Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 3, Episode 12 - The Zweihander - full transcript

- For two seasons,

America's most talented
bladesmiths

have faced off
in the ultimate competition...

- Gettin' pretty hot
in the kitchen.

- Making some of history's
deadliest weapons.

Now, with the stakes higher
than ever,

a new batch of bladesmiths
enter the Forge

to test their skills.

- W-whoa, watch out, watch out,
watch out!

- Only one will take home
$10,000

- Whoo!
- And be crowned



"Forged in Fire" champion.

- My name's Harry Black.

And I've been a bladesmith
for about 30 years.

I am also a blacksmith,
a silversmith,

and I am
a professional Santa Claus.

- My name's Emiliano Carrillo.
I'm 21.

Being a bladesmith at 21,

it's really easy to get counted
out by the older smiths.

But I think being younger is
gonna give me

a bit of an upper hand.

- My name is Jay Replogle.

Ever since I was a kid,
kung fu fighting my brother,

you know,
with sticks in the backyard,

I've always had a fascination
with knives,



and bladesmithing is just the
mature level of that, I guess.

- My name is Stephan Fowler.

I am 36 years old, and I
am from Atlanta, Georgia.

My favorite part
of making a blade is

at the end of the day
actually holding and being able

to admire the product
of your day's effort.

- Bladesmiths,
welcome to the Forge.

In this arena, every aspect of
your blade-making capabilities

will be tested.

Construction, execution,
performance:

these are just some
of the details

that our judges will be
evaluating.

Let's meet them now.

World-renowned knife-maker
Jason Knight.

Historic weapons re-creation
specialist David Baker.

World-renowned
Kali martial artist

Doug Marcaida.

All right, gentlemen.
In front of you

on your anvils, there's a cloth.

Please remove it.

In this first round,
you will have to forge weld

those cubes of steel together

to make a billet from which
you will make your blades.

But that's not the only wrinkle.

The blades that you forge
must be for friction folders.

- A friction folder is more
of a primitive folding knife.

There's just a pin
that forms a hinge,

and the tail on the back is
supported by the hand,

and allows you to cut without
it closing on your hand.

And it's gonna be
kind of difficult

getting all that done, you know,
within the time.

- After round two,
your finished folders will

then be tested in a ham slice

and splitting a dowel.

You will have ten minutes
to work on your designs.

You will have three hours
to forge your blades.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

Your ten-minute design window
starts...

now.

- And they don't have to use
all those cubes.

- I would use all of the cubes,

but I don't want to say
how I would do it,

because they might hear me.

- I've never made
a friction folder before,

let alone
out of little cubes of steel.

My design I had in mind was
just a basic utility knife.

You know, just very simplistic,

something that works

and does a good job
at what it does.

- I think I'm going to make

a kind of Scandinavian-style
friction folder.

When I was younger, my parents
read me "Lord of the Rings,"

and so when I was finally able

to actually start forging
knives and swords,

all these fantastic things
that I had read about,

I could finally actually bring
into life.

I've only made
one friction folder before,

and it was
probably about that big,

so, going in,
I'm pretty nervous.

- I'm kind of leaning
towards a southwestern bowie.

They tended to have
a very thick spine,

a very pronounced point.

Creating a knife is

not unlike a mother
giving birth to a child.

There's this thing
that wasn't there,

and here it is.

This is what I made.
This is my baby.

- I am drawing
more of a seax blade,

because I'm hoping
that the design will be good

for hacking and cutting.

I've been a Santa Claus
for 35 years.

I love it.

And I do give coal
for Christmas.

- All right, bladesmiths,

your ten-minute design window
has closed.

Your three-hour forging time
starts...

now!

It has begun!

How are they gonna forge weld
all those little cubes together?

- What they should do is

stack them all up...

We got a great welder
over there.

Weld the pieces
all the way closed.

Now you have a solid chunk
of steel.

- I'm intrigued
by this challenge.

