The Cobra Kai season 4 finale ended with many questions to be answered for the upcoming season, specifically regarding how John Kreese could team up with Daniel and Chozen in season 5 to stop an out-of-control Terry Silver. Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) marked his long-awaited return when asked to join Cobra Kai by Kreese (Martin Kove). At first, Silver seemed to have left his life of violence behind and acted as the far more rational of the two. His true colors were slowly revealed, however, and in the season 4 finale, Silver set Kreese up, putting him behind bars for a crime he did not commit, clearly the way for Silver to officially take over Cobra Kai.
With Johnny (William Zabka) going to Mexico to find Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and Kreese potentially being locked up, it leaves Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and his longtime rival Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) alone to save Mr. Miyagi’s legacy, a story started in Cobra Kai season 4. The finale concluded with the two of them standing over their late sensei's grave, seemingly agreeing to join forces to save the dojo he started and Daniel now runs. Many reasons point to Kreese working together with the two to stop Terry from influencing any more students, however.
Although Kreese has been the main villain in both the Karate Kid franchise and Cobra Kai thus far, Terry Silver has since taken over that role, being even more brutal than Kreese. Kreese was taken away in handcuffs after being framed for attacking an ex-Cobra Kai student, Stingray (Paul Walter Hauser), who made his return after not being in season 3, meaning Terry is now the sole leader of the dojo. Kreese knows that Terry framed him, however, and if there is one thing that's certain about Kreese's nature, it's that he's not one to give up or to let an attack go.
Interestingly, being around Terry and recognizing how unstable he is seems to have made Kreese second-guess his teaching methods. Cobra Kai season 4 laid the groundwork for a potential redemption arc for Kreese in Cobra Kai season 5. This is explicitly shown in the season finale in a scene between him and Tory (Peyton List) during the All-Valley Karate Tournament. Terry tries to convince Tory to disguise an easily disqualifying hit to the eye as a counter, which Tory is reluctant to do. For the first time, Kreese disagrees with Cobra Kai’s “Strike First” motto, telling her to do what she believes is right. Earlier in the season, Silver also pointed out that Kreese's weak spot has always been Johnny Lawrence. This was made clear when Kreese stopped Silver from beating Johnny into a coma, a turnabout from his usual attitude that the weak deserve what they get. Kreese also intervened in Tory's personal life when he threatened her landlord to stop harassing her. In his own twisted way, Kreese truly does care about his students and there are hints that he's finally realizing his methods go too far.
It's unlikely that Kreese would ever join with his former rival's protégés out of the goodness of his heart. But a recurring theme in Cobra Kai has been "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" and former enemies have regularly become temporary allies. As Kreese is likely going to be in jail for a good chunk of Cobra Kai season 5, Terry’s group of Cobra Kai students will only continue to grow. But Daniel and Johnny are also likely to be desperate, as well, as Cobra Kai won the All-Valley Karate tournament, meaning Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang must shut down. Either way, it is up to Daniel, Chozen, and Kreese to ensure that Terry’s teachings don’t bring any more students into Cobra Kai, and Johnny could very easily join the fight when he returns from Mexico.