Warning: SPOILERS for Cobra Kai Season 4.
The season 4 finale of Cobra Kai saw Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser) lose the All Valley Championship to Tory Nichols (Peyton List), which was actually foreshadowed by Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) in the season 4 premiere. Sam and Tory's rivalry had its big blowoff at the All Valley but despite combining the styles of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang, Sam was still beaten by Tory, although it was thanks to Cobra Kai's sensei, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), bribing the referee. However, Sam's defeat was set up by her failed attempt to get Robby to rejoin Miyagi-Do in Cobra Kai season 4's premiere.
Sam and Robby's soap opera, which also involves Tory and Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), has been central to Cobra Kai since season 1. Robby grew close to Sam when he became the first student of her father, Daniel LaRusso's (Ralph Macchio), rebooted Miyagi-Do dojo. But Miguel and Sam dated before she and Robby got together; Robby and Tory, who dated Miguel, were the odd men out when LaRusso and Diaz rekindled their relationship in Cobra Kai season 3. Sam choosing Miguel was one of the reasons Robby quit Miyagi-Do and joined Cobra Kai, where he got closer to Tory in season 4. Meanwhile, Sam felt all of the pressure of being Miyagi-Do's top student and, with Daniel's dojo lacking a strong male competitor since Miguel belongs to Johnny's Eagle Fang, LaRusso naturally wanted Robby back in her father's dojo with her.
In Cobra Kai season 4's premiere, "Let's Begin," Sam went to a skatepark to plead her case to Robby about why he should leave Cobra Kai and return to Miyagi-Do. But Sam's charms were lost on Robby, who carries a lot of resentment toward his ex and his father, Johnny. When Sam asked Robby to come back because it would "help bring everybody together," she added, "that's all I want." To which Robby replied, "Then it looks like I get to be the first person to ever tell you this: You're not getting what you want." Keene's cruel words were prophetic because what Samantha wanted most of all in Cobra Kai season 4 was to beat Tory and win the All Valley championship. As Robby accurately predicted, LaRusso did not get what she wants.
Although Sam is one of Cobra Kai's heroic characters, the show's vast audience contains many perspectives and there is definitely a segment of viewers who don't see Daniel's daughter as one of the show's good guys. Many feel that Tory is right about Sam being spoiled, and, just as some longtime fans of The Karate Kid movies see Daniel as a villain, they also note the negative aspects of Samatha being a LaRusso, like her quick temper and her sense of entitlement and righteousness, which she inherited from her father. So it's undeniable that Tory, who has a hard-knock life, enjoys sympathy and support from Sam-haters, who cheered Nichols as she defeated LaRusso in the All Valley. Tory being a Cobra Kai who has done terrible and illegal things to Samantha is even glossed over by viewers who feel LaRusso deserves disappointment.
Sam needed to win at the All Valley and her defeat meant a lot more than LaRusso not getting what she wants. By losing to Tory, Samantha became the first LaRusso to fail to become All Valley Champion. Daniel is a two-time champion and Sam didn't live up to her father's legacy. Sam's loss also has devastating consequences because according to the pact Daniel and Johnny made with John Kreese (Martin Kove), LaRusso has to close down Miyagi-Do for good, a stipulation Daniel isn't going to honor. Ironically, Robby also lost at the All Valley for the second time when Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz (Jacob Bertrand) upset him for the boy's championship. However, Robby isn't as broken up as Sam about failing at the All Valley, and Keene was still on the nose about Samatha not getting what she wants in Cobra Kai season 4.
Cobra Kai Season 4 is streaming on Netflix.