Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Cobra Kai’ is full of villains, all of whom are connected to each other in ways that define their journeys. In ‘The Karate Kid,’ the villain is Johnny Lawrence, who is influenced by his sensei and father figure, John Kreese, who comes across as a completely irredeemable character who is nothing but evil. However, every villain has an origin story, and over the course of several seasons, the events from Kreese’s past come to light, which paint him as an exceptionally complicated character. One of the major revelations about his life story is the man who influenced him to become the person who shows “no mercy” to his enemies. This man was George Turner. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Captain Turner was John Kreese’s Mentor who Shaped His Life’s Philosophy
“No mercy” is the slogan of Cobra Kai, but the dojo wasn’t the first one to use it. The origin of this phrase is found in Captain George Turner’s speech to his soldiers, where he tells them to engage with their enemies, the Viet Cong, with the thought that either they or the enemy is going to die. He tells them to have “No hesitation, no second thoughts, and no mercy,” and this is the mantra that John Kreese passes on to his students when he opens Cobra Kai.
Not much is known about Turner apart from his connection to Kreese, but all that is enough to show that he was a brutal and merciless person. His and Kreese’s paths crossed in 1968 during the Vietnam War, when he selected the latter to become a part of his special forces team. Their missions would take them into the heart of the enemy territory, which is why Turner trained his soldiers to be the best. It is with him that Kreese and Terry Silver learn the art of karate, including the Tang Soo Do form.
While Turner advocates no mercy, Kreese still has some heart and soul inside him, which prevents him from being a merciless soldier. He cares for the soldiers alongside him, which is why he refuses to carry out his captain’s orders to detonate the bomb that is critical to the mission but which would also blow up one of the men in their unit. This decision proves fatal for the unit as all of them are captured by the Viet Cong. Turner blames the entire situation on Kreese and never stops telling him that he is the reason why more of the men in their unit have to suffer and die because he couldn’t follow orders.
Serving under Captain Turner changes Kreese’s life. It teaches him things that will continue to be a part of him for the rest of his life. At the same time, however, Turner shows his villainous and extremely hatable side to Kreese, and he cannot get past that. The captain wanted the men in his unit to completely forgo their emotions and focus only on the mission. For this, he was ready to do anything, which is why he kept a critical secret from Kreese.
A Personal Loss Leads Kreese to Kill His Own Mentor
Back home, Kreese had a girlfriend named Betsy. He promised to return to her when the war ended and planned to spend the rest of his life with her. However, the twist of fate leads the girl into a car accident, where she dies. The news of her death is relayed to Kreese through mail, but it never reaches him. Turner intercepts it, and seeing that this could be emotionally devastating to Kreese, he decides to keep this news from the soldier as it could threaten the mission.
Later, at the prison camp, the Viet Cong force the soldiers to fight each other to death over a snake pit. Terry Silver is chosen to fight the captain. Knowing that Silver would easily lose, Kreese decides to take his place, but he doesn’t know that the captain has a card up his sleeve. Right before they are about to fight, he tells Kreese about Betsy’s death, and as expected, it emotionally wrecks the man. Turner takes advantage of this and attacks his opponent, but eventually, Kreese turns the fight in his own favor.
There is a moment when Turner has him. Kreese is on the cusp of falling from the bridge into the pit of snakes, but before that can happen, he stabs the captain in the leg, which completely reverses their situation. Now, Kreese watches Turner hanging for dear life from the bridge. At the same time, the US forces arrived, and the Viet Congs were dealt with, which meant that there was no point in the fight anymore. Kreese could’ve helped Turner up and saved his life. Instead, he does nothing and watches the man fall into the snake pit and die. This is when he truly embraces the philosophy of “no mercy,” and we all know how that turns out for him.
Read More: Are John Kreese and Terry Silver Dead in Cobra Kai Season 6?
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