What Was The Point of Kreese’s S5 Finale Ending? Is He Leaving Cobra Kai?

Kreese’s ending in the Cobra Kai season 5 finale raises confusion about the plan for his character’s future in the series. Following a brutal opening scene that left Kreese’s survival in doubt, the finale pulled a twist that allowed Martin Kove’s character to escape prison. After spending the entire season behind bars, Kreese is finally free.

As a result of his incarceration in the Cobra Kai season 4 finale, Kreese’s screen-time in season 5 was comparably shorter than previous seasons. But despite the villain being limited in terms of how he could impact the plot, Cobra Kai still found ways to utilize the character in the story. After using Tory to advance his revenge plot, Kreese surprisingly backed off not long after Johnny swore to “erase” every mark he had ever left. And while Kreese did provide Johnny with information that was helpful to their efforts to oppose Terry Silver, Kreese ultimately didn’t get to exact his revenge on the person who put him in prison. He escaped just prior to Daniel, Johnny, Chozen, and Mike Barnes’ battle with Silver and his allies.

The ending chosen for Kreese in the Cobra Kai season 5 finale raises some interesting questions about what the show intends for him. With Silver defeated, the door was open for Kreese to be cleared of any wrongdoing and released from prison. This provided the show with an easy way of getting Kreese back into the story for season 6, but instead of taking it, the series made him a fugitive. Cobra Kai putting Kreese in this situation has seemingly made his return unnecessarily complicated, which makes it worth wondering if the point was to write him out of the story. As an escaped fugitive, Kreese can now walk away and never return to the Valley. If Kreese did leave the series early, this would certainly be one way of making it work. However, since an exit hasn’t been confirmed, it’s likely that the show isn’t done with him yet.

What Is Kreese’s Story In Cobra Kai Season 6?

As noted above, becoming a fugitive has taken quite a lot off the table for Kreese in Cobra Kai season 6. Had he not escaped, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine him retaking control of Cobra Kai with Silver out. Now, he’s in no position to lead a dojo or go back to being a karate mentor to people like Tory. As for what he can still do, it’s possible that Kreese still has revenge on his mind. Though Kreese has long maintained that he legitimately cares about Johnny, it’s true that he and Daniel betrayed him at the prison. And since he can’t strike out against Silver anymore, his only potential targets in a revenge scheme would be Johnny and Daniel.

An unhinged Kreese would be an unusual – and highly dangerous – opponent for the main characters in Cobra Kai season 6. As someone who doesn’t easily let grudges go, Kreese could come back to haunt Daniel and Johnny for deceiving him in season 5. But regardless of whether that kind of story comes to fruition or not, there’s a very good chance that Johnny and Daniel haven’t seen the last of John Kreese.