‘Cobra Kai’ Showrunners Finally Share the Truth About One of the Series’ Most-Asked Questions

A few weeks ago, Netflix users witnessed the conclusion of one of the streamer’s most important TV shows. After six seasons of nostalgia-based martial arts comedy, Cobra Kai ended its run with a very emotional and gripping finale that honored its central character, Johnny Lawrence. However, the ending did not feature the franchise’s most important villains, John Reese and Terry Silver. Lawrence had to face a new enemy after Reese and Silver had faced each other in the penultimate episode and assumedly met their demise in a huge yacht explosion. The question in everyone’s mind was whether they were actually dead, and now, the series showrunners have taken the time to share the truth about Reese and Silver’s fate.

Showrunners Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg spoke to The Direct while at Paleyfest, and they offered a few bits about the franchise’s future after Cobra Kai, the possibility of spin-offs, and some questions that remain unanswered. During the conversation, Heald took the mic to confirm that Reese and Silver’s dying together was always in the outline of the series’ conclusion:

“It was always the intent for them to die together. It was always the intent for [John] Kreese to sacrifice himself to save Johnny from peril. And as we got into the second half of the series, that peril, you know, took on Silver’s face more and more, and even after we finished Season 5, and it was kind of the end of Silver, we knew that there would be one more death rattle that would have to be quelled.

“And that was the perfect moment for Kreese to really show his true colors. And it was just a push from the three of us to fight the battles, to get onto that yacht and actually bring cameras out to sea and do that. And it was a proud day at sea.”

The series’ creators also spoke about one of the biggest questions that arose after the explosion: Are Reese or Silver alive? There were no visible bodies, but the creators believe that it’s not possible for any human to survive an explosion of that magnitude. It was here that they each offered their own take and joked around about the possibility of Reese or Silver surviving. Per Hurtwitz’s take:

“You can watch the episode, see that explosion, see how close they were to where the explosion started, and determine for yourself if you think it’s possible for human beings to survive that. Here’s what I would expect: I would expect Kreese and Silver did explode into a million pieces. It’s possible that their bodies reformed, or they reformed as one, and they’re at one giant Kreese-Silver monster. By the way, that’s the spin-off that’s coming. You heard it here first. Octo-Silver.”

The Ending of ‘Cobra Kai’ Was a Beautiful Nod to the Essence of ‘The Karate Kid’

One thing we must appreciate about Cobra Kai is that it never tried to be anything else than what it was supposed to be. It was a fun and campy TV show with a good balance between humor and drama that touched the nostalgic need of millions. Fans who grew up listening to Miyagi’s lessons and those who were not even alive when the original Karate Kid movie hit cinemas in 1984 were drawn in by the compelling characters and storylines. Schlossberg and star Ralph Macchio each talked about the ending’s nod to The Karate Kid:

Schlossberg: “The very last scene between Daniel and Johnny and the fly with the chopsticks wasn’t figured out until we started working on the final season… The idea of playing with the fly and chopstick scene from Karate Kid was something that we’ve talked about every season, trying to find the right place. And we were ready to let it go if it wasn’t organic. And it just so happened to end the show with, it felt right.”

Macchio: “The final scene… It was nice because they held that little fly-catching homage for the end… It’s so nice to just be natural and real and yet still play the reminiscence and the nostalgia of yesterday when they flashed or played back to the scene with Pat Morita from the original film. We really got to sit there, and you felt the magic of where it all began. And then it ends with a little Cobra Kai spice.”