Forged in Fire (2015–…): Season 3, Episode 16 - Redemption - full transcript

- Dozens of the best
bladesmiths in America

have gone head-to-head
for the chance to win

"Forged in Fire."

While some of these elite
craftsmen have succeeded...

- Thank you.
- Many more have fallen short.

Clarence, Brandon, JD, Gabriel,

your blade did not make the cut.

- Tonight, for the first time,

four eliminated competitors
return

for a shot at redemption.

- My biggest concern
right now is not finishing.



- Only one will take home
$10,000

and finally earn the title

"Forged in Fire" champion.

- My name is Gabriel Bell,

and I've been bladesmithing
my entire life.

Competing the first time,
it was a real big shock

to have three hours
to forge a blade.

I'll usually spend
more than three hours

just forging a blade
before heat-treating.

So it's an incredible
time crunch.

I'm hoping
that this time around,

I won't make any silly mistakes

that cost me time
and send me home.

- My name is Clarence Jackson,



and I've been making blades
for nine years.

I went home the first time
because I cracked my blade.

- Did Clarence just put
his blade in the water?

- That's not happening
this time.

I'm here to win the 10,000,

because I have a new baby
on the way.

- My name is Brandon Brink.

The last time I was here,

I ultimately got eliminated

because my choice in
handle materials was below par.

- You've got
a split handle here.

. Today, I hope to redeem myself.

Hopefully, everything will go
the way I plan it to.

- I'm JD Smith.
I'm 67 years old.

The first go-around,

we were required to use
three different ingredients.

Unfortunately, I didn't pay
close enough attention

to the instructions,
and I only used two.

Hence, I had to get cut.

It was a bit tough to swallow.

The only thing I'm really
actually interested in proving

this go-around is I'm as good

as I think I am.

- Welcome back to the Forge.

Today, you get a second shot
at the title and redemption

in front of the world

and our panel of expert judges.

Let's meet them now.

Master bladesmith, Jason Knight,

historic weapons
re-creation specialist,

David Baker,
the deadliest man in this room,

Kali martial artist,
Doug Marcaida.

Today's competition,
you'll be using this.

Two different types
of high-carbon steel,

which you are required
to fuse together with heat

to form a Damascus billet.

Sounds easy enough,

but your road to redemption

is about to get
a little bit bumpier.

From that billet of Damascus,

you must forge a signature blade

in your signature style

that also has a laddered
Damascus pattern.

Ladder patters are achieved
by cutting grooves

into your Damascus billet.

Once the grooves are pressed,
it is ground flat,

removing all of the high spots,

and then forged
to the desired blade shape,

revealing a visible
ladder pattern.

- Forge-welding

ladder-style Damascus...

Brother.

- How you execute that pattern

is also gonna be taken
into consideration

during the judging.

Keep in mind that
in the second round,

you'll be attaching handles
to your blades

to turn them into
fully-functional weapons

that will then be
tested and judged

based on how they perform

in an ice block chop

and slicing through apples.

You will have ten minutes
to work on your design.

You will have three hours
to forge your blades.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

Your ten-minute design
window starts now.

Each one of these guys
has the opportunity

to take the title.

Each one of these guys
is capable of that.

They just have to avoid
making the same costly mistakes

they made last time
they were in the Forge.

- I have some experience
doing Damascus.

Mostly, it fails
and doesn't work.

I'm making a chopper.
It's a type of knife

that I've made before
and feel comfortable with.

A chopper is good for

the type of tests
that we're gonna be doing.

- I'm making a design

based on
a southeast Asian style,

called a barong.

It's kind of a leaf-shaped blade

with a really drastic taper
and thickness,

and there are multiple ways
to make a ladder pattern.

The higher the layer count
in the billet, the more subtle

that grain is.

I'm gonna make
a 13-layer billet.

So this low layer pattern
is gonna be super-bold.

- This particular style of weld
that they're asking us to do,

I've never done before.

But I know that I want to do

some kind of Bowie-style knife.

Beefy, scary, hardcore,
gonna get the job done.

- I've decided
I'm making something

that's very close
to a Pilipino parang,

kind of a leaf-shaped blade
that's gonna be good

for chopping
and also for slicing.

