Unpopular Opinion about Axel and the ST

contains spoilers

I've been seeing a lot of posts about Axel and how the writers dug themselves into a pit with his character. Obviously, other viewers have different perceptions of characters than I do, and I totally respect that.

However, I don't think Axel is THE villain.

He's an abused student who had beef with Miguel because he has a crush on Sam. She approached him on the beach and he shared an intimate (not all intimate moments mean romance) with her. The fought Cobra Kai together and he mistook that moment as something romantic and tried to kiss her. The poor guy doesn't know what caring feels like.

When him and Robby were fighting in the last episode, I feel like he held back. I know he saw the fight between Robby and Kwon, so he knew what Robby was capable of. He could have wiped the floor with him but he didn't. I don't think he likes violence. He wants to find calm and balance but his sensei forces him to show no mercy by abusing him. Axel is a trained "soldier" as Kreese would put it.

In Part 3, I think he's going to break free of that and join Miyagi-Do. Him and Sam will build a friendship, heck I'll go out on a limb and say maybe even him and Robby will become friends. Either way, I don't think he'll be the final villain because he isn't a bad guy. Silver will be the final big bad and he will be defeated once and for all.