Cobra Kai showrunners talk that emotional finale, explain explosive ending for the Karate Kid franchise’s two biggest villains: "We thought that was the most dramatic way to go out"

Cobra Kai is coming to an end - and while it nicely wraps up the decades-long arc of its secondary protagonist, it also brings about a rather violent, explosive ending for its two biggest villains. Showrunners Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg have a pretty sound explanation as to why.

Warning: Major spoilers for Cobra Kai season 6 part 3 ahead!

"It was always the idea, speaking specifically for the very end with Johnny and Daniel, we wanted them to be together and finally have a friendship," Hurwitz tells 12DOVE. "It's so funny 'cause I remember in season one when we were making the show, the early notes we got from the studio were, 'Can Johnny and Daniel be running a dojo together?' and we're like, no, that's the whole [thing], that's where we're getting, we're headed, give us like 65 episodes and we'll get there by the end. And we wanted to, you know, build a friendship over these seasons [and for] Johnny Lawrence to finally have that redemption, to get him back on that red mat where he's able to exercise the demons from the past."

Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) finally gets his happy ending - and I think any lifelong fan of the franchise will agree that it's the perfect way for the show to go out. Before the emotional finale, Johnny finally gets to confront his former sensei Kreese (Martin Kove) about the traumatic event that takes place in The Karate Kid 2, after he loses his fight to Daniel LaRusso (Johnny Lawrence). The two make up, and it's a beautiful moment. Little does Johnny know, however, that this will be the last time he and Kreese will ever see each other.

While Kreese has his epic change of heart, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) does not. The two battle it out on a yacht and, in true Terry fashion, he goes out a villain - evil to the very end.

"You know, the boat explosion. We knew that with Terry and Kreese that we were headed to an explosive conflict between them. And we thought that was the most dramatic way to go out: with Sensei Kreese finally stepping up in the ways that he hadn't in the past for Johnny in the most dramatic way possible."

Cobra Kai season 6 part 3 is streaming now. For more, check out our interview with the Cobra Kai cast about the prank that Thomas Ian Griffith played on Peyton List, or, check out our chat with Ralph Macchio about Karate Kid Legends.