Stingray again, although now we see that his Madness Mantra "You wanna be Cobra Kai?" wasn't a taunt, it was an offer.
  Terry: I'll make you Cobra Kai... but you have to do something for me.
• Ordered to Cheat: Defied, by Kreese of all people. Silver orders Tory to elbow Sam in her remaining good eye, despite Tory's protests that she can win without cheating. Kreese steps in to give Tory his blessing to fight her way.
• Pet the Dog:
  • While referring back to the events of the 1984 All-Valley finals, Kreese claims that he cared about Johnny as a person more than anything else. Johnny doesn't buy it, though.
  • Before the final match with Sam and Tory, Daniel reminds the announcer that Johnny is a two-time All Valley champion just like him, prompting the announcer to excitedly state this to the crowd. For all the glory that has been heaped upon Daniel for being a two-time All Valley champion, this is a heartwarming acknowledgement that Johnny is no less accomplished a martial artist.
  • When Silver is pressuring Tory against her wishes to fight Sam unethically, Kreese steps in to give Tory permission to fight her way.
  • Attempted by Tory. After defeating Sam, Tory runs to her and asks she is alright, only for Sam, her fear of Tory redoubled, to scuttle away from her in terror/grief.
  • When Robby ends up crying in front of Johnny, the latter sets aside all the things Robby has ever said and done to hurt him, and embraces him like a father. Robby, for his own dog-pet, allows him to do so.
• Plot Parallel: In the final match, Kreese gives Tory the same advice Johnny and Daniel gave to Sam earlier in the fight: Be Yourself.
• "Ray of Hope" Ending: Tory upsets Sam in the female final and Cobra Kai wins the tournament, Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang have to shut down, Silver usurps control of Cobra Kai from Kreese and has him framed for assaulting Stingray, and Miguel decides he needs to learn more about his past and takes off for Mexico City to meet his birth father. However, both Robby and Tory have finally realized they were led down the wrong path, Eli regained his confidence with his win, Kreese is in jail and won't be a threat any time soon, and Daniel has decided to enlist Chozen's help so they can end Cobra Kai's influence. It's also implied Daniel and Johnny are going to make another attempt to work together.
• Rejected Apology: Anthony sincerely tries to make amends with Kenny after his loss, but Kenny has gone full Cobra Kai and attacks him instead.
• The Reveal:
  • Tory sees with her own eyes that Silver bribed the referee, which makes her victory feel hollow.
  • Silver revealing that Kreese is his weakness, followed by sirens which ultimately sheds light to Silver’s betrayal of the latter.
  • Carmen reveals to Johnny that she left out one detail when she told him about Miguel's father the previous year: she ran away from him before he knew she was pregnant and, thus, has no idea Miguel exists.
• Revenge Before Reason: Johnny goes into the tournament caring more about sticking it to Cobra Kai and Daniel than anything. This attitude ends up severely alienating Miguel, his star student and surrogate son.
• Rule of Drama: In-universe, the All Valley Tournament plays this up. Lampshaded by Devon when they have a dramatic count-down of the last minute of Miguel's 30-minute break. Her team mates shrug and say that's the All-Valley for her.
• Sequel Hook: The following events set up the premise for the fifth season:
  • Kenny fully embraces the Cobra Kai mindset and declares he'll make life hell for Anthony LaRusso in high school.
  • Daniel and Johnny apologize to each other and recognize the value of each other's teachings on their star students, indicating that hopefully next season they'll be able to bury the hatchet once and for all.
  • Cobra Kai once again wins the All-Valley Tournament. However, Silver gets Kreese arrested for aggravated assault and attempted murder on Stingray, who Silver bribed to frame Kreese, and Silver claims control of Cobra Kai for himself, eager to witness the dojo's growth and expansion alongside an "old friend or two".
  • Miguel doesn't stick around to see the finals of the girls' division to the end, and leaves for Mexico City alone to confront his past and search for his biological father.
  • Daniel joins forces with Chozen Toguchi to put a stop to Silver's Cobra Kai.
• Shirtless Scene: Both Robby and Eli remove their tops before their sudden death match. Eli glances at the judge in confusion after Robby does so first, but since it's not against the rules he signals for them to do as they please.
• Slasher Smile: Kenny flashes one of these at Anthony after beating him down.
• Stating the Simple Solution: Eli consults Daniel for advice on winning Sudden Death against Robby. Daniel tells Eli to give it everything he's got.
• Suddenly Shouting: Kenny snaps at Anthony when asking him what it's like to be picked on as a friendless kid in school.
  "Then you wouldn't know. Because no one's ever been such a piece of SHIT TO YOU!"
• A Taste of Defeat: For the first time in the series, Sam loses a fight to Tory, though partly due to Silver bribing the referee, so this might be debatable since Sam didn’t actually lose the fight and the tournament.
• The Starscream: Silver frames Kreese for assaulting Stingray so he can take over Cobra Kai for himself.
• Threat Backfire: To psych himself up and intimidate Eli for the final round, Robby removes his top and shows off his physique. Eli simply does the same thing and makes a point of showing off his back tattoo.
• Took a Level in Badass: After continually losing to him throughout the series, Eli proves to be Robby's match in the tournament final, beating him in sudden death.
• Unwanted Assistance: Robby tries to tend to an injured Anthony, who tells him off and leaves the locker room by himself.
• Villain Has a Point: Terry rightfully gets mad that Kreese keeps hanging his debt over his head, as if he were entitled to it, especially after the last time he repaid it, it all but ruined his life. It also didn't help that Kreese constantly demeans him using his wartime superior officer authority, continues to stubbornly ignore Terry's input in favor of his methods, and never thought of him as a partner and co-founder - only a tool to punish Johnny and Daniel.
• Villainous Breakdown: Kreese is shocked that Terry backstabbed him by framing him for assaulting Stingray. It didn't help that he tried to resist the subsequent arrest by elbowing an arresting officer in the face.
• Wham Line:
  • Silver bribes the ref for Cobra Kai's victory.
    "I almost thought you were going to back out of our deal a few times. You know what? You played it just right. No one suspects a thing."
  • Silver makes it known to Kreese that he is done being treated like a subordinate rather than an equal, as the police arrive to arrest Kreese after Stingray frames him due to Silver's coercion.
    "I'm shedding my weakness, Captain."
• Wham Shot: The season ends with Daniel at Miyagi's tombstone, describing all of his woes with Cobra Kai and even issuing an appeal for help. At first, it seems that Daniel is just speaking to Miyagi's memory as he has done in the past, until the final shot reveals that no, he is actually speaking to Chozen, who agrees to help him.
• What Have I Become?: In the end, Robby approaches Johnny in tears, as his disastrous experience with mentoring Kenny has shown him that he and his father have more in common than he ever believed.
• Worthy Opponent: After Eli and Robby's fight is forced into sudden death overtime, both of them acknowledge that the other is this to them and they bow to each other with sincere respect.

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"I know this isn't your fight and this is a lot to ask... but will you help me finally put an end to Cobra Kai?"