Putting pieces of steel together
into a single bar

is just like I'm
putting back together a tomato

before I make tomato sauce.

- If these guys don't get
those cubes cleaned up

and welded together well,

what will happen when they start

to forge out their billet?

- You get voids or cold shuts,

flux trapped in between
the layers.

You don't want that.

You're just trying to get
that flux evenly distributed,

just trying to make sure
everything's nice and clean.

Cleanliness is godliness
with a forge weld.

- Flux is just there to keep
the steel where you're welding

from oxidizing.

- When you use it, oxygen's
not able to get to the surface

to form that scale,

and when you forge weld,
all the flux will squirt out...

you hope.

- I noticed
that Harry and Emiliano

instantly went over
to the MIG welders

and started welding cubes
together.

- Going in, my plan is to weld
this together very quickly.

The material doesn't
really help me in this case,

because instead of having
a big chunk to work from,

it's tons of tiny chunks that I
have to turn into a big one.

So the welds are
the kind of scariest part.

As long as that goes well,
the rest should go smoothly.

- I would like to believe

that forge welding is
a strong suit of mine,

because I've been doing it
for a long time.

My concerns would be making sure
I get a good, strong weld

to begin with.

What makes me believe
that I can win this is

I have a lot of experience,
and...

I'm handsome.

You know what the hottest thing
in the blacksmith shop is?

- I'm the only one in the group

who's never made
a friction folder before.

I'm having to engineer as I go.

- Jay over here put all cubes
one by one into the forge.

- Dave, your face just now was
like, "I don't understand that."

- My plan is
to get my steel heated,

and I'm gonna flatten it
into little pancakes.

It's sort of like
what the Japanese do

with their metal.

They'll get a bloom of steel,

and they'll flatten it
into little pancakes,

and then they stack up
the little pancakes.

- Going this way is, um...

It's like the longest way
around.

- One hour has elapsed!

You have only two hours
remaining

to finish your work!

- Oh, thank God for kilts.

I would not want
to be wearing jeans right now.

I've got to pick up some time.

This is my chance.

This is where I shine.
I can forge.

The big hammers, you can
really get yourself in trouble,

because they put big marks
in steel.

But if you know
how to control them,

they put big marks in steel
right where you want them.

- Ha!
Yeah, he's an opera singer.

Glorious!

- He's just having
a conversation

with himself over there.

I don't know
who he's talking to.

I don't know
who he's yelling at.

Stop staring into the forge,
Stephan.

It's fascinating.
It's fire.

But don't stare in the forge.

- Big blue is being a little
rough on Emiliano over there.

- When I take my billet
to the power hammer

and start drawing it out,

I realize that there are

little cracks that are there.

There's no way I can actually
bring them back together

with the amount of material
that I have.

It's probably not
the best choice,

but I'll keep going

and hope that I can fix them
in the grind.

So, a little behind schedule,
but I think we can make it.

- I noticed, after hammering,

that all of my welds
are not set.

- Harry looks like he's having
some weld issues.

He put his blocks together
in a long billet

and he drew it out,

but he never really
compressed it this way.

- I have a gap
in the billet itself.

I can't believe this.

- I'm a little bit worried
about Harry.

- If I am not able
to set the weld,

it might be me going home.

Ah, crap.

- All of my welds are not set.

If I am not able
to set the weld,

it might be me going home.

- Is he chasing the problem
rather to just chop the area

that he's having problems with?

'Cause he doesn't need
all that metal.

- I'm going to cut that section,

fold it back on itself,

and continue to weld
to make it a solid piece.

- 1 1/2 hours has elapsed!

You have only 90 minutes
remaining

to finish your work!

I know that Jay was a little bit
worried that he was behind.

He's made a hell of a comeback.

- What I'm struggling with
the most right now is

I feel like I have
the weakest design.

Not ever having made
a friction folder,

I feel like I had to go
the very simplest route possible

for me to figure out all the
working parts on the fly.