Pattern-welded steel
is a passion of mine.

So I'm gonna be going
for a number of layers

that's perhaps going to be

a bit higher
than the other contestants,

and I'm hoping that's going to
make my blade

stand out above theirs.

- Your ten-minute design
window is closed.

Your three-hour forge
time starts now.

- First challenge
to overcome: Damascus.

Ladder it.

- I have never,
ever even attempted

to do a ladder-style Damascus.

So this is gonna be
a first for me.

- It looks like Brandon
is wrapping all of his pieces

of steel together
with baling wire.

- He can do that.
That is an old-school technique.

- It's really interesting that
that's what he chose to do,

and it seems like welding
with the MIG welder

would be a lot more secure.

- Well, Brandon was here
on our last challenge

with a cold forge,
no electricity or anything.

It might be his comfort zone.

But in a competition like this,
use what's available to you.

- I consider myself a purist.

I like to do everything by hand.

You know, files and hammers...

I'm trying to get away
from modern technology

and go back to the way
it was 100, 200,

even 1,000 years ago.

Oh!

- I think his wire's broken,

and he might be in trouble.

- Yeah, I'm having an issue.

- Well, this is gonna be either
a success or a disaster.

- Let's try this again.

- We got JD and Clarence
over here,

working side-by-side.

- You have to get a good weld
when you begin.

Obviously, that's key.

It's got to be
a solid piece of steel.

I've got everything welded up
as good as it needs to be.

Time to put it in the forge
and have a go at it.

- Where making laddered
Damascus is concerned,

I've actually done this before.

I'm certainly as good as some
and better than most.

- Here's an interesting fact.

The first time that Gabe
ever forged Damascus,

he was at JD's forge.

- How funny is that?

You've got the teacher

and the student
both jockeying for redemption,

and somebody's gotta lose.

- I met JD when I was
eight years old.

I've always admired his work.

So to be, you know,
challenged against the best,

that's... I want to test myself,

and that is definitely a test.

- Gabe claims
I'm the person who taught him

laddered Damascus,
but I don't actually

remember the occasion.

But at my age, there's a lot
of things I don't remember.

- Wow.
- Man, look at how pretty that

all just folded up.

That was gorgeous, man.
- Origami.

- That was amazing.

JD over here,
demonstrating exactly

what it means
to be a master at Damascus.

You have just two hours
remaining to finish your work!

- As I'm working, I realize

I want more layers in my billet.

I watched JD do this
folding process,

so I'm gonna do it the same way.

- He's got his billet
in the vice.

- Good. He's going for
60 layers as well.

- Not quite as smooth as JD,
but he's making it happen.

- Hit. it. Hit it.
Hit it. Hit it.

- Damn it.
- Son of a bitch.

- Brandon's struggling

with individual pieces of steel,

trying to tack them together

by forge-welding
each individual piece.

It's time-consuming
and hard to watch.

- Damn, dude.
- My welds aren't sticking.

My pieces are
all over the place,

and it's similar to nails
on the chalkboard

and nails in your ears.

It's just...
Damn it, man.

Come on.

Hey, it held together.

Look at that.

, yeah.

Get you hot, and we're gonna
throw your ass

under the hammer.

- I do not know
how he can possibly stretch

that blade out enough to...

- But we said that before,

and he made it happen.

Just like he did last time,
he chased the problem

for half of that time,

and then he got locked on,

and he ended up
moving onto the next round.

Gabe's got his billet locked up
in a vise, and he's drawing in

his ladder pattern
with an angle grinder.

- JD Smith taught me

two main points
about making a ladder pattern.

One is that the depth
of the ladder

should be about a third
of the billet,

and then, these ladder patterns

should also be alternating.

So they're offset,
one side from the other.

If you don't grind the rungs
deep enough,

the pattern won't be visible

when you forge
your blade out to shape.

I do my ladder pattern
exactly how JD taught me.

- You have one hour remaining
to finish your work!

- Standing in front of the forge

is quite hot.

It's in excess
of 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit,

plus the fact I've got
another one directly at my back.

