A Primer on the Villain ofCobra KaiSeason 4: Terry Silver

Cobra Kai season threeended with a not so elusive tease . John Kreese , the returning sensei of the once again nefarious Cobra Kai , looked at a picture from his days in Vietnam , pluck up the headphone , and call an sometime war chum . With that , Karate Kid obsessive knew exactly who to expect in season four .

Terry Freaking Silver , that ’s who . Though the plot has not been “ confirmed , ” [ Update 5/27/21 : It now has been . See below ] when io9 askedexecutive producer Hayden Schlossbergabout it , he was as clear as he could be without itch it .

“ permit ’s just put it this way , ” Schlossberg told us . “ We spend time giving Terry Silver a backstory in time of year three . You get to see the past Terry Silver . We deal all these characters from those original movies like they ’re really important in the existence . And we do n’t want to say anything official yet about time of year four right now but Kreese looks at a photo of vernal Terry Silver and he dial a number and makes a phone call . And you could opine who ’s on the other end . ”

Let the real pain begin.

Let the real pain begin.Screenshot: YouTube/Netflix

Yes , we can . That mean it ’s time to revisit 1989 ’s obviously inferior , but still wildly fun , The Karate Kid Part III . In that motion picture , John Kreese ( Martin Kove ) remains despondent from Daniel beating Johnny in the All Valley Karate Tournament and Miyagi embarrassing him in the parking lot afterward . In the undermentioned month , Cobra Kai stops getting fresh students , so Kreese decides to close up the dojo . He chatter his old state of war buddy Terry Silver ( Thomas Ian Griffith)—who lives in a huge planetary house — to hand over the keys . change by reversal out , Silver was the one who fund Cobra Kai for Kreese . He resist to think the journey is over and sends Kreese on holiday while he concoct an elaborate plan to bring back Cobra Kai and get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi in the cognitive process .

“ They made you suffer , so I ’m go to make them have and suffer and suffer , ” Silver tell Kreese . “ And when I think they ’ve suffer enough , then I start with the pain . ”

https://gizmodo.com/cobra-kai-season-3-is-focused-emotional-and-nostalgic-1845906678

Terry Silver, portrayed by actor Thomas Ian Griffith.Screenshot: Sony Pictures

Unless you ’ve rewatched Karate Kid Part III recently , it ’s light to forget how evil Terry Silver is . For representative , do you think of how he made all his money ? No ? Oh , by illegally disposing of toxic waste matter . So even if the ‘ 80s ponytail and slicked - back hair already tipped you off , just know that Silver is a unfeigned creep . means , way worse than Kreese or Johnny . He literally turn this “ retaliation ” against a teenager and his elderly teacher into his full - metre Book of Job , letting his subsidiary ( of which he has many ) roll in the hay the toxic waste stuff can wait until he ’s done .

It ’s noted that Silver volunteer to do all this for Kreese volitionally . During the motion picture , Silver reiterates how much he owes him due to their time in Vietnam ( Kreese says he saved Silver more multiplication than he can weigh ; we see a few in Cobra Kai time of year three ) , but Kreese never ask for assistant . So , when Kreese pass on out to call him on Cobra Kai , it ’s more meaningful than it may seem on the surface .

Silver ’s programme to get back at Daniel and Miyagi is deucedly elaborate and , when you bust down the Ernst Boris Chain of event needed for it to work , also out of the question because it swear on information he could n’t peradventure have . I ’m pass to disregard that . When you moil it down , it ’s basically this : grease one’s palms a ton of fresh Cobra Kai dojos , hire someone to defeat Daniel at the next tourney proving Cobra Kai ’s superiority , and make the brand a succeeder again while publicly obstruct Daniel and Miyagi .

Terry Silver, portrayed by actor Thomas Ian Griffith.

Terry Silver, portrayed by actor Thomas Ian Griffith.Screenshot: Sony Pictures

First , he buys 20 new locations for dojos . Next , he employ “ karate ’s bad son ” Mike Barnes ( Sean Kanan ) to harass , intimidate , and eventually defeat Daniel . eventually , he set in motion a system that involves psychologically manipulating Daniel to kick downstairs off training with Miyagi and train with him , all under the guise that Kreese is dead . Again , there ’s much more to it but the ins and out are n’t as crucial as they are just hilarious . Eventually the plan works , and Daniel leaves Miyagi to prepare with Silver whose training method are savage — they offend Daniel and become him against everyone he sleep with .

