WIL WILLIS: Up first, the kill test.
Doug. [music playing]
DOUG MARCAIDA: Blade smiths, what kind of lethal damage
will a weapon like the Russian pioneer sword do?
Well, to find that out, we will take your sword
and deliver slashes and thrusts on this deer carcass.
Mark, you're up first.
You ready? MARK: Yeah.
DOUG MARCAIDA: Let's do this.
MARK: I think my sword is going to hold up to the deer.
I'm not really intimidated by it.
It's not the first deer I've seen hanging.
[music playing]
[cutting sounds]
DOUG MARCAIDA: OK Mark, let's talk
about your weapon right here.
It's a little bit on the heavier side.
But you know what?
It felt very good cutting each time.
Cutting through the spine and lacerating through.
Overall your weapon will kill. MARK: Thank you.
DOUG MARCAIDA: Good job.
Nicholas, your turn.
You ready?
NICHOLAS: I'm ready.
DOUG MARCAIDA: Let's do this.
NICHOLAS: I'm nervous going into this test.
My stomach is absolutely lurching.
Plus Mark's blade performed pretty well, so that's
certainly adding to my anxiety.
[music playing]
[cutting sounds]
Oh, [bleep].
DOUG MARCAIDA: Well Nicholas, that was a lot of fun.
The handle is on the smaller side.
When he held onto it, you could feel the ridges,
so that's good. You can tell where the edge is.
Just a concern that it might be an issue
when you're moving it around.
Your tip penetrated easily all the way through.
The edges cut right through the ribs,
right through the spine, all the way through this deer carcass.
Overall your weapon will kill. NICHOLAS: Thank you.
J NEILSON: Smiths, welcome to our strength test.
Now I think pioneer, I think horses.
So I'm going to take your Russian pioneer swords
and smash them into these horse skulls.
I'm not too concerned what your swords do to the skulls,
I want to see what the skulls are going to do to your swords.
Mark, you're up first. You ready?
MARK: Yeah.
J NEILSON: Let's do it.
[music playing]
[skull breaking]
Well Mark, that first couple swings it twisted a little bit.
You did get some chipping on the edge
here, right in that sweet spot.
Otherwise, everything is still tight.
It felt good.
Good job.
MARK: Thank you.
J NEILSON: Nicholas, what are you thinking?
NICHOLAS: A little nervous.
J NEILSON: That's all right, we're going to do it anyways.
NICHOLAS: Oh, I know.
I wouldn't expect anything less.
J NEILSON: Cool.
NICHOLAS: I'm especially nervous about the strength test
because I had to rush my heat treat.
This is going to be a make or break moment for this thing.
[music playing]
[skull breaking]
J NEILSON: Nicholas, this was difficult to control.
It's very forward heavy.
You've got chipping on the edge here in a couple spots.
The real killer for me though, was the seam in your handle,
this right here is sharp.
Most of your control is in these three fingers
and these two are getting cut into.
So the handle is a problem.
WIL WILLIS: Mark, Nicholas, both of you
have done an incredible amount of work
to get to where you are right now.
But in this competition there can only
be one Forged in Fire champion.
[music playing]
Mark, congratulations.
You are our new Forged in Fire champion.
Nicholas, unfortunately your weapon didn't make the cut.
J NEILSON: Nicholas, despite taking damage,
both your weapons performed pretty equally.
But at the end of the day, we all agreed that handle just
hurts to use.
And that's why we're sending you home.
NICHOLAS: I understand.
WIL WILLIS: Nicholas, please surrender your blade.
NICHOLAS: This is more or less what I was expecting.
Things were just so rushed and chaotic at the end there,
you know, something had to give.
And if it's a little sharp spot on the handle
and that's made the difference, I'm OK with that.
I still chopped a deer in half, and I don't
think everybody can say that.