- I think he's
maybe one of the smiths

who's built a plan
and sticking to the plan

and going... just muscling
right towards it.

- This is crazy.

Yeah, right? It's hot.

- I'm planning to bring
some blacksmith's elements

into the tang to up the ante.

I'm gonna put a scroll in it,

which is gonna form
a nice backstop for your hand

so you've got good, solid
pressure against the handle.

I've got to be careful to do it
with some subtlety.

- Stephan has actually
just forged a little curl

into the tail of his blade.

- He curled it upwards.

I mean, that's gonna be awkward
to hold.

If you want to show me something
I've never seen,

don't do something
that's gonna get you eliminated.

- Emiliano's in the...
He's in the oil.

He went for a quench.

- The heat treat was good,

and now I'm gonna grind.

- I realize that there's a crack

on the spine of the blade.

It seems to be just aesthetic,

but I'm not sure.

But if I were to take a lot
of material off of the blade,

I think it would disappear,

but I don't want to hand in
a blade that's too thin.

It's a hard decision,

but I'm gonna leave it as-is.

- Anybody see
where Harry disappeared to?

There he is.
He's over at the grinder.

- He couldn't be very difficult
to find.

- Santa Claus never gets seen.

- Harry's blade looks
a lot better

now that he's got his issues
worked out.

- I've been moving pretty good
with the forging.

Now I'm ready to quench.

I hope that I don't get a warp.

Fire!

I see a straight blade.

My welds held.

There's no delaminations.

I'm feeling pretty confident

that I can move on
to the next round.

- Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six,

five, four, three,

two, one!

Bladesmiths,
shut down your machines!

Drop your tools!

- Don't drop your blade
on the ground.

- I feel pretty good,

but I guess you always wish
you had more time,

but that's not the nature
of the game, you know.

When the buzzer goes off,
that's what you got.

- All the things I could've
done differently

are starting to go
through my head,

and I'm hoping
that they don't find

too big of an issue
with the blade.

- All right, bladesmiths,

now it's time for the judges
to look at your work.

Stephan, please present
your blade to the judges.

- Well, Steve,
you killed it out there.

I like how you rounded
your spine over here,

and I like the design.

Definitely like
the Maori fin up there.

- It's gonna be interesting
to see

how you tie this into a handle
that's comfortable.

- The idea is,
if I've got the lengths correct,

that'll serve as a backstop
for the heel of your hand.

- That would be great.

- Harry?

- Nice design.

I mean,
it's got a good spine to it.

Got a nice, straight
razor's edge over there.

It should perform great
during our testing

if it goes through.

- Thank you.

- Jay, you're up.

- For someone who started out
looking concerned,

you just did a beautiful job.

- The blade is probably one
of the cleanest welded blades

that we have here.

I also like the shape.
Well done.

- Thank you.

- Emiliano, you're up.

- Your design is really nice,

but the part that concerns me is
right in there.

This is an area
that did not weld,

so that would be a cold shut,

and it goes from here,

and I can see it all the way
across the spine

right through here.

That's where a break
would happen,

and that's a problem.

- Bladesmiths, the judges have
examined your work,

and, unfortunately,

it's time for one of you
to leave the Forge.

Emiliano,

your blade did not make the cut.

- Emiliano, you brought us
a beautiful design,

but when we have a cold shut
on a blade

that travels across the spine,

that's a possible point
of failure,

and when it goes unaddressed,

as hard as we test these blades,

well, it's a major problem.

That's why we've got
to let you go.

- I understand.

- Emiliano, please surrender
your blade.

- I do agree with the judges.

With cracks like that,
if they weren't addressed,

the blade would be dangerous
to use.

But I'm really happy to have
met all the people I've met.

And no matter what, I'm happy
that I got this opportunity.

- Congratulations.

Now it's time
for the second round.

In this round of competition,

you'll be attaching handles
to your blades

to turn them
into fully functional

friction folders.

