Cobra Kai Finale: Peyton List on How the Loss of [Spoiler] Leads to That Shocking Cliffhanger
The following contains spoilers for the finale of Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 1!
By the end of Cobra Kai’s first five episodes of Season 6, we know which students will be competing in the Sekai Taikai and which one went back to the dark side.
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After some stiff competition from their peers (all of which was judged by Mike Barnes, of all people), Robby, Miguel, Sam, Tory, Demetri and Devon became the chosen bunch to travel to Barcelona and represent Miyagi-Do in the tournament. But tragedy struck for Tory when her mother surprisingly succumbed to her illness, causing Tory to fly off the rails and ultimately quit Miyagi-Do. When we and the rest of Miyagi-Do see her next, it’s in Barcelona, only she’s not donning her dojo’s slick new eagle/bonsai logo; rather, she’s back with John Kreese and Cobra Kai, and wearing the villains’ sleek black dogi.
According Peyton List, the loss of Tory’s mom plays a huge role in her decision and position in the Sekai Taikai.
“The loss changes everything,” List tells TVLine in the video above. “I think it definitely does push Tory into the way that she does end up going. I think experiencing that loss puts her in this mindset of, ‘I have to look out for myself. Daniel is going to look out for his daughter and his family, ultimately, and he’s not gonna look out for me. I need to get this captain spot in order to have a win in my life and to actually achieve something now that I have nothing.'”
Tory switching sides serves as one gnarly Part 1 cliffhanger (Part 2 will follow Friday, Nov. 15 — two weeks earlier than originally planned), especially considering how earlier in the finale, Tory told Kreese flat-out that she wasn’t his champion.
“Tori’s been a character that we’ve loved having on the show since Season 2,” says co-creator and executive producer Jon Hurwitz. “To watch her grow over time has been amazing. We established early on that she was a caretaker in her home for her sick mother, and her mother is the person who she loves the most in the world. We see in these first five [episodes] a little glimpse into the dynamic that she had with her mother as a little girl, and that her mother was going through some tough things and they were in it together. She really feels this responsibility from her mom of continuing to be a fighter, continuing to make something of herself and not give up in this world.
“Sensei Kreese, who she has had a long history on this show with, starts putting some things into her head, making her think, ‘Are these new friendships real? At the end of the day, does she have a fair shake?'” Hurwitz adds. “When she feels sort of threatened at this time, when she is desperate to be a world champion, not just for herself, but for her mother, it becomes the only option in her mind to potentially move on and rejoin Kreese and his army.”
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