Cobra Kai's Season 5 finale starts with Kreese (Martin Cove) in prison, in counseling, and the man is defeated. He is a realist and knows his time is almost up, and he’ll spend his last days in jail, as the counselor makes vague attempts to lift his mood. Everything he fought for is lost, every mark he made, every memory of him, will be erased. He brings up Johnny, his best student, and admits has lost him for good, breaking down in tears. The counselor even comes close to comforting him. Later, Kreese breaks up a fight between his minions and is shivved for his trouble.
Daniel (Ralph Macchio), Johnny (William Zabka), and Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) are trapped in a Hummer spiraling dangerously close to the edge, but the car stops abruptly. The driver is none other than Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan), and he isn’t happy to see Daniel after Silver ruined his life. Chozen and Johnny spring to action and Mike retaliates, but Daniel stops the fight. Mike’s life was fine before the others showed up, and the next thing he knows his store is a pile of ashes. His business was leveraged to the hilt, he’s broke, and his wife left. Mike is consumed with bloodlust and wants to tear Silver apart. Daniel tells them of their plan to take him out, but Chozen, Johnny, and Mike decide to pay a visit and make him suffer. Daniel begs and begs, but to no avail. Will they cut the head off the snake?
It’s an emergency and Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo) has come over to see Hawk (Jacob Bertrand), Robby (Tanner Buchanan), and Miguel (Xolo Mariduena). The boys wonder where Sam (Mary Mouser) has disappeared to, when in she strolls with Tory (Peyton List). They two think they can prove Silver assaulted Stingray (Paul Walter Hauser) and framed Kreese. There's CCTV footage of the attack, but the place was cleaned out, and Demetri points out that all that footage would’ve been saved to a central server. They need to get into Silver’s office and take down Cobra Kai, tonight.
Kim Ea-Dun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) is reminiscing about her father’s work. By entering Sekai Taikai, Silver has delivered what he promised. Her grandfather’s karate will be known the world over. The rivalry with Miyagi-Do remains a concern for Kim. Terry is planning on sending something nasty in the mail — until the Hummer breaches Silver’s security gates. Kim and Silver ready themselves for action. Johnny, Chozen, and Mike make threats until the super-evil senseis show up. Mike is having his ass handed to him, Chozen and Johnny are in fighting stances – will they stand a chance? Amanda and Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) are having hot chocolate and dreaming about the good old days before Hubby-san calls and fills Amanda in on their insane plan to take out Silver.
Miyagi-Do is breaking in at Cobra Kai. They contemplate this until Tory produces her key card. They hack into Silver’s computer and eventually find what they are looking for. Little do they know, a camera, camouflaged by Cobra Kai snake symbol is watching it all. Meanwhile, Johnny and Chozen are battling the super-evil sensei squad. Kim alerts Silver to the fact that Tory has broken into their office, with Miyagi-Do, so Kim sets out to take care of the kids. Daniel asks a trucker to give him a lift, and he’s told to walk it off instead. Another group of men exits the car when Stingray comes along. He hears the kids are in trouble and gets in the car.
Demetri finds the footage — and it has been erased. Somehow, the rest of the footage is almost installed when Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young), Devon (Ooon O’ Brien), and the members materialize. Repulsed by Tory’s siding with the enemy, Miyagi-Do also has a spy: Mitch (Aedin Mincks). They try and make them aware of Silver’s games. The two dojos charge at each other. Chozen squares up to Silver one-on-one. Who will beg for mercy? Silver is an animal in the fight and in the first round, Chozen is floored. The weapons come out and a battle by the pool ensues. It is all very atmospheric. Silver slices up Chozen with the samurai and Johnny is beaten to within an inch of his life. Chozen gets the upper hand, a knife pressed to Silver’s throat, until a noise distracts him, giving Silver the opportunity to slice his back up.
The battle to end all battles is happening at Cobra Kai HQ. Demetri needs time uploading the clip and Hawk has to hold off the other fighters. Kyler (Joe Seo) is as dumb and obnoxious as ever now that he has cornered Hawk and Demetri. Hawk makes short work of him and his mates. Robby and Kenny get into it downstairs, but Kenny has grown as a fighter with Robby hardly keeping up. Kenny is overwhelmed by the other fighters when he performs the Silver Bullet on Robby, severely injuring him.
Johnny is bloodied and beaten. Silver comes in and tells him Chozen is off the board. Johnny has guts, Silver will give him that, but "not much upstairs" — Terry is going to clean up the mess at Cobra Kai. He instructs the men to finish Johnny while he’s gone. The Cobra Kai members are kicking Robby’s head in. Hawk and Kyler are battling it out. With a flying kick, Miguel releases Robby. Demetri joins Hawk in the fight, and they lay waste to the Kai members. Tory is high-kicking her way through the stragglers when Kim Da-Eun sweeps her off her feet. Kim’s final lesson for Tory will be a painful one. She delights in inflicting pain by crushing Tory’s broken hand under her foot. Sam hears Tory’s wailing. Kim takes both girls on easily, taking them out. Enter Devon. She is going her own way, joining Tory.
Amanda, Carmen, Daniel, and Stingray come to Cobra Kai. Stingray takes out the guard dogs, and they head inside. Miyagi-Do has surrounded Anthony, a lesson they learned in the egg game earlier in the season. The upload is complete and Anthony presses play. They see the footage of Silver confessing to rigging the fight. Silver is back and he thinks this proves nothing. Again, he delivers another speech, but the members are conflicted. Terry is furious; there are no happy endings, and life isn’t a fairytale. Silver’s men continue to beat Johnny badly, who gets a second wind after seeing the copy of his baby's ultrasound and karate kicks his way out. They are at a standstill when Mike Barnes rescues him.
It is Daniel vs. Silver for the Big Boss Fight. Daniel is using all the dirty tactics from the Silver playbook to take the man out! And HE DOES. A teary-eyed Kenny and Kyler abandon the dojo, taking their t-shirts off as they leave. Cobra Kai is finished. The police have arrived and people are giving statements. A broken Kenny surveys it all, a look of disbelief on his face. Old pal Robby comes over, but Kenny doesn’t want to talk. Tory and Robby get back together and kiss. Sam shows Miguel the octopus pendant she's been holding onto and asks, "This yours?" They kiss and officially rekindle things. The Hummer delivers Johnny and Chozen to the gym. Carmen embraces Johnny and there are declarations of love. Meanwhile, Silver is arrested and taken into custody. The episode — and the season — ends with the reveal that Kreese staged his shivving in order to take out the emergency team. As Frank Sinatra plays, Kreese scrolls down the hospital prison corridor. He’s out.