The blade parameters are
as follows:

The entire cutting edge
of your blade and tip must fit

within the handle material,

and it should open and close
easily.

Additionally, more than half
of your tail must rest

in or on the spine
of your handles.

Once you have completed
your friction folders,

they will be tested
in a ham slice

and splitting a dowel.

You will have three hours
in this round.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

Your three hours starts now.

- And away we go.

- If I was doing this,

I would probably go
with kind of, like,

a frame construction
with one side open,

and then the pivot pin.

But in that,
I'd want to make sure I built it

where I had a stop for my tail.

- There's a lot of places
that these can go wrong.

But it's not elaborate.

You're using solid pieces.

You're creating that pocket,

but it's how they fit that blade
into that pocket

that's gonna be
very interesting.

- It looks like
Stephan and Jay are both

redrawing their designs.

Jay's first friction folder
ever,

he wants to make sure
that he gets it right.

- What's going
through my mind is,

"I hope you know
what you're doing,"

and "I just hope you can get it
all together,"

you know, "in three hours."

- I'm making a handle
out of several pieces.

I've got G10 liner, I've got
a different color G10 scale,

and then I've got
a brass bolster on top.

Gentle! Gentle!

Small drops. Small drops.

- Stephan's friends
have showed up.

- He is chatting away.

- Oh, you're gonna be too small.
You really are.

You screwing me?
What are we doing?

Don't get crazy.

- Sometimes when you can't find
any other intelligent folks

to carry on a conversation,

you just talk to yourself.

- I'm choosing
a laminated composite wood

to give a little bit more flair.

Give them something to look at

instead of just plastic rims
on a car.

- One hour has elapsed.

You have two hours remaining
to finish your work.

- The speed is beginning
to increase.

- At this point, I'm just trying
to concentrate

on getting the handle fitted
together, finished.

Didn't like the color,
once I got everything cut out

and started putting it together.

Boy, that looks ugly,

but I'm just gonna roll with it.

I love that face.

That's the "it'll do" face.

"Eh, it'll do."

Stephan, actually... he's made
such a complex handle.

- Come on.

Don't fight me.

- His movements are getting
a little bit frantic.

- I really need to get
into finishing this,

and I'm... I feel
like I'm behind right now.

I've got seven pieces
and three pins

that all have to line up
perfectly,

or the blade won't open.

Blade doesn't open,

you kind of get sent home.

How are we gonna put this
together?

- Harry over here...
His handle is still in pieces.

- Whenever I drilled
my pivot hole during round one,

I didn't drill it
in the right place.

The blade won't rest correctly
in the handle,

because there is nothing to stop
the blade from falling out,

from closing on your hand.

The blade is gonna be unsafe
to use.

You've got to be
frickin' kidding me.

If I am not able
to get this right,

I'm finished.

- You've got to be
frickin' kidding me.

Whenever I drilled
my pivot hole,

I didn't drill it
in the right place.

The blade is gonna be unsafe
to use.

So I'm going to make sure

that I have a pin on the
back spine of the handle

that will hold the tail
of the folder open.

I believe that I've got
my problem worked out,

so now I'm just going to try
to get it all put together.

- You have just 60 minutes
remaining

to finish your work!

Jay's construction's
coming along.

I mean, for a guy
who's never done

a friction folder,

he's kicking ass
in this competition.

- I'm concerned
about the finish on my blade.

It looks terrible.

And I'm sad about it.

I just won't have time.

- Harry's handle looks
the roughest right now.

- Right now,
my blade is not sharpened.

I need to get the pin set,

and I need to do a little bit
of finish work.

I'm concerned with not being
able to have enough time.

- You have only 30 minutes
remaining.

- I've got a knife.
It's together.

The challenge for me
right now is

to really put out the knife
that I want to put out.

I'm confident
I can get this done.

I'm not as confident I can get
it done before the end of time.

- Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six,

five, four, three,

two, one.

Drop your tools.
Your work is done.

