With the anticipated sixth season of Netflix’s Cobra Kai set to premiere Part 1 of their three-part final season, fans are curious about how their favorite characters’ journeys will end.

At the end of the fifth season, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang have teamed up to take down Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), effectively ending Cobra Kai – or, at least, the U.S. branch of the dojo. Now, they must work together to compete in the international karate tournament, Sekai Takai.

As expected, things do not go according to plan because so many external factors will affect the senseis and their students. Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) life may seem perfect, but he finds some unsettling things about Mr. Miyagi that may change everything he’s known about his mentor — and his way of life.  

“I can’t go into detail,” Macchio tells The Nerds of Color. “There are elements throughout the season of [Daniel] chasing the Miyagi mystery of these things that Daniel LaRusso finds that may be unflattering. It leads him down this spiral.”

This season sees Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) becoming a dad again with Miguel’s (Xolo Maridueña) mother Carmen (Vanessa Rubio). Although he’s excited at the idea of being a father again — and, essentially, a “do-over” — his life is a bit of a mess financially. He has to figure out a way to provide for his family. 

Zabka looks forward to Johnny’s life to finally be in a good place. Johnny has always been a bit of a screw-up regarding his life choices. “I wanted [Johnny] to evolve to a better state and for things not to constantly fall out from under him — although they do,” Zabka says. “So, just a conclusion. I’m really pleased with what they came up with and super surprised. I did not see what was coming and what was finally coming.”

Former foe-turned-bestie Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto) still struggles with his romantic life. Everyone seems to be finding love (or being in love), and he’s dealing with that loneliness. Okumoto never expected Chozen’s story to go this way. He never would have considered giving Chozen a “finding love” storyline. 

“Who would have thought that Chozen would even try and find that?” Okumoto shares. “It’s mind-blowing. Hopefully, the audience will go along for that journey and ride that [the writers] gave Chozen.”

As The Karate Kid celebrates its 40th birthday this year, Macchio, Zabka, and Okumoto trust the showrunners –Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald — and writers to give their characters a proper conclusion. As fans of The Karate Kid universe, Hurwitz, Schlossberg, and Heald took delicate care of each character and what made sense for their journey.

“It starts from a place of the character at the beginning when entering this series,” says Schlossberg. “We had an existing box of action figures basically from the original movies, and we and our writers got to play around in different ways. It always starts with just being true to those characters and imagining where they are going forward.”

Zabka is satisfied and believes fans will be happy with how the series will end, but definitely for Part 1. “We just trusted the writers with it,” he says. “They had our best interests at heart when painting these characters in these storylines and weaving them with all the others. I had a feeling of satisfaction in the conclusion. Every season up to now, [Johnny] would walk away carrying something that he had was unresolved and had to do the next season. This time, I feel some closure in a really good way.”

Okumoto agrees and praises the writers for the storylines that worked with their characters. “There’s a lot of trust that you have to have in the writing team and the showrunners,” he reveals. “Every season, they surprise you. They surprised me with the direction of where Chozen was going. They are just incredible in finding those moments that are interesting for us to all play.”

Macchio, who will continue The Karate Kid legacy in the new film version, says he’s happy with Daniel’s path this season. He says the writers have found an entertaining way to bring to life more backstory for Mr. Miyagi and Daniel. 

“I’m dying to tell you this stuff, but it’s the teasing elements where he has moments in his mind with Miyagi and conflicts and resolutions,” Macchio says. “There’s the potential of some really dynamic ways of bringing that story to a conclusion — and in an interesting and entertaining way. So I’m excited about that.”

Cobra Kai Season 6: Part 1 premieres Thursday, July 18 on Netflix.

For more from the cast and creators, check out the full interviews here: