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'No mercy' has a whole new meaning.

Cobra Kai season-five spoilers bellow

Explosive! There's no other way to describe the season five finale of Cobra Kai other than jaw-gapingly explosive.

Sure it's grown men having an extended mid-life crisis and teens with overblown egos but that's what we love. The sheer over-dramatised nature of it all and in that, the season five ending is not sparing.

In fact it ups the ante, edging the direction of the show slightly out of its PG safe comfort zone and into much darker territory with a to-the-death fight.

The stakes are high and lives are put at risk in a way that makes Robby (Tanner Buchanan) kicking Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) over a second-floor railing look like child's play.

Enough of this titillating build up, let's get into the action.

It wouldn't be Cobra Kai if a few roundhouse kicks weren't exchanged for a Screaming Eagle or two but this time the fighting took place on multiple fronts. So let's divvy things up for this explainer.

Ah Kreese. For most of the season Kreese (Martin Kove) has been forced to operate on the sidelines, his penal status not leaving much scope for him to plot and scheme.

First his team-up with Tory (Peyton List) to take down Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) goes south, then he is double crossed by Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) who use him for info.

Kreese uncharacteristically admits defeat, bowing out of the fight and by the time we reach the end, Kreese seems to have too.

Sensing that he's nearing the end of his life (who told him his days were numbered?) the disgraced sensei appears to have become a tad philosophical.

He begins to reflect on his past mistakes and suspiciously turns over a new leaf. After all it's never too late to change right? Hmmm.

Embracing the softer side of Kreese causes him to try to broker peace when a fight breaks out in the prison. During the scuffle Kreese is fatally wounded and sings his swan song to the tune of Frank Sinatra's 'My Way'.

Not buying it? Yeah neither were we, but let's put a pin in that for now.

The penultimate episode sees this dynamic trio kidnapped by Cobra Kai. Or so many assumed. When they are freed in the middle of nowhere from their hijacked limo they come face to face with their true abductor, Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan).

Initially the ex Karate Kid baddie blames Daniel for Silver burning down his furniture business and sets about seeking revenge with his fists, as is the Cobra Kai way.

He soon comes to accept that Silver is the one to blame and whips the others into a 'Let's beat down Silver' frenzy.

They all hop back into the limo intent on settling scores with the pony-tailed villain. All except Daniel, who is left stranded as a reward for warning them off this terrible idea.

It turns out Daniel was right (shocking). Thinking they'd catch Silver off guard, Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Don Okumoto), Johnny and Barnes find themselves out numbered and at the losing end of a brawl when Silver sets his goons on them.

Barnes is the first to be knocked out. It's hardly surprising given that it can be assumed he's barely practised in years.

Johnny, under the misguided notion that he can take down the masses, gives Chozen the green light to seek out Silver, who has retreated from the action.

This is where things get truly bleak for the show. During their head-to-head, Chozen clearly has the upper hand. To gain it back Silver resorts to dirty tactics, pulling out one of his collectable swords.

Viewers get the sense that things just got more serious than the tense rivalry we're used to. This fact is underscored by their exchange:

Chozen: "I'm not afraid to kill."

Silver: "And I'm not afraid to die."

This chilling verbal spat is not just words. Chozen follows Silver out into the pool area where a fight to the death ensues. This is a first for Cobra Kai.

Though lives have been endangered multiple times this is the first time there has been a suggested intent to kill which makes viewing all the more hair-raising.

Initially things are looking good for Chozen. Despite earning himself a slash to the arm and the leg he manages to pin Silver to the ground, dagger pointed to his throat. Chozen holds this stance, seemingly choosing honour over a prideful victory.

It only takes a split second for tables to turn; distracted by Johnny's cries, Chozen turns his head and Silver sees his opportunity to steal the upper hand.

He slashes at Chozen, leaving him with a deep gash running along his back. Chozen falls into the pool, blood leaking out of him as it mingles with the water.

An unremorseful Silver leaves him to die while setting off to attend to Miyagi-Do's break in at Cobra Kai headquarters.

He instructs his goons to finish Johnny off.

With Miguel and Robby having finally made amends it was only a matter of time before Tory and Sam (Mary Mouser) called a truce.

This they do in the name of bringing down Silver.

The group concoct a plan to put a stop to Silver's worldwide expansion of Cobra Kai by exposing his beat-down of Stingray (Paul Walter Hauser) . This was the act that led to the framing of Kreese and ultimately Silver's takeover of Cobra Kai.

An ambitious plan but the foursome enlist the help of the rest of Miyagi-Do to break into the Cobra Kai headquarters and steal the incriminating security footage with the view to uploading it online.

Naturally they are ambushed by Cobra Kai thanks to a treacherous snake in the grass. Yes, Mitch, aka Penis Breath, has double-crossed them and joined the other side (it seems he took his unfortunate nickname personally and was exhausted at being the butt of the joke – go figure).

If that's not enough to contend with, the security footage has been erased. Thankfully quick-thinking Tory realises there's another piece of footage that would do the trick instead.

With not much time to waste Miyagi-Do are forced to fend off Cobra Kai's advances while Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo) and Eli 'Hawk' (Jacob Bertrand) try to retrieve the data.

Meanwhile a stranded Daniel is rescued by his wife Amanda (Courtney Henggeler), Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) and Stingray (of all people) who heard about Cobra Kai's plans to attack and feeling remorseful, wants to help.

Daniel and company beat Silver there by moments and unsuccessful try to break up the fight.

Silver arrives just as the incriminating video of him admitting to bribing the ref to ensure Tory's All Valley win is cast onto the Cobra Kai big screen.

The Cobra Kai students are stunned and Silver attempts to get them back onside fail.

Humiliated, the disgraced Silver leaves with his tail between his legs… Or at least that's how things should have gone if he was an actual adult.

Instead in his attempts to reclaim some victory and his students' respect he baits Daniel into a fight.

Daniel steps up to the mat and in all honesty it's not much of a battle. Daniel destroys Silver using Cobra Kai techniques he learnt once upon a Karate Kid day as a student of Silver's.

Silver's defeat leaves his students crestfallen but none more so than Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young), the latest Cobra Kai protégé. He is the first to discard his Cobra Kai rashguard and toss it onto the crumbled mess that is Silver curled up on the floor. The rest follow suit.

Johnny arrives just in time to witness Silver being carted away by police – his criminal actions catching up with him, not least of which is his framing of Kreese, now exposed.

With the help of a conscious Barnes, Johnny is able to best Silver's henchmen.

Those fearing Chozen's fate need not be worried. His injuries were apparently just "flesh wounds".

Silver's downfall has scuppered his chances of getting Cobra Kai in to the world's most illustrious karate tournament, the Sekai Taikai, thus ruining his attempts for global expansion.

This win for Miyagi-Do has raised the teens' spirits, leading to the rekindling of romance between estranged couples Tory and Robby, and Miguel and Sam.

At the peak moment of Silver's disgrace – being ushered into the back of the police car – authorities reveal to Daniel and co that Kreese has died.

They share the same expression of disbelief and quite rightly so. Nothing about Kreese's death was plausible.

Things do start to make sense however when the medics attending to his corpse realise that the bloodstains on his t-shirt are in fact melted red jello. Now that's more Kreese-like. At least more so than his playing the peacemaker.

Kreese fights his way out of present company and escapes prison using a stolen key card.

What he plans on next is unclear but no doubt it'll be the same shadiness we're accustomed to.

Cobra Kai is available on Netflix.