- I've done everything I can do
to really nail this knife down,

and now I just got to see
how well it does

in somebody else's hands.

- I guess you start
looking around,

and it's like, "Man,"
you know, "These guys,

they really know
what they're doing."

It's a toss-up, you know?
It could be you or them.

- Bladesmiths,
this is the strength test.

To test the strength
and durability

of your friction folders,

I'll be hammering them
on the spine and the tip

into these dowels.

If your folders are
strong enough,

they should hold up.

Stephan, you're up.
You ready?

- Huh!

- All right.

- I'm almost shivering,
I'm so nervous right now.

But it's kind of relieving
to get to go first.

I think I'd be more nervous

if I got to see
the other knives perform great,

and then have to wonder
if my knife is gonna hold up.

- Well, Stephan, your blade
held up pretty decently.

My biggest issue is this is
just kind of in an awkward spot.

Maybe a little longer,
or a little shorter, or flush.

I don't really want to grab it
here or here.

I want to grab it right here.

So, although I initially liked
the scroll,

I wish that it wasn't there.

But it opens nice.

Overall, good job.

- Thank you.

- Jay, you ready?

- Yeah. I guess.

You better be.

- Well, Jay, that was no problem
for you knife.

Everything seems
to still function properly.

So, overall, you did great.

- Thank you.

- Harry, you ready?
- I'm ready.

- All right.

- I'm a little bit nervous

on how the construction
and the solidness of it

is gonna hold up.

- Well, Harry, there's a little,
little bit of looseness in here.

With friction folders,

the friction increases
as you close,

so they'll stay closed,

and increases as it opens

so it'll stay open.

When I first closed it,
it was tight,

but now it's a little
on the loose side.

And that's a problem.

Next up is the sharpness test.

- Bladesmiths, to see
how sharp your blades are,

I'll take your friction folder,

and I will slice three times
on this pork shoulder.

Let's see how sharp
your blades are.

Steve, you're up first.
You ready?

- Absolutely.

- Let's do this.

All right, Steve.
Your tail over here...

I would've preferred to see it
flushed,

because that curlicue is gonna
impede on the palm of my hand

and make it feel uncomfortable.

But overall, it will cut.

Good job, sir.

Jay, you're up next. You ready?

- Yeah.

- Let's do this.

- For some reason,
I was thinking, like,

Grandma's honey-baked ham,
slicing.

Instead, it looks like a set
on a horror film or something.

You know?
It's kind of freaking me out.

- Okay, Jay, the feel of your
handle over here is really good.

The way it's flushed in there,

I can easily either index
with my thumb

to add pressure cuts,

or my whole hand.

And as you can see,
your blade will cut.

Good job.

- Thank you.

- Harry, you're up.
You ready?

- I'm ready.
- Let's do this.

Okay, Harry.

Your edge design is
nice and straight.

The one issue is
that as a friction folder,

this... it's lost its friction.

But overall, as you can see,
it'll cut.

- Thank you.

- Gentlemen, I'm gonna have you
step off the Forge floor

while the judges deliberate
which of you moves on

to the final.

- Oh, boy.
Well, here we go.

- How freaked out are you
right now?

- Oh, yeah.
- All right, judges,

are there blades here
that are moving forward,

no doubt in your mind?

- Jay's blade...

The lines on that blade are
fantastic,

the way it just moves perfectly
all the way.

It locks up nice and tight
at the end,

but the action's clean
all the way down.

You know, it doesn't fall loose.

I'm really impressed
with this knife.

- Okay. Let's move on
to Stephan's blade.

- The friction folder
that he has on this

has a nice, good friction to it

that it's not loose at all.

One issue I have is
with this tail,

with this little curl up here,

because what happens is

if you're gonna use it as a stop

for your hand,
to know where it is,

it forces you to choke up
all the way up front.

But then if I come down here,
it is not safe,

because there's just nothing
holding on

to the blade over there.

- That tail. I love the tail.
- Oh, yeah.

