Cobra Kai Season 5: Tory Needs To Join Miyagi-Do (Not Robby)
Cobra Kai season 5 should see Tory Nichols, not Robbie Keene, switch sides and join Miyagi-Do under Daniel LaRusso as the next step in her story.
Tory Nichols joining the Miyagi-Do in Cobra Kai season 5 is a better story direction than Robby Keene returning to his former dojo. At the end of Cobra Kai season 4, Tory begins to see the negative impact of Cobra Kai’s teachings, thanks to John Kreese being led away in handcuffs. Terry Silver, the villain from The Karate Kid Part III, in charge. While the finale setup Robby to leave Cobra Kai and make positive change in his life, Tory should be the one to join Daniel LaRusso's dojo in Cobra Kai season 5.
Both Robby and Tory are set to have redemption arcs in Cobra Kai season 5, but what that looks like is different for each case. In an emotional reconciliation with his father Johnny, Robby admits he doesn’t want to have anger in his heart anymore. Tory, on the other hand, is still defensive and angry at the world, andd needs to learn strategies to deal with her violent impulses. Although both Robby and Tory need to escape the brutal teachings of Cobra Kai, Tory in particular would greatly benefit from the teachings of Miyagi-Do.
Tory and Robby have complicated lives and have had to grow up quickly. After Robby gets out of jail in season 3, Robby’s “strike first” mentality begins to change. Instead of using his anger to fuel his decisions, he is now trying to use it for good. His positive changes are shown in certain instances, particularly in his desire to influence the newest Cobra Kai member, Kenny, positively — although he soon realizes Cobra Kai’s immoral teachings have more power. Robby is already on the road to redemption after opening up to Johnny, and with the help of Miyagi-Do, Tory can too. Instead of using her anger negatively as she has in Cobra Kai's dojo, Miyagi-Do's teachings can impact her to use anger positively in Cobra Kai season 5, similar to how Daniel did in the original Karate Kid franchise.
Even after all that Robby has done in Cobra Kai, he’s always been an inherently good kid. Tory, though, has continued to cause trouble, specifically with her ongoing rivalry with Sam LaRusso. Although Sam is a seemingly nice person, almost every fight between the two was started and escalated by her. This ranges from Sam tormenting Tory at her job, pushing Tory at the skating rink, and threatening her at school even though Tory is trying to stay out of trouble. Although not the antagonizer, due to her aggressive nature, Tory is always the one who catches the blame. She could become someone great if she got out from the influence of Kreese and Terry in Cobra Kai season 5. With the teachings of Miyagi-Do, she would not only learn how to fight fairly but have Daniel as her sensei, who truly cares about his student’s well-being, as opposed to only caring about winning.
For Tory to truly redeem herself in Cobra Kai season 5, she has to join Miyagi-Do. A look into Tory’s homelife in Cobra Kai season 4 shows that Tory’s hatred for Sam is somewhat justified since Sam is someone who has gotten everything she wants her whole life, while Tory has had to struggle and do without. The rivalry between the two needs to end, though, because Tory promised Sam’s mom Amanda that the feud is over. As long as Tory and Sam can put an end to their feud and learn to work together, Miyagi-Do will only benefit Tory to become the fighter and genuinely good person that she can be.