Warning: Spoilers below for “Cobra Kai” Season 6, Part 2.
After three movies and several TV seasons, Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso is still learning more about his mentor and sensei, Mr. Miyagi.
Pat Morita originated the role in the 1984 film that started it all, "The Karate Kid." He returned for "The Karate Kid Part II," "The Karate Kid Part III" and the Hilary Swank-led "The Next Karate Kid."
Daniel's story picked up back up in 2018 with the premiere of "Cobra Kai." While Morita died in November 2005, his character has appeared in the Netflix spinoff show through archival footage.
Fans of the show know that Mr. Miyagi has become an almost omnipresent figure, guiding Daniel even in death as Daniel tries to take up the mantle of sensei for the next generation of Los Angeles karate prodigies. He names his dojo Miyago-Do and tries to pass on the teachings of his late mentor, often running up against rival Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka).
But Season 6 complicates what Daniel knew about Mr. Miyagi's past. For a quick refresher, in the original "Karate Kid" film, Mr. Miyagi tells a young Daniel that he served in World War II and his wife died in childbirth at a U.S. internment camp. "The Karate Kid Part II" dove deeper into his past in Okinawa, revealing that Miyagi left Japan for Hawaii after a falling out with his best friend Sato, the uncle of Chozen (Yuji Okumoto).
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Flash forward to Season 6 of "Cobra Kai." In Part 1 — which comprises the first five episodes of the season — Daniel unearths a box that belonged to Mr. Miyagi. Inside, he finds boxing gloves, a passport, a piece of fabric and a newspaper clipping with the headline "Police search for assailant," dated to 1947. The passport features a photo of Mr. Miyagi next to the name "Keisuke Miyagi," rather than Nariyoshi, the first name Daniel knew him to have. The clipping also reveals that Keisuke Miyagi was accused of violent robbery and assault.
The boxing gloves and passport address lead Daniel to a gym. A man, purporting to be the grandson of the gym's original owner, says Mr. Miyagi was a silent partner in the gym. The man also reveals that Mr. Miyagi at one point fled the United States.
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In the last scene of Episode 5, Daniel realizes the significance of the headband. After Miyagi-Do qualifies for an international karate tournament in Barcelona, the Sekai Taikai, Daniel realizes the fabric matches the headbands awarded to team captains. The moment implies that Mr. Miyagi has a history at the Sekai Taikai, sending Daniel on a mission to learn more about his mentor's past — and all its dark twists and turns.
Macchio describes the box and its revelations as something that "unravels" Daniel.
"He’s kind of chasing the past instead of focusing on the present, let alone the future, for his students and everyone else," Macchio tells TODAY.com.
Digging into Mr. Miyagi's past in Part 2, which consists of Episodes 6-10 and dropped on Netflix Nov. 15, will bring new obstacles. But his character can't help but investigate, Macchio says.
"When you have loss in your life, whether it’s a parent or a mentor or a brother or sister, and you have something unknown, you grasp it, wanting to understand," Macchio says. "It’s important to go through that to get to the other side, to the resolve of what that is.
"In Part 2, it’s the deepest and darkest dive for him that gets him a bit in trouble," Macchio adds.
What is Mr. Miyagi's secret in 'Cobra Kai' Season 6?
Once the Miyagi-Do crew arrives in Barcelona for the Sekai Taikai, Daniel starts asking organizers if they recognize Mr. Miyagi's headband. In Episode 6, a woman representing the company that makes the tournament's official apparel tells Daniel that Miyagi's headband was likely from the "1950s era, maybe even 1940s," meaning Mr. Miyagi was likely involved in the Sekai Taikai after World War II.
The headband is coated in dried blood, and one of the organizers reveals that the Sekai Taikai tournaments "were even more brutal back then."
Daniel's search for more info about Miyagi's background with the tournament hits a snag in Episode 7. After following a lead to speak with a Mr. Serrano, a former champion old enough to potentially have more information, Daniel falls into a trap and ends up caged. He eventually escapes and fights his way out in direct combat with a man with a snake — specifically the Cobra Kai symbol — tattooed on his arm.
Shenanigans ensue, including the return of the No. 3 most villainest "Karate Kid" universe villain according to TODAY.com, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), who was responsible for kidnapping Daniel. At the end of Episode 9, Silver, now associated with the defending champions, the Iron Dragons dojo, gives Daniel a manila envelope.
"A gift, from me to you," Silver says.
Inside is a piece of paper, purportedly the Sekai Taikai record from the year Mr. Miyagi competed. The spreadsheet shows that Miyagi faced someone named Claramunt. In the final score column, it simply says, "Death."
"He killed his opponent," Daniel says in shock.
The Part 2 finale opens with Daniel dreaming. In the sequence, he faces a young Mr. Miyagi, as someone from the crowd shouts, "Kill him, Miyagi-san."
The fight starts, and the young Miyagi gets off the first and second points. "If this is a lesson, I'm not getting it," Daniel says.
"Lesson?" the dream Miyagi responds in Japanese.
"There's so much you never told me," Daniel says next. "I just need to understand why."
"That was always your problem, Daniel-san. So eager to understand, but not willing to accept," Miyagi says.
Daniel, now lying on his back, looks up at Miyagi before the final hit. He blinks, and a face resembling Morita's looks back at him and says, "Miyagi never tell you everything, Daniel-san, because you were never strong enough to accept truth."
After waking up, Daniel goes back to the tournament organizers, and they authenticate the sheet of paper with the record of Mr. Miyagi's fight.
"Sadly, the rare death did occur in that era," the organizer says. "It was a different time."
Johnny suggests it might have been a "freak accident."
The Part 2 finale ends before Daniel can uncover more details about Mr. Miyagi's past. By Episode 10, both Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai are in the semifinals of the Sekai Taikai. Team captains from the remaining dojos — including Miyagi-Do's Robby (Tanner Buchanan) and Sam (Mary Mouser) and Cobra Kai's Tory (Peyton List) and Kwon (Brandon H. Lee) — have to fight in one-on-one matches to qualify for the championship.
In the middle of Robby's match against one of the Iron Dragons, an eliminated team attacks an organizer, starting a brawl between all of the dojos. During the fight, Kreese tries to go after Silver with an eunjangdo, a small knife, before realizing he had dropped it on the mat.
Kwon finds the knife and tries to use it while fighting with one of the Iron Dragons. Instead, after getting his leg swept in midair, he falls on his stomach, landing on the knife. Daniel rolls Kwon over, the blade sticking out of his chest.
So death in the Sekai Taikai might not just be a thing of the past. Similarly, the death that resulted from Mr. Miyagi's fight in the Sekai Taikai might not be so straightforward.
Macchio tells TODAY.com that a resolution to the Miyagi mystery will occur in “the full course of Season 6,” which consists of 15 episodes in total. Part 3 of “Cobra Kai” Season 6 is expected in 2025.
Miyagi's backstory also "opens up more into the Miyagi-verse," Macchio says, which is notably expanding in May 2025 with the film "Karate Kid: Legends," starring Macchio and Jackie Chan.
While it's unclear how everything will shake out, Macchio notes that Season 6 won't "taint" the Mr. Miyagi that fans know and love.
"We never want to taint who the essence of that character was," Macchio says. "But we’re all human, and everyone has flaws.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
