Bladesmiths, welcome to The Forge.
Eric, it's good to see you.
Good to see you.
GRADY: Jesse, you've tallied up a total of $40,000.
And if you win out, you stand a chance at taking home $50,000.
But, Eric, if you came out on top,
that's your first Gladiator of the Forge win.
And you'll get a $5,000 check.
And we'll ask if you wanna come join us in the final battle
of this competition series.
You're gonna be building this, the Acinaces.
DAVID BAKER (VOICEOVER): The Acinaces traces its origin
back to the first millennium BC all across the Mediterranean
region.
This deadly double-edged dagger was used by Roman gladiators
in pairs, allowing them to deliver quick slashes
and deadly strikes upon opponents inside the walls
of the Colosseum.
This weapon was so fierce it was even
believed to have been wielded by Mithras,
the Persian god of the sun.
Now, along with the weapon, we have also
chosen the forge welding technique
that we want you both to use to build your blades.
Now, if you look in the pantry, you'll
see we have stacks of 1095 and 15n20 high carbon steel bars.
We want you to take that steel and turn it
into at least 100-layer twisted Damascus billet
from which you will make your blades.
So work hard, stay sharp.
Your time starts now.
I always have the tendency to pick too
much material at the beginning.
So I set four layers off to the side.
That leaves me with 20 layers, which
means I have to cut and restack 5 pieces to get 100 layers.
So now that my billet is drawn out--
Come on.
--I need to get this thing cut into five pieces.
Jesse's not a big guy.
So I wonder how difficult it's gonna be for him to actually
twist this hot steel.
OK.
Let's see how well this work.
J. NEILSON: Step on the plate.
Stand on those.
You're helping to anchor it and you got better leverage.
[bleep] it.
Good enough for me.
I already have my blade mostly forged to shape,
and I get ready for the quench.
If this quench fails, it could send
me home and end my win streak.
Here we go.
Jesse is now in the oil.
That's great.
It went perfectly.
The blade looks great.
There's no cracks.
I heard no pings.
Things have been going great in this round so far.
So now, I need to make an anthropomorphic handle.
So I grabbed some mild steel.
It'll be a lot lighter in the end, rather than brass.
OK.
My blade looks menacing.
It looks terrifyingly sharp.
The grind lines are pretty much perfect.
And then, my handle is just a person.
[laughs] Sounded great.
ERIC: I'm going to use 22 pieces,
draw it out, split it into five pieces,
restack it, and draw it again.
That'll put me at 110 layers.
I'm scared that once I start twisting,
I'm just gonna see layers start pulling apart.
If this fails, there's no way I'm gonna come
back to win this challenge.
Oh, yeah.
Everything on my steel looks good.
It's time to throw it in the oil.
J. NEILSON: Oh, there you go. All right.
GRADY POWELL: We got two quenched blades.
Colors in that blade look pretty good when
you put it in the oil.
Think I got a good solid blade here.
Some days I even amaze myself.
My sword, it's gotten a lot lighter.
And I wanna make sure I leave that tang
a little on the heavy side and bring that balance back
a little closer to the handle.
Now, it's time to get this handle glued up.
It's a little man.
He, he, he.
The rest of the time I have left is devoted
to sharpening this blade.
I couldn't be happier with the way this blade's turning out.
GRADY POWELL: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bladesmiths, put down your tools.
This round is over.
Bladesmiths, welcome to our strength test.
Today, we have the Roman Throne Chop.
And since you didn't get a chance
to pick the technique or the weapon,
you get to choose who goes first.
What?
- I'll take it. - All right.
Eric, you wanna go first?
Let's do it, bud.
[grunting]
All right, Eric.
I gotta, say, good job, man.
All right.
First of all, there's no deflection, deformation.
It came out nice.
Did a good job.
If we could etch this thing for like another two hours,
this thing would be amazing looking.
But the one complaint I have is there
is a ton of weight on here.
Controlling that during chops, it rolled
over on me a couple times.
Other than that, good job.
Thank you.
All right, Jesse. You're up.
You ready to go?
No.
Well, we're gonna do it anyway.
JESSE: I can tell that the purpose of this chair
is to destroy blades.
It's been such a long road.
But this-- this could be the beginning of the end.
I may not be here for the next battle.
[grunting]
All right, Jesse.
Nice job.
It's nice and light.
It did a good job on the throne.
The edge is fine.
Everything's still tight and true.
Good job.
Thank you.
DOUG MARCAIDA: Gladiators of the Forge, this is it.
This is the sharpness test.
I'm gonna take your weapons and try to cut through these ropes.
Eric, you're up first. You ready for this?
Let's do it, Doug.
Let's do it.
Damn.
Better.
DOUG MARCAIDA: All right, Eric.
Let's talk about your sword here.
You have a sharp edge.
But there is a weight to your weapon
that makes it hard to hold on to.
It did cut most of the ropes.
But overall, it will cut.
Jesse, your turn.
You ready?
- Sure. - All right.
Let's do it.
[bleep].
DOUG MARCAIDA: All right, Jesse.
Let's talk about your weapon here.
First up, your edge cut most of the rope,
except for the last one.
But I cut at different angles.
So I'll call that on me.
But it is sharp.
What I love about this is the balance and weight
you have on your weapon.
Overall, it will cut.
Now, guys, both of your blades performed extremely well
during our tests, which makes for a very difficult decision
for our judges, because now, they have to decide which one
of you is taking home that $5,000 check
and the title of Gladiator of the Forge.
Jesse, if you win, that's seven total wins
and $45,000 in your pocket.
Eric, if you came out on top, that's
your first Gladiator of the Forge
win in a redemption round.
And you'll get a $5,000 check, and we'll
ask if you want to come join us in the final battle
of this competition series.
Our judges did make a final decision.
Gentleman, the Gladiator of the Forge today is--
Jesse, congratulations.
You did it again, man.
Eric, it's been an honor to watch you work.
But unfortunately, your blade did not make the cut
by the smallest of margins.
And J. is gonna tell you why.
J. NEILSON: It basically just came down to weight.
There was so much weight in that handle.
It made it harder to control.
And that's the reason we're sending you home.
I get it.
At least I made you guys work for it this time.
Jesse, that is seven battles and seven victories.
You just won another check for $5,000.
Well done.
You now have $45,000 in your pocket
and you are 7 titles in, with a chance for one more
if you have enough in you to go back in the Forge and battle
again.
What do you say?
Yeah.
Fantastic.
I can see the finish line.
Why not keep going?
What just happened?
I'm somehow the seven time Gladiator of the Forge.
Awesome, man.
Well, congratulations again.
We can't wait to see you battle it out in the final battle.
Well done, man.
Thank you.
I keep on saying that this battle is
closer than my previous battle.
I can't imagine a scenario in which it'll
be closer for the next battle.
I never expected to be fighting for the last 5 grand
to 50 grand.
But I'm gonna keep my place on the throne.