- "You wanted to beat Miyagi-Do so badly you gave Cobra Kai all of our secrets."
"The goal is to win. I did what I had to do."
"If all you care about is winning, you didn't learn anything I taught you."
"Everybody thinks their way is the only way. You, my dad, Cobra Kai. Truth is, it doesn't matter which way you fight as long as it works. And I'll use whatever it takes to win."
"Why? To get back at your dad? Me? Sam? The world? If that's the case, I have another Miyagi-Do secret that you can slip to your friends. Never put passion in front of principle. Because even if you win, you lose." - ―Daniel LaRusso and Robby Keene[src]
"The Fall" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of Cobra Kai.
Summary
The annual All Valley Karate Tournament kicks off as several competing dojos vie for the grand championship - and settle some personal scores.
Plot
Daryl introduces the 51st Annual All-Valley tournament. He introduces the three main dojos: Miyagi-Do, Cobra Kai and Eagle Fang Karate and tells the audience that one of the three can be grand champion.
Daniel and Johnny talk to their respective students to get ready for the tournament. Johnny pulls Miguel aside to talk about the fight at Stingray's afterparty. He tells him about his experiences during prom and has him regain focus and make up with Sam later. Kreese and Silver talk to their students about not letting history repeat itself Silver tells them to follow Kreese's orders to win.
The first event of the tournament is the skills competition. Miyagi-Do, Cobra Kai and Eagle Fang each show off different skills in the skills competition. Miyagi-Do students Demetri and Sam show off their weapon skills while Chris and Eli demonstrated their board breaking skills. Cobra Kai and Eagle Fang also show off their offensive skills such as weapons, combinations and board breaking. In the end, Cobra Kai wins the skills portion of the tournament, Miyagi-Do comes in second, and Eagle Fang falls to 6th. Cobra Kai's victory gives them an early lead for the title. After, Eli apologizes for not breaking the last board but Daniel tells them that they are close with Cobra Kai for the lead. Johnny is mad that they are in 6th but Devon explains the point progress and they need to win each one-on-one match to catch up.
Grammy award artist Carrie Underwood is introduced by Ron, exciting Moon, Carmen and Amanda. The rest of the committee is shocked that Ron was able to get a big name celebrity to perform. Before the qualifiers, Carrie explains about her competitive nature and everyone has their moment and performs.
All of the dojos compete in the one-on-one matches when Carrie performs rock band Survivor's song "The Moment of Truth".
Sam tells Daniel that Demetri won and him, her and Hawk advance to the quarterfinals. Daniel adds that they are still second and needs Chris to win his match. Unfortunately, he loses to his opponent Kyler when he uses Miyagi-Do. Daniel watches the next matches where he is upset that Cobra Kai utilized his teachings and he and Sam conclude that it was his former student Robby who taught them their secrets.
Miguel beats his opponent while Tory beats Devon, causing Eagle Fang to be eliminated from the girls division. Devon tells Johnny that she'll come back stronger next year. She adds that Eagle Fang has a chance of winning if Miguel wins the boys division and the other girls next get eliminated. Daniel confronts Robby about teaching Miyagi-Do to Cobra Kai. Robby tells his former sensei that his goal is to win. Daniel chastises him saying he never learned anything in Miyagi-Do if his only goal is victory. He ends the conversation stating another Miyagi-Do secret: "don't put passion over principle. Even if you win, you lose".
Kyler tells Eli that Demetri is lucky he isn't fighting Cobra Kai and calls him "Lip". Moon approaches him and tells Eli to ignore him. She tells him that Eli isn't a bully but Eli tells her that he doesn't know who he is. Moon adds that even if she admired his mohawk, she liked Eli for his energy and confidence and the two kiss, rekindling their relationship. Inspired, Eli tells Daniel he knows who he is and easily defeats Kyler.
Sam and Cobra Kai rookie Piper face off in the quarterfinals. Despite Piper scoring the first point, Sam goes back on offense and defeats her, advancing to the semifinals. Daniel is curious with how Sam used Eagle Fang. Sam counters with her way is different than her father's.
