"You Have To Believe That Johnny Is Going To Pivot": Why 1 Key Cobra Kai Season 6 Scene Needed To Work For Johnny's Redemptive Ending Explained By William Zabka

William Zabka has discussed why one particular Cobra Kai season 6 scene needed to work to make Johnny's redemptive ending land right. Although Cobra Kai's character list is vast, Johnny is ostensibly the lead, so satisfactorily wrapping his arc was very important. He was the classic antihero who was bothered by the events of the 1984 All-Valley tournament. However, he eventually achieved some kind of redemption and shed his 'loser' tag by the show's end, but this would not have been possible without a very prominent story beat in the final episodes.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Zabka unpacked a crucial moment from the final season, which was the confrontation between Johnny and Kreese. While breaking down how Johnny tried to amend his life with his meeting with Miguel and Carmen, the star acknowledged that the confrontation with Kreese at the Sekai Taikai tournament had to work. Zabka believes that this emotional scene fueled Johnny's redemption arc as he wears the black gi again and gets his dojo back with his Kreese conflict now resolved. Check out Zabka's comments below:

Well, that is really what the whole show is about — mentors and teachers, who’s teaching you and who you are aligned with. Johnny was kind of dealt a bad hand. He didn’t have a father and bumped into John Kreese who taught him the way of Cobra Kai as he knew it, and then betrayed Jonny and tried to choke him out at the end of Karate Kid 2. That’s really the thorn in Johnny’s soul.
His whole life, even 30 years later, when we pick him up and meet him again, that devastating loss, and not just the loss of the trophy, but losing his teacher, threw him into a downward spiral for all these years.
Then he bumps into Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena) and gets to work himself out through this kid and find his life again. But throughout the whole show, the pain that he’s carrying is buried so deep with John Kreese. So, the full arc of John coming in and stealing his dojo out from under him at the end of season two; Johnny has to pivot and open up Eagle Fang Karate and he bounces around.
He’s really a wandering, lost soul, but trying to make it work. He’s got a great heart; he just had these programs that were downloaded into him that he has to work out.
He does kind of find that through LaRusso and through Carmen (his girlfriend/wife played by Vanessa Rubio), through Miguel and through his son (Robbie played by Tanner Buchanan) and trying to better himself. But the pain in him is still John Kreese. So that moment in season six is when the little boy in Johnny, who was so betrayed, gets it somehow, because it’s all over.
The tournaments are over and Daniel doesn’t want to fight in it anymore; there’s no fight left. That’s when Johnny gets it. He’s completely defeated and can open himself up. His guards and his weapons are down, and he turns into a little boy again and says the things that he’s been carrying all these years.
In meantime, John Kreese has been on his own redemption arc and is right there to meet him. They meet at the same time, having evolved to have this moment together that’s pure, as if it was John Kreese before Vietnam and Johnny Lawrence before the crane kick. They get to tell each other what they feel and come together. It’s very painful seeing the scene play out that way in the hallway.
When were done with that scene, we just felt like, “if this scene doesn’t happen and it doesn’t work, then the ending doesn’t work.” Because you have to believe that Johnny is going to pivot and go back into a Cobra Kai Gi and that Kreese is going to be on his side, which is what happens.
I love the moment after that where Johnny comes out of the tunnel with Miguel and Tory and there’s Kreese in the stands. Johnny gives him a respectful bow; they worked all their kinks out. Johnny is free at that moment, and the father-son relationship has been healed to an extent, which allows him to go on and see his full redemption.

What These Comments Mean For Johnny's Cobra Kai Redemption Arc

Kreese Has Come To Define Johnny's Life, & Their Reconciliation Was Key For Him To Finally Move Forward In His Life

Johnny's journey has been deeply affected by Kreese, as his former sensei played a defacto father figure role in his life before abruptly abandoning him after the events of the Karate Kid movie. This, coupled with defeat in the one area of life where he excelled, sent him on a downward spiral, and by the time Cobra Kai season 1 begins, his life is a mess. As Zabka's comments suggest, Cobra Kai and the Karate Kid franchise as a whole are all about teachers and mentors and the impact they can have on the lives of the kids they work with, both positively and negatively.

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With both characters amid a redemption arc, Johnny unloads his three-decade-year pain on Kreese, echoing many of his fears about his role as a father and mentor and allowing himself to be overwhelmed for the first time in years. As Johnny reduces to tears, Kreese hugs him. It's a touching scene with both characters at their most vulnerable and allows Johnny to finally lay the biggest specter in his life to rest, which then makes perfect sense for why he would pivot back to Cobra Kai and reinvent it in his own image.

Our Thoughts On Johnny's Cobra Kai Arc

Kreese Has Always Been The Key For Johnny & The Resolution Had To Happen

Kreese and Johnny facing off in Cobra Kai

As Mr. Miyagi is the anchor keeping Daniel's life balanced, Kreese also plays a pivotal role in Johnny's life. Johnny could not find his balance or his place in the world while the shadow of Kreese continued to loom over him. The reconciliation between them showed Johnny finally being proactive in getting his life on the right track without being shackled to Kreese. It was a key part of Johnny's Cobra Kai story and one that perfectly bookended both their arcs.

Source: THR