So I'm basically cooking

between two forges.

- Worried a little bit
about JD here.

- Starting to feel actually

a little queasy and unwell.

I'm fighting to just
maintain consciousness.

I'm fearing I just won't be
able to continue at all.

- Hey, let's get the medic
over there.

- JD's about to go down.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

- Okay. You need to sit down.
- Oh.

Oh.

- So our medic's over there,
checking out JD.

- Ahh.
- All right. I'm gonna

put this one under your shirt.
- Ohh.

- Hopefully, he doesn't
lose much time,

and he comes back,
and he can make it happen.

This is not an easy competition.

It can take its toll.

This Forge breaks people down,

physically and mentally.

Clarence is starting to work
on his ladder pattern.

Gabe is cruising right along.

He's over there
on the 72-inch belt grinder.

- So here's what I'm really
amazed by...

How much knife Brandon got

out of that piece of steel.

- He'll be able to do surgery
with that thing,

but I don't know
about chopping ice.

- I'm feeling well enough

that I can go back out.

Even though I've lost
quite a bit of time,

I'm determined
to get this piece done.

- JD is back on the floor.

He's back at it,

and he's taken his billet
over to the band saw,

and he's cutting his shape
on the band saw.

- That's just smart work.
- Yeah.

If you begin to forge it
too much on a profile,

then you're gonna
lose your pattern.

So I don't have
a problem with that.

- In an effort to save time,
I'm going to make some cuts

into where the handle should be,

just so I can have
a good platform

before I can begin
my ladder-pattern work

at the grinder.

- You have only 30 minutes
remaining to turn in

your laddered Damascus blades!

Gabe's in the quench.

- Brandon just quenched.

- JD quenched.
- Ooh, JD quenched.

- He's made a hell
of a comeback.

Three of our bladesmiths
have quenched their blades.

One has not.
Clarence, still working on

profiling his blade
over there on the grinder.

- My biggest concern
right now is not finishing.

- Clarence is coming down to the
wire on what he can get done.

- I hope he doesn't make
the same mistake

that he made last time,
which is quenching late.

- But he's got another step
this time.

Once he's quenched,
he's gonna have to etch it,

'cause that's gonna bring out
that pattern so we can see it.

- The voices in my head
are like,

"You don't have time.
You gotta...

You gotta move
onto the next thing.

Stop staying on what you
want to be on."

And I'm listening.

I don't always listen,
but you know, this time,

I'm like, "Yeah.
This is a habit.

I got to move on,
gotta heat treat."

- Boom. Clarence has quenched.

All right.

You've got to remember
to acid etch.

You don't want to see
any of these

redemption challengers

go home on a technicality.

- That exposed pattern...
We need to be able to see it.

- I made a fairly low-layer

Damascus billet,

and so once you put it
in the etch,

that thing just is
black-and-white contrast

and a very bold pattern.

Nothing too subtle
about that pattern.

- Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six,

five, four, three,

two, one.

Your forging time has ended.

- This is where the sensitive
Viking in me

is coming out.

I did want to redeem myself.

But I definitely feel
like I could've done better.

I could've done more,
you know, but I didn't.

- Well, bladesmiths,
that was a hell of a round.

Now, it's time for the judges to
take a closer look at your work.

Gabe, you're up first.

- The blade shape's neat.
I've always loved

that barong shape.

All in all, it feels real good.

That ladder pattern...
Very subtle,

but I think
those low layer-count

Damascus can be really dramatic.

I think you did a great job.
- Clarence, you're up.

Please, present your blade
to the judges.

- Clarence, you have a really

nice-looking pattern
going on here.

How many layers do you have?

- I think it was around 20.
- Uh-huh.

- And then I folded it
three times.

So around 60 is what I imagine.

- Have you ever
done that before?

I haven't done that. No.

Wow. You know,
the blade looks good,

and I wanted to see the
ladder pattern, which you have.

It's... again, you know,

Gabe's was pretty loose
but still a ladder.

Yours is a little tighter,

because you have more layers.

Still kind of rough,

but that's something that,

if you go on
into the next round,

you'll be able to fix.

- JD, you know the deal.

