Sensei Kim Da-Eun’s Decision In Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 3 Explained

Warning! Spoilers for Cobra Kai season 6, part 3 ahead!Sensei Kim Da-eun made a tough choice in Cobra Kai season 6, part 3, but it was ultimately clear that she made the right decision. While this character started as strictly villainous when she was first introduced, she began to take a moral turn in the earlier parts of Cobra Kai season 6. Though Sensei Kim had a hard exterior, she genuinely cared about her students' well-being. She became sick of all the inter-dojo drama caused by old rivalries and aimed to make her students winners on the mat rather than bullies off it. Unfortunately, the disaster at the Sekai Taikai changed everything.

Sensei Kim Da-eun was the granddaughter of Master Kim Sun-yung, John Kreese and Terry Silver's old sensei in Cobra Kai. Master Kim was a hard and cruel man, and he raised Kim Da-eun through lessons of pain. While this turned Sensei Kim into a masterful fighter, the old man had never entirely squeezed the compassion and empathy from his granddaughter. For this reason, Sensei Kim was devastated when her student, Kwon, was killed at the Sekai Taikai in Cobra Kai season 6, part 2. Unfortunately, when she returned to South Korea, her grandfather was far less compassionate.

Why Kim Da-Eun Killed Her Grandfather And Not Kreese

Sensei Kim Made A Hard Decision For The Future Of Her Dojang

When Sensei Kim, John Kreese, and the Cobra Kai students returned to South Korea with Kwon's body, Master Kim was furious. He didn't care that a boy had died and instead focused only on the way Kwon's incident reflected on his dojang. Master Kim intended to train his students harder than ever and send them back to the Sekai Taikai tournament at the Valley. However, Kreese enraged the old man further by dismissing the boy Master Kim had selected to replace Kwon. As punishment, Sensei Kim's grandfather ordered her to murder John Kreese.

It was technically Kreese's fault that Kwon had died, so Sensei Kim might have been justified in murdering her friend. However, she realized that this wouldn't serve the future of the dojang. The poison that festered Cobra Kai didn't start with Kreese, but Master Kim. So long as this old teacher lived, Sensei Kim's students would continue to suffer. Kim Da-eun and Master Kim had a short battle during which the woman killed her grandfather with a maneuver he had taught her. The only man only had time to comment on the perfect technique before he fell dead.

What Kim Sun-Yung’s Death Means For The Original Cobra Kai Dojo

Master Kim Was The Source Of Cobra Kai's Problems

With Kim Sun-yung dead, Kim Da-eun became the new Master of the original Cobra Kai. The ending of Cobra Kai season 6, part 3, saw her teaching her students with the same ferocity she had always demonstrated in the series, but with an added touch of compassion and encouragement that they never received from her grandfather. It's implied that this would be a whole new era for South Korea's Cobra Kai.

Master Kim Sun-yung's death symbolized a revolution within the Way of Fist in Cobra Kai. Without the old man's cruelty, Kim Da-eun and, by extension, Johnny Lawrence were free to make a much-needed change. Their students could still be powerful fighters, and the tenets of "Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy" could still be exercised to an extent. However, fairness, compassion, and the well-being of Cobra Kai's students would always come first.

Why Sensei Kim Didn’t Return For The Sekai Taikai Finals With Cobra Kai

Kim Separated Herself From The Global Competition (For Now)

John (Martin Kove) and Kim (Alicia Hannah-Kim) Looking At Something In The Distance In Cobra Kai Season 6 — John and Kim In Cobra Kai Season 6

With Master Kim gone, Kim Da-eun could have brought her students to the Valley for the Sekai Taikai finals. She had the right to put forward a new boys' captain in Kwon's place and guide Tory Nichols to victory. However, the new Master Kim chose to remain in South Korea instead. Though it's not explicitly stated why she made this decision, there are a variety of reasonable explanations. Kim Da-eun was taking a new approach of compassion with her students, and following the death of Kwon and Master Kim, it would have been far too much to drag Cobra Kai back to the stressful competition.

Perhaps this version of Cobra Kai would return to the global tournament in future years—and they would surely be a force to be reconned with.

By staying in South Korea and putting the Sekai Taikai behind them, Master Kim Da-eun and her students could focus on defining themselves as a dojang. Perhaps this version of Cobra Kai would return to the global tournament in future years—and they would surely be a force to be reconned with. As of the end of Cobra Kai season 6, part 3, however, it's far better that Kim Da-eun chose to sit this one out.