Warning: The following contains spoilers for Cobra Kai: Seasons 1-3.
Netflix's Tudum event unleashed something Cobra Kai fans knew has been coming — the return of Thomas Ian Griffith's Terry Silver, the bad guy from 1989's The Karate Kid Part III who was teased at the end of Season 3 of the series.
In the teaser for Cobra Kai Season 4 that dropped today, we see that the person Kreese was seen calling up for help in last season's finale was in fact Silver, who is now white-haired, but still sporting that ponytail!
But who exactly is Terry Silver, and what could this mean for the combined force of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and their karate students? Read on!
Cobra Kai Season 4 and Thomas Ian Griffith's Terry Silver
Throughout Season 3, viewers were given John Kreese's backstory. His mother's tragic suicide led him into a hard life of being picked on and ostracized, which in turn led him into the Army.
In the Army, while serving overseas in the Vietnam War, Kreese was trained in karate and in the merciless ways of warfare and covert ops by his captain. Sadly, Kreese's hesitation to kill his own friend led to his squad getting captured and held prisoner by the enemy. Blaming himself for their predicament, Kreese watched as his friends were made, in pairs, to fight to the death over a snake pit. It was here that the crazed and toxic John Kreese that we know from The Karate Kid was born.
Not only did this crucible give birth to the Cobra Kai name, but it also showed Kreese to be a man pushed over the edge when he straight-up murdered his captain over the snake pit after it was clear that they were all about to be rescued. Kreese had just learned that his girlfriend back home had died — a secret his captain had been keeping from him — and the news, plus the fight, caused Kreese to snap and kill someone without any just cause.
So then who is Kreese calling up in the end? We now know it is his Vietnam War buddy Terry Silver, the man shown in Kreese's flashbacks as being the most vulnerable of the bunch. The man who told Kreese he owes him for saving his life.
Terry Silver was the main antagonist of The Karate Kid Part III, where he was played by Thomas Ian Griffith. After the war, Terry learned karate himself and then used his wealth (which he gained from running a toxic waste disposal company) to create Cobra Kai and give it as a gift to John for him to run. After John Kreese's disgrace in Karate Kid I (and II), Terry took over Cobra Kai and cooked up a scheme to ruin and embarrass Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.
In Cobra Kai's second season, Daniel told Sam and the others at Miyagi-Do that even he was once Cobra Kai. This is what Daniel was referring to. In The Karate Kid Part III, Terry lied to Daniel and told him he was running Cobra Kai the right way and when Miyagi refused to train Daniel for another tournament fight, Daniel went to Cobra Kai and practiced under Terry. Again though, it was all a trap to lure Daniel into the final round of the All Valley Tournament and have him get annihilated by another fighter, "Karate's Bad Boy" Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan).
And now we know that Terry is joining Kreese at Cobra Kai — or whatever malformed, evil version of the dojo Kreese has turned it into — in Season 4 in order to fight Daniel and Johnny to be the ultimate karate masters of the Cobra Kai-verse (or something).
For even more on how Cobra Kai's third season ended — from Daniel's trip to Japan, to Johnny and Miguel's night out to see Dee Snider in concert — and where Season 4 could be going, read on…
Elisabeth Shue's Alison "Ali" Mills
Tamlyn Tomita's Kumiko and Yuji Okumoto's Chozen (and freakin' "child in the storm" Yuna!) weren't the only characters from The Karate Kid's past to show up in Season 3.
The final three episodes featured Elisabeth Shue's Alison "Ali" Mills, who returned home from Colorado to the Valley for the holidays.
And though it seemed like there may have been a new spark re-igniting between Ali and Johnny, who got to spend a fun night out together playing mini-golf and remembering their past, letting bygones be bygones, Ali wasn't there to swoop in and mess things up between Johnny and Miguel's mom, Carmen (Vanessa Rubio). Nor was she there to cause (too much) tension between Johnny and Daniel – though there was some at first.
At the Encino Oaks Club, Ali and Johnny joined Daniel and his wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler) for an evening of drinks and reminiscing, as Ali finally got to have her say, and tell her side of the story, with regards to the big feud between Daniel and Johnny from decades earlier. She also got to reveal that Daniel, after The Karate Kid, basically became the overprotective and jealous boyfriend that Johnny made the mistake of being. And, like with Johnny, it caused Ali to break up with Daniel.
Daniel and Johnny had made peace with each other a few times over the course of Cobra Kai's first two seasons, only to see that fragile truce fall apart rather quickly. Alison, however, was able to draw these two back together in a more meaningful way, and set them up for the huge choice they make at the very end of the episode.
Big Moments for Sam, Miguel, and Hawk
Meanwhile, while Daniel and Amanda were out imbibing with Johnny and Ali, Sam's (Mary Mouser) attempt to bring Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students together was ambushed by the cold-hearted grunts of Cobra Kai – and what followed was Season 3's climactic karate brawl inside of the LaRusso's house!
This brutal "one-shot" brawl not only featured the teens laying into each other with fists, elbows, knees, and feet, but also big character moments for three fighters – Sam, Miguel, and Hawk.
Sam, who'd been suffering panic attacks and freeze-ups since her fight with Tory (Peyton List) in the high school was able to overcome her fear using the advice that Mr. Miyagi gave Daniel when he was fighting Mike Barnes in The Karate Kid Part III. She then used a staff to battle a nunchuck-wielding Tory in her home's dojo and sent her packing.
At the same time, Miguel (Xolo Maridueña), who'd been struggling for months to regain his leg strength, used his inner rage and drive to fight back against Kyler, who'd become one of Cobra Kai's newest, and cruelest, students. Miguel might not be back to full strength just yet, but his burst of energy and power was enough to take down his Season 1 school foe.
The biggest turn, however, came from Hawk (Jacob Bertrand), who, after surveying the damage he and his dojo-mates had done, decided to listen to his inner voice about Kreese's lies and turn on Cobra Kai in the midst of battle. Teaming with his old pal Demetri (Gianni Decenzo), the two took down Cobra Kai soldiers with tandem ease.Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang Alliance
Though Daniel has no idea that Kreese is calling on Terry Silver to come help him inflict mass damage in Season 4, Cobra Kai, now with Johnny's son Robby (Tanner Buchanan) as a star student, is enough of a threat on its own for Daniel and Johnny to finally put aside their differences and unite into one dojo. Though they're sure to butt heads over teaching styles, and probably even over a new name for the dojo, they're going to need all their combined courage and strength to battle Cobra Kai.
Kreese set the rules. Whoever loses at the next tournament is gone. Who will be the potential champion from each dojo? Are we looking at Robby vs. Miguel again? But this time, Robby, who's lost his way after feeling abandoned and betrayed after Season 2, will be the merciless fighter and Miguel, who's now back on the side of peace and defense, will be the Miyagi-Do rep?
Or might we see something more along the lines of Sam vs. Tory? We know there's a female branch of the tournament since we saw Aisha fighting in Season 1 (though we don't know who won that bracket). We also don't know if co-ed fighting is allowed, because if so then there are even more possibilities.
Will there be a secret karate trick that helps propel Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang over the top this time around? Daniel already broke out his special paralysis strikes, which he learned in Okinawa, on Kreese in the finale. Could those come back again, or will there be more magic martial arts to unlock?
What would you like to see happen in Cobra Kai: Season 4? Who's going to make it to the final round of All Valley? Will Mike Barnes return along with Terry Silver?
And what about a possible appearance by Hilary Swank, as Julie Pierce from 1994's The Next Karate Kid? Daniel's going to need all the help he can get, right?
September 25, 2021: This story has been updated with the latest information about Cobra Kai.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.