- Well, sir, it's a big blade

with a lot of meat in it still.

At this point,
it's a little bit heavy,

but of course, it could be
addressed in the second round.

What you've done over here...
You can already start

to see the chatoyancy,
the tight welds of your blade.

To me, that was a pleasure
to watch, sir.

Thank you.
- Brandon, you're up.

Please, present your blade
to the judges.

- It is very thin...
Very, very thin,

and how many layers did you use?

- I won't lie.
It's... there's probably

maybe five or six layers.

- So this was the first time
doing a ladder.

- Very first time.

- I noticed you had
a little bit of struggle

pulling that off in here,

because there's no visible
ladder pattern on your blade.

- The judges have examined
your work, and unfortunately,

for one of you, the road
to redemption ends here.

Brandon, your blade did
not make the cut.

Jason will explain.

- Well, Brandon,
we really appreciate

watching you forge out there.

You are one of the few smiths

we have seen take a very
small piece of steel

that we didn't think was enough
and stretch it out.

But the biggest problem is that

you do not have a ladder pattern
in your blade,

and that's why
we're sending you home.

Last time I got eliminated,

I was hurt.

You know, I cried a bit.

But I believe the judges
made the right decision.

The first thing I do
when I get home

is gonna be the exact same thing

I did last time I was here.

I'm gonna fire up the forge,

and I'm gonna swing
that hammer as hard as I can

for as long as I can.

- Congratulations, bladesmiths.

You've made it into
the second round of competition,

which is farther than any of you
have made it before.

In this round,
you'll be attaching handles

to your blades to turn them
into fully-functional weapons.

Gentlemen, as you know, the road
to redemption is never easy.

So things are ramped up
in this round.

In addition to your
first-round parameters,

your blades also must have

a lanyard hole in your handle

and at least one mosaic pin,

a hollow pin with a custom,
decorative inlay

that you will design
using the tubes

and metals provided.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

Your three hours starts now.

So these mosaic pins, Jason...

This is like the square pin
in the round hole thing.

- Yeah. Mosaic pin is
taking different materials

and putting them down
in a tube or a square.

But you can break it
down real easy.

Stick the pins
in there you like.

Put the epoxy in it.

Let it dry.
Go, do something else.

The problem this is gonna be
for the smiths is psychological.

"Oh, my God.
I never did that before.

I don't know how to do it."

- I noticed that JD...
He's already

over at the belt grinder,

and he's just going hog
on that thing.

- I got a couple of cold shuts
in the blade near the tip

that have got to come out
before I can

really advance
to do the work on the handle.

- I don't really have, like,
a big plan going in.

I know that I want to pay
a lot of attention to time.

- What's great about this round
is that none of our smiths

have been here before.

As far as round two goes,

they don't know
what smiths get hung up on.

They don't have
as much familiarity

with the time management
in round two.

- Yep. But I think
Gabe's got the right idea.

He's working on his mosaic pin.

- I'm trying to get
my mosaic pin epoxied and stuff

so it can set and be strong.

So the next thing I'm doing,

the epoxy will be
drying already.

In this round,
the main hurdle I have

is getting the mosaic pin
on the handle.

I've used mosaic pins
many times,

but I've never made
my own before.

I can't help but be
a little worried.

It's gonna be fun.

- You have only two hours
remaining

to finish all your work.

JD, still on the grinder.

He's just been working
on his blade for an hour now.

- During the grinding,
I exposed a bubble,

and I can't even proceed

with the rest of it
until that's eliminated.

- JD and Clarence...
Their inexperience

with this round
is starting to show.

They've spent over half
their time grinding right now,

and that's gonna be an issue.

- More than an hour in,

and I'm still on the grinder.

This is absolutely
the wrong thing

that I should be doing.

I've gotta switch gears,

gotta start
working on my handle.

I got some material

that kind of looks like bone,

and I'm putting it
with some burl.

So I'm gonna create

almost, like, a burl bolster.

I still have to do
the mosaic pin

and a lanyard hole.

So I need to work quickly.

- You have only
60 minutes remaining

to finish your work.

Gabe is looking like
he's probably in the lead.