- Yeah, but it might bite me,
you know?

- Let's move on
to Harry's blade.

Jason?

- His handle is very blocky,

and that's where we got
the blade loosening

right here at the pivot.

When I first picked
the folder up

before batoning it
through the dowel,

it was tight,

but after the test, it's loose.

That's bad.

- That handle and everything
I was having to do to it,

I felt quite a bit of pressure.

- Oh, yeah.
- Yeah.

- All right, gentlemen,

have you made
your final decision?

Doug?
- Yes, I have.

- Dave?
- Yes.

- Jason?
- Yeah, man.

- Let's go tell our smiths.

The judges have completed
their deliberation,

and they've made
a final decision.

It's time for one of you
to leave the Forge.

- Bladesmiths,

it's time for one of you
to leave the Forge.

Harry, your weapon
did not make the cut.

- Well, Harry, your blade was
one of the cleanest blades

that we had in here.

I mean, it looked
like it had been machined.

However,
when we did the dowel test,

the blade loosened up
in the handle,

so your friction folder
lost its friction,

and we consider that
a structural failure.

And that's why we have
to send you home.

- Harry, please surrender
your weapon.

- I made the knife.
I know what was wrong with it.

I can understand.

I'm good with that.

I might not be the next
"Forged in Fire" champion,

but come December,

I'm gonna be a Santa champion

to a lot of little people.

- Jay, Stephan, congratulations.

You're both in the final round.

Now we're sending you
back to your home forges,

where you're
nice and comfortable,

to make an iconic weapon
from history...

The Zweihander.

- The Zweihander, which means
"two hander" in German,

was a massive sword
wielded by Swiss and German

mercenary armies
in the 16th century.

Sometimes stretching
to over six feet in length,

the Zweihander was a long
sword featuring an extended grip

and broad guard.

As European armies employed
more pikes and polearms

on the battlefield,

the Zweihander emerged
as a counter-weapon.

This enormous sword was used

to break up pike formations
by cutting spear ends

and opening up holes
in enemy lines.

Due to its size, the
Zweihander was only wielded

by the biggest
and most audacious soldiers.

If these soldiers survived
charges into enemy spears,

they would often be paid
double for their substantial risk.

The Zweihander eventually
faded from the battlefield,

but survives today in games
such as "Dark Souls."

It must be an effective
working version of that weapon.

- I've never made a Zweihander
before.

Of course, I'd never made
a friction folder either,

but that turned out okay, right?

- Your blade must have
a double-edged,

flamberge blade,

guard, ricasso, pommel,

and two lugs.

You will have five days
at your home forge

to complete this challenge.

At the end of those five days,

you will return
and present your weapons

to our panel of expert judges.

Only after they've
submitted them

to a series of brutal tests,

will they declare one of you
the champion.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

We'll see you in five days.

- Yeah!

- So, it's day one,
and we're getting started

on this Zweihander flamberge.

This is the biggest sword
I've ever done.

Today, we're gonna forge
the Damascus

and get our rough forge blank,
hopefully.

I'm looking for about 200-,
maybe 250-layer

ladder-pattern Damascus.

One thing I like to do
when I really want to just

kind of get into it and

rock it out,

I'll eat a super-spicy pepper.

Let's go!

I've got my Damascus made.

I've got my sword
rough blank forged.

Oh!
Hey!

And I'm ready to go
into patterning

first thing in the morning.

That means I did good.

- Here we are
in Sparta, Tennessee,

at my shop.

My game plan
is to first do a design,

and then we'll just go
straight to forging.

This sword is just epic.

I mean,
this is as big as it gets,

as far as swords go,

so it's gonna be
a real challenge.

I've never made anything
this big.

I mean, the overall thing is
gonna be five feet.

It's a physical challenge

as much as it is, you know,
a forging challenge.

You know, it's like CrossFit
forging or something.

But clock's ticking.
Got to get it done.

- So, today's day two,
and I need to get the scallops

into the edge of the blade,

which is the wavy lines there.