Despite being members of the same dojo, Robby and Kenny are the next match in the quarterfinals. Kenny thanks him for being his mentor and tells him to not think that he'll go easy. After Kenny scores the first point, Kreese calls a timeout where he is upset with Robby going easy. When the fight resumes Robby now gets aggressive and in the end, Robby kicks Kenny and wins, causing him to advance to the semifinals. When Kenny goes to the locker room, Robby tries to talk to him but Tory tells him he needs to cool off.
Daniel and Johnny argue about how both of their teachings affected Miguel and Sam. The two tell each other to stay away from each other. In the semifinals, former Cobra Kai and Eagle Fang classmates Eli and Miguel are the first match. Eli tells Daniel that he isn't excited to fight his friend but Demetri adds that no one has beaten Miguel. Sam adds that Johnny has taught him how to fight and Daniel tells him to be patient. Johnny, on the other hand, tells Miguel that he's beaten Eli before and take him out. Miguel tells him that him and Eli are friends but Johnny counters saying that Eli is in Miyagi-Do. During the fight, Miguel attempts a flying kick but pulls a muscle and collapses, causing the fight to be put on pause.
Cast
Starring
- Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso
- William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence
- Courtney Henggeler as Amanda LaRusso
- Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz
- Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene
- Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso
- Jacob Bertrand as Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz
- Gianni Decenzo as Demetri Alexopoulos
- Peyton List as Tory Nichols
- Vanessa Rubio as Carmen Diaz
- Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver
- Martin Kove as John Kreese
Guest Starring
- Aedin Mincks as Mitch
- Joe Seo as Kyler Park
- Khalil Everage as Chris
- Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny Payne
- Oona O'Brien as Devon Lee
Co-Starring
Trivia
- The Fall features the first musical guest of the series, grammy award winning artist Carrie Underwood.
- Carrie Underwood's cameo appearance in the series wasn't just a dream for fans, but for Carrie too, since it's one of her favorite shows. "I grew up watching 'Daniel' and 'Johnny' and I can’t believe I actually get to be a small part of the legacy that is the Karate Kid."[1]
- She tweeted about her adoration for the series in 2020, which caught the attention of creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg. They weren't sure it would come together to have her singing in the All Valley, but it was a "match made in heaven".[2]
- They didn't use the song 'They're The Best' that played during the 1984 film in the All Valley Karate Tournament, as they felt it would be a copycat of the movie. The chose 'The Moment of Truth' because it "still has that same 1980s sports-rock anthem vibe".[2]
- Jon Hurwitz spoke of Carrie's presence on set saying, "Carrie was absolutely amazing on set. It was a joy having her join us and seeing her get just as starstruck by our cast as they were by her!". He added that they knew Carrie was a big fan of the series, alongside her family, since her original tweet praising the series when it hit Netflix. They "figured we'd shoot for the moon and see if she'd like to come and play." They needed a well-known singer who could cover Survivor's 'Moment of Truth' and simultaneously shock the All Valley crowd (and our fanbase) by simply appearing. Carrie's team immediately resonded by saying she would love to appear.[3]
- Additionally, the 300 extras that appear in the scene had no idea Carrie was appearing, making their reactions real. Carrie hung around set for hours to take photos and talk to everyone.[3]
- When Kyler says "Lip" to Eli before the fight, Moon tells him to ignore Kyler as he's always been a bully.
- It could be possible that eventually she figured out that Kyler lied about Sam saying she was better than her and Yasmine and that it was all to make Sam look bad.
- This is the first an only episode of Cobra Kai before the season finale so far where the credits theme for the show is replaced with somber music.
- The episode's title can mean a few things;
- Miyagi-Do Karate and Eagle Fang are falling behind through the points thanks to Cobra Kai's win in the skills competition. It can also foreshadow the next episode, where the dojos are forced to shut down, resulting in the fall of Miyagi Do and Eagle Fang thanks to Cobra Kai winning the bet.
- Miguel Diaz breaks his back and decides to not compete in the semifinals in the next episode, thus ending his championship career and resulting in the fall of a former champion.
- The music that plays during Eli and Kyler's All Valley fight is the same music that's heard when the former switches sides and rekindles his friendship with Demetri in December 19.
Gallery
Promotional
Behind the Scenes