He's drilled out a lanyard hole,

and he's already glued up
his mosaic pin.

- Once I have the handle on,

I'm feeling much more confident.

Now, I can get that thing
on the grinder

to start moving it along.

- So JD has finally
come off the grinder.

- Finally, I've got this blade
where I feel it needs to be.

Now, I can start to get down
to the business of applying

handle materials.

I'm deciding to go
with some giraffe bone.

It's very nice to work with,

but it can be a little bit

brittle at times.

- JD still has gotta create
that mosaic pin.

- And then sharpen the blade.
- Then sharpen the blade.

That's a lot of work to do.

- If I I should be ableistakes
ato get this done.,

- So I'm grinding
my handle material,

but I'm running out of time.

- Clarence is throwing
material left and right.

- I'm leaning in.
I'm putting pressure on it.

I realize that this epoxy

hasn't really set
like it needs to.

Oh, my God.

- One of Clarence's
scales fell off.

It's on the floor,
next to his foot.

- Oh, man.

- Half of a handle.

What am I gonna do with this?

- Look, none of our competitors

want to go home on a default.

- Oh!

- Oh, something happened.

- Half of JD's scale
just blew off.

- Yeah. I knew it.
- Oh, my God.

- Oh, this is just...
- Madness.

- My handle is shattered,

and at this point, I'm thinking

the contest is over for me.

- 13 minutes left on the clock,

and JD and Clarence's
handle scales broke.

It's just catastrophic.

- The handle at this point
is a hopeless case.

At least I want to hand
in a finished blade.

So I'm just gonna sharpen it,
and that's gonna be it for me.

- Man, this is just bad luck
all the way around,

and poor timemanagement as well.

- Nonsense is happening
right now.

But you know, I can't stop.

I've got to get
my mosaic pin in.

So I'm gonna go ahead and drill
through this handle material.

I'm gonna set my mosaic pin in.

I'm gonna cut off the extra,

and we'll see if it flies.

- What is Gabe
running around for?

- He's gonna make
his handle so polished.

- I want to make sure
my blade looks really good.

There's no time
for walking around.

I have to hustle.

- Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six,

five, four, three,

two, one.

Bladesmiths,
shut down your machines.

Drop your tools.

- That was just
an unrecoverable setback.

- Yeah.
- It was just not gonna happen.

- The handle is beefy,

and my pin doesn't go
all the way through.

That's not what
I wanted to present.

But I look over at JD's blade,
and he doesn't have

any scales on his blade at all.

I don't know what the judges
are gonna make out of all this.

- This is the first time
we've had two bladesmiths fail

to meet the parameters
set in round two.

Because they're not
fully-functional blades,

we cannot test your weapons.

However, the judges
and I still need

to deliberate the results
of this round

to determine who goes
onto the next round

and who has to leave the Forge.

- I'm glad I'm not
in your guys' shoes.

- I'm beginning to think
my strategy

wasn't the right one.

I should've gone
for the handle first.

- Well, gentlemen,
this is the first time

that this has ever happened,
and in a redemption challenge.

Gabe, obviously, is moving
onto the next round.

So let's get
into Clarence and JD.

We'll start
with Clarence's blade.

- It was interesting to watch
Clarence work and ask him,

"You ever made Damascus
like this before?"

"No. Never did it."

And he saw JD do something,

and he was like,
"Oh, I can do that too."

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

So he made 60 layers
of Damascus.

But he also did not
get a mosaic pin.

He got a mosaic inlay,
or a mosaic medallion.

Cool, but not cool enough,

'cause it doesn't go
all the way through.

- A pin has to connect
both sides of the handle.

- It has to anchor.
- Yeah. Exactly.

It has to pass through the tang

to the other side
to be considered a pin,

or else it's a decoration
on one side of the handle.

This handle's held on by glue,
and probably,

if I slapped it on the table,
one of these might pop off.

Do we know that? No.
We're not gonna find out.

- Sure, it doesn't meet
the parameters

of getting
the mosaic pins in there,

but what Clarence did do
was finish a handle.

- All right. Let's move onto
JD's weapon, please, Dave.

- He brought us over
300 layers of steel.

