‘Cobra Kai’: Thomas Ian Griffith’s Infamous Villain Finally Got to Let It Out in Season 6

[This story contains spoilers from Cobra Kai season six, Part 2.]

When Cobra Kai season six ended Part 1 of its three-part final season in July, one major character was missing — the villain who many fans saw as a major component to the entire story.

That character was mega-rich martial arts expert Terry Silver, played by Thomas Ian Griffith.

Viewers had last seen Silver in season five, challenging Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) for the soul of the Cobra Kai school and its students in an intense one-on-one battle. Things weren’t looking too good for LaRusso, until he decided to pull out the tried and true “crane kick” to end the battle and save the day. Silver was vanquished in shame and defeat.

Viewers later learned, in the beginning of Part 2 of the sixth and final season of the hit Netflix saga, that both villains Silver and John Kreese (Martin Kove) were allegedly tucked away in separate prisons, but the information in a local newspaper turns out to be untrue for both.

In a flashback scene in episode nine of season six, viewers saw that Silver managed to use his wealth for a get-out-of jail free card and traveled to Bangkok to recruit Sensei Wolf’s (Lewis Tan) Iron Dragons to become his sponsored team for the Sekai Taikai. Wolf’s style of fighting lends no credence to official rules, and he doesn’t mind if his students severely hurt their opponents (he almost demands it). Silver, who is also dying, he wants vengeance on LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence’s (William Zabka) newly combined Miyagi-Do dojo, which has made it to the tournament in Barcelona. For Silver, there can no peace until the new school, and the resurgence of Cobra Kai headed by his once friend and now nemesis Kreese, gets some payback.

The Hollywood Reporter recently caught up with Griffith to talk about the path of one of Cobra Kai’s most popular villains; how Silver become an agent of chaos and confusion in Part 2 of the final season; and the most rewarding part of being in the Cobra Kai universe, which will conclude with Part 3 in 2025.

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Terry Silver always seems to have elaborate plans when plotting revenge against LaRusso and Kreese. Did you always know Silver was coming back with the Iron Dragons?

Well, it’s funny, when they first broached me, it sort of sounded like a two-season arc in four and five. And then by the end, Terry had played himself out. I thought ,“Oh, that was a decent ending.” And then they said, “You know we’re wrapping it up in season six, and Terry’s got to be a part of that.” and I understand. Because I think story-wise, he is the villain that impacts our lead characters the most. He also has that propulsive energy to bring it home. Without him, I think it would have been a mistake; so, I’m glad they brought him back for the very end.

Who does Silver hate the most, Kreese or LaRusso?

They’re different, and I don’t like the word hate, but I think it was always an antipathy to Daniel because of what he believed was so opposite of what I [Terry Silver] did. And having been a student, how you see someone — how you first meet someone — sometimes, you carry that image of them for the rest of your life. And I think Terry has probably misjudged him. But by the end, I think he realizes Daniel is a worthy adversary and there’s something he has to respect about that.

As far as Kreese, when you have such a history with someone, a deep history — and he’s been so loyal to Kreese — I think that betrayal cuts deep. So that betrayal is a whole different thing. And also, Terry has committed his life to a certain philosophy, a way of life. And that all stemmed from the teachings with Kreese. And then for Kreese to go a different path and have these weaknesses, that’s just not acceptable to Terry Silver. I think he’s lost that type of respect for Kreese. Then he’s trying to kill me [in the epic Sekai Taikai all-brawl battle scene at the end of Part 2] and it’s like, well, you’ve lost all the moral ethics and code. Terry’s not trying to kill him until you know what happens, and the gloves are really off!

So, Silver has always been the agent of confusion, but kidnapping LaRusso and making him think it was Kreese…

I think there’s such a great manipulative quality about Terry. And it comes from a point of going, “What can I do?” And I hope it doesn’t come across as just mustache twirling, because he goes to the human element. He taps into a loss or a pain or bringing Daniel into what Miyagi-Do is really about, which he should know. So, using that type of thing, I think, where there is an intelligence and a worldliness about Terry that makes him a little different, but then makes him also unpredictable, is always watchable.

