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"My sweetheart Yukie, I am sorry, it has been a long time since my last letter. I am so happy to hear that Kanhizakura [Okinawa cherry blossom] is in good health. I am sorry to tell you that I am back in the hospital. Please, do not worry. There is nothing to do except watch TV [television] and think. Think about family. Think about us. Think about where I have been. Think about where I am going. In life, I have always looked for signs to show me the right way. But I got lost. Until I met Daniel-san. His kind heart, strong chi, and loyalty and love for those around him is a guiding light to me. I'm very proud for the man he has become. Even though he still has a hard head. I never thought I would have a family again. Daniel-san has welcomed me into his family. And he has passed on what I teach him in Miyagi-Do to his daughter. Samantha, makes me feel like I am her tanmee [grandfather]. In life, we'll always lose our way. But it is people, not signs, that guide us back to the right path. Do you like that, Yukie? I heard that in a car commercial. Love, Nariyoshi Miyagi."
―Mr. Miyagi's final letter to Yukie, written a few days before Mr. Miyagi passed away in November 2011.[src]

The Right Path is the fourth episode of the third season of Cobra Kai.

Summary[]

Following an important meeting in Japan, Daniel revisits Mr. Miyagi's hometown. Johnny attempts to reconnect with Robby.

Plot[]

In Japan, Daniel attempts to reach an exclusive partnership with Doyona at a meeting. It doesn’t go well, but he’s determined to find a way to make them agree, despite not having a plan in place. A kind Japanese bartender gives him some advice, explaining how the Japanese believe that you can always see someone even after they’re gone. At that moment, Daniel sees a televised advertisement for Mr. Miyagi’s homeland, Okinawa. When Daniel flies across Japan from Tokyo to Okinawa and travels by taxi to Tomi Village, he notices that the area has now been thoroughly commercialized, riddled with international chain brands. A resident explains to Daniel how the construction of a mall helped to provide people with a livelihood under the leadership of Sato. In a stroke of good fortune, Daniel notices Kumiko guiding a group of girls through a dance. When the dance is completed, Kumiko notices Daniel in the audience.

Meanwhile, Kreese continues to teach Cobra Kai and Hawk continues to stand out as his top student, while Miguel’s surgery goes ahead, though it’s unclear for now how successful it was. Johnny also finally goes to see Robby while he’s doing community service at a soup kitchen, but things don’t go well between them, leading to Robby being further embarrassed in front of the other detainees.

At school, Hawk gets jealous of Demetri talking to Moon and destroys his science project. At school, the on-going rivalry between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do continues to boil over, namely during a soccer game that gets physical. The school is still pushing a zero-tolerance policy in regards to violence, so they all get sent to the principal, but of course, it’s Miyagi-Do that is punished, which angers Sam.

An arrogant Kreese visits Johnny at a bar. But his claims of everything he did being for his own good fall on deaf ears, and his attempts to get Johnny back on-side to train Cobra Kai fail. Later, he goes to see Robby in prison and strikes up a connection with the latter. Johnny, meanwhile, continues to have a stronger connection with Miguel, who he once again visits in the hospital, and inspires him to get up and retrieve his phone, but it only results in Miguel falling out of bed onto his head.

Back in Japan, Daniel and Kumiko are having tea at Tomi Village where he shares with her why he finally returned to Japan, and she takes him to Yukie’s house, where she has kept a load of love letters that Mr. Miyagi sent Yukie. In a very moving scene, she reads the last letter, Mr. Miyagi wrote a few days before he passed away. The letter reflects on his life and his relationship with Daniel. Kumiko gets emotional while reading of how proud he was of Daniel, and how Daniel welcomed him into his family and made him feel like Sam’s grandfather. This gives Daniel an idea of what to do next. Daniel and Kumiko are having water at a bar, until their conversation is interrupted by his old rival, Chozen.

Trivia[]

  • The song that plays during the soccer scene, "Rock 'N' Roll Over You" by Moody Blues, is the same song that was previously used in The Karate Kid Part II. The song played in the scene which involved Daniel LaRusso being forced by Chozen to break ice blocks.
  • The soccer montage with the rivaling students fighting can be compared to the soccer scene in The Karate Kid. In fact, when Sam is being reprimanded by Counselor Blatt, she states that "this school sucks". This mirrors Daniel's line in The Karate Kid when he tells the soccer coach "this school sucks, man".
  • Daniel tells Kumiko that he is the same age as Miyagi was when they first met. This is incorrect, as Miyagi was 59 in 1984 and Daniel is 51 until December 2018, the year in which The Right Path allegedly takes place.
    • Ralph Macchio, however, was 58 at the time of the episode's filming.
    • Although, Daniel could probably just be estimating.
  • Hawk showed that he still has feelings for Moon when he sees her talking to Demetri and becomes jealous, as well as the soccer scene when he sees Moon flirting with some guy.
  • This is the first appearance of Chozen since The Karate Kid Part II.
           Cobrakai

Season I
Ace Degenerate | Strike First | Esqueleto | Cobra Kai Never Dies | Counterbalance | Quiver | All Valley | Molting | Different but Same | Mercy

Season II
Mercy Part II | Back in Black | Fire and Ice | The Moment of Truth | All In | Take a Right | Lull | Glory of Love | Pulpo | No Mercy

Season III
Aftermath | Nature Vs. Nurture | Now You're Gonna Pay | The Right Path | Miyagi-Do | King Cobra | Obstáculos | The Good, The Bad, and The Badass | Feel The Night | December 19

Season IV
Let's Begin | First Learn Stand | Then Learn Fly | Bicephaly | Match Point | Kicks Get Chicks | Minefields | Party Time | The Fall | The Rise

Season V
Long, Long Way From Home | Molé | Playing With Fire | Downward Spiral | Extreme Measures | Ouroboros | Bad Eggs | Taikai | Survivors | Head of the Snake

Season VI
Peacetime in the Valley | The Prize | Sleeper | Underdogs | Best of the Best

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