Diksha Sundriyal
The sixth season of Netflix’s ‘Cobra Kai’ takes its protagonists to Barcelona to compete in the Sekai Taikai tournament, which pits them against the best of the best in the world. While there is the usual rivalry with Cobra Kai, another dojo enters the picture and immediately becomes the strongest of the lot. The dojo in question is the Iron Dragons, which has fighters from all over the world. While Robby and Sam represent Miyagi-do as its champions, the Iron Dragons are led by Zara and Axel, both of whom prove to be extremely well-trained and seemingly unbeatable. Miyagi-do’s only advantage with them is that there is no personal animosity, unlike with Cobra Kai dojo. But that changes when Axel and Sam cross paths on the streets of Barcelona. SPOILERS AHEAD
Axel Connects With Sam Due to Her Empathetic Nature
When Axel first appears on the mat, he seems to be this invincible force that no one can defeat. He wins each and every fight in the tournament and helps the Iron Dragons get the top spot in the tally. However, behind his mask, invincibility is a torture that he is put through in the name of training. His sensei, Wolf, is ruthless and does not hesitate to physically abuse Axel, who believes that he deserves all of it because the sensei is doing this to make him the best fighter there is.
No one knows what Axel has to go through, which alienates him from everyone, including his teammates. But then, Sam shows up. During one of the training sessions, she witnesses Wolf hitting Axel and feels bad for him. A context of his situation allows her to drop the shield of antagonism that she would usually put up in front of her opponents, considering how cut-throat the world of karate is. But her sympathy with Axel and his staying out of all the drama that all the other opponents seem caught up in allows her to extend a hand of friendship.
It happens on the night Miguel has to fly back to LA when his mother goes into labor, and her situation becomes medically complicated. Everyone else in Barcelona goes out to let off some steam. Later, Sam leaves her group to go out on the beach, where she finds Axel practicing. She also notices scars on his back, which prove how worse the situation actually is with him. At first, Axel is wary of her, especially because he knows she saw him getting hit during training. But then, he offers to walk with her back to the hotel and they have a good conversation.
Their nice walk is interrupted by Kwon his friends, but Axel and Sam beat them up and run away. It is quite an experience, but while it is simply fun for Sam, it means much more for Axel. Unaware of Sam’s relationship with Miguel, Axel tries to kiss her, but she stops him, telling him about Miguel and apologizing for giving him the wrong impression. An embarrassed Axel leaves for the hotel, but that’s not where the story ends.
Axel’s Feelings for Sam End Up Causing More Trouble for Him
While it is clear that Sam is not going to leave Miguel for Axel and is not even minutely interested in exploring anything romantic with Axel, their encounter has impacted Axel. It seems that Axel had been starved for affection, especially since he came under the tutelage of Sensei Wolf. Sam happens to be the first person to empathize with him and make him happy, and Axel believes he could have had something more with Sam if it weren’t for Miguel. So, after her rejection, when he sees her with Miguel, Axel sees an opponent that he must crush. Thus seeds yet another drama between Miyagi-do and the Iron Dragons, as if the thing with Terry Silver wasn’t enough.
Jealousy and anger never lead to anything good, and Axel finds that out soon enough. During the semi-finals, he and Miguel get into an altercation after Robby is hit by Kwon during his match with Axel. Things could have been brought under control, but then, Sensei Ivanov opens the floodgates by attacking Gunther Braun, the head of the tournament. Chaos ensues as it’s open season for anyone to attack anyone, but for the most part, Axel remains occupied with Miguel, who is frustrated over Axel’s attitude and the attraction he has for Sam. Later, when Axel sees Sam being kicked by Kwon, he leaves Miguel and heads towards Kwon, who finds Kreese’s knife and attacks Axel with it. Axel has no idea about the knife, so when he tackles Axel, he has no idea that the Cobra Kai champion is holding a knife. It is not Axel’s fault, but Kwon dies, and this opens a whole new set of problems.
To begin with, Kwon’s death and Axel being the last one to fight him might lead to Axel’s removal from Sekai Taikai, if the tournament continues at all. Even if that doesn’t happen, Sam is quite happy with Miguel and is not going to leave him anytime soon, at least not for Axel. The only thing that might happen in the end is for Axel to leave Sensei Wolf, find a better environment for himself, and maybe even become friends with Sam if he can learn to keep aside his jealousy for Miguel.
Read More: Cobra Kai: How Did Robby and Miguel Become Friends?
