Daniel LaRusso’s final fight with Terry Silver in Cobra Kai perfectly completes his character’s journey. Cobra Kai is the sequel television series to the beloved Karate Kid films. Season 5 recently dropped on Netflix and is being hailed as the show’s best season to date. With a wide cast of characters, both from the original films and many new faces, Cobra Kai has a lot of material to dig into and explore.
One of the main storylines in Cobra Kai season 5 is the exploration of Daniel’s backstory with Terry Silver, who initially appeared in The Karate Kid Part III. Throughout the season, Daniel tries to take down and discredit Terry Silver, but Silver is always two steps ahead. Daniel even faces a crushing defeat when he first faces Terry Silver in a physical fight. However, in the final episode, “Head of the Snake” Daniel faces Terry in their second battle and comes out victorious with a heroic win.
Daniel’s victory against Terry Silver, however, goes much deeper than it appears. Some main themes in Cobra Kai revolve around balance and respect. Since the first season, Daniel has strived to teach these lessons to his students and succeeded but has still struggled to implement the lessons in his own life, particularly when it comes to Cobra Kai Karate. Daniel’s final fight with Terry Silver and how he finally manages to win are the perfect culmination of how Daniel has come to respect all forms of karate and find balance within.
Why Daniel’s Takedown of Terry Silver Is So Perfect
During the final battle between Daniel and Silver, Daniel uses Terry Silver’s own Quicksilver method to take him down. While this was an incredible way to settle the external battle of Daniel vs Silver, Daniel’s use of all forms of karate was the perfect solution to his internal battle to find balance. When Daniel does the first step of the Quicksilver method, “a man can’t stand, he can’t fight,” Daniel uses more aggressive moves from Miyagi-Do Karate that were previously seen being used by Chozen. Specifically, when Daniel stops Silver from using the Silver Bullet move, it is a block seen used by Cobra Kai‘s best fighter, Chozen, when he fought six sensei at once earlier in the season.
When Daniel does the second step of the Quicksilver method, “a man can’t breathe, he can’t fight,” Daniel takes Silver’s breath away by using an aggressive move usually employed by Johnny and Eagle Fang Karate. The move was previously seen being used by Samantha LaRusso against Tory during the All-Valley Tournament, during which she uses a number of Eagle Fang moves. This in particular is meaningful as Daniel was always vocally opposed to Johnny’s method of karate and now is using it to beat Silver.
The final move of the Quicksilver method, “a man can’t see, he can’t fight,” is executed by Daniel doing his iconic crane kick move. This is a fantastic full-circle moment in several ways. First, it is very fitting for Daniel to use classic Miyagi-Do to deliver the final blow as ultimately, Miyagi-Do will always be the karate Daniel mainly associates with. It’s also a nice callback as, in the third Karate Kid film, Silver specifically made fun of the crane kick. This crane kick is also special because it is the first time Daniel is seen doing the crane kick properly since the original film, a wonderful way to end the final battle of Cobra Kai’s 50th episode. While Cobra Kai started as a way to show a new side of Johnny Lawrence, it has evolved into showing how all the Karate Kid characters are three-dimensional people. The original karate kid Daniel LaRusso has always been a good person, but he also has a lot of demons from the past he needed to work through. This final battle in Cobra Kai of Daniel vs Silver was a perfect way to complete Daniel’s journey and to show that he has become a true sensei with respect for all karate and balance within.
