Kenny was my self insert, and I smiled when Mike complimented Kenny after he caught the chicken. Missed opportunity to have Mike be his new mentor figure, especially with the Terry Silver connection.
If they do end up doing a spin off of Cobra Kai somehow, hopefully they do that.
(The only reason I actually watched Cobra Kai was for Terry Silver and the other chaos)
I believe Terry Silver is the real reason Daniel wanted Cobra Kai's extinction. Daniel was bullied by Johnny, but being bullied was nothing compared to what Terry did to him.
Daniel was being stalked, harassed and assaulted. To learn that Terry was the mastermind behind all of it must've been very frightening for him. From the very beginning, Terry's character is rooted in deception. Terry introduces himself as Kreese's old friend, but also portrays himself as someone Daniel can trust. He 'saves' Daniel from Mike Barnes. Meanwhile, he's breaking and entering into Mr Miyagi's home (while Daniel and Miyagi are there, that's bold), and shows up at the club while Daniel was hanging out with Jessica.
When Daniel tells Terry that he no longer wants any lessons once he realises what it's doing to him, Terry becomes chillingly cold. Daniel saw glimpses of this Terry during their training together, but now the mask has completely gone off. I cannot imagine how terrified Daniel must've felt.
Let's add Mike Barnes to the equation. Imagine some random boy shows up at your home and the store you're trying to build, vadalising property with his lackies, and beating you and your friend up, threatening you. You find out that your mentor and this boy were working with each other this entire time. To make things worse, you've been told that someone died. And then that person shows up and jump scares you.
It's pretty terrifying when you think about it.
Yes, Daniel was bullied by Johnny Lawrence, and it was bad. Being bullied isn't something people can easily move on from, especially with the different kinds of bullying people have experienced (physical, verbal ect.) On the other hand, being stalked is the sort of thing that makes you look over your shoulder for the rest of your life. Being deceived gives you trust issues. Daniel's problem wasn't Johnny Lawrence, it was Cobra Kai. Daniel found out that the reason Johnny was the way he was was because of Kreese. Not to mention, Kreese strangled Johnny in a fit of rage and smacked another student.
Going back to the 3rd film, Cobra Kai's teachings turned Daniel into someone he wasn't. Before Daniel was trained by Mr Miyagi he was a relatively decent person. Yes, he had a bad temper, but only because he was being provoked into behaving like that. We saw in the first film that Daniel's idea of revenge was sprinkling some water onto Johnny, which was nothing compared to what Johnny and his friends did to Daniel. When Daniel punched that guy at the club he immediately felt terrible, and tried to do the right thing. He went out of his way to call the police station so that he could apologise to the guy. He didn't enjoy what he did, he doesn't enjoy harming other people. Daniel's a hothead, but he's not a monster.
Fast forward to years later, and we see why Cobra Kai is bad. We saw it with Miguel. Yes, it teaches you confidence and what not, but it also teaches you to embrace your bad traits. With Johnny as the teacher it's not so bad, but when Kreese comes into the picture it's 10x worse. Hawk vandalised Miyagi-do. Tory started the school fight. They came to the LaRusso house to fight everyone there. (I haven't gotten over the fact that they threw a kid through a window).
Cobra Kai teaches you to become a bad person.
Terry Silver makes his return. The expression on Daniel's face isn't the same one he had when he re-meets Johnny. Terry gives Daniel a sincere apology, but Daniel rejects it. First of all, Terry shows up with Kreese, with the same hairstyle he had years ago. The fact that he showed up at all while there's a karate tournament that Daniel is involved in couldn't mean anything good.
The way Terry reacts to the rejection is concerning. It was as if he was entitled to it. If not entitled, then he expected his apology to be accepted. Like Mike's apology. Chozen's apology. Johnny's apology?
I firmly believe Daniel's rejection was the motive behind Terry's actions. Daniel tried to end Cobra Kai, only for Terry to come along and try to turn it into his legacy. Terry shows up to charity events that Daniel is involved in, and tries to break his marriage bit by bit.
Terry is obsessed with Daniel.
Both as a mentor and potentially something else. We know that Terry is a very capable mentor, as we've seen with his relationship with Kenny. It's kind of hinted that Terry himself was bullied, and we see glimpses of this in the war flashbacks. He's called 'Twig', and he didn't like that name. Mean nicknames are a version of name calling if you ask me.
Terry probably saw himself in Daniel, and felt like he could've shared a connection with Daniel were it not for the whole revenge thing. "There was always a little Cobra Kai in you." Whether he was correct doesn't matter, but the fact that he said it does.
Cobra Kai's philosophy is rooted in its origins. Master Kim used it to defend himself from Japanese soldiers during ww2. Knowing what the Japanese did during those times, I can see why he developed the whole "Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy."
Unlike Miyagi-do, which preaches inner peace and being a better version of yourself to defend yourself and others, Cobra Kai is the opposite. They turn your weakness (or gets rid of) into a weapon for destruction. To harm others before they can think of harming you. To intimidate other people so that they can never be comfortable. Cobra Kai is rooted in suffering. It's rooted in being angry at the world. The bullied becoming the bully.
Weakness is not allowed.
We saw this with Kenny. He went to Cobra Kai, and Kreese was anything but welcoming. Kenny had to prove himself before he could be trained. Even Robby was a little doubtful. Kenny is a mirror to Daniel. Terry's 'second chance'. Kenny wanted to learn self defense, but that turned into getting his lick back. Making Anthony's life a living hell. That could've become Daniel if it weren't for Miyagi and the fact that Daniel didn't enjoy hurting people.
I think that's what made Terry's mentorship with Kenny special. Kenny gave into the darkness, but Daniel rejected it. Daniel is the puppet who broke free.
I believe that's why Terry wanted (expected) his apology to be accepted. It not only showed that he became 'better', but it meant he still had some control over Daniel. After so many years (decades), Terry still refers to Daniel as 'Danny boy'. It implies that he still thinks he can easily access Daniel, or still shares an 'intimate' relationship even though they haven't seen each other for decades.
Terry was a competent teacher. If you remove the Cobra Kai cruelty and brainwashing, I think he would've been great. Yes, he came to the All Valley to become a sensei once again, but we all know he returned for the love of the game (Daniel). As stated before, Terry got upset from the fact that Daniel was forgiving everyone but him. Whenever he saw Daniel with anyone he would stare in rage. He was always pleased to show up unannounced to surprise Daniel.
We all know he hasn't changed, but going out of your way to wreak havoc just because someone rejected your apology is crazy work.