It ’s here we take a break to mention : this should n’t be intelligence to Cobra Kai fans . In time of year two , Daniel mentions to his girl , Sam , that he was once a penis of Cobra Kai — it ’s these scenes , under the tutelage of Terry Silver , that he ’s touch to . ( io9talked to Ralph Macchio about that here . )

Eventually , after a ton of strong-arm and mental anguish from Barnes and Silver , it ’s uncover that Kreese is alive and everything that ’s happen has been a Seth - up to get Daniel to fight back in the tournament , or else . “ Either you fight down one fight on one day , or you agitate every day for the balance of your biography , ” Silver enunciate . That force Miyagi to prepare Daniel for the tournament because , once again , it ’s about more than winning .

Silver lying to Daniel and Miyagi about Kreese’s death.

Silver lying to Daniel and Miyagi about Kreese’s death.Screenshot: Sony Pictures

During the last match , Daniel gets his ass kicked . However , Barnes ’ method acting are so vicious that when Daniel finally beats him , all the momentum Silver and Kreese had to enter the new Cobra Kai dojos is gone . The crowd boo them and throw back their barren t - shirt in disgust . Daniel shoot down not just Barnes and Cobra Kai , but Kreese again and , most importantly , the rich and evil Silver . Later , in season one of Cobra Kai , we watch the All Valley Tournament banned the Cobra Kai dojo for life after those effect .

Whatever happened to Terry Silver after Karate Kid Part III has never been told . The most likely supposal is he put this little retaliation strategy behind him and went back to work as a toxic waste billionaire . He probably even invested well during the technical school boom and made even more money . Suffice to say , when Kreese ring him in Cobra Kai , there ’s a very , very good probability he ’s not only plenteous and more powerful than he was when we last saw him , he ’s held a grievance for almost 40 years .

https://gizmodo.com/cobra-kai-season-3s-big-spoiler-questions-answered-by-t-1845935608

Screenshot: Sony Pictures

Screenshot: Sony Pictures

One of the thing that piddle Cobra Kai so great is the shipway it opt to interpret and mold the original Karate Kid film . For many devotee , Part III is a joke . But by rig up and , likely , bring back Silver , the show makes that film a crucial part of the story . In reality , everything that happens in Karate Kid Part III made the show possible . If Silver had just buy the dojos for Kreese and not been so hellbent on revenge , Cobra Kai would have returned decent then and there . If Mike Barnes , who was far superior at karate than Daniel , had just beat him flat up without trying to cheat , Cobra Kai would have been winning and leave Daniel and Miyagi in obscureness . But those thing did n’t happen .

Daniel and Miyagi became big hero after defeating Cobra Kai again , and that leave to the lives Daniel , Kreese , and Johnny exist today . It was Silver ’s pride and vanity that ruined Cobra Kai for everyone , not Kreese ’s treatment of Johnny . It was Silver all along . And , if Cobra Kai season three is n’t lying to us , he ’s about to get back into the world of the Karate Kid once again .

One Last Thing

If for some reason you are n’t positive that Terry Silver is come back for Cobra Kai in time of year four , think about this : time of year three has those flashbacks to Kreese as a immature man in Vietnam . At the start of those flashbacks , we acknowledge one of the soldiers await like Terry Silver — his face is familiar but he also has the exact same haircut . However , a few episodes later that guy we assumed was Silver is killed . This is the writers expire against expectation because we were sure that was Silver , and of row he could n’t be killed . Fast onward to the end of the time of year and another man , one who is in the photo with Kreese along with the faux - silver gray , tells him he owes him . This , of form , is the literal Terry Silver .

Why the fake out ? Why cast someone who see like Terry Silver and give him the same haircut , only to stamp out him and fob the audience , subverting their expectations ? Maybe because it ’s crucial to remember Terry Silver .

Update 5/27/21 , 12 p.m. EST : What we chew over about in January is on-key . Terry Silver is back . And here ’s the proof . As a event we ’ve made minor changes to the headline , prototype and text to muse this .

Actor Nick Marini plays young Terry Silver in Cobra Kai season three.