Yeah, I'm...
I'm a little nervous.

Once I start grinding these in,

that's what it is.

There's no mulligans here.

No do-overs.
This ain't a kiddy's game.

Do it once or start over.

There's a ceiling up there.

This is insane!

I hope that looks good,
'cause that's what it is now.

- So far, it's coming together
really good.

My grind marks meet up right
here in the center really good.

Now it's time to quench.

Getting a even heat
over such a long piece is

definitely the make-or-break,
you know?

If the quench doesn't go good,

we gonna have to start all over.

When you have a five-foot blade,

that means you have to have
almost a five-foot quench tank,

which means now to get the blade
in the quench tank,

you're at ten feet in the air.

This could be pretty bad.

- When you have
a five-foot blade,

that means you have to have
almost a five-foot quench tank,

which means now to get the blade
in the quench tank,

you're at ten feet in the air.

This could be pretty bad
if the quench doesn't go good.

We gonna have to start all over.

Didn't break.

That's what I was hoping for.

Now I can start working
on the guard.

- The scallops look good.

I got the handle glued on
and tightened down.

So, today, we're gonna
get it sharp and test it.

I'll see your watermelon

and raise you a bucket.

Wait a second.

That's not good.

So, I'm noticing that there's
a little bit of a mismatch

between the quillons...

These arms on the guard.

And the blade... they
don't line up really well,

and that's a problem,

because when you go to cut
with the blade,

the quillons are gonna drag
the balance of the blade,

so if they don't line up
with where your handle is,

the quillons are gonna
drag the blade out of the cut,

and you're not gonna get a cut.

This is bad..

If I can't fix it with a hammer,

I'm in trouble.

- I'm pretty happy
with this sword.

I've put the wiggle shapes
in it.

So, today I'm gonna
wrap the handle in leather,

and it'll make
a super-tough handle

that should be able
to take the impacts.

The string helps everything get
nice and tight.

This blade is a beast.

It's gonna be able
to take some punishment

and deal some punishment.

It will cut.

- Welcome back.

Your Zweihanders are big,

so we came to a big,
open space to test them.

How did it go at home?
Stephan?

- It's a 35-inch blade length
Zweihander.

Wrought iron guard and pommel.

Threaded, full-construction
ladder Damascus blade

with a fluted and twisted
wire-inlay handle.

- Jay, how'd it go for you?

- Pretty good.

The hand guard and pommel are
both hand-forged

with a oak handle
covered in leather.

- Nice.

Your weapons will now be put
through a series of three tests.

The sharpness test.

Dave?

- Now, the Zweihander was known
as a weapon of intimidation,

and to test the sharpness
of your edge,

I'm going to cut into this
bundle of sugarcane twice...

Once with either side.

Jay, you're up first.
Are you ready?

- Ready as I'm ever gonna be.

I know my blade's sharp.
I know it'll do good.

I'm expecting something epic.

But, until it's
really put to the test,

you just never know.

- It's got a lot of weight
to it.

But obviously it's plenty sharp.

Nicely done.
- Thank you.

U.

- All right, Stephan, you're up.
Are you ready?

- Can't wait.

Jay's weapon did really well

cutting through the sugarcanes.

I'm not nervous about mine,

but, you know, I don't know

if it's gonna cut
better than his.

His cut real strong.

- It's light.
It's easy to wield.

That guard...

It's almost where it's into you
when you're swinging it.

You can see it cut deep
and clean.

It looks like the blade
held up beautifully.

So, nice job.

- Thank you.

- Bladesmiths, the Zweihander
was a weapon of war.

Big weapon, big damage.

I will take your weapon
and deliver killing blows

on this ballistic dummy.

Let's see how much damage
your weapon can do.

Jay, you're up first.
You ready?

- Go for it.
- Let's do this.

- It is a heavy weight,

and it's harder to manipulate
with multiple blows.

