He finds it impossible to reconcile the man he admired with this stranger who did something unforgivable.
Are they one and the same?
Fans cheer loudly for Miyagi while Daniel pleads with him to explain whats happening.
(L to R) William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence, Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso, Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz, Jacob Bertrand as Eli ‘Hawk’ Moskowitz, Gianni DeCenzo as Demetri in Cobra Kai.Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix
Without a second left to ponder, Daniel begins playing defense.
Mr. Miyagi, its me!
Daniel exclaims but the man opposite him remains silent and focused.
Pat Moritaas Mr. MiyagiNetflix
He adds, If this is a lesson, Im not getting it.
Miyagi replies, Lesson?
Pft, proving that he can hear Daniel and understand what hes saying.
Daniel asks Miyagi to talk to him because theres so much hes never told him.
I just need to understand why, he begs.
That was always your problem, Daniel-san.
Just as Miyagi is going to finish him off, something happens.
In theKarate Kiduniverse, this part of Miyagis legacy has never been mentioned.
This part of his story is considered canon.
More on this and the technology they used below in our Q&A.
DEADLINE:You guys did something most thought impossible, you brought back Mr. Miyagi!
just share your secrets.
JON HURWITZ:This was something that was a long time coming.
It was something we werent sure we would do on the show.
We also contacted one of Pats daughters with whom we have a relationship.
We were pleased with the result.
DEADLINE:What can you share about the technologies as they all seem relatively new?
JOSH HEALD:Were not completely versed in it as its not exactly our lane.
But theres a combination of practical and digital and artificial technologies that come together to make it happen.
Theres a real stand-in performer for that moment.
With the voice, it doesnt begin as just computer generated.
We used some technologies that werent available even a year ago.
DEADLINE:Is this something you guys used before?
HURWITZ:We did have a deepfake of young Johnny in Season 5.
HEALD:Yes, for a brief moment in Kreeses prison hallucination.
When he sees the ghosts of his past, one of them is Johnny.
It was a little different because we didnt have the voice technology we do now.
DEADLINE:So for the voice we hear that sounds like Mr. Morita, that is his voice?
Is that why you chose to kill off Kwon Jae-Sung (Brandon H. Lee) at the Sekai Taikai?
HAYDEN SCHLOSSBERG:Absolutely.
So, it was a question of how we wanted things to develop at the Sekai Taikai.
Weve always liked the idea of a brawl between players off the mat.
Then all the players get involved, and the coaches get involved.
So that would take a brawl to another level; it would be explosive.
This situation allowed us to have adults and kids involved in the middle of a karate battle.
We felt that was a wild way to throw the entire tournament into chaos.
It could be anyone from Johnny to Daniel or Silver.
And yet it ends up in the hands of one of the most ferocious students there.
DEADLINE:Would you say the brawl also served to highlight everyones fighting abilities?
HEALD:These five episodes are really,The Empire Strikes Backpart of these three drops.
Its where we see different types of martial arts and events weve never seen before in theKarate Kiduniverse.
We wanted to create this, What the hell is going to happen now?
bang out of situation for all the characters.
Thisinterviewwas edited and condensed for length and clarity.
