Cobra Kai season 5 saw Daniel and Johnny finally working together for more than just a couple of episodes, and that ended up correcting one huge season 4 Hawk mistake. Although Daniel and Johnny spent half of season 5 in separate storylines, Terry Silver beating Daniel after once again manipulating him was enough for Johnny Lawrence to join the fight against Cobra Kai. With Robby and Miguel now being friends, Johnny was able to shift his focus back to karate and help Daniel and Chozen counterattack Silver’s plans. The “Miyagi-Do meets Eagle Fang” dojo from Cobra Kai season 4 returned, and this time, it worked much better.
With Terry Silver signing up Cobra Kai for the Sekai Taikai, Daniel and Johnny’s only hope of stopping Silver was trying to enter the global karate tournament as well. With all of their students now working together, Daniel, Chozen, and Johnny made the “Miyagi-Fang” concept from season 4 work, even if briefly. The goal was to pick two champions for the Sekai Taikai qualifiers, and with Sam training with Daniel and Chozen, it was up for Johnny to train Eli. Hawk had not trained under Johnny since the end of Cobra Kai season 2, and while there weren’t many scenes between the two characters, Hawk did train under Johnny again.
Hawk Choosing Daniel Over Johnny In Season 5 Didn’t Make Sense
Although it was understandable for Hawk to remain with Kreese at first considering how much the “power” had gone to his head, many expected Hawk to join Johnny’s Eagle-Fang as soon as he was redeemable. Eli was part of the first “Miyagi-Fang” dojo attempt, but once Daniel and Johnny eventually split the dojo apart, Eli chose Daniel’s Miyagi-Do over Johnny’s Eagle-Fang – which just didn’t make sense. Hawk never had any connection with Daniel, and while Demitri trusted the Miyagi-Do sensei a lot, there was no reason for Hawk not to train under Johnny again. In fact, choosing not to join Eagle-Fang had been one of Hawk’s biggest mistakes in Cobra Kai season 2.
Eli was searching for a different style of karate, granted, but what truly played against Hawk in previous seasons was never Johnny’s Cobra Kai – it was Kreese’s. Johnny realized faster than Hawk how dangerous Kreese was and offered all of his former Cobra Kai students a chance of joining Eagle Fang Karate. Hawk’s redemption eventually happened, and that was the perfect time for Eli to reunite with his original Cobra Kai sensei. Hawk choosing Daniel over Johnny in Cobra Kai season 4 ignored the character’s journey and ended up sidelining Hawk’s role on the show. That said, learning Miyagi-Do did help Hawk after all as he won the All-Valley.
Why Johnny Will Always Be Hawk’s True Sensei
More than teaching Hawk how to fight, Johnny’s greatest contribution to Eli was showing the character that he could find strength within him. Johnny helped Eli become more confident, and if Hawk is currently one of the best Cobra Kai fighters, if not the best, it is thanks to Johnny. It seemed unlikely at the beginning of Cobra Kai season 1 that Miguel’s shy friend would become the All-Valley champion, and such a character development only happened because of Johnny. Eli summarized what Johnny’s Cobra Kai stood for – the focus was never on karate itself but rather on how to help those kids. Fortunately, Johnny and Hawk are now reunited.