But on the thrust,

I was able to go in one side,

and all the way out
the opposite side of the dummy.

This, sir, will kill.

- Thank you.

- Stephan, you're up next.
You ready?

- Absolutely.
- Let's do this.

- That was brutal.

- Okay, Steve.

The edge of your sword is
sharp enough

to lacerate all the way
into the ribs.

And on the power strike,
that would disembowel

and ruin this person.

- That's the idea.

- This sword will kill.

Good job.
- Thank you.

- Gentlemen,
this is the strength test.

Now, the Zweihander was often
used against pike formations,

so I'm gonna take
your Zweihanders

and go against a rack of pikes
here

five times
with each of your blades,

see how far
it can break through.

Jay, you're up.
Are you ready?

- Ready.

After two tests, Stephan and I
are pretty neck and neck,

so I feel pretty nervous,

because this next test should
really determine

who is gonna take home
the prize.

- Gentlemen,
this is the strength test.

Jay, you're up. Are you ready?

- Ready.

Wow.

When you start
swinging this thing,

it moves things out of its way.

I don't see any damage
to your edge.

Nicely done.

- Thank you.

- All right, Stephan, you're up.

- Do it.
- Okay.

- The third test
is probably the one

I'm the most confident about.

You know, I've beat the heck
out of this sword,

and it's doing well,
so now it's just,

"How much mayhem
can Dave cause?"

Obviously it's a good cutter.

It actually bit into that wood
and split that

right down the middle.

Very easy to wield
because of its light weight.

But I think we've bent
just a little bit.

It's bent in two directions.

And there is a crack
now developing in the handle.

- Gentlemen,
we've got a lot to discuss.

We'll see you back at the Forge.

- I'm concerned.
I had a warp in my blade,

so I don't know
who's gonna end up with the win.

- Bladesmiths, the judges
have made their final decision,

but before I tell you
what that is,

they have some feedback
for both of you.

Jason?

- Stephan, I really liked

that you made a blade
out of Damascus.

I also liked the weight
of your blade

and the symmetry after the lugs.

Overall, you did well.

It was a very difficult
challenge to go through.

- Thank you.

- Doug?
- Jay, you brought us

a beautiful sword
that's very powerful.

It is sharp where it obliterated
some of the pikes,

but it did not come apart.

Though heavy,
it's within the parameters

of what that sword would do.

It's wieldable,
and it does a lot of damage.

Good work.
- Thank you.

- It's time to declare
one of you

the "Forged in Fire" champion.

Jay,

congratulations.

Stephan, unfortunately,
your sword did not make the cut.

Dave will explain.

- Stephan, I think
what you did with your steel is

visually stunning.

But what this came down to
was the strength test.

When your handle developed
a bend in two directions,

that caused a stress fracture
in the handle,

as well as a slight bend
right where the lugs are.

And it's those reasons combined

that are sending you home.

- I understand.

- Stephan,
please surrender your weapon.

- I'm disappointed.
I really wanted to win.

But that's okay.

I loved being at the Forge.

It's hot. It's dirty.
You'll smell funny.

But it is so rewarding.

- Jay, congratulations.

You are the "Forged in Fire"
champion.

Good job.

- Thank you.

- How do you feel right now?
- Ugh!

I feel like my heart's
about to burst out of my chest.

- Well,
that's the heaviest weapon

I've ever had to wield
in this competition.

A very well balanced
and powerful weapon, too.

- Thank you.

- And the way you built
your handle...

That tells me a lot

about the way
that you make things.

The wood is fitted on
and then wrapped with leather

with these reinforcing pieces
underneath.

That's the proper way
to construct it.

- Thank you.

- Well, Jay,
in exchange for that sword

and those socks...

You will be receiving that check
for $10,000.

- When they announced
that I was the winner,

it felt really good.

I've had people tell me,
you know,

"You're good at what you do,"
but I always have

this kind of self-doubt.

To make it all the way to
the end and be the champion,

I'm so happy.