You know, he changed the shape

into something
that's much nicer,

much more usable.

He's moved a bunch of steel,

to where
he almost got through this.

I mean, I just really
admire the work.

I'm just... wish that
that time management

had come into play better

and that we had a knife
that we could run through tests.

- JD came in with
a very big blade,

a lot of work
to do on the metal.

The thing is
JD chased these issues

for two hours,

leaving not enough time
to do the handle.

- When you come into
this competition,

sometimes you have to
abandon rules

that you would have for yourself
in your own shop.

You have to abandon
your own process

and adapt a new one
to fit the situation.

- So based on construction
and execution...

There is no performance.

Doug, have you made
your final decision?

- Yes. I have.
- Dave?

- Yeah.
- Jason?

- Yes.
- All right.

Gentlemen, 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 smiths
to leave the Forge.

The bladesmith leaving
the Forge is...

The bladesmith
leaving the Forge is...

JD.
Your blade did not make the cut.

- JD, you have the distinction
of being the first smith ever

on "Forged in Fire"

to turn in a blade
that had more than

200 layers
in its Damascus pattern,

and it was a joy
to watch you work on that.

But what it came down to
were the parameters

weren't met in the second round,

combined with the fact that,
according to our rules,

we can't test that blade.

Those are the reasons
we've got to let you go.

- I came into this round
wanting to win it.

I'm disappointed the knife

didn't actually get
to be tested.

It feels like déjà vu
all over again.

But I feel better

knowing that I've tried.

It's more of a, like...
I feel like I lost

fair and square, so to say.

- Gabe, Clarence,
congratulations.

You've made it to the final
round of this competition.

- Honestly, I would prefer
to go against JD Smith

for the final challenge,

because I'd be testing myself
against the very best.

But competing against Clarence
I still need to do

my absolute best work.

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

where you will re-create
an iconic weapon from history.

Make no mistake, gentlemen.

This is a tough sword to make.

The last time this was issued
as a final challenge,

one of our competitors
did not meet the parameters.

That weapon is...

the Viking sword.

From the 8th to 11th century,

the Vikings were the scourge
of the northern European coast.

One of their most
effective tools for raiding

and pillaging
was a Viking sword,

a straight-edged, iron sword

with a rounded tip
and double edge.

The Viking sword was built
to break through

an opponent's defenses
using big, slashing blows.

Since the blade was heavy
and usually swung

with one hand,
and large pommel and hilt

were used to balance
the weight of the blade.

Viking swords were often
highly prized

by their owners and given names,

such as Battle Snake
and Dog of the Helmet.

One was featured in the 2007
epic film, "Beowulf."

Your final challenge
must be an effective,

working version of that weapon.

- It was kind of frustrating
to have put in

all that work on the handle

to not have it even

be used in the test.

So this is
a second opportunity to show

that I can actually make

an effective handle,
because, you know,

I'd hate for the world's

last image of me to be,
you know,

the big, kind of, cow bone
handle that I produced.

- You will have five days
at your home forges

to complete this project.

At the end of those five days,
you will return

and present your Viking swords

to our panel of expert judges.

Only after they've submitted
those weapons

to a series of brutal tests

will they declare
one of you the champ

and hand you that check
for 10 grand.

This is your redemption.

This could be your last chance

to show the world
what you're truly capable of.

Good luck, bladesmiths.

We'll see you in five days.

- Best of luck to you.
- Best of luck, man.

So it's day one
in my home forge.

I suppose it
gives me advantages.

I've never made
a Viking sword before,

but I'm feeling confident.

It's a cold forge.
I made it years ago.

This is gonna be something.

By the end of the day,
I'd like to have the sword

at least partially forged,

my point established,

the bevels forged and in place.

If I'm halfway down
the sword blade

and I can finish
forging tomorrow,

that would be ideal.

- We're here at Dragonfly Forge.

Today, we'll be making
the billet

out of two pieces
of forge-welded cable,

which we'll cut, twist, weld.

The cable has about
200 strands each,

so when the two are combined,

it's gonna be about 400 wires
comprising the billet.

That'll make a very,
very strong blade.

Hopefully, I can get
those two put together.

