Warning: SPOILERS for Cobra Kai Season 5Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) and Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) finally settled their rivalry in Cobra Kai season 5, and the question of who is better was answered overall. Cobra Kai season 5 picks up right after Miguel left for Mexico to find his father at the end of Cobra Kai season 4. Johnny reconciled with Robby, and he wasted no time in tricking his son into coming to Mexico with him to find Miguel. But after several failed tries, Johnny finally got his two sons to reconcile their differences and become friends.
Johnny's need for Miguel and Robby to bury the hatchet is because he and Miguel's mother, Carmen (Vanessa Rubio), are pregnant. Johnny needs peace between Robby and Miguel so that they can all become a family. In the big picture, Cobra Kai season 5 made major strides into moving beyond the rivalries that define the series, and fixing Robby and Miguel is arguably the show's biggest breakthrough. Johnny and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) are the gold standard for holding a grudge for 30+ years, but neither wanted the same for their own children. Lawrence and LaRusso actually put their own rivalry to bed, and they worked together in Cobra Kai season 5 to take down Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) with the help of Robby, Miguel, Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser), Tory Nichols (Peyton List), and the rest of their students.
Of course, it wasn't easy for Johnny to get Miguel and Robby to move past their hatred for each other. Naturally, Lawrence felt tricking them into having lunch at Olive Garden over breadsticks or teaming up in an escape room would fix Robby and Miguel. But, this being Cobra Kai, it was a karate fight that finally let Diaz and Keene work out their aggression and come to an understanding. Cobra Kai season 5 ended with Robby and Miguel firmly on the same side, and they are soon to be the older brothers of a new Lawrence/Diaz baby. Plus Cobra Kai season 5 also answered the question of who's better between Robby and Miguel, and why.
Why Did Miguel And Robby Start Feuding, Anyway?
Robby vs. Miguel has been going on so long, that it's easy to forget how it all started. In Cobra Kai season 1, Robby became jealous that his estranged father, Johnny, took Miguel under his wing and trained him as Cobra Kai's first student. Robby retaliated by ingratiating himself with Johnny's lifelong rival, Daniel LaRusso. Along with becoming Daniel's first Miyagi-Do student, Robby also lived in the LaRussos' home for a time. This meant Robby grew closer to Sam, who Miguel had begun dating. Meanwhile, Cobra Kai's "no mercy" philosophy unleashed Miguel's darker impulses, which drove a wedge between him and Sam, and Robby was all-too-happy to see it.
Miguel beat Robby to become the 2018 All Valley Under 18 Karate Champion at the end of Cobra Kai season 1. But the rivalry between Diaz and Keene didn't end there, and the greatest tragedy among Cobra Kai's teens occurred at the end of season 2 when Robby and Miguel fought at West Valley High. Robby kicked Miguel off a balcony, nearly killing him. Robby and Miguel naturally kept on hating each other in Cobra Kai seasons 3 and 4. But beyond all the petty teenage issues between them, Robby nearly killing Miguel was the biggest issue between them that had to be broached and settled before Diaz and Keene could become friends in Cobra Kai season 5.
Who's Actually Better, Robby Or Miguel?
The courtyard fight Johnny arranged between Miguel and Robby not only settled their rivalry but also revealed their true characters and forced them to see each other's point of view. Their contest was evenly fought until they made it onto the second-floor balcony of Johnny's apartment complex. There, Diaz could have had an eye-for-an-eye by kicking Keene off the balcony the way Robby did to him at West Valley High. But Miguel stopped himself because he remembered that he "didn't get into karate to hurt people." Robby admitted that he didn't know what he was doing in Cobra Kai season 2's finale and he "just wanted to end the fight," but Keene took it to an extreme he truly regrets. At long last, Robby apologized to Miguel for causing the "worst day" of both of their lives, and Diaz accepted.
Robby has always been a problem child in Cobra Kai, but he has made great strides to better himself in seasons 4 and 5. Keene realized he made a mistake in trying to be a mentor to Kenny Payne (Dallas Dupree Young) and bringing him into Cobra Kai, and he's been trying to make amends and repair his personal relationships, which is commendable. Meanwhile, Miguel has made his share of mistakes too, but he has always been the same good-hearted kid consistently throughout Cobra Kai. Plus Miguel technically won the courtyard fight with Robby, just as he beat Keene at the All Valley. (Robby has failed twice in the tournament finals.) Diaz is debatably the better fighter, but it's hard to argue that Miguel is a better person than Robby. To Keene's credit, however, he's finally grown into a likable Cobra Kai protagonist.
Cobra Kai Season 5 is streaming on Netflix.