All right, guys, congratulations.
It is now down to the two of you to battle it out,
figure out who's going home with the title of Forged in Fire
champion and a check for $10,000.
In round three, we're going to be sending
you guys back to your home forges
to work on this blade for four days.
The blade we're going to have you guys build is this.
The William Wallace sword.
Big'un right?
NARRATOR: Armed with his gigantic, two-handed claymore,
William Wallace was known for leading
the Scottish rebellion against the English
during the late 12th century.
Measuring in at a staggering 5 foot 4 inches tall,
the blade weighed less than 6 pounds,
making it both lightweight and long enough
to deliver deadly blows against the enemy on horseback
or on foot.
Wallace led his troops to victory with his namesake sword
during the famous Battle of Stirling Bridge.
Memorialized as a Scottish hero, Wallace
can be seen wielding his iconic sword in the 1995 blockbuster,
"Braveheart."
This is the largest sword we've ever
asked any bladesmiths to make.
One look at that beautiful sword, and I think, nope.
[laughs]
You've got to make your blades within these parameters.
The blade length needs to be between 51
and 53 inches with a blade width no less than 2 inches.
You guys need to have a guard with upswept quillians,
langei, and two side rings.
Need to include a two-handed handle,
and top it off with a pommel.
The best of luck to both of you guys.
We'll see you back in the forge in four days.
[music playing]
Here we are.
Round three.
Championship round.
Let's start this bad boy out.
And a big challenge making a big sword.
I've made a few swords, but never have I
made anything of this caliber.
That's a 32 inch blade.
I need 20 more inches.
The key to victory with a weapon this size is performance,
and it's all about that heat treat.
That is the most critical part.
Yeah.
Oh, that looks great.
I like it, I like it, I like it.
[sizzling]
Just a little fire.
Whoo!
It seems to have taken great.
I am ecstatic.
That went wonderfully.
Oh, man, I'm feeling great.
This sword is enormous, and it is light.
I want to wield this thing.
There's not a lot of reasons to walk around town
with a chainmail shirt, unless you have a William
Wallace sword, then of course, you should
have a chainmail shirt on.
That's pretty nice.
That cut really well.
I'm back in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, my home forge.
I got to make a William Wallace sword.
It's a beastly sword.
Today, I would like to get the blade drawn out
to rough parameters, hopefully.
I can't screw this up.
I only have one piece of this.
So now that I've got my rough shape formed in,
I get the angle grinder that way I can look
for [inaudible] and cracks.
Looks good.
I don't see the cracks.
I have to get this quench done.
Here we go.
I'm just worried about something going wrong with this
because it takes way too much time to make this,
and I don't have enough time to do another one.
Get in there.
Come on, you [bleep].
[sizzling]
[grinding]
Got a little bit of a warp in it, but it's not bad.
I'm pretty happy with it.
It's time to start putting all the pieces of this sword
together.
I slipped the guard down on my sword.
And the challenge is just making sure everything fits tight
and there's no wiggling, there's no moving.
Because if they hit it off something
and if something loosens up, I could go home.
I'm really happy with the way it looks.
Big sword for a big guy.
All right, bladesmiths.
Welcome to the kill test.
To find out what kind of lethal damage
your iconic William Wallace swords will do,
I will take your sword and deliver lethal blows
on this wild boar carcass.
James, you're up first.
You ready for this?
Yes, I am.
All right, let's do it.
Those hogs can take out a weapon pretty easily.
It could wrap around the side of the hog instead
of cutting into the hog.
And all that momentum could go into bending the blade
rather than slicing into the pig,
and that makes me very nervous.
That is massive.
[music playing]
Whoa.
[thud]
All right, James.
Let's talk about your blade here.
Pocket knife, it is not.
But this long blade actually has a nice weight to it.
It's wieldable with two hands.
Grabbing on to your handle here, I get a good grip.
Your edge is razor sharp.
It easily punctures and has a nice draw cut to it.
Now cutting the carcass, as you can see, it cut it in half.
And more importantly, sir, it'll kill.
Thank you, sir.
All right, Lyle. Your turn.
So you ready? - Yes, sir.
Let's do it.
My stomach is just in not knots.
I'm nervous about my quench.
And, you know, I'm just--
I didn't know if I did it right, but I'm going to find out.
I'm ready for it to be over.
[music playing]
All right, let's talk about your William
Wallace sword here.
It's a lighter sword.
It's about a half a pound lighter.
Your edge is sharp.
Now it cut very deep on this pig carcass.
It didn't cut it in half, but it did cut.
Overall sir, your sword, it will kill.
Thank you.
All right, gentlemen.
It's time for the strength test, our battering ram chop.
Now why would you attack a battering ram with a sword?
I don't know.
But we're going to do it anyway.
Now remember, this test is not about what
your sword will do to that battering ram
but how well they hold up.
James, you're up first.
You ready?
Dave, I hate this plan.
[laughter]
[grunts]
[exhales]
All right, James.
Blade is still true as it was when we started.
It's comfortable.
It's strong, and man, it held up well.
Good job.
Yeah, I really like hearing you talk about it.
That's great.
[laughter]
All right, Lyle.
Your turn.
Ready?
I guess.
[grunts]
[rock music]
All right, Lyle.
First off, remarkable job making a weapon this big, this light,
and hold up that well.
That's impressive.
But the issue is we've got some loosening going on.
Other than that, you did a great job.
Thank you.
All right, bladesmiths.
This is the sharpness test, the foam pillar slice.
Now unlike the strength test, this is all about how sharp
your weapons are and what they do to these foam pillars
that are wrapped in leather.
James, you're up first. You ready?
Yeah, man. Let's go.
Let's do it.
[rock music]
All right, James.
The edge of your sword is like cutting through butter.
It's a nice, clean cut.
Cuts all the way through.
Overall sir, your weapon, it will cut.
Thank you.
All right, Lyle.
You're turn, sir.
You ready?
Yes, sir.
Let's do this.
[rock music]
All right, Lyle.
Let's talk about your sword here.
First off, the guard is still a little bit
loose from the strength test.
But when it comes to the cuts, it is a sharp edge
that you have here.
It did cut the leather.
It just didn't cut through.
It's a lighter blade, thinner edge over here.
But it does cut.
Thank you.
All right, gentlemen.
You guys both brought us back giant William Wallace swords
that exceeded our expectations.
They're the largest swords ever built in this competition,
so we want to commend you guys both for that.
But there can only be one champion in this competition.
And today's Forged in Fire champion is--
James.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Lyle, unfortunately you just didn't make the cut today.
And Dave Baker's going to tell you why.
Lyle, you made us an amazing sword that performed very well.
But the guard loosened up in the strength test,
and it just didn't cut as well in the sharpness test.
And that's why we're letting you go.
I understand.
Lyle, thank you for all your hard work.
You produced a phenomenal weapon,
but unfortunately, I'm going to have to ask you,
please step off the floor.
Thank you.
I'm a little upset that I lost.
But at the same time, I mean, I got nothing to be sad about.
To be here at the finals, and my sword actually made it through.
I mean, I can't be more happy about it.
James, congratulations.
You are the Forged in Fire champion.
You'll be leaving here with a check for $10,000.
How does it feel?
Pretty great.
Yeah, baby!
I am Forged in Fire champion.
Great work.
Feels a little surreal.
Like, maybe this isn't real.
I might find out tomorrow that this didn't really happen.
[music playing]