Cobra Kai's final season is almost here! 5 takeways from the season 6 trailer

Cobra Kai is about to unleash the first part of its sixth and final season, and the trailer is hinting at some big stuff coming! 

Cobra Kai has been one of the most unexpected success stories of streaming TV. A follow-up to the 1980s The Karate Kid trilogy, it’s expanded into a terrific story of redemption as that movie’s villain, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and rival Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) have become unlikely allies and friends. 

Season 5 culminated in the pair finally defeating the evil Terry Silver and breaking his hold on Cobra Kai. The final season is being divided into three parts with the first five-episode batch coming out on July 18. The trailer has already hinted at some big stuff coming and here’s some big takeaways!

Cobra Kai is officially dead 

The show may have the Cobra Kai title but the opening of the trailer shows the actual dojo is gone. There’s headlines on Silver’s arrest and we even see the Cobra Kai sign being tossed into the trash. Daniel and Johnny are content to let it stay that way, realizing Silver tarnished the name too much for it to continue. It’s a bold direction but also good as Cobra Kai is now a name left in the past. 

They’re prepping for a major event

The Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang dojos are now combined and Daniel wants to restore their honor by taking part in the Sekai Taikai, the world championships of karate. That’s a huge deal and the gang is ready to click even as they get into scrapes like a bar fight. Still, it’s good to see the two sides seemingly coming together. The key word being “seemingly…”

The dojo is divided

While the trailer seems to show the gang working together at first, it’s soon clear there’s a lot of rifts. Johnny and Daniel are arguing on the right way to train the students with Daniel intoning “Our strength is that we teach both styles equally. Don’t jeopardize that balance, man.” It’s no surprise the two old rivals are still not on the same page. 

That also plays into the rest of the dojo as there’s still a beef between Tori and Amanda, Robby and Miguel and no doubt still a bias against the Cobra Kai kids who followed Silver. That division may make it hard for the team to come together in preparation for the big tournament. 

Kreese has a new force

Daniel warns Johnny, “We have no idea what we’re up against,” and that’s more than true. We see in Japan that the franchise’s original big bad, Kreese (Martin Kove), has organized his own dojo in the woods to take part in the Sekai Taikai. He’s pushing them into a dark force and notable for the smirk he gives one student who bears a more than slight resemblance to Chozen (Yuji Okumoto). Could this play into a new generational conflict? Either way, Kreese is ready to cause more trouble to set up the big clash. 

Mr. Miaygi has secrets

The final scene of the trailer has Daniel, Chozen and Amanda finding a box Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) hid in his home with Chozen noting that “Miyagi-san buried secrets for a reason. If we open, anything is possible.” The question of what this mysterious box holds will likely be a big plot point to drive this final season on.

There’s no doubt more surprises to come but the trailer indicates the first half of Cobra Kai’s final season is set to be a fantastic experience to send the show out in style.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 1 premieres on Thursday, July 18, only on Netflix.