Let’s talk about Terry Silver’s team, the Iron Dragons. (Terry Silver’s Iron Dragons included real-life Taekwondo champion Rayna Vallandingham and British/American martial arts actor Lewis Tan as Sensei Wolf.)

To hire that team… how can I get back into that world after losing all respect? Well, he still has his money, so, he can buy the best team. And he relates to the Iron Dragon team because of their philosophy. They have the thing closest to what he believes Cobra Kai should be; so, he can use them to get back in this world and to win what he believes would be honorably. He can’t have it, and I think the stakes are that much higher because now he knows he’s dying — he’s self-medicating, so he really has nothing to lose. We’re watching an unmoored Terry Silver. So, that’s why his relationships are a desperation to bring that team on, to have that team defeat Kreese, to defeat Miyagi-Do. And I think in the long run, that’s part of his downfall, because he just lost his way and got caught up in all the madness. But we do see some of the glimpses of Terry Silver that we loved in the ‘80s. So we can go back to some of that, which is fun.

I know you are one, but were there a lot of real martial artists in those incredible fight scenes during Sekai Taikai, especially the big fight in Part 2’s finale?

I’ve been in martial arts my whole life. I think the actors on the show — because I don’t know if any of them had a true martial arts background — but this stunt team worked with them and they got so much better, whether they’re using their athletic skills, the dance skills, whatever it was, to really sell this.

But in season six, now we bring on true martial artists, and it was just such a joy to be around. I mean every generation. And first of all, the young kids they brought are just phenomenal! Just to be a part of that and go, “I’m going to up my game.” These stunt people I got to work with that doubled for [William Zabka] or Kreese [Martin Kove], these guys were world class martial arts; so, when I’m across from them it’s like, oh man, I can really let it out! Then once you’re in fight mode, it’s really fun because I still crave that, even at my age.

I think the structure of this show is almost where every season you have the big the tournament, and the tournament gets bigger and then gets biller. And so, these guys knowing this is the finale and are saying, “I am going to put the biggest tournament fight sequence you can imagine within a timeframe of one episode.” It’s pretty incredible how they pulled it off, but they had just phenomenal martial arts. If you look in the background, you will see people doing great stuff.

It can get a little tiresome. But then just when you may be getting a little bored, you get into some heartfelt thing with one of the characters you’re involved with. So, that’s how you sustain it. That’s where the interesting thing is; you build through this incredible episode and then, “Holy shit, a kid’s dead.” What is the impact of that? A line has been crossed and that’s really devastating. So now I’m going, “Oh, I want to watch the next five. I want to see what’s happening. If Terry was unmoored before, what is he going to do now?”

Will Terry Silver be a part of the final five episodes?

You know, they brought me back to give that Terry Silver energy and that purposiveness. But the bigger picture is that this is the end of it. And just to have been part of something that has been this phenomenal… I took a vacation to Greece with my wife 10 days between doing Cobra Kai and Virgin River [Griffith and his wife, Mary Page Keller, are two of the writers for season six of that Netflix series], and I hadn’t assimilated the impact of how popular the show was. You go to all these little islands in Greece and everyone’s a Cobra Kai fan. And you realize you brought joy to these people and escapism. I’ve had martial artists coming up to me saying, “I watched you when I was 9 years old, and I got into kickboxing and boxing because of you,” and here they are as adults.  And you go, “Wow! That’s such a positive thing.” So, what an honor to be able to be part of that. So, I think in the end, the big picture, with the ending now, it’s just been, like I said, an honor and just a joy .

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Cobra Kai Parts 1 and 2 of the sixth and final season are now streaming on Netflix. Part 3 returns Feb. 13, 2025. Read THR‘s Part 2 interview with creators Hayden Schlossberg, Josh Heald and Jon Hurwitz.