That didn't quite go
how we wanted.

As I was forging the two pieces

of cable together,
the first heat,

I couldn't get
the forge weld to stick.

I just can't get the sweet spot.
I need it to be hot enough.

It's not getting
a full combustion.

That's when it's, like,
so much gas

that it can't all burn.

The next one,
I got a little hotter,

and she stuck.

The welds look great.

- Today, I just wantto

draw out this bar.

I rethought some of the things
from yesterday,

and I think
I was a little rushed.

Today, I'm gonna take my time,

and make sure
I draw out that bar,

and get the metal
kind of slimmed down,

thinner, longer,

and that way,
it'll also be easier to heat.

It's hot. I'm tired.

I'm not used to being tired
from forging.

I'm a little bit worried
about running out of time.

But it's hard to work when
you don't have the energy.

I'm really worn out.

I hope that I can get
through this.

- It's now
the start of day three.

Really looking pretty darn good
at this stage.

The quench is really

the make-or-break point
of the blade.

About ready
for the moment of truth.

I cannot afford a failure.

The absolute worst thing that
can happen during a quench

is to have a fatal crack.

There's no choice but to
start over at that point.

Pretty damn straight.

Looks good.

We're over the largest hump
of the whole project now.

- Day five,

the plan is to finish
everything.

Grind, put the guard
and the handle on,

and quench the blade.

Working a sword
like this by hand,

especially it being

the first of these
that I've done,

a lot of difficulty.

The quench went all right.

We've got quite a bit
of bend in here,

and I of course
don't want to snap it.

This is really frightening.

Got a lot of it out.

I'm ready to finish.

Initially, I had a different
type of pommel setup

that I wanted to do.

I'm not gonna have time.
So I have to improvise.

Well...

We made it work.

So it's good.

- It's now the final day, and
I have all the assembly to do.

Although there's still a lot
to do today,

I'm confident I can pull it off.

The handle is a two-piece
hardwood core over the tang,

and that's gonna be
wrapped in leather.

It's a very simple
and utilitarian handle design.

Okay.
I think that did the trick.

We only have a few hours left.

So I'm engraving
the Roman numerals 13 on here.

13 is a lucky number
in my family.

Wouldn't hurt to have
a little extra luck.

It's time to pack this thing up.

- Gabe, Clarence, welcome back.

You've had five days
at your home forge

to work on your Viking swords,

and we want to hear about it.

We already know this is

an incredibly
difficult sword to make.

Gabe, tell us a little bit about
the construction of your sword.

- Well, the sword I constructed

is actually a composite
of two bundles of cable.

Most of the difficult
challenges went very well,

and some of the small things
I had a little trouble with.

But overall,

it went very well for me.

- Clarence, how'd it go?

- My sword should be called

Blood, Sweat, and Tears,

'cause I went through
plenty of that,

enough for several people.

It was a lot of struggle,

but I put a sword together.

- Well, gentlemen, the road to
redemption is not an easy one.

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

Up first, the sharpness test.

Dave?

- Gentlemen, to test
the sharpness of your blade,

I will be cutting into
our cargo net here.

Now, Gabe, you're up first.
Are you ready for this?

- Definitely.
- All right.

- After previously being
eliminated in the first round,

it feels very redeeming
to make it this far,

and to have been so low,

to come so high
just feels exhilarating.

I'm very confident my blade

is gonna slice
right through the cargo net.

- Well, Gabe, that blade made

pretty short work
of the rope net.

The weight overall
is a nice feel.

Definitely did a good job.

Definitely a sharp weapon
and felt good cutting.

Nicely done, Gabe.
- Thank you.

- All right, Clarence.
Your turn. Are you ready?

- I'm ready.
- Okay.

All right.
So Clarence, a couple of things

I really like about this blade:

the weight is very nice,

and the balance
is very well done.

This big lip
in the handle, though,

is really not very comfortable
on the hand.

But your blade did well.

It cut nicely.
Well done.

So next up, gentlemen,
is the kill test,

and for that,
I'll give you to Doug.

- Bladesmiths, the Viking sword,
wielded by the hands

of the feared Viking warriors,

kill the enemy.

