Warning! The Following Contains Spoilers From Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2.Kwon (Brandon H. Lee) is dead! Cobra Kai showrunners loaded Season 6 Part 2 of the Netflix streaming series with countless surprises, including a cameo by both a young (Brian Takahashi) and AI (Pat Morita) version of Mr. Miyagi fighting in the Sekai Taikai — not to mention the “badass” return of Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith). However, it was the shocking death of Cobra Kai’s star student Kwon Jae-Sung to conclude the final episode that stunned The Karate Kid fan base. And co-showrunner Hayden Schlossberg addressed Kwon’s untimely demise during an interview (per Variety):
We set Kwon up to be the new big, bad antagonist going into this second block. For him to get killed by another opponent is a surprise we were looking forward to.
Emotions reached an all-time high during the Sekai Taikai’s global karate matches. And after things got out of control, students from every dojo joined in the melee, which set up a brutal and deadly match-up between Kwon and the Iron Dragon’s Ivan Drago-esque fighter, Axel Kovačević (Patrick Luwis). “Kwon became this powder keg of a character that really got us excited in the writers’ room,” co-showrunner Josh Heald added.
During the one-sided face-off, Kwon discovered John Kreese’s (Martin Kove) knife, which the sensei dropped while crossing through the confusion on his way to use the weapon against his former friend, Terry Silver. Kwon unleashed a beautifully choreographed aerial assault on his seemingly undefeatable opponent, which Axel easily countered. And during Kwon’s fall, the young Cobra Kai student screamed in agony, having impaled himself with the knife — killing himself on the blood-soaked mat.
‘Cobra Kai’ Showrunner Compares Deadly Battle to Classic Kaiju Match-Up
Season 6 Part 2 of the Netflix series went completely black, as the Sekai Taikai’s feed was cut following the bloody death of Kwon (Lee) on Cobra Kai. And while Kwon never had a chance of defeating the Iron Dragon’s imposing warrior, Axel Kovačević (Luwis), co-showrunner Hayden Schlossberg likened their fight to that of a famous kaiju movie match-up. Schlossberg said during the same interview:
“Kreese is more vengeful than ever, and using Kwon as this ultimate weapon. It ends with this Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla fight all the students are involved in. It created an opportunity for us to have Kreese see the results of some of his actions… watching one of his students get killed with the knife he brought there.”
Cobra Kai’s Martin Kove has portrayed John Kreese since the original Karate Kid dropped in theaters back in 1984. And while the character was originally represented as a one-dimensional villain, the streaming series has allowed Kreese to evolve. In fact, Kove has mentioned that the character will ultimately be redeemed in previous interviews.
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Kreese has three glaring weaknesses which could be exposed during the show’s final episodes: The karate master remains emotionally attached, for better or worse, to three characters, who could help him turn good: Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), Tory Nichols (Peyton List) and even Terry Silver (Griffith). Co-showrunner Josh Heald also chimed in on the significance of Kreese’s knife, which ultimately killed Kwon. The co-showrunner told Variety:
“The knife represents Kreese’s last vestige of humanity. It’s an inflection point — does it send him further down the spiral or does it create an opportunity for change? That’s a big question we want people to be chewing on at the end of these five episodes.”
Will Kreese receive the redemption he may or may not deserve? Find out when The Karate Kid spin-off’s final five episodes drop next winter. And, as co-star Martin Kove unexpectedly revealed during his appearance on the Inside of You podcast with host Michael Rosenbaum, Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 3 will drop on Netflix when the fan-favorite series returns for its highly anticipated swan song on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025.
