Cobra Kai theory unlocks one of Terry Silver’s biggest secrets

News
By published

Is Terry Silver dying? The evidence is mounting...

Terry Silver in Cobra Kai season 5
(Image credit: Netflix)

Terry Silver: karate king and megalomaniac mastermind. But what makes him tick? While Karate Kid Part 3 and the past two seasons of Cobra Kai have covered the sensei’s surface-level motivations for his continual harassment of Daniel LaRusso, a new fan theory doing the rounds on social media could hint at a tragic background for the villain.

"Does anyone else think Terry Silver might be dying?" u/KomradeKlassics posted on Reddit. The reasoning is sound, too. As laid out in the theory, the fourth season sees Silver handling a bottle of pills, with a butler also asking on separate occasions whether he needs a doctor or his medicine. 

The compelling evidence continues to mount, with a scene in Cobra Kai season 5 featuring Terry bumping into Johnny and Carmen in a hospital elevator, a moment that felt oddly out of place unless it was leading somewhere. 

Couple that with Silver’s melodramatic declaration of "youth being the one thing that money can’t buy" and it stands to reason that the primary motivator for entering the Sekai Takai and taking over the valley with Cobra Kai is cementing his legacy before he dies.

It also plays into the series’ strengths. If nothing else, Cobra Kai is able to consistently and expertly reframe villains through a more tragic lens. First Johnny, then Kreese – might Terry’s brush with death put him squarely in the frame for a redemption arc?

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.