To see how lethal
your weapons are,

I will take your Viking sword
and deliver killing blows

on this ballistics dummy.

Let's see what kind of damage
your weapon can do.

Gabe, you're up first.
You ready?

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

Okay, Gabe,
the handle is comfortable

with the wrapping
that you did there.

It feels good.

As you can see, it lacerated

the chest...
The chest cavity here,

even took out some bones
of the ribs.

It is sharp on both edges
and penetrated easily

on this ballistics dummy,

and most importantly,
it will kill.

Good job.
- Thank you.

- Clarence, you're up next.
Are you ready?

- I'm ready.

- Okay, Clarence,
it feels good to wield.

It's got great balance to it.

The one thing that it didn't do

was cut cleanly

through the ballistics dummy.

It felt like
it was bouncing off,

and I'm wondering ing
that's your edge geometry here,

being thick
and the sharpness of your blade.

But in the cuts that it did do,

the weight did penetrate,
broke some bones.

It penetrated on a deep
thrust coming out,

and that would be
a very lethal wound,

and your weapon will kill.

All right. Bladesmiths,
next up is the strength test.

Dave?

- Now, the Viking sword
was commonly used

in conjunction with a shield.

So to test the strength
of your sword,

I'm going to take four blows
into the wooden shield edges,

two with either edge
of your blade.

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

- Yes, sir.
- All right.

All right, so Gabe,

it's still in
the same shape it was in.

That's good.
It's kept its straightness.

It feels like your edge
held up really nicely.

It definitely cut
into the shield good.

Good job.
- Thank you.

- All right, Clarence,
you're up.

Are you ready?
- I'm ready.

- Okay.

- Gabriel's sword is gorgeous,
of course.

But I actually like the way
my blade looks even more.

The blade's gotten this far.

This is kind of
the moment of truth.

Well, Clarence,
your edge held up nicely.

That handle still, in my hand,
is still a bit of an issue.

But swinging it, the weight
and the balance is really nice.

All in all, well done.
- Thank you.

Now that the testing is over,

I'm glad my sword held up.

This is
a neck-and-neck situation,

and who knows what
the judges' decision will be.

- Gabe, Clarence, your road
to redemption was a gauntlet.

The judges have deliberated,

and they've made
a final decision.

Before that, they have
some feedback for both of you.

Jason?

- Gabe, a couple things

that I really liked
about your sword:

one was that you chose
to use cable to make Damascus.

But I also liked
the symmetry of the blade.

I liked that you put
a fuller in the blade.

I think the handle could've
been a little bit shorter,

but very well done.

- Thank you.
- Clarence, the last time

you were here,
you went out on round one

because of a small crack
in your blade,

a questionable quench.

This time, you made it
all the way until the end.

You brought us a sword
whose experience you've called,

"Blood, sweat, and tears."

I think all the judges here
love the balance of your blade.

In the kill test,

it actually bounced off

the ballistics dummy.

But overall, fantastic job.

- The Forged in Fire
champion is...

Gabe.

Congratulations.

Clarence, your Viking sword
did not make the cut.

Dave will explain.

- Clarence, you've gone way
beyond redeeming yourself.

But what it came down
to was performance.

Because of your edge geometry
and the sharpness of that edge,

in our kill test,

it just underperformed,

and that's why
we're letting you go.

- Clarence, please,
surrender your weapon.

- The first time I competed,

I wound up out in round one.

This time, I've made it through
to the finale.

So I may not be

a "Forged in Fire" champion,

but I have proven to myself

that I can go

much further than I thought.

So there'll be definitely

lots more to look forward to.

- Gabe, congratulations.

You are
the "Forged in Fire" champion

and will be receiving
that check for 10 grand.

If that's not redemption,
I don't know what is, brother.

- Oh, it feels so sweet
after all that.

- I love the dimensions
of that blade.

It's a great cutter.

When I was going through
that rope, it just went...

Right through.

You definitely know
how to put an edge on something.

- I feel like
I've completely redeemed myself.

It feels incredible.

Like, I never thought
that the title,

"Forged in Fire" champion,

would